2012 Topps WWE Blaster: A Rare, Timely Break

It's admission time, boys and girls.  You see, I am a wrestling fan.  A very big wrestling fan.  One of those fans who grew up in the 1980s, watching not only the WWF with classic stars like the Iron Sheik and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, but also the NWA with the Four Horsemen and Dusty Rhodes and WCCW with the Freebirds and the Von Erichs. 

Like all hobbies, my love of wrestling waxes and wanes, but currently, I am a die-hard wrestling fan.  I'm the fan who goes to independent wrestling shows from New York to Pennsylvania.  I am the fan who when Daniel Bryan was released from the WWE, went to the EVOLVE show in Rahway, NJ to see him one last time on the independent circuit.  I am the fan who orders every Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show from California, because without question, they are the best promotion in America today with all of the top independent wrestling stars you have never heard.  And most importantly, I am the wrestling fan who went to Wal-Mart after not finding WWE cards at Target both on the way to and on the way home from work and purchased the last blaster in the store. 

Base Cards

The base cards are critical to the success of any set.  With WWE sets, the base cards rarely disappoint.  Wrestling lends itself to action shots and Topps really knows how to get these shots to pop.  Looking at the Chris Jericho base card, you can almost see him pulling his opponent's legs off as the image almost appears to start coming off the card.  The remainder of the set is also great, with the action shots really taking center stage in the set.  The backs are written by Mick Foley and quite interesting, even on the occasional card where I have never heard of the person.  Scott Stanford, I'm looking your way.  The one disappointment is that I did not pull cards of either of my two favorite wrestlers in the main set, Daniel Bryan and Antonio Cesaro. 

Inserts

The best decision Topps made was to include one Relic insert in each blaster box.  In a hobby box, you are only guaranteed two hits, one relic and either a second relic or potential autograph.  Not being an autograph fan and not wanting to pay my LCS $60 or so for a hobby box, the blaster was easily the right choice for me. 


As you can see, I ended up with one of the better relics in the set with Sheamus.   While not a big Sheamus fan, it is far better to get a Sheamus relic, who is popular and a champion, than say a Hunico or Hornswoggle relic, which is a real kick in the pants.  I would have far preferred a Daniel Bryan or CM Punk relic, I cannot complain.



The remaining insert sets are also well done.  The Howard Finkel Hall of Fame card makes up for only getting two Hall of Fame inserts in the box.  I also ended up with two Blue border inserts and did quite well there as well, getting the Kelly Kelly seen above and a Sheamus.

In all, this was one of the best boxes of new product that I have opened.  It would be better if the relic card was packaged in something other than a clear wrapper and I would have preferred more old-time wrestlers in the set.  However, if these are the biggest complaints you have about a product, you have done quite well.  Well enough to me looking forward to buying another blaster in order to complete the base set.