I knew I shouldn't have left the house....

I got home from work, and found an empty house. After remembering that the family went out for the day, I called my wife. Would she be home for dinner? Sure..... what time is it? 5:00. So..... no. I think hey, time to go get some KFC/Taco Bell. I also think hey, let's go past Toys R Us and see if I can pick up a blaster box. Only to find....

NHL Blasters. $14.97. ALL OF THEM.

It's like they want me to be poor.

So I pick up 2 Black Diamonds (of course) and 1 Legends Masterpieces, another set I wanted to complete. I'll do the Masterpieces first.

Pack 1 - Gretzky, Neely, Lord Stanley, Roy
I forgot how nice these cards are.

Pack 2 - Messier, Shutt, Bourque, Makita
The only odd part is that even with only an 87 card base set, some players get up to 4 cards, as Messier does.

Pack 3 - Lady Byng, Foster Hewitt, Broda, Lemieux
I had the 2 piece chicken combo and probably the least stuffed beef and cheese burrito I've ever seen before starting this. I'm already hungry.

Pack 4 - Kurri (complete with levitating stick), MacTavish, Al Macinnis Canvas Clippings Jersey (brown border), Ciccarelli, Savard
I've pulled 3 jerseys from this. 2 are Al MacInnis. Jerseys fall 1:3 blasters, so.... well, I've beaten the odds. Can't complain with that.

Pack 5 - Phil Esposito, Sutter family, Lemieux, Messier
Ok, so the first Lemieux and Messier were Stanley Cup holding pictures. Lemieux here is in his Team Canada jersey, and Messier in his Oilers jersey. See, should I really have to explain this?

Pack 6 - Bower, Bathgate, Gillies, Willie O'Ree brown border parallel
There's the one brown border that's supposed to be in the box.

Pack 7 - Roy, Mr. Hockey, Hextall, Phil Esposito.
Sigh.... so the first Roy was an Avs jersey, this one is a Habs. In the first Esposito, he was celebrating, in this one, he's.... I don't know, pondering his very existence, while the end of his stick is off the card. Hooking? Spearing? Chasing the puck while having a "oh darn, I forgot to take out the garbage" face. Mr Hockey is sitting in front of a lot of pucks. No, I won't count them. There's a lot. Trust me. Hextall is shooting the puck. Either at the net, or aiming at someone's face. It really doesn't matter, does it.

Pack 8 - Perrault, Vaive, O'Ree, Kurri
Oh good, only one to explain. In the first one, Kurri is in an Avs jersey, with a levitating stick in front of him. His hands are clearly behind his back, and we can see the whole stick. No one is touching the stick. In this one he's an Oiler. And it looks like he skated right by the puck. He looks concerned.

Still really love the look of these cards, but with 87 cards, we don't need multiples of several players. And why have I not pulled a Hawerchuk Jets card yet? I pulled the BLUES one.... like, 4 times! Oh well. Black Diamond! (which needs no explaination... I hope)

BOX 1
Pack 1 - Kostitsyn, Vrbata, Pominville, Zherdev, Nikolai Kulemin Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
Again, Triples don't fall every box. I now full believe that the odds are low.

Pack 2 - Malone, Leclaire, Kovalev, Martin St Louis Quad jersey (all white.... again), Huet, Brind'Amour
Ok, time for a small UD rant. Guys, what's up with all the all white quad jerseys? It's absolutely preposterous. I realize you can get more white jerseys than other colours, but can you at least make more of an effort to get some non-white in there? Maybe they're racist. Same with 1 colour patches..... why so many?????? Anyway, I'm now miles ahead, and I need to stop complaining. Including just getting a 6 card pack, which I just noticed.

Pack 3 - Prospal, Zubov, Naslund Double Diamond, Little, Sturm
There's the double diamond. Again, probably no Doan in here. Then again.....

Pack 4 - Brule, Rolston, Williams, Bergeron, Theodore
Here's hoping I need 1 or 2 of these for my set...... doesn't that sound positive?

Pack 5 - Ryan, Ohlund, Streit, Nylander, Giguere Triple Diamond
I already have the Giguere. I'm trying not to whine, really.

Pack 6 - Staal, Markov, Drew McIntyre Gemography Autograph, Carcillo, Perry
Something new to talk about! Autos are 1:96 packs, so that should be every 16 blasters.

