2025 Topps Series 1 blaster box breaks

Box one

Pack one

#218 Zack Wheeler

#120 Cristian Mena RC

#240 Will Brennan

#58 Dylan Cease

#159 Philadelphia Phillies team card

#136 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 

#53 Christ Taylor

#225 Tyrone Taylor

#288 Evan Carter - Future Stars

#332 Riley Greene

#15 Mitch Haniger

#SMLB-21 Rafael Devers - Stars of MLB insert

Pack two

#39 San Diego Padres team Card - Spring Training base card parallel exclusive to value boxes

#193 Michael McGreevy

#329 Paul Blackburn

#2 Thairo Estrada

#289 Michael Siani

#280 Ky Bush RC

#200 Mike Trout

#81 Carlos Correa - Checklist

#114 Ryan O'Hearn

#104 Yilber Diaz RC

#299 Yainer Diaz

#T90-100 Shohei Ohtani - 1990 Topps Baseball insert

#SMLB-19 Brooks Lee - Stars of MLB insert

Pack three

#293 Tyler Phillips RC

#182 Brandon Pfaadt

#146 Clayton Kershaw

#306 Sonny Gray

#100 Bobby Witt Jr.

#41 Alec Burleson

#80 Jace Jung RC

#279 Trevor Larnach

#342 Davis Schneider

#298 J.P. Crawford

#184 Aaron Judge / Juan Soto / Alex Verdugo - Checklist; Rainbow Foilboard parallel

#SMLB-5 Julio Rodríguez - Stars of MLB insert

Pack four

#305 Max Schuemann - Spring Training base card parallel exclusive to value boxes

#89 Zach Dezenzo RC

#8 Seth Brown

#57 Nick Gordon

#183 Taj Bradley

#64 Ian Happ

#331 Brandon Nimmo

#151 Tarrik Skubal / José Berríos / Seth Lugo - 2024 American League Wins Leaders

#23 Jorge Soler

#188 Zach Eflin

#310 Jose Miranda

#GH15 Juan Soto - Greatest Hits insert

#SMLB-12 Gunnar Henderson - Stars of MLB insert

Pack five

#99 Cincinnati Reds team card

#21 Nick Lodolo

#147 Bryson Stott

#337 Ben Rice RC

#210 Nolan Schanuel - Future Stars

#295 Elly De La Cruz - Checklist

#224 Reese Olson

#335 Sandy Alcantara

#9 Luis García Jr.

#234 Chris Sale / Zack Wheeler / Shota Imanaga - 2024 National League Wins Leaders

#37 Spencer Steer - Holo Foil parallel

#SMLB-24 Christian Yelich - Stars of MLB insert

Pack six

#330 Jake Burger - Spring Training base card parallel exclusive to value boxes 

#270 Andrés Giménez

#175 Ha-Seong Kim

#161 Bradley Blalock RC

#242 Logan Webb

#246 Sean Reynolds RC

#117 Josh Jung

#60 Chicago Cubs team card

#207 Ronald Acuña Jr.

#93 Rhys Hoskins

#ATT-8 Jarren Duran - 2024 All-Topps Team insert

#T90-40 Tony Gwynn - 1990 Topps Baseball insert

#SMLB-30 Dylan Crews - Stars of MLB insert

Pack seven

#311 Charlie Blackmon

#232 Jake Cronenworth

#249 Brooks Baldwin RC

#44 Brenton Doyle

#301 Cal Quantrill

#215 Manny Machado

#24 Jhonkensy Noel RC

#228 Geraldo Perdomo

#176 Teoscar Hernández

#281 Corey Seager

#39 San Diego Padres team card

#SMLB-15 Corbin Carroll - Stars of MLB insert

Box two 

Pack one

#101 Nolan Arenado - Spring Training base card parallel exclusive to value boxes 

#193 Michael McGreevy

#329 Paul Blackburn

#2 Thairo Estrada

#293 Tyler Phillips RC

#165 Joey Ortiz

#33 José Berrios

#244 Yordan Alvarez

#105 Dylan Moore

#54 Austin Riley

#28 Trevor Megill

#ATT-6 William Contreras - 2024 All-Topps Team insert

#SMLB-22 Juan Soto - Stars of MLB insert

Pack two

#182 Brandon Pfaadt

#146 Clayton Kershaw

#306 Sonny Gray

#89 Zach Dezenzo RC

#96 Seattle Mariners team card

#46 Tanner Houck

#149 Jeff McNeil

#97 Will Warren RC

#261 Mike Tauchman 

#130 Nathan Eovaldi

#123 New York Yankees team card

#SMLB-29 Matt Chapman - Stars of MLB insert

Pack three

#67 Trey Sweeney - Spring Training base card parallel exclusive to value boxes

#8 Seth Brown

#57 Nick Gordon

#183 Taj Bradley

#254 Kyle Finnegan

#184 Aaron Judge / Juan Soto / Alex Verdugo - Checklist

#190 Miguel Vargas

#185 Jazz Chisholm Jr.

