2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Case Break

2012-13 O-Pee-Chee CaseI bought a sealed case–12 hobby boxes–of 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey. Below is the breakdown of what I got in each box. NOTE: This blog post has a lot of images.

Each box contains 32 packs, and each pack has 8 cards. For this case break, I decided to scan the best 3 cards from each box–no need to see any of the base cards (which will be detailed in a future review). I have also listed a summary of the contents from each box.

Box #1

Marian Hossa “O-Pee-Chee Signatures” – Within my first few packs of Box #1, I pulled my first autographed card. These “O-Pee-Chee Signatures” are seeded 1 in every 192 packs. I was definitely happy to get a Blackhawks autograph for a change (I seem to get a lot of Buffalo Sabres autographs for some reason).

Retro Parallel Peter Stastny – The Retro Parallel Legends have to be the nicest-looking cards in the set. Of course, they riff off of 1960-61 Topps, but that is not a bad thing.

Rainbow Parallel “Marquee Rookie” Mario Lemieux – I’m usually not a big fan of the whole “shiny parallel” thing, but this Mario Lemieux card–depicting him during the 1984 pre-season–is quite striking when the light hits it right.

Summary of Box #1

  • 183 base cards
  • 7 Marquee Rookies
  • 9 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 O-Pee-Chee Signatures Autograph

Box #2

Cory Schneider “O-Pee-Chee Signatures” – In my second box, I got my second of 3 expected autographed cards. I think Schneider is a fine goaltender, but man-oh-man, I would have “settled” for an autograph from “backup” Roberto Luongo instead.

Rainbow Parallel “Marquee Legend” Cam Neely – Getting a shiny version of a legend is preferable to getting a short print of Ladislav Smid–because no one “player collects” Ladislav Smid. Cam, on the other hand, makes for nice trade bait.

Mario Lemieux “Pop-Ups” – Not really a “pop-up,” it is more of a “cut-out” in the same style as the box artwork.

Summary of Box #2

  • 183 base cards
  • 7 Marquee Rookies
  • 9 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 2 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 3 Pop-Ups
  • 1 O-Pee-Chee Signatures Autograph

Box #3

Buffalo Sabres O-Pee-Chee Patches – These occur 1 in every 4 boxes (96 packs) and are pretty thick. Thus, the pack it came in had a few less base cards. Too bad it is of the Buffalo Sabres; I was really hoping for a patch card of the purple Red Wings octopus.

Rainbow Parallel “Marquee Legend” Ted Lindsay Lindsay is in the Hall of Fame and was instrumental in starting the National Hockey League Players’ Association. Think about that next time you hear the word “lockout.”

Mario Lemieux Sticker – One of my goals was to get the entire 100-count sticker set. These fall about 1 in every 3 packs.

There was also one defective card that was “cut off” at the top:

Then again, this might be the ultra-rare “Concussion Variant” of the Eric Lindros Pop-Ups card.

Summary of Box #3

  • 179 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 10 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 O-Pee-Chee Patch

Box #4

Chris Kreider “Marquee Rookie” – Kreider talliekd 5 goals and 2 assists in 18 playoff games for the New York Rangers last season. His rookie card seems to be the only one anyone cares about in this set.

Rainbow BLACK Parallel “Marquee Legend” Brad Park – Rainbow Black Parallel Marquee Legend…can we add any more descriptive words for this card? How about the fact that it is numbered 51 of 100.

Rainbow Parallel “Marquee Legend” Brett Hull Shiny Hull > Shiny Smid

Summary of Box #4

  • 184 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 10 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 “blank-back” Retro…oh yeah, they went there

Box #5

Chris Kreider Retro Parallel “Marquee Rookie” – I am building the Retro set this year, so I am glad that I won’t have to track down and pay for a Kreider Retro RC. Like the Retro Legends, I also dig the Retro RCs.

Wayne Gretzky “Marquee Rookie” – What does Upper Deck do when they don’t have enough eligible rookies to round out their set? They include “rookie cards” of Hall of Fame players. At least they used a rookie-year era photo of Gretz.

