2024 Topps Update blaster recap

Pack one
#US35 Jonatan Clase RC
#US40 Nate Pearson

#US205 Seiya Suzuki / Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs - Veteran Combos subset
#US104 David Peterson
#US144 Tyler Black RC
#US200 Luis Arraez
#US195 Carson Kelly
#US86 Heston Kjerstad - Rookie Debut subset

#US123 Shohei Ohtani - Season Highlights subset
#US152 Alex Verdugo
#US4 Jorge Alcala
#SMLB-69 Royce Lewis - Stars of MLB insert

Pack two
#US328 Ramón Urías - Holiday parallel
#US72 Colton Cowser - Rookie Debut subset
#US215 Adam Frazier
#US7 Alan Trejo
#US3 Tyler Nevin
#US256 Alec Burleson
#US15 Reynaldo López
#US84 Graham Pauley RC
#US179 Mason Black
#US224 Carlos Santana
#US268 Naoyuki Uwasawa RC - Royal Blue parallel
#ASG-19 Corbin Burnes - 2024 All-Star Game insert
#SMLB-63 Cody Bellinger - Stars of MLB insert

Pack three
#US257 Joey Ortiz
#US350 Elly De La Cruz - Rookie Debut subset

#US301 Jesse Chavez
#US65 Joey Loperfido RC
#US118 Carlos Carrasco
#US228 Jose Trevino
#US106 Porter Hodge RC / Jake Wong RC - Rookie Combos subset
#US108 Andy Pages - Rookie Debut subset
#US199 Brett Harris RC

#US16 Joey Votto
#89US-46 Paul Skenes - 1989 Topps Baseball insert; go figure, a little speck on the back.
#SMLB-71 Davis Schneider - Stars of MLB insert

Pack four
#US223 Junior Caminero - Rookie Debut subset; Holiday parallel
#US31 Brandon Crawford
#US221 Andy Pages RC
#US37 Kyle McCann RC
#US214 Kevin Pillar
#US182 Matt Moore
#US196 Blake Treinen

#US281 Shota Imanaga - Rookie Debut subset
#US299 Tobias Myers RC
#US188 Eduardo Rodriguez
#US133 Matt Carpenter

#MYS-30 Freddie Freeman - Mystical insert

#SMLB-81 Shota Imanaga - Stars of MLB insert

Pack five
#US274 Matt Thaiss
#US172 Colin Holderman
#US100 Paul Skenes RC - go figure, maybe the best 'base' card and there is a blemish on the top.
#US288 Paul Skenes - Rookie Debut subset
#US331 Cody Bradford
#US210 Jackson Merrill RC
#US150 Tyler Black - Rookie Debut subset
#US169 Jackson Merrill - Rookie Debut subset
#US5 Mitchell Parker RC
#US125 Jordan Westburg - Rookie Debut subset; Rainbow Foil parallel
#ASG-21 Garrett Crochet - All-Star Game insert
#SMLB-61 Juan Soto - Stars of MLB insert

Pack six
#US308 Fernando Cruz - Holiday parallel
#US260 Luke Raley
#US53 Randy Rodríguez RC
#US323 Jon Singleton
#US247 Eugenio Suárez
#US121 Ryne Stanek
#US50 Jackson Holliday RC
#US117 Eddie Rosario
#US315 David Bañuelos RC / Matt Krook RC - Rookie Combos subset
#US90 Adam Duvall
#US227 Chandler Seagle RC / Mason McCoy RC - Rookie Combos subset
#US156 Jack Leiter RC
#SMLB-78 Anthony Rizzo - Stars of MLB insert

Pack seven
#US92 Tyler Rogers
#US336 Addison Barger RC
#US340 Gavin Stone
#US176 Lucas Giolito
#US226 Michael Lorenzen
#US192 Colt Keith - Rookie Debut subset
#US327 Dinelson Lamet
#US334 Mookie Betts - Season Highlights
#US310 Oliver Dunn RC
#US28 Mitch Spence RC
#89US-7 Darryl Strawberry - 1989 Topps Baseball insert
#SMLB-72 Curtis Mead - Stars of MLB insert

A couple of retail value packs of 2024 Donruss

I have not busted anything unopened for the longest time where I just don't do it anymore - especially at the retail, big box store level with $30 blasters and $50 mega boxes.

I would normally stay away from breaking Donruss baseball in any form - where the 2024 Donruss base cards in particular look to be bland and boring at first glance, where it's not particularly appealing.

The product feels so off-brand, but the assorted shiny parallels end up teasing some fool's gold finds - where I relented to pick up a couple of value packs where my curiosity got the best of me.

I figured out at least a couple of things that may end up more as footnotes - where "that's kind of interesting."

1.) There was a distinct pattern of collation where a run of cards pulled were in numerical order - so within a smaller set, maybe the chances were pretty good I end up pulling a duplicate run of cards out of two ‘random’ packs.

2.) There are active MLB players sprinkled in - where presumably Panini did individual card deals with certain MLB players' marketing agents, but obviously nothing with the MLBPA that covers all their players.

3.) I pulled the same types of inserts in my two packs - a serial #'d Optic Green Velocity parallel, a Green Laser parallel and a Red and Blue parallel.

Pack one
#98 Edgar Martinez
#97 Buster Posey
#96 Nolan Schanuel
#95 Willie Mays
#94 Jordan Lawler
#93 Masyn Winn
#92 Mike Piazza
#91 Everson Pereira
#90 Jose Canseco
#89 Ronny Mauricio
#88 Emmet Sheehan
#87 Don Mattingly
#86 Ryan Braun
#85 Pete Crow-Armstrong
#84 Johan Santana
#83 Zack Gelof
#82 Seiya Suzuki
#81 Mariano Rivera
#80 Masataka Yoshida
#79 Bill Madlock
#78 Quinn Priester
#77 Luis Matos
#111 Ty Floyd - Rated Prospect
#109 Alex Ramirez - Rated Prospect
#108 Ralphy Velazquez - Rated Prospect
#107 Tommy Troy - Rated Prospect
#87 Don Mattingly - Optic
#47 David Ortiz - Optic Green Velocity parallel; Serial #’d 030/149
#65 Pedro Martinez - Green Laser parallel
#178 Dillon Head - Rated Prospect; Red and Blue parallel

Pack two
#6 Alex Rodriguez
#5 Willie McCovey
#4 Cool Papa Bell
#3 George Brett
#2 Henry Davis
#1 Bobby Witt Jr.
#100 Bobby Valentine
#99 Joe Torre
#98 Edgar Martinez
#97 Buster Posey
#96 Nolan Schanuel
#95 Willie Mays
#94 Jordan Lawler
#93 Masyn Winn
#92 Mike Piazza
#91 Everson Pereira
#90 Jose Canseco
#89 Ronny Mauricio
#88 Emmet Sheehan
#87 Don Mattingly
#86 Ryan Braun
#85 Pete Crow-Armstrong
#153 Colt Keith - Rated Prospects
#152 Luke Keaschall - Rated Prospects
#151 Brock Porter - Rated Prospects
#150 Enrique Bradfield Jr. - Rated Prospects
#95 Willie Mays - Optic
#23 Tim Wakefield - Optic Green Velocity parallel; Serial #’d 57/149
#83 Zack Gelof - Green Laser parallel
#102 Jackson Merrill - Rated Prospect; Red and Blue parallel