#220 Jackson Holliday - Future Stars

#128 Ketel Marte

#1 Shohei Ohtani

#T90-18 Hurston Waldrep - 1990 Topps Baseball insert

#SMLB-2 Aaron Judge - Stars of MLB insert

Pack four

#99 Cincinnati Reds team card

#21 Nick Lodolo

#147 Bryson Stott

#337 Ben Rice RC

#7 Alec Bohm

#320 Drew Thorpe RC

#227 Ty France

#28 Nico Hoerner

#286 Edwin Díaz

#252 Pedro Pagés

#348 Brant Hurter RC

#SMLB-13 Elly De La Cruz - Stars of MLB insert

Pack five

#275 Carlos Correa - Spring Training base card parallel exclusive to value boxes; Spring Training Green Foilboard parallel, serial #'d 11/99

#270 Andrés Giménez

#175 Ha-Seong Kim

#161 Bradley Blalock RC

#311 Charlie Blackmon

#113 Marco Gonzalez

#36 Greg Jones RC

#138 Ceddane Rafaela - Future Stars

#237 Marcell Ozuna - Checklist

#209 Taylor Ward - Pencil bat card

#135 Maikel Garcia

#FP-9 Lauren Alaina - First Pitch insert; Country singer

#SMLB-26 Shota Imanaga - Stars of MLB insert

Pack six

#232 Jake Cronenworth

#249 Brooks Baldwin RC

#44 Brenton Doyle

#350 Francisco Lindor

#139 Jordan Beck

#125 Jackson Merrill

#83 Anthony Rendon

#65 Gunnar Henderson

#40 Joe Ryan

#101 Nolan Arenado

#179 Ryan Pepiot - Rainbow Foilboard parallel

#SMLB-24 Coby Mayo - Stars of MLB insert

Pack seven

#257 Korey Lee

#287 DJ Herz RC

#138 Isaac Paredes

#35 Anthony Volpe

#341 Ronel Blanco

#338 Mitch Garver

#84 Kameron Misner RC

#119 Daulton Varsho

#79 Aaron Judge / Juan Soto / Anthony Santander - 2024 American League Home Run Leaders

#67 Trey Sweeney RC

#257 Korey Lee

#T90-56 Rece Hinds - 1990 Topps Baseball insert

#SMLB-4 Fernando Tatis Jr. - Stars of MLB insert

Showing off a random stack purchase

Maybe there is a little existential crisis where I wonder what I can really do with my cards and whether I can go on moving forward - I like going through assorted cardboard, whether they are new cards or stuff that is a little more dated.

I do feel it's sham on my end if I cannot talk about my pick ups, take some card pictures and finally be able to put cards away for some closure - I need to catch myself at times and flesh out the card-by-card narrative when possible, but it's hard to make stuff up that means something.

As it goes, I need to avoid invalidating my experiences - where I'm not down and out and there is always a part of me always enthused, especially when getting something in the mail like this haul of odds and ends.

Taylor Ward was not having a great season, but his bat had heated up in July before he got beaned with an Alek Manoah pitch - effectively ending his 2023 season.I grabbed a dual bat or jersey card that looks to be player worn and/or used - I'm not sure there is much demand for Los Angeles [Angels] cards besides Shohei Ohtani and maybe Mike Trout, but it's kind of a reward to find a more random 'hit.'

To front load things with more Los Angeles [Angels] content, here is a Trout card from a couple of years ago - it's an unlicensed Panini issue and the boring picture looks as if Trout is watching a fly ball out, but the see-through acetate makes the card almost worth the $3 and change I paid.

Out in the wild, I'll make bulk, common cards of visiting players for my stadium project instant keepers when that might not have been originally the case - but it's fun to really focus on snatching up cards featuring star players and better.

I do not really get nostalgic about MLB teams that don't exist anymore like the Montreal Expos - but the pair of HOFer cards look good paired up.

The fandom over Ken Griffey Jr. is a little dated when he is closer to 60 than he is to 20 - but I'll chase his random cardboard because he is an all-time great.

This might be one lousy card, but maybe I've been tempted to build on little runs of four to five cards for any number of players from 30-40 years ago - that I have some lingering sentiment or nostalgia over, even when it's a disgraced PED slugger Mark McGwire.

I've dismissed relic cards are not being 'real enough' with no real historicity, but this post features a micro-mini flood of four or five memorablia cards - I'll take a flyer where they still have some novelty, even if the swatches used have iffy provenance more often than not.

I didn't know what this Trot Nixon jersey card was and thought it could have been from the 2001 Fleer 100th Anniversary set - looking closer, it looks like it was a specially made card for the Boston Red Sox kids club back in 2005.

Usually all MLB teams have this fan club package you can purchase for kids that comes with some game tickets and other team branded knick knacks - I'm not sure if this cards was distributed randomly with those packages or it came with each one.

With a PED suspension through 2022 and generally immaturity issues in past seasons, Fernando Tatis Jr. ends up being an iffy player, where I might not consider collecting him - on the other hand, he's played relatively well [for an underachieving San Diego Padres team], where it may be fun to go against the grain and look for cards of unpopular baseball players.

I'll claim the occasional non-playing era cards of retired players, where it gives my stack some star power - when other collectors may not be focused on the retro player content in here and now product, maybe I am able to swoop in and snatch some neat looking cards, notably the occasional inserts and parallels.

Finally, I ended up seeing this packed pulled signed rookie card and made an offer to pick it up for $10 - maybe this card ends up being a little no-context now, but I wouldn't have minded adding this card to my collection when McCann as a star catcher in his prime, 15-20 years ago.

2015 Panini USA Stars and Stripes breaks

Pack one
#80 Noah Campbell
#74 Max Wotell
#67 Luis Ortiz
#11 Robert Refsnyder - Fireworks insert, serial #'d 01/99
#90 Taylor Ward - Longevity parallel
#75 Michael Conforto
#68 Luke Weaver
#60 Kristofer Armstrong

Pack two
#7 Andrew Moore
#4 Albert Almora
#3 Addison Russell
#41 Henry Owens - Crusade insert
#93 Trea Turner - Longevity parallel
USA Baseball Shop info card
#43 Hunter Greene
#35 Doug Nikhazy
#28 Dansby Swanson