Busting and Busting - Part One

So, I splurged on a couple of new packs at Target the other night while I was purchasing some swim diapers for my daughter. Broke down and bought an Upper Deck Series 2 pack as well as a Topps Series 2 Jumbo. Did I get anything good? Let’s see:

2008 Upper Deck Series 2 Baseball Retail Pack

• 449 Scott Hatteberg – Reds
  
• 439 J.D. Drew – Red Sox
  
• 605 Jimmy Rollins – Phillies
  
• 474 Paul Byrd - Indians
  
• 558 Derrick Turnbow – Brewers
  
• 509 Matt Treanor – Marlins
  
• 575 Endy Chavez – Mets
  
• 658 Adam Kennedy – Cards
  
• 606 Pedro Felix – Phillies
  
• 669 Edwin Jackson – Rays
  
• 630 Mark Prior – Padres
  
• 515 Miguel Tejada – Astros
  
• 775 Troy Tulowitzki – Rockies team
  
• 716 Kyle McClellan – Cards RC
  
• 738 Greg Maddux – Padres Season Highlights
  
• 761 Andruw Jones – Dodgers team
  
• HB-8 Hanley Ramirez - Marlins Hit Brigade
  
• SQ-56 Randy Johnson – D-Backs StarQuest Common
  

Yeah, I’ll call this pack a big fat ZERO. Oh sure, Miguel Tejada is always nice, and I kind of dig the design on the Target Exclusive Hit Brigade insert (and I think I know who I can trade him to) , but no Angels and only a cruddy RC makes this a ONE-STAR pack at best. Perhaps I’ll have better luck with the Topps pack. Oh and I’m no longer listing the positions for UD cards, because I can’t read the damn foil plate on front and they don’t list the position on the back.

2008 Topps Series 2 Retail Jumbo Pack

• 520 Vernon Wells OF Blue Jays
  
• 406 Takashi Saito P Dodgers
  
• 422 Erick Aybar 2B ANGELS!
  
• 659 Vicente Padilla P Rangers
  
• 513 Rick Vandernhurk P Marlins
  
• 480 Matt Cain P Giants
  
• 629 Eric Chavez 3B A’s
  
• 453 Josh Fogg P Reds
  
• 388 Jorge Cantu 2B Marlins
  
• 455 Derek Jeter SS Yankees
  
• 501 Elliot Johnson 2b Rays RC
  
• 346 Adam Everett SS Twins
  
• YR92 Dan Haren gets 10 consecutive wins
  
• 493 Steve Holm C Giants RC GOLD #0031/2008
  
• 626 Mike Redmond C Twins
  
• 409 Jason Giambi DH Yankees
  
• 570 Homer Bailey P Reds
  
• 495 James Shields P Rays
  
• 397 Brian Wilson P Giants
  
• 550 Curt Schilling P Red Sox
  
• 396 Randy Johnson P D-Backs
  
• 548 Garrett Olson P Orioles
  
• 390 Troy Glaus 3B Cards
  
• 430 Ryan Braun Brewers
  
• 439 Josh Hamilton OF Rangers
  
• 551 Erick Threets P Giants RC
  
• 502 Alex Cora SS Red Sox
  
• 583 Nick Punto 3B Twins
  
• 554 Joe Borowski P Indians
  
• 442 Luis Gonzalez OF Marlins
  
• Checklist 3 of 4
  
• 579 Jesse Litsch P Blue Jays
  
• 497 Cla Meredith P Padres
  
• 637 Jose Castillo 2b Marlins
  
• 341 Daniel Cabrera P Orioles
  
• 622 Jorge de la Rosa P Royals
  
• 609 Ted Lilly P Cubs
  
• Get Grades Junk
  

Geeze, it’s really too bad I’m not a Marlins collector, because I count FOUR of them above, and only ONE Angel? Call me crazy too, but for the equivalent of three packs of cards, I would expect at least three inserts, but here I got two. Heck I’ve gotten regular packs with two inserts, and these weren’t that special either. So while this pack is good, it’s not great, and I’m left saying to myself “Well, that splurge was a bust”. Realize for the 8 dollars I paid for 54 cards, I could have spent two more and gotten a mini-blaster with 3 special cards of Topps Series 2, OR I could have ventured to my hobby store and bought 4 packs of Topps and gotten MUCH better inserts. These packs, quite frankly, blew.