Sunday's Afternoon Blaster - 2011 Topps Value Pack

Welcome to this week's Sunday Afternoon Blaster.  This is one of those purchases that I just had to make.  The Topps set I haven't bought this year (other than one blaster), the Heritage is my favorite set in a long time.  The two Diamond Giveaway cards inserted in every box will put me over the first gift threshhold as well.  I think for the money this is one of the better values for cards.  I say this before opening it, I may complain at the end though.  I do have a few specific goals for each set.  With the Topps I need 2 specific non-parallel cards #141 Ubaldo Jimenez base and KC-1 Ubaldo Kimball Champions.  I would also be happy with a parallel Rockie as well. The Heritage, since I have completed the base set, I simply want a SP or insert I need.  I would also be happy with one of the 2 non-SP Rox I need for the team set. 

Card coloration is it's availability

white = I'm keeping it

green = available for trade

red = already claimed/traded



Today's "blaster" is a 2011 Topps Baseball Value Box.  5 Series 1 packs, 2 Heritage hobby packs, 1 bonus pack.

On with the show.

Topps

pack one

307 Alex Rios - White Sox

46 Hong-Chih Kuo - Dodgers

184 Brandon Morrow - Blue Jays

29 Josh Hamilton MVP - Rangers

314 Ryan Kalish - Red Sox

134 League Leaders Carlos Gonzalez - Rockies (and others)

217 Yunel Escobar - Blue Jays

154 Marlon Byrd - Cubs

267 Jose Contreras - Phillies

inserts

DD-PG Price/Garza Diamond Duos - Rays

60YOT-32 1983 #540 Ozzie Smith - Cardinals

TT-13 Chase Utley Toppstown - Phillies

pack two

188 Pablo Sandoval - Giants

33 Max Scherzer - Tigers

221 Scott Hairston - Padres

49 Angels team card - Angels

198 Buster Posey - Giants

53 Dbacks team card - Diamondbacks

283 Rockies team card - Rockies

113 Arthur Rhodes - Reds

191 Jay Bruce - Reds

inserts

T60-3 Babe Ruth Topps 60 - Yankees

HOT-10 2009 Topps receives MLB Exclusive - History of Topps

TT-32 Mike Stanton Toppstown - Marlins

pack three

121 Brandon Inge - Tigers

35 Shin-Soo Choo - Indians

317 Yonder Alonso - Reds

70 Kyle Drabek - Blue Jays

15 David Wright - Mets

234 Miguel Montero - Diamondbacks

273 Derrek Lee - Braves

90 Yadier Molina - Cardinals

171 Garrett Jones - Pirates

inserts

143 Jeremy Jeffress diamond parallel - Brewers

60YOT-39 1990 #701 Bernie Williams - Yankees

TT-33 Victor Martinez Toppstown - Red Sox

pack four

284 Reid Brignac - Rays

67 Vladimir Guerrero - Rangers

218 Victor Martinez - Red Sox

117 Brett Sinkbeil - Marlins

196 Jose Ceda - Marlins

7 Mickey Mantle - LET HIM REST IN PEACE

230 Aaron Cook - Rockies

325 Jayson Werth - Phillies

313 Chris Coghlan - Marlins

inserts

TDG-4 Albert Pujols Diamond Giveaway - Cardinals (see below for results)

KC-1 Ubaldo Jimenez Kimball Champions - Rockies WOOHOO!

TT-50 Albert Pujols Toppstown - Cardinals

pack five

311 James Shields - Rays

224 Milton Bradley - Mariners

69 Brett Gardner - Yankees

52 Rays team card - Rays

83 Greg Halman - Mariners

236 Nelson Cruz - Rangers

86 Carlos Silva - Cubs

229 Jonathan Sanchez - Giants

10 Stephen Strasburg - Nationals

inserts

T60-16 Carl Crawford Topps 60 - Rays

60YOT-05 1956 #113 Phil Rizzuto - Yankees

TT-47 Dustin Pedroia Toppstown - Red Sox

Heritage

pack one

255 Edwin Jackson - White Sox

47 Kosuke Fukudome - Cubs - Spiegel

296 Ian Desmond - Nationals

86 Alex Presley - Pirates

C56 Edwin Jackson chrome - White Sox 1831/1962

321 Matt Mangini - Mariners

415 Dexter Fowler - Rockies

398 Joey Votto All Star - Reds

55 AL ERA Leaders Felix Hernandez - Mariners (and others)

pack two

240 Xavier Nady - Diamondbacks

287 Neftali Feliz - Rangers

83 Chris Carpenter - Cardinals

345 Dustin Pedroia - Red Sox

350 Joey Votto - Reds

44 Justin Upton - Diamondbacks

121 Buck Showalter - Orioles

413 Chris Young - Diamondbacks

97 Grady Sizemore - Indians

Bonus

TDG-6 Roy Halladay Diamond Giveaway - Phillies

TDG-4 Albert Pujols Diamond Giveaway - Cardinals

MBC2 Jackie Robinson refractor - Dodgers - Spiegel

Code Redemptions

Pujols from pack = 1991 #174 Ken Caminiti and Colorado Rockies ring

Halladay = 1987 #200 Pete Rose and New York Mets ring

Pujols bonus = 2005 #327 Orioles Future Stars and St. Louis Cardinals ring

BONUS PRIZE for 5 Rings

2005 #194 Bobby Abreu and Oakland Athletics ring

IMPRESSIONS
Design: A
The Topps design is great, but after 4 years it's about time for a non-white bordered set.  Hopefully 2012 will change it up a bit and be like 1971 or 2003 instead of 2002 or 1990.  I have already stated multiple time how much I love the 1962 Topps design.  This set is the one I had been looking forward to since I got back into the hobby and learned of Heritage in 2006.

Inserts / Hits: C-
I have railed on all of the Topps inserts from the flagship set this year before, but I am thrilled with getting the last Rockie I need in Ubaldo's Kimball mini.  With the Heritage I got about as blah as a could get for the 2 hobby packs, especially since the Chrome card I got was a dupe and I only have 12 of them.  The less said about the Diamond Giveaway codes the better.

Value: A
It is called a "value" box.  For the price, this is one of the best retail values there are.  A Heritage hobby insert or Jackie Robinson SP would have made this a slam dunk A+.  But still not bad at all, I just wish they had these before I had virtually the whole Heritage set put together.

Rox in the Box: 5...6 (counting virtual junk)
Great box for a Rockies fan.  Getting one of the two cards I need for my flagship team set is fantastic.  The Fowler was not one of the 2 (Wigginton, Gonzalez AS) I need for the team set, but I am never going to complain about this year's Heritage.  The ring is what it is, eh I guess it's better than a Giants or Dodgers ring.

Will I Collect This Set: B/A+
The flagship set I will eventually get around to building, but it's not anything I am in a big hurry to do.  Heritage I hope to have fully complete (including the High Numbers) by the end of 2011.  I am pretty close already and only need 24 more short prints and 6 inserts. 

Overall: A
For the price this value box can't be beat for the average collector.  It was only $3 more than my usual discount blaster and a bunch of people are actually still collecting these sets.  So maybe I can work out a few trades and get what I need with this box.