2009 Topps Black: 4 Blaster Review

My local Wal*Mart finally got some of the 2009 Topps Black Border Blasters, so I decided to pick up four of them with the hopes of completing my black set. How close did I get? Let's see.

What I opened: 4 Blaster (10 packs each)
First, the "pulls":

5 Legends of the Game (odds: 1:8 packs):

LG5: Walter Johnson
LG8: George Sisler
LG15: Pee Wee Reese
LG22: Thurman Munson
LG25: Cal Ripken Jr.

The Pee Wee Reese and the Cal Ripken are both duplicates for me. The others were needed though, so 3 out of 5 isn't too terrible. I hit the odds exactly getting 5 in 40 packs.

5 Turkey Red (odds: 1:6):

TR8: Ryan Ludwick
TR10: Jackie Robinson
TR23: Garrett Atkins
TR30: Christy Mathewson
TR35: David Wright

The good news was that I didn't have any of these yet. The bad news was that I only pulled 5 Turkey Reds when the odds suggest I should have pulled 6-7 when opening 40 packs.

4 Gold Parallel (odds: 1:10):

4: Jones, Pujols, & Holliday (#0751/2009)
78: Tim Lincecum (#0124/2009)
85: Justin Verlander (#0807/2009)
240: Ryan Braun (#0130/2009)

I didn't have any of these either and I got exactly what I ought to - 1 per blaster. All things considered, I fared well in the player selection for the golds.

4 Commemorative Patches (1 per blaster):

LPR-20: Mickey Mantle
LPR-27: Ernie Banks
LPR-38: Nolan Ryan
LPR-42: Thurman Munson

I was quite happy with my commemorative patches. I bought 4 blaster with the plans to "flip" the patch cards on eBay while they are still fetching about 10 bucks each. In that way, I hope to recoup some of my losses!

0 Short Print Variations (odds: 1:119):
I was hoping to pull at least one of these, but I can't be too disappointed since I (statistically speaking) wasn't expected to. I still only own three (Gehrig, Robinson, Hornsby).

35 Topps Town (Grey/Silver)
TTT1: Alex Rodriguez
TTT2: Roy Halladay (2)
TTT3: Grady Sizemore (2)
TTT4: Brandon Webb
TTT5: Evan Longoria
TTT8: Alex Gordon
TTT9: Ryan Howard (4)!
TTT10: Jake Peavy
TTT11: Nick Markakis (4)!
TTT12: Justin Morneau (2)
TTT13: Albert Pujols (4)!
TTT14: CC Sabathia
TTT15: Alfonso Soriano (2)
TTT16: Ichiro
TTT17: Francisco Rodriguez
TTT19: Carlos Quentin (3)
TTT20: Lance Berkman (2)
TTT23: Josh Hamilton
TTT25: Daisuke Matsuzaka

These helped fill in the few remaining holes in my collection. Now I have 45 duplicates of these.

5 Gold Topps Town Cards:
TTT9: Ryan Howard
TTT11: Nick Markakis
TTT16: Ichiro
TTT17: Francisco Rodriguez
TTT25: Daisuke Matsuzaka

I didn't have any of these - but I also don't see a lot of value in collecting them specifically.

Overall, I wasn't too disappointed in my box. I would have liked to pull another couple of Turkey Red cards like the odds suggest - and I was definitely hoping to pull a short print legend variation... Even so, I'm nearing completion of the black border set - see my want list for the cards that I still need!

Final Grade: 80/100.
Pros: Fun to rip, patches quite nice, Turkey Reds great insert.
Cons: No short prints, short changed slightly on Turkey Reds as well.