Trip to WalMart (part 1)

I stopped by my neighborhood WalMart this morning to see if they had any good discount blasters. I found a box of 2009 Upper Deck SP which frustrated me. Nearly every card in the box was dinged on the bottom right corner and two thirds of the cards are duplicates. I'm not even going to bother scanning them in. Nothing too special here.

However, there was an interesting new Topps variety box. For $14.99, there was a box containing five packs of Topps 2011 retail, two packs of Heritage, two Diamond Giveaway cards and a special chrome refractor card. The Topps packs will be helpful for my set building and I got a few inserts I didn't already have, but I didn't find any spectacular. None of the big rookies, except for the Strasburg cup card, which isn't really a rookie. But still, there's plenty of cards that can be traded for the ones I need.

 

 The two Heritage packs made gave me a few stars and an SP, but as I go through these, I really don't care too much. Regardless of what the packs contain, this is just a fun set to open up, organize, and trade. Still, I was happy with what I opened. I found cards of Joe Mauer and Ichiro, along with a Mike Stanton rookie cup card and a Carlos Marmol SP. I also like Heritage because it gives collectors some of the first on-card looks at players in their new uniforms, like Bobby Jenks with the Red Sox and Jayson Werth with the Nats.

My special refractor of the box was of the Topps golden boy, Mickey Mantle. The three-card set is Mantle, Ruth and Robinson, so no matter which one you get, you can't lose. I like the design. Simple, but flashy, and it kind of reminds me of 1994 Topps Finest.

And finally, the two Diamond Giveaway cards gave me the following:

1985 Julio Franco and 1976 Bill Buckner. Not bad. Two decent players from their eras and I might be able to flip these for some decent Cubs cards.

This turned out to be a good break. Nothing revolutionary, but it was fun and at the end of the day, that's what this hobby SHOULD be about.

Happy trading, everyone!