So box 1 had a Double Diamond, a Triple Diamond, a Triple Diamond Rookie, a Quad Jersey, and a Gemography. That's going to be tough to beat. Box 2?

BOX 2
Pack 1 - Tucker, Knuble, Andrei Kostitsyn Double Diamond, Langkow, Carcillo
Huh. Two Kostitsyns. One I've never pulled out of a pack, the other I've pulled out of a pack about 30 times.

Pack 2 - Guerin, McDonald, Kaberle, Cleary, Markov
Can't have something in EVERY pack.

Pack 3 - Antropov, Harding, Svatos, Vermette, Darren Helm Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
Not bad at all.

Pack 4 - Chara, Alex Pietrangelo Quad Diamond Rookie Gems, Plekanec, Franzen, Carter
Niiiiiice. I just pulled a Pietrangelo in the last round of blasters, but traded it away. Now I have a replacement..... to probably trade away again. And I've crushed the odds, yet again.

Pack 5 - Bouwmeester, Whitney, Cheechoo Double Diamond, Comrie, Drury
A Double Double Diamond box. I don't like Tim Hortons Double Doubles. But I like this type of Double Double.

Pack 6 - Marleau, Fleury Premier Cuts Double Diamond, Brown, Gerber, Jovanovski
Wow......

Recently, In The Game has come out and talked about their Between The Pipes product. The orders from dealers were far fewer than anticipated, but instead of cutting the product entirely, they just jacked up all the boxes with inserts. Did UD do the same with Black Diamond? I mean seriously, I haven't got a bad box yet - I've beaten the odds on every single one. I'm not complaining, but it just seems odd. I don't get this kind of luck on blasters, read my other posts previous to the Black Diamond ones. Am I lucky, or is there something else at work? Who knows. In any case, go buy Black Diamond blasters, especially at $14.97 if you can find them.......

Huh. Well, that's a surprise.

So I take off from work a little early today. Too much week, and I had a few things to do before I picked up my wife from work. As a last stop, I stopped at the London Drugs near her work, and walked over to the card section to see if anything is on sale - HAHAHAHA, because it never is.

My surprise started when I saw 07-08 Victory blasters for $7.99. Not too odd, but that's a good price. Then.... the real surprise.

08-09 Black Diamond Blasters.

...... $14.99. Consequently, I bought 3 of them. No surprise there, I suppose.

Considering I have 18 packs here, I should get:

• 4 Double Diamonds
• 2 Triple Diamonds
• 1 Premier Die Cut
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Diamond
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Jersey

So let's see if buying more of these really makes a difference:
BOX 1
Pack 1 - Malone, Leclaire, Kostitsyn, Gerber, Jovanovski
I suppose a few packs of commons are going to happen

Pack 2 - Vrbata, Parise Double Diamond, Comrie, Drury, Plekanec
A Double Diamond, and I don't have it. Parise is having a great year, and should have a great career.

Pack 3 - Pominville, Kronwall, Ellis, Franzen, Carter
Probably best to just move on.

Pack 4 - Byfuglien, Bryzgalov, Vermette, Kaberle, Giguere Triple Diamond
Already ahead on the Triple Diamonds..... maybe.

Pack 5 - Green, Shanahan, Fleury Premier Die Cuts Double Diamond, Cleary, Langkow
The Double Diamond PC are the same toughness of the Single Diamond. Doesn't really make sense.

Pack 6 - Prospal, Zubov, Morrow, Brown, Luca Sbisa Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
A rookie and two Dallas Stars. That's how to end a box.

Ended box 1 way ahead.

BOX 2
Pack 1 - Shanahan, Latendresse, Cleary, Langkow, Datsyuk Triple Diamond
3 Triple Diamonds in 7 packs. Should be 2 in 16. So I'm doing ok.

Pack 2 - Cole, Redden, Cheechoo Premier Die Cuts Double Diamond, Markov, Carcillo
Up on the Premier Cuts now.

Pack 3 - Thomas, Olli Jokinen Double Diamond, Nylander, Perry, Williams
3 for 3 in inserts in this box. Good start.

