2009 SP Authentic Blaster Review
I went to Target yesterday with every hope they had a blaster of SP because I am bored with everything else. At first glance I saw nothing at all, then after rummaging I saw 3 blasters on the bottom shelf and opted for the first one I saw. I would have loved to have bought all 3 but it’s just not realistic nor would it be productive considering that buying a hobby box and skipping it altogether would make more sense.
Nothing exciting about the design, nothing groundbreaking in terms of photography or composition of player image and borders/background. You get 8 packs per box, and 5 cards per pack. There were no doubles, 1 cheesy 20th anniversary card, and 2 inserts. I really like the inserts, you will see why I am a big fan of one of them for obvious reasons in the scan, and the other is a good player as well. I will ruin it for you and tell you I did not get any of the guys I collect as far as base cards go. (Maybe another blaster isn’t a terrible idea after all.) I only got 1 card about #100, which was Michael Young.
Rather than bore you with words, I scanned each pack in the order I opened them so you can see how the pack breaks went. I also scanned the back of one base card and both inserts so you can get an idea what they are like.
I make no claims to be a set builder, but this seems like an easy one to build every year with a limited base set and usually no short prints. I am looking forward to getting some Pujols cards from this set, and the other guys I collect. I may just pick up the cards individually online, or try and trade for them rather than buy more blasters. The local hobby shop is too expensive to go for a few hobby packs or (gasp) a hobby box.
Sign up for the Card Chat newsletter here!
Ummm, you realize that 150 of the 250 cards in SP are SPed, right? And you only got one in this box.
Actually I didn't. Thanks for pointing it out, though.
Years past I ended up with almost 3 base sets of this from buying boxes. That'll teach me to assume things.
UD made a retail version of SPA last year, too. And like last year, the made-for-retail version was just called "SP" not "SP Authentic."
SP retail is just base cards, with the occasional insert, and an insert in each waxbox.
SP Authentic has all the gimmicks.