If pulling hits from a blaster was rankable, I'd be the f---ing grandmaster

To quote Napoleon Dynamite, "girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."
While I may not be good with numbchucking and am only average with a bow, I do have some pretty sweet blaster pulling skills.  Check out my 2012 Archives blaster I decided to randomly pick up while at my local big box store. I hadn't planned to pick up any Archives because there wasn't a lot of Pirates in the set.  The Fan Favorite autos have a good selection of Pirates I actually enjoyed watching (Van Slyke, Drabek, Madlock), but the set doesn't really do anything for me.  I am very happy with what I pulled from my 7 packs + 1 free bonus pack.  JUST CALL IT 8 PACKS TOPPS!!!!

I will organize the cards numerically to make it easier for those set building.  All cards are for trade except Pirates.

Pack 1

 Archives Reprint: Roberto Clemente 164 (1:4 packs)
14 Yadier Molina (cardinals)
20 Robinson Cano (yankees)
63 Tim Hudson (braves)

66 Andrew McCutchen (pirates)
114 Jason Motte (cardinals)
165 Jay Bruce (reds)
177 Shane Victorino (phillies)

Pack 1 was very successful as it contained 2 Pirates for me to add to my collection. 

Pack 2
56R-SCA 1956 Relic-Steve Carlton Bat? (phillies) 1:30 packs

Felix Hernandez 3D card (mariners) 1:8 packs

27 Carl Crawford (red sox)
40 Nelson Cruz (Rangers)
117 George Brett (royals)
168 Carlos Santana (indians)

Pack 2 was even more successful because of the 1:30 1956 Relic card.  The relic is wood, so it may be a bat or seat.  The card does not state what it is from.  Very cool card of the Hall of Famer southpaw.  The 3D Hernandez is also a really neat looking card.  Why wasn't McCutchen made into a 3D card????
Things go down from here in the blaster, but pulling a 1:30 hit in only 8 packs from a blaster in Wally World is a good pull if you ask me.  Again all cards are for trade except Pirates.

Pack 3
22 Mickey Mantle (yankees)
57 Josh Beckett (red sox)
77 Chipper Jones (Braves)
108 Cliff Lee (Phillies)
150 Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)
159 David Price (Rays)
200 Derek Jeter (Yankees)
215 SP Brett Butler (Dodgers) 1:4 packs

Pack 3 wasn't great.  I continued my luck of pulling a Kershaw or Kemp in every blaster I've opened since the start of the season and managed to get a SP Dodger.  The 1984 design is still one of my favorite designs ever for a baseball card.






Pack 4
Josh Hamilton Cloth Sticker (Rangers) 1:6 packs
41 Corey Hart (Brewers)
53 Adam Wainwright (cardinals)
74 Ty Cobb (Tigers)
86 Trevor Cahill
141 JP Arencibia (Blue Jays)
143 Marco Scutaro (rockies)
185 Roberto Clemente (Pirates)

A Josh Hamilton Cloth Sticker and a 1984 design of Roberto Clemente.  Yup, this was a good pack for my collecting purposes.  I'll listen to offers on the Hamilton sticker, but will most likely keep that for my collection.

Pack 5

1958 Classic Combos: Miguel Cabrera + Al Kaline Touch Em All Tigers (Tigers) 1:32 Packs
Archives Reprint 1979 Eddie Murray 640 (Orioles) 1:4 packs
37 Jose Valverde (Tigers)
49 Mike Moustakas (Royals)
87 Clay Bucholz (Red Sox)
129 Darryl Strawberry (Mets)
154 Starlin Castro (Cubs)
197 Allen Craig (Cardinals)

Pack 5 was a very good pack for trade bait.  The Kaline/Cabrera Classic Combo is 1:32 packs which is rarer than pulling a relic.  I think that Topps could have done a better job photoshopping these together.  Don't get me wrong, the idea is great, but the lighting used doesn't match up.  It almost looks like if you go to an amusement park and get your face implanted on Jack Sparrow or Princess Leia's body.  It just doesn't look right.  Nice try though Topps.

Pack 6

69DE-6 Deckle Edge Ichiro (mariners) 1:12
28 Melky Cabrera (Giants)
46 John Danks (White Sox)
97 Brett Lawrie (Blue Jays)
139 Ivan Nova (yankees)
147 Justin Masterson (Indians)
187 Nolan Ryan (Astros)
194 Gary Carter (Mets)

I got my only Deckle Edge in this pack.  Ichiro is nice, but it would have been nicer if it was Clemente :(

The thing that I really don't like about this pack is seeing Nolan Ryan and Gary Carter on 1984 designs.  Why?  Well quite simply, we've seen it before.  I'd much rather have seen them on a design from when they weren't playing if they were going to be included in this set.  At least the Carter shows him in a Mets uniform which is nice since the actual 1984 Topps has him in an Expos uni.  The Ryan however is wearing an Astros uniform which is accurate for the time period, but Nolan had a 1984 Topps Astros card.  Poor choice, if you ask me.  I'd much rather had seen something like a Nolan Ryan Mets uniform used on the 84 design or seen Ryan in a 1971 Topps wearing an Astros uniform. 


Pack 7
35 Zack Greinke (brewers)
78 Miguel Montero (Diamondbacks)
85 Matt Holliday (Cardinals)
130 Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins)
137 Jason Heyward (Braves)
179 Michael Bourn (Braves)
199 Mark Reynolds (Orioles)
223SP Cecil Fielder (Tigers) 1:4 packs

I thought about only showing the Montero for this pack because I love the 1971 design and think that it looks awesome for the Diamondbacks.  But in the interest of Tigers collectors and set collectors I also showed the Fielder SP.  Again everything is for trade.

The Bonus Pack
10 Ryan Braun (Brewers)
17 Mat Latos (Reds)
69 Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals)
70 Joey Votto (Reds)
120 Tim Lincecum (Giants)
123 Ryan Vogelsong (Giants)
173 Daniel Hudson (Diamondbacks)

 67 Sticker - Roger Maris (Cardinals) 1:8 packs


Nothing special here.  Funny that the bonus pack contained my first 67 sticker thus guaranteeing my pack odds quotes. 

So in 8 packs here's what I should have gotten based on the odds
1x 1977 Cloth Sticker 1:6 packs
1x 1967 Stickers 1:8 packs
1x 1968 3D 1:8 packs
2x Topps Reprint 1:4
2x Short Print 1:4

I did all that and I also happened to pull
1 Deckle Edge 1:12 packs
1 1958 Classic Combos 1:32 packs
1 1956 Relic 1:30 packs
plus I got 1 Andrew McCutchen and 2 Roberto Clemente cards
Overall, a very successful blaster pull.

All cards are for trade except the Clemente & McCutchen.  Leave comments below if interested.