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






-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 - 2011 Topps Platinum Football

2011 Topps Platinum Football Blaster Box

8 Packs - $19.99

(click images for larger)

--------Front------------------------Back----------

Notable Commons:

70 Tom Brady

74 Ben Roethlisberger

130 Drew Brees

Emerald Veteran Parallel, 1:10 Packs

60 Arian Foster

Gold Veteral Parallel, 1:24 Packs

(Thick Card Stock)

77 Thomas Jones

Rookies:

(Chrome Card Stock, Refractor Finish)

51 Jimmy Smith

91 Delone Carter

101 Vincent Brown

120 Mark Ingram

136 Ryan Mallett

Rookie XFractors, 1:4 Packs

7 Julio Jones

148 Greg Little

Rookie Gold Refractors, 1:365 Packs

50 Blaine Gabbert /50

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Design: 4/5

Decent design on both the front and back of these cards. The front features an action shot of the player with a symmetrical curved design. Each card has a 'refractor' finish on the front also. The backs include last years stats as well as a text block describing something the player did that year. The design also mirrors the front's.

Set Building: 4/5

Not a bad product to put together as a set with a total of 150 cards and no short prints. But it would be difficult to get all of the rookies with only one per pack, or at least, you'd be left with alot of common veterans left over.

Rookies: 4/5

I'd say this is a pretty good set for pulling rookie cards. You get one per pack and they're printed on a nice chrome card stock with a refractor finish.

Inserts: 2/5

Only parallels here unfortunately. The XFractors look nice, but I don't care for the various multi colored cards. I also hate the uneccessary thick card stock cards like the gold veteran parallel. For some reason they didn't bother serial numbering them this year either. Such a waste. I was lucky enough to pull one low numbered rookie card (at insane odds) otherwise I'd be giving this a 1.

Autos/Relics: 2/5

I'll give it an average score because I didn't pull any. It seems like they could have inserted them at a better rate, but such is retail. They seem to only be seeded an average of 1/3 blasters and that's a little too hard of a pull for the price.

Value: 16/25

In conclusion this set has a nice design and could be built with a little bit of rookie trading or purchasing through online auctions. If you're looking for a nice hit though, skip it, you're much more likely to bust and walk away with a small handful of parallels.