I finally found the Series 2 variation blasters at my Wal*Mart...with one major drawback - you only get two "black" packs per blaster...the rest of the packs contain the standard white bordered cards...which means that there seems to be virtually no way (without spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars) to complete the black variation set...
The blasters with 2 variation packs in 'em look like this:
You've all seen plenty of the regular white bordered cards by now, so cracking open the two black packs I got:
Pack 1:
353. Derek Jeter
376. Rajai Davis
499. Edwin Moreno
505. Scott Olsen
527. Jason Isringhausen
600. Jake Peavy
LG-TGL. Tom Glavine "Legends of the Game"
TTT50. Chase Utley "Topps Town"
David Wright says "Work Hard, Get Cards" filler card
Pack 2:
415. Josh Beckett
497. Clint Hurdle
585. Alexei Ramirez
593. Kenshin Kawakami
623. Aaron Hill
629. Lyle Overbay
TR59. Mel Ott "Turkey Red"
TTT49. Daisuke Matsuzaka "Topps Town"
Obviously, with only 6 actual black variation cards per pack this set is basically impossible except for those with money burning holes through their pockets...perhaps there are "full" black blasters elsewhere - otherwise I don't see me having any chance of completing this.
Updates:
7/17/09: 3:44 PM EST:
Taking a cue from Grand Cards, I emailed Topps the following letter asking about the variation cards and the distribution plans for them. I will update again if/when Topps answers my question.
7/17/09: 3:47 PM EST:
Automated reply from Topps saying:
7/20/09: 2:00 PM EST:
Topps responded - see the full post here.
The blasters with 2 variation packs in 'em look like this:
You've all seen plenty of the regular white bordered cards by now, so cracking open the two black packs I got:
Pack 1:
353. Derek Jeter
376. Rajai Davis
499. Edwin Moreno
505. Scott Olsen
527. Jason Isringhausen
600. Jake Peavy
LG-TGL. Tom Glavine "Legends of the Game"
TTT50. Chase Utley "Topps Town"
David Wright says "Work Hard, Get Cards" filler card
Pack 2:
415. Josh Beckett
497. Clint Hurdle
585. Alexei Ramirez
593. Kenshin Kawakami
623. Aaron Hill
629. Lyle Overbay
TR59. Mel Ott "Turkey Red"
TTT49. Daisuke Matsuzaka "Topps Town"
Obviously, with only 6 actual black variation cards per pack this set is basically impossible except for those with money burning holes through their pockets...perhaps there are "full" black blasters elsewhere - otherwise I don't see me having any chance of completing this.
Updates:
7/17/09: 3:44 PM EST:
Taking a cue from Grand Cards, I emailed Topps the following letter asking about the variation cards and the distribution plans for them. I will update again if/when Topps answers my question.
To Whom It May Concern:
I don't know if the information has been made
available to the public, but will there be an opportunity to buy retail blasters
of the 2009 MLB Series 2 Topps cards with ONLY the variation cards in it
(Wal*Mart black and/or Target retro)? I know that there are currently
retail blasters with only 2 packs of the variation cards out for sale - but
that's certainly not a feasible option to complete the variation sets for most
collectors. Any information you can give me will be appreciated and posted
to my blog in response to this letter.
7/17/09: 3:47 PM EST:
Automated reply from Topps saying:
Thank you for contacting Topps Customer Service. Your question has been
received and you should expect a response from us within 2 business days.
7/20/09: 2:00 PM EST:
Topps responded - see the full post here.
Boo! That sucks. I'll keep my eyes open for full "black" blasters as well, but this is a major letdown. This certainly puts the group breaks in jeopardy.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm really disappointed by that too. I was hoping to complete the black bordered and retro sets as well as the white set - but if this is how they are packaged there's no way I'll be able to do that.
ReplyDeleteI knew there had to be a catch, sooner or later. It wouldn't be Topps if there weren't one. Still, those cards look great! I'm really transfixed on the Alexei Ramirez. There's something about the dirt dust up against the blackened background that is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteJust swung by my local WalMart during lunch and found the same thing. 4 blasters, specially marked with the "Black Parallel" logo for two packs, with a 13 in the serial number. That may be all she wrote. Stupid move by topps, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - and disappointing. Guess I might as well not bother collecting the two variation sets for series 2...no way I'm spending that kind of coin.
ReplyDeleteI just sent Topps an email--we'll see what they say about it.
ReplyDeleteGood idea - let me know... I'll update this post if there's any news.
ReplyDelete