2 for 1 blasters

Went to the local WalMart tonight, and saw a package deal - one Artifacts blaster and one Victory blaster, for the normal $24.99 of a blaster. Went over both Victory and Artifacts for 09 earlier..... well, the 07-08 is pretty much the same. Won't find much in the Victory, and feast or famine on the Artifacts. Let's start with the Victory.

Pack 1 - Pettinger, Marian Hossa, Heatley, Jason Blake, Fernandez, David Krejci rookie
Insert or rookei in every pack. Krejci would be considered a pretty decent one.

Pack 2 - Lindros, Forsberg, Luongo, Crosby, Vrbata, Lecavalier Game Breakers.
Pretty good pack there.

Pack 3 - Perry, Derek Roy, Kolzig, Datsyuk Clark, Win A Trip Or Something card, Tomi Maki rookie
From Krejci to Maki. Now THAT'S a drop.

Pack 4 - Kiprusoff, Guerin, Brind'Amour, Gaborik, Lundqvist FaceOff card, Ovechkin Stars On Ice insert
Cool.... the FaceOff card is more or less a promo for EA's NHL 08 game, gives a hint on how to play the game. That takes me back a few years, they did that in the first few years of the EA NHL games, except you got one per game.....

Pack 5 - Shanahan, Wolski, Fedorov, Hemsky, Toskala Gold, Ryan Callahan rookie
Gold cards are 1:36 packs, so this is a surprise. I do need the Doan gold, but that would be asking a lot.

Pack 6 - Elias, Thomas, Saku Koivu, Lehtonen, O'Neill, Olli Jokinen Game Breakers
Look! Hockey cards!

Pack 7 - Tellqvist, Horton, Scott Niedermayer, Sundin, Carter, Martin St Louis Stars on Ice
I like the Stars on Ice cards.

Pack 8 - Vyborny, Thornton, Justin Williams, Raycroft, Smyth, Jack Johnson rookie
Another one of the decent rookies in the set.

Pack 9 - Sykora, Semin, Brule, Daniel Sedin, Briere, Thornton Game Breakers
I assume by Game Breakers that they don't include the playoffs.......

Pack 10 - Michalek, Malkin, Modano, Legace, Sullivan, Win Something or Something card, Daniel Carcillo rookie
Modano!

Pack 11 - St. Louis, Keith, Tucker, Savard, Straka, Michael Ryder Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice? Michael Ryder? Seriously?

For a box of Victory, that was entertaining. Some good rookie pulls, a Gold, and they are decent cards, although UD has very much left the clear photography for other uses.

To the Artifacts, where I am expecting nothing, and hoping for more. To be more specific, I should most likely get one insert (rookie, redemption, jersey), but that's not guaranteed.

Pack 1 - Jagr, Bouchard, Heatley, Cheechoo, Briere
............. just way too much going on in these cards. The design is just odd. Much better this year.

Pack 2 - Emery, Semin, Olli Jokinen, Fedorov, Yashin
Hmm.

Pack 3 - Henrik Sedin, Sakic, SHAAAANE DOOOOAN, Ryder, Mason
Yeah, I have the Doan. Still nice to pull one from a pack.

Pack 4 - Fleury, Ovechkin, Naslund, Phaneuf, Alfredsson
Ovechkin is a decent pull. I guess.

Pack 5 - Leclaire, St. Louis, Bergeron, Horcoff, Sundin
I could have bought a Black Diamond blaster for $24.99, or two Collector's Choice for the same price. Just saying.

Pack 6 - Gaborik, Lehtonen, Forsberg, Legace, Straka
Or I could have saved my money and bought nothing. There's that too.

Pack 7 - Drury, Whitney, Pronger, Biron, Modano
Modano!

Pack 8 - Ruutu, Steen, Datsyuk, Brodeur, Daniel Sedin
WHEW! Got both Sedins. I was getting worried there.

And folks, this is why you don't spend full buck on an Artifacts blaster. One "hit" could be a card out of 1499. Or a rookie you've never heard of. And neither would be worth anything.

In fact, the Victory would be a better buy. Seriously.