Bobby Orr sticker – Unfortunately, Orr is not pictured in his Black Hawks uniform (J/K LOL!)

Summary of Box #5

  • 184 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 2 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 “blank-back” Retro (because “mistakes” are “valuable”)

Box #6

Jonathan Toews “Pop-Ups” – Toews is pictured on the wrappers and box. He is also pictured on the box and wrappers of this year’s Upper Deck Series One. Is Jonathan Toews the NEW Sidney Crosby?

Denis Savard & Phil Esposito Retro “Marquee Legends” – None of my other inserts were that notable, so these two cards are my second and third-best pulls in the box.

Summary of Box #6

  • 184 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 2 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups

Box #7

Patrick Roy “Pop-Ups” – I don’t know why I like these “cut-outs” so much, but I think I am going to try and get all 50 of them.

Rainbow BLACK Parallel Bobby Clarke – Numbered 30 of 100.

Retro Parallel Checklist – Yep, this box really did not yield much else, so here is a Retro Parallel of a checklist.

Also, I scored a “Torey Krug Hat Trick“:

I got Torey Krug’s “Marquee Rookie” card…

..and the Rainbow parallel of Torey Krug…

…AND the Rainbow BLACK parallel of the card, numbered 11 of 100–all in the same box! I hope this Tory Krug Hope this guy pans out.

Summary of Box #7

  • 184 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 4 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 1 Pop-Ups

Box #8

Logan Couture “Team Canada Signatures” – Couture had a very good season for the Sharks last year (31 goals and 34 assists in 80 games). So, why am I less-than-enthused with this being my “case hit?”

Retro Parallel Mike Modano – If only because of the green Minnesota North Stars uniform. I used to HATE the “No Stars”…funny how time changes your perspective, eh?

Wayne Gretzky sticker – Hands-down, the best sticker in the set.

Summary of Box #8

  • 183 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 Team Canada Signatures

Box #9

Montreal Maroons patch – I will admit, I had big ideas of “cashing in” on these patch cards. Some were selling for over $100. But this one…? If there are any Montreal Maroons fans still alive, they are probably not bidding on cards on eBay.

Joe Sakic “Marquee Rookies” – While this is more or less a “filler card” in the Marquee Rookies subset, at least it shows Sakic from his rookie year–as evidenced by his wearing number 88. He switched to 19 the next season.

Retro Parallel Bobby Orr “Marquee Legend” – A cool card of a cool retired player. (Yeah, I know–calling Bobby Orr “cool” is an understatement.)

Summary of Box #9

  • 178 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 O-Pee-Chee Patch

Box #10

Edmonton Oilers Patch – Others like this one have sold on eBay for 12 whole dollars! Man, I feel like a jackass…

Rainbow Parallel Eric Lindros “Marquee Legends” – Part of me still wishes the “Big E” was still playing (even though I made a concussion joke earlier in this very same blog post).

Rainbow Parallel Henrik Lundqvist – Other than the Oilers patch and shiny Lindros card, this box was pretty much devoid of anything cool. Thus, this shiny parallel of Henrik Lundqvist qualifies as “third-best” card in this box.

Summary of Box #10

  • 178 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 11 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 O-Pee-Chee Patch

Box #11

Retro Parallel Sidney Crosby – I love the Retro Parallels of the Legends and Rookies, but the design of the Retro base cards looks great too.There are enough Crosby Collectors (TM) out there, so I am glad whenever I get a Crosby card and don’t need to outbid or overpay for one.

Mario Lemieux “Marquee Rookie” – Not as cool as the shiny version that I pulled in my first box, this card still gets mad points for using a pre-season photo. It is too bad the Penguins ditched the canary-yellow jerseys; they would have fit in nicely in the 1990s.

Carey Price “Pop-Ups” – Moving along…

Summary of Box #11

  • 184 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 10 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 “blank-back” Retro

Box #12

Minnesota North Stars Patch – In my 12th and final box, I pulled my favorite patch: the Minnesota North Stars logo.

