2010 Bowman Draft Value Pack recap and personal retail report

2010 Bowman Draft Value Pack [$4.99 x1 at a Walmart] - I really wanted to get a 2011 Topps blaster box, but went to Walmart first and got a Value Pack of 2010 Bowman Draft.

There were 2011 Topps blasters at Walmart for $19.98, but I prefer the Target Throwback variations - since the Walmart cards are mostly 'blacked out' except for the image, which makes any particular card worthless to be autographed in-person / through the mail.

There was a 72-card box of 2011 Topps for around $10 - which I was tempted to get since I hadn't seen the packaging [it kind of resembles a box used for gaming cards and it isn't the 'cereal boxes' used in previous years] used in baseball before.

It maybe just random, but the two Targets I went to didn't have any 2011 Topps blaster boxes - all I found at the Target closest to my home was a pack molester doing the deed with some Upper Deck hockey packs; guy was focused on getting to second base with multiple packs and was otherwise oblivious by my presence. I was actually more uncomfortable seeing what he was doing than he was in seeing me.

There was a Toys R'Us next door to the Target which had Jumbo Packs and blaster boxes of 2011 Topps - but I don't think the Toys R'Us blasters have either the Walmart black variation or the Target Throwback variation. Also for some reason, their rack packs are priced a dollar higher at $5.99 and their blaster boxes are actually priced at $23.99.

My one Value Pack of 2010 Bowman Draft - I picked up a complete set, but perhaps having extra cards from some of the players from this set will give me an opportunity to get those players on multiple cards.

Bottom
#BDP 91 Mitch Moreland Chrome
#BDP 28 Vance Worley Chrome
#BDPP 92 Chris Sale Chrome - though a lefty, he's been compared to Tim Lincecum because he is a rather smallish guy with a rocket for an arm.
#BDP 33 Travis Wood Gold parallel

Top
#BDP 94 Sergio Santos
#BDP 31 Drew Storen
#BDP 43 Josh Donaldson
#BDPP 74 Aaron Sanchez
#BDPP 96 Ryan Burr
#BDPP 80 Manny Machado
#BDPP 62 Zack Cox
#BPA-GH Graham Hicks autograph - he's a minor leaguer who was traded to the Chicago Cubs from the Washington Nationals with Michael Burgess and A.J. Morris in exchange for Tom Gorzelanny.

Busting packs and unopened product caveats

I'm looking to putting together a 20 pack surplus for APAD - like everyone else, I want to bust a variety of packs, but can't be too adventurous with my pack busting. I don't want to spend more than $20 on a group of 20 packs [from 1980-2008] and I realize if I want some of the cards themselves [from particular years], I can pick them up on their own.

I feel the cheapest of packs [how pathetic] have been searched in one form or the other, but something tells me don't trust old packs - all I want is a clean pack to bust, whether I'm paying a quarter a pack or more. I busted 1993 Fleer packs with all the cards off-centered and/or miscut. I busted a pack of 1987 Fleer with a couple of cards marked up. I used to buy jumbo packs of 1992 Bowman about 10 years ago and wondered why I didn't pull anything. I've see these random pack breaks from repack boxes and cringe that something like an 1988 Topps packs and 1989 Donruss packs has been searched otherwise.

Maybe I'll bust packs from my so-called favorite card sets from the 1990s, where packs were usually in foil - but is that of any guarantee particular packs aren't searched?

Maybe I'll scratch the bottom of the barrel and look for oddball [baseball] packs to bust - like pop-up cards, cards designed for a younger demographic
[1992 Topps Kids, 1993 UD Fun Pack], sticker cards [they would have to be regular trading card size though], 3D cards and other motion cards, though I don't want to get stuck with oddball cards that are bound to be useless.