Blaster of Shame - 2009 Philadelphia

If you've forgotten what a Blaster of Shame is, basically it's an impulse buy on a blaster you didn't really need in the first place that you feel kind of dirty about after the adrenaline rush from the ripping has faded. I have more of these lying around than I care to admit. I only got this one a couple of weeks ago, but I got it instead of a Ginter Blaster so it was probably not the best use of resources. I just can't resist a half off blaster of Football O-Pee-Chee. This was actually a pretty nice set for what it was. I might be blinded by the Retro though. Since the Falcons' first pre-season game is tonight (Friday the 13th - perfect timing) let's take a look at my shame.


Pack 1:
187 Vince Young
111 Gus Frereotte
107 Bernard Berrian
400 Clinton Portis In Action SP
192 Albert Haynesworth
78 Matt Schaub

This would have been the perfect football set if not for the hundreds of short prints of wacky subjects. Too many short prints! That being said the In Action cards look great. They really have a old school football card feel to them.

Pack 2:
1 Kurt Warner
NFL-AC Andre Caldwell Game Day Gear
70 DeWayne White
48 Braylon Edwards

Here's the hit of the box, there goes all the suspense... Andre Caldwell is so good, the Bengals had to go get Terrell Owens to play with OchoCinco. It's a good thing that tigers belong in the circus, because that's what Cincinatti is going to be this year. In other news, two packs, four quarterbacks.

Pack 3:
93 Marcedes Lewis
89 Dallas Clark
13 John Abraham
206 Javon Ringer RC SP
16 Joe Flacco
58 Demarcus Ware

Short printing rookies is rude. Short printing rookies when there are hundreds of other short prints is evil. Got my first Falcon, woohoo!

Pack 4:
185 Barrett Ruud
79 Steve Slaton
NC19 Ted Kennedy Chicle mini
64 DJ Williams
14 Harry Douglas
144 Correll Buckhalter

Fiddlesticks. Pulled a mini card and it's a dupe. I'm pretty sure I can throw Teddy into a package for Heartbreaking Cards or one of the myriad Sox fans out there. The Quarterback streak has ended, but a new Falcons streak has begun.

Pack 5:
5 Larry Fitzgerald
123 Jeremy Shockey
57 Roy Williams
311 Barack Obama SP
186 Ronde Barber
154 Troy Polamalu

Hey, a Barack Obama card I didn't have, that's cool. Has Topps given up on American Heritage? I want another American Heritage set, dammit. European Heritage, Sub-Saharan African Heritage or Bamgladeshi Heritage will work too. I just like Heritage. Oh, and the Steelers should not be wearing yellow helmets. Ever. It reminds me of those yellow Hostess cupcakes that no one ever bought because Hostess cupcakes should be CHOCOLATE, dammit! And why the heck is everyone calling these orange cupcakes?? They're yellow, the package is orange. I must be going color blind or something.

Pack 6:
163 Frank Gore
75 AJ Hawk
380 Randy Moss In Action SP
6 Anquan Boldin
68 Calvin Johnson
4 Tim Hightower

The In Action cards really remind me of the old Fleer football sets from the '80s. I wouldn't mind seeing another set of those cards. Can there be another Fleer set?? I can't remember if Upper Deck lost their football licence completely or not. I know Topps got their license back but don't recall if it was at UD's expense. I'm tired of all the hobby licensing drama to be honest. Someone put a gun to Goodell's head (I'm sure a few of the players would be happy to oblige) and get the NFL to license a new Fleer In Action set and put stickers in there. My childhood isn't going to re-live itself, dammit!

Pack 7:
179 Oshiomogho Atogwe
61 Tony Scheffler
87 Dwight Freeney
284 Darrell Green SP
102 Ronnie Brown
132 Bart Scott

There are legends cards in this set?? Dang now I really want a box of this stuff. I can probably find it cheep if I looked hard enough. Ronnie Brown screwed up my all- defensive player pack.

Pack 8:
175 Steven Jackson
19 Derrick Mason
137 JaMarcus Russell
180 Leonard Little
90 Robert Mathis
130 Justin Tuck

Well it had to happen eventually. The first no-SP suck pack. And such a sucky pack it was. No one from this pack deserves a scan.

Pack 9:
59 Zach Thomas
141 Justin Fargas
53 Marian Barber III
106 Adrian Peterson
138 Darren McFadden
188 Kerry Collins

Gah! Two in a row! At least Purple Jesus redeems the pack. I wonder if AP and Steven Strasburg ever met if there would be a mighty battle ove who is the real messiah.

Pack 10:
73 Greg Jennings
147 Asante Samuel
393 LaDainian Tomlinson In Action SP
NC82 Rey Maualuga Chicle mini
178 Chris Long
28 Jonathan Stewart

Well that's a nice finish! Makes up for the last two packs a little bit. Speaking of Adrian Peterson, did you all nitice how LT fell off a cliff the past couple of years? And now he's on the Jets? Pay heed, AP collectors. I used to collect the hell out of running backs too... The Chicle mini is nice although I've never heard of the guy. Everyone just went Chicle crazy last year, didn't they? I count about three inset sets and an entire product based on Chicle. Hey, it's a great set, might as well steal from the best.

Ok, here's the final breakdown:
Base - 49 cards - 24.5%
SPs - 6 - 3%
1 Rookie (Javon Ringer)
1 Legend ( Darrell Green)
3 In Action (Portis, Moss, LT)
1 Obama
Chicle Minis - 2 - (Ted Kennedy, Rey Maualuga)
Game Day Gear - 1- Andre Caldwell

I've seen worse blasters. Heck, I'm going to post them eventually. I think I'll make this a regular feature. You all have no idea the horrors that awaits you, poor readers of this blog...