Pack 4 - Marleau, Bouwmeester, Alex Pietrangelo Quad Diamond Rookie Gems, Bergeron, Theodore
A negative person would say that this probably eliminates my chances for a James Neal or Fabian Brunnstrom. The positive person says that a Quad was not guaranteed. I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle.

Pack 5 - Whitney, Chara, Little, Sturm, Steve Mason Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
...... and now I have one of the hottest rookies in the NHL. And 5 inserts in 5 packs.

Pack 6 - Harding, Antropov, Svatos, Kovalev, Huet
5 out of 6 is good. And I think I need these for my set.

Box 1 was good, box 2 was VERY good. Box 3?

BOX 3
Pack 1 - Bryzgalov, Kopitar Double Diamond, Gerber, Brown Jovanovski
I have more Triples Diamonds than Double Diamonds. Huh.

Pack 2 - Green, Shanahan, Mario Lemieux Quad Diamond, Comrie, Drury
So now 2 Quads when I was guaranteed none, double the Triple Diamonds I was supposed to get.... and short on Double Diamonds.

Pack 3 - Latendresse, Cole, Plekanec, Franzen, Gaborik Triple Diamond
.............. did Upper Deck completely mess up their odds? I'm not the only one having success, so I hear.

Pack 4 - Redden, Thomas, Marleau, Carter, Vermette
It would be childish to complain at this point.

Pack 5 - Bouwmeester, Vokoun Double Diamond, Kaberle, Cleary, Langkow
Finally hit the Double Diamond quota.

Pack 6 - Whitney, Chara, Harding, Markov, Carcillo
Quiet end to a great three blasters.

So.......

• 4 Double Diamonds - GOT 4
  
• 2 Triple Diamonds - GOT FIVE!!!!!
  
• 1 Premier Die Cut - GOT 2
  
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Diamond - GOT 2
  
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Jersey - NONE

I like jersey cards, but to get one of those as well would have been preposterous. Again, Black Diamond blasters treat me well. Maybe I should go back to London Drugs and buy them out.....

Black Diamond....... hobby packs!!!!!

So I broke down and bought Black Diamond hobby packs. 4 of them to be exact. Let's see how we do with these.

Pack 1 - Malone, Leclaire, Comrie,...... Wayne Gretzky Ruby Quad Jersey 014/100, Drury
................you have GOT to be kidding me....... now that's a pull!!!!!!!!!!



Pack 2 - Vrbata, Plekanec, Martin St Louis Premier Cuts Double Diamond, Franzen, Pominville
Still good.

Pack 3 - Zubov, Bergeron, Jason Spezza Triple Diamond, Shanahan, Latendresse, Kronwall
........... seriously. A six card pack even!

Pack 4 - Carter, Vermette, Justin Williams, Kari Lehtonen Quad Jersey, Theodore
..... unfrikkin believable. The Lehtonen is 4 colours too!!!

Hobby packs are cool. I'm stunned. Oh, and while at the hobby shop, I bought the Double Diamond Doan.

Yet another Black Diamond blaster

I know. I'm not that bright..... but my hobby store guy told me to buy these instead of hobby packs. And they were there. And I wanted to buy them. I feel good about this one. Really. I do.

Pack 1 - Ohlund, Streit, Brule, Plekanec, Franzen
....... I've almost got the complete set. I really hope I need one of these......

Pack 2 - Rolston, Prospal, Carter, Vermette, Nikolai Kulemin Triple Diamond RC
At 1:8, beat the triple RC odds yet again.

Pack 3 - Zubov, Malone, Leclaire, Kaberle, Cleary
....... I've almost got the complete set. I really hope I need one of these......

Pack 4 - Kostitsyn, Brad Richards Double Diamond, Langkow, Markov, Carcillo
Nice pull on the Richards, but that probably means no Doan yet again. I think I have 10 each of Kostitsyn and Carcillo.

Pack 5 - Vrbata, Pominville, Kronwall, Joe Sakic Quad Jersey, Perry, Nylander
................ THE STREAK CONTINUES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sakic is a good pull too, could be a lot worse.

Pack 6 - Ellis, Byfuglien, Williams, Bergeron, Dany Heatley Triple Diamond
Yet another Triple Diamond, and yet again..... Heatley.

One double as advertised, but two triple diamonds and one quad jersey. Yet again, a very good box. That should ensure that I will do this again. Tee hee.