Retro Parallel Peter Stastny “Marquee Legend” – One of the greatest ambassadors of hockey, Stastny is now a representative for Slovakia in the European Parliament.

Alex Ovechkin sticker – “Hey there, Ovie. Buy you a soda after the game.”

Summary of Box #12

  • 179 base cards
  • 8 Marquee Rookies
  • 8 Marquee Legends
  • 32 Retro parallels
  • 10 stickers
  • 8 Rainbow parallels
  • 3 Rainbow Black parallels
  • 2 Pop-Ups
  • 1 O-Pee-Chee Patch

 In Summary…

  • I assembled two complete base sets, was 3 cards shy of a third base set and 23 cards short of a fourth base set.
  • I assembled one complete set of Short Prints (501-600) for my collection, and am 18 cards away from finishing a second set of Short Prints.
  • I got 99 of the 100 stickers–I only need Marc-Andre Fleury
  • There were no doubles of any Rainbow, Rainbow Black or Retro parallel cards.

Combined with packs I had previously purchased, I was able to complete a third base set, and almost finish off 2 more.

I need some base cards, some Short Prints, one sticker and many Retro Parallels. I have many base, some Short Prints, numerous stickers and a ton of shiny cards for trade, too.

Please check my Want List and my Trade List— hopefully, we can work out a trade.

mm

Author: Sal Barry

Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk

10 thoughts on “2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Case Break”

  1. Well even though you didn’t hit the mojo patches, you did land three really rare autos!

    I think you can get a fair chunk of your cash back that way if you really wanted. I can’t believe the Hossa books for 100 bucks, making it the top BV pull.

  2. So I’m curious, Sal, were you happy overall with the case? Would you do it again?

    Those retro parallels are a thing of beauty!

    1. I enjoyed opening all those packs, making a couple of sets, and being (more or less) guaranteed all of the big hits.

      I wish I got better “hits,” though.

      I guess it depends if I make back some of my money. I knew I could not expect to break even, even if I sold every card. I suppose if I make back half of what I spent, I would rate this little experiment an overall success and try it again.

  3. I’m down to needing only 5 cards to complete the retro set…
    18, 318, 488, 498, 540 nobody of big name quality…

    and 11 cards to finish the regular set
    516, 528, 546, 551, 557, 568, 573, 574, 577, 584, 585,

    I’ve finished the stickers, but the pop ups I’m woefully short. Still need 33 of them 🙁

    if you can help me out, let me know. I’ve got a small stack of retro for swapping, I’ll check your list.

  4. Cool break. I think from watching Logan Couture I think we have come to the same conclusion. I think he is a good player but suspect he will probably only put up 18 to 30 goals on the high end per season over his career.

  5. I loved reading this post, even though it’s dated. I just purchased the entire 2012-13 pop-ups set, which I had been eyeing for about two years. I have a soft spot for them because the originals from 1936-37 are so unique. Also, the choice of players in the 2012-13 pop-ups set stands up. Including Pelle Lindbergh was particularly inspired.

    But, I just love your dedication to the hobby. The little things in life. Your autograph pulls were arguably half-decent, in retrospect. Although, in this day and age, it’s probably (definitely) cheaper to buy autos directly on eBay, and getting the rush of set breaks by watching them on YouTube.

    It’s a shame the hobby has become such a ripoff, from a hobby box standpoint. The positive is: OPC remains one of the few options decently priced with enough low-end goodies to dip in each year without feeling too guilty.

    1. Thank you for your comments, and your kind words. I try hard to write articles that are enjoyable. Even though this one is now four years old, I am glad you got enjoyment from it.

      Since I’ve never been able to get Marian Hossa’s autograph in person, getting a signed Hossa card in a pack was still one of my favorite finds.

      I agree about the hobby becoming too expensive. It will probably be the subject of a future article or podcast on this site.

      Thanks again for reading.

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