I’ve been having some back issues and on Tuesday I had to go to the doctor. I went to Target to have my prescriptions filled. When one has time to “waste” at Target, one of course takes a look at the cards. There were a couple of discounted blasters, a 2012-13 Upper Deck and the 2013-14 Artifacts box.
The rookie crop in 2012-13 Upper Deck leaves something to be desired (thank you, “work stoppage)” and even though I expected little to nothing from Artifacts, I picked it up. It’s a good thing that I had low expectations. Below is what I got in each pack.
While I’m pretty much done with modern product, it’s still fun to bust some packs. In this case, I needed a pick-me-up and this was some temporary fun. However, it’s Exhibit A to why I am moving to vintage. This box wasn’t “worth” $12.99 at all. I’d be that much more agitated had I spent the original $19.99 retail price on it.
While I am glad Upper Deck has the hockey exclusive, their blasters leave a lot to be desired. At least you can pull a couple of Young Guns from a blaster. I’d rather have a “common” Young Guns than the “hits” of Lars Eller and Daniel Briere that were in this box. These will just be put into the boxes I’m sending off to COMC shortly and maybe I can make a buck on them.
I will say that while I prefer Upper Deck, both Panini and Topps do a better job with their blasters and retail packs. If you read “Retail Box Break: 2016 Topps WWE Road To Wrestlemania” or some of our WWE blaster breaks from the last couple of months, you know that they have a special relic pack in each box. To be honest, they are usually much better than a base jersey card like the one in this box. Panini will often have a three pack of special prism cards in their items. It’s nice to at least feel like you “get” something else special from them.