Rules Are Made To Be Broken, Right?

I'm usually very regimented when it comes to my card purchases.  If you've checked in here even semi-regularly over the past couple of years you've heard me drone on and on about staying away from busting wax and instead using my hobby funds to focus on cards I know will fit my collection.  For the most part I've stuck with this philosophy, and it's paying off very nicely.  In fact, I've stayed committed to this so strictly that if my records are correct the only retail wax purchase I've made in more than 6 months was a single (underwhelming) blaster of 2014 Topps Series 1.

Well, on Friday I decided to reward myself for a long week on the road for work.  I needed a few things at Target and while there grabbed a single 20-card jumbo pack of Heritage.  Feels good to scratch the itch every so often.

Would I pull a Real One autograph?  No.

How about a Target exclusive colored parallel?  Negative.

My hopes were the same as they are whenever I take the rare opportunity to open a pack...new Red Sox cards, anything else that satisfies my random collecting interests, and hopefully some trade bait.

Before we get started, I have to say that the value in these hanger packs is better than I expected.  $4.99 for 20 cards works out to a quarter a piece which isn't too shabby by modern standards.  At least that's what I told myself.  Alright, here's the top half...

A hat-less Rick Porcello starts things off.  Yay.  This guy is certainly durable with 5 straight seasons of 27-plus starts before age 25.

At this point, just two cards in, I'm already starting to think this wasn't worth the five bucks.  Don't recognize either of these two, and I'm an AL guy.

Alright this is slightly better, only because it's kind of comical.  I'd seen this one posted on roughly 700 blogs before pulling it.

Don't recognize these two either...

Okay here's where the pack got much better.  This is a Chrome Manny Machado, which looks pretty slick in person and is numbered to 999.  As a Red Sox fan I've had the pleasure of seeing this guy play plenty of times and he's definitely going to be a star for many years to come.  I think I'll hold onto this for now unless someone's got a Red Sox chrome parallel to offer up.

Here's my lone insert.  I'm a big Marichal fan, and Colon has certainly had a lengthy and sometimes successful career, but I'm not generally a fan of combo cards that mix current and retired players.  This one is off to the trade pile.

Yawn...

Second former Red Sox player in this pack. Mark's 2012 season with Boston was rough to say the least, so it was nice to see him rebound so well with the Bucs last season.

I can't stand this guy's stupid "arrow shooting celebration" after a save.  Something about the Tampa Bay Rays on the 1965 Topps design just seems wrong to me.

We finish it off with a Mets 2014 Rookie Stars card.  At least I can send this off to The Card Raven or This Way to the Clubhouse.  Halfway home and, at least for this collector, I've got a dud other than the Machado.  The second half of the pack turned things around though...

Good omen right off the bat, my best card from the first section in base form.  I'll be hanging onto this one as well for now...

Here's a guy for whom many are predicting a dramatic decline in 2014...

Hackenbush, yours if you want it!

I kind of like the classic batting pose on this Adam Eaton, but not enough to save it from being relegated to the trade box.

Definite trade bait...

Man, I really got an Orioles hot pack here.  The Machado, Machado chrome, and now this Chris Davis, which is a short print:

Part of me wants to keep this one just because of the amazing season Crush enjoyed last year and the fact that that's reflected in the stats on the back.  I'd be willing to part with it for a Sox SP though, or if it's needed by anyone I trade with (Douglas, Mark?).

Score!  17 cards in and I land a Red Sox card.  It is definitely going to be interesting to see how Pierzynski does in Boston this year, but if he has an average season he should have no problem putting up comparable numbers to what the Sox got out of the position in 2013.  I was happy to pull this one because I think it's the first card released that has A.J. with the Red Sox.

A card only a set collector could love.  Trade bait.

This one really sealed the deal in terms of making the pack a win.  Two Red Sox out of 20 cards is about all I could ask for.

Finishing things off, a great shot of an under-rated player.

In the end, that turned out decent after all.  Maybe I should try a pack or two a little more often...