Blaster of Shame - Football Value Pack Thingy

I haven't done one of these in a while and honestly if I don't post this now it's never getting posted ever. This seemed like a good day to post something footbally for some reason. No idea why, just a feeling I had.

If you don't remember what a Blaster of Shame is, it's basically when you are in a card aisle and you have to buy something because you are a degenerate card-addled addict, so you pick up a blaster you don't really want or need just to get your junkie fix. I do this far too often to be healthy. Is there a 12-step program for baseball cards?

Last year around the Time NFL pre-season was in full swing, these 5-pack Rookie Edition packages started popping up in Wal-Marts. I was getting football fever so I got one on a whim. I convinced myself it would be a good post for NFL opening weekend. That's how most of my totally unnecessary card purchases go... "Hey, this would be great for a post on the blog!". Then I get lazy, decide it wasn't all that good an idea to begin with and the post sits in my draft folder for months. That happened here. I've got all these scans but the actual packs are all boxed away somewhere. I did have the foresight to scan the best card out of each pack so I'll just show that off for your football enjoyment.

PACK 1: 2010 Hit Low Series

I think these packs were a way for thre distributor to flush out a bunch of overproduced, unpurchased SA*GE Hit retail packs. I passed up on more Hit blasters promising 2 autos per box than I care to count. There were also similar packages like this that had an auto and only Hit packs inside. It's a shame too, Hit actually had a decent design this year. It reminds me of an old Score football set from the mid-'90s.Here's the best card from the pack.

I'm not sure what turned out to be the actual best card in the pack because it's a draft pick set and until they hit the field, who knows. Rolando McClain was the highest picked player out of the pack at #8 overall by the Raiders. He started 15 games for Oakland and had a pick against Miami in week 12 so not a bad rookie season.

PACK 2: 2007 Leaf Rookies and Stars

Playoff/Donruss/Panini designs are basically the reason why I don't bother with football cards anymore other than some base Topps here and there and the occasional retro set. I wasn't too excited about this pack.

Then it went and provided my favorite card in the package. Alge Crumpler is my favorite Falcon over the past decade and any card of him in a Falcons uniform before he was so rudely sloughed off the team makes me happy. This design isn't incredibly obnoxious either so that's a bonus.

PACK 3: 2007 Score

I really like Score football, it's an inexpensive, decent sized set with a few bells and whistles too keep you interested. I just don't care enough to actually buy the packs. Especially since Topps is the same thing and I've been collecting that for decades. That, my friends, is a sure sign of Football Card Apathy. For someone with enough football cards to fill a decent sized closet, that's a sad, sad thing to have.

Chad Johnson has become Chad Ochocinco and back to Chad Johnson since this card came out. I have a soft spot for the Bengals since they keep selecting (and ruining) Georgia Bulldogs in the draft. Their franchise is almost as pathetic as the Falcons too!

PACK 4: 2007 Playoff Memorabilia

I haven't liked Playoff cards since about 2000. Let's see what we got here.

Wooooo parallel. Brandon Siler Spectrum rookie numbered to 100. Brandon is still in the league playing for the Chargers so not too shabby.

Pack 5: 1/3 or a 2006 Topps Rack Pack

You're seeing that right. One of the 'packs' was a section of a cut up rack pack. LAME. However, it was the section with the vintage cards! Yeah! Lets see that Vintage!

Hooray. 1989 Topps Traded cards. I feel like Steve Grogan looks.

There were the packs, here is the autograph:

2009 SA*GE Hit Curtis Painter

Curtis Painter is a backup QB for the Indianapolis Colts. This means that if Curtis ever gets an serious playing time, the entire state of Indiana will be on suicide watch. There was an unexpected bonus in the pack though:

2009 SA*GE Hit B.J. Raji

Huh, I've heard of this guy from somewhere. Apparently an extra side of beef fell off a truck in Packer town. Some guy recently sent me a Falcon auto so once I find the thing I may have to ship it his way.

Y'all enjoy your Handegg Tourment and Advertising Showcase... I'm working this evening. One week until pitchers and catchers report... oh joy.........

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...