Retail Review - Retro - 2010 Topps Chrome Baseball Blaster x2

2010 Topps Chrome Baseball Blaster x 2

8 Packs Each - $11.98 Each

(Click images for larger)


I'll list both boxes together for convenience.








-------FRONT-----------------------BACK--------------














Notable Base Cards:
165 Derek Jeter

Rookies: 13
172 Bryan Anderson
173 Jon Link
180 Jason Donald
184 Ike Davis
185 Andrew Cashner
189 Wilson Ramos
193 Lance Zawadzki
195 Starlin Castro
198 Carlos Santana
206 Mike McCoy
212 Stephen Strasburg
213 Jake Arrieta
216 Drew Storen

Refractors : 6
1:3 Packs

70 Max Scherzer
78 Placido Polanco
83 Orlando Hudson
105 Mike Pelfrey
144 Alex Rodriguez
144 Alex Rodriguez

X-Fractors: 4
1:3 Packs

23 Nick Swisher
125 Jon Lester
132 Michael Cuddyer
166 Mike Napoli





Refractors Purple: 1
1:12 Packs

82 Lyle Overbay /599








Refractors Blue: 1
1:191 Packs

47 Rich Harden /199






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Design: 4/5

Topps almost never goes wrong with the main set's card design. This was the first year Topps had exclusive rights to the MLB license so they displayed large team logos in the corners of the cards. The only problem I have is that some of the text on the back of the cards blends in with the backgrounds.

Set Building: 5/5

Chrome is always a great set to put together. The only real difficulty would be the maximum 3 base cards per pack you get.

Rookies: 3/5

Decent rookies pulled from these blasters, I usually see refractors of rookies but not this time. The Strasburg would have been much nicer in 2010!

Inserts: 3/5

Refractors only this time. I like the finish on the refractors though, they even scan well! X-Fractors are retail exclusive like previous years. The blue refractor was a tough pull and I wish it was a Yankee for my personal collection. There are apparently Chicle inserts, the pack says 1:81 packs to pull one.

Autos/Relics: 1/5

Didn't get any. Odds on the pack are 1:171 packs so its a pretty tough pull. Rookie autographs only.

Value: 16/25

Had fun opening these. The refractors are always great to pull from a pack and look at. Liked pulling the Strasburg and the two A-Rod refractors. Also needed the Jeter for my personal collection!

Retail Review - Retro - 2009 Topps Chrome Baseball Blaster Box

2009 Topps Chrome Baseball Blaster Box

8 Packs - $11.98











(click images for larger)










Base Card Design Front and Back



Rookies: 7
180 Phil Coke
181 Jordan Schafer
182 Joe Martinez
183 Trevor Crowe
184 Shairon Martis
200 Rick Porcello
204 Jason Jaramillo

World Baseball Classic Stars: 2
1:4 Packs

W14 Luis Durango
W88 Tai-Chi Kuo







Refractors: 1
1:3 Packs

182 Joe Martinez RC








X-Fractors: 3
1:3 Packs

80 Carlos Zambrano
94 Joe Mauer
191 Ryan Perry RC






Gold Refractors: 1
1:98 Packs

141 Kenji Johjima /50

Design: 5/5

I'm a fan of the 2009 Topps design. It's a clean design with lots of diagonal lines but doesn't get too crazy like recent Panini designs. Lots of information is included on the backs too.

Set Building: 5/5

Topps Chrome is always a decent set to put together. No short prints to search after in the set, and it's a pretty low numbered (although you'd only get 2-4 base cards per pack.)

Rookies: 4/5

I pulled lots of rookies, at least one per pack counting parallels.

Inserts: 3/5

I don't care much for the WBC inserts, and there seems to be alot of them in the set. You can't go wrong with refractors though, and the XFractors are retail exclusive I believe. I got lucky and pulled a gold refractor, too bad it wasn't a Yankee!

Autos/Relics: 1/5

No relics, and autographs are inserted at an insane rate. Such is the fate of retail pack busters! The easiest autograph to pull is 1:308 packs. I can only give the score a 1 because of this.

Value: 18/25

It was a fun break, and I'm glad I got it 40% off. It's nice to get a 'hit' in every pack with a refractor or insert but I kind of miss the days when those where rare (and actually valuable).

2011 Spring Training TTM Auto Requests

Its Spring Training season and that means Baseball is right around the corner. It also means trying for TTM autographs!

Here is the list of people I sent to this year:

Grady Sizemore -- Returned SIGNED 3/29/11
Shin-Soo Choo
Joey Votto -- Returned SINGED 4/25/12 - (WOW, broke my record for longest return, 442 Days!!!)
Jay Bruce
Brandon Phillips
Ramon Hernandez -- Returned SIGNED 3/26/11
Edinson Volquez
Sam Lecure -- Returned SIGNED 4/05/11
Johnny Cueto
Sandy Alomar Jr. -- RTS 2/26/11
Brook Jacoby
Mark McGwire
Don Mattingly -- Returned SIGNED 10/3/11 - (WOW, didn't expect to ever see this again!)
Dave Righetti
Willie Randolph
Joe Girardi
Ozzie Guillen
Harold Baines


Will post results as they come in!