Box / Pack Breaks

Panini Limited gets its name, I assume, from the fact that every card is serial numbered. The base, parallels, inserts, jerseys and autographed cards all proudly display a serial number on the front of the card. A box of 2012-13 Panini Limited costs around $80 and contains 7 cards. Three of them are either jersey or memorabilia cards. I recently opened up a box–here’s what I got: Continue reading “2012-13 Panini Limited Box Break”

Artifacts was slated to coincide with the beginning of the 2012-13 NHL season. But we all know how that went. (For those of you reading this blog post 30 years from now, the 2012-13 season was delayed by a 3-month lockout.) Other than the rookie redemption cards, the labor dispute didn’t really have much of an effect on Artifacts, which is laden with current and former star players, as well as three memorabilia hits per box. Each box contains 10 4-card packs and costs around $100.

Here are the results of this box break: Continue reading “2012-13 Artifacts Box Break”

The cancellation of several sets by Upper Deck and Panini means that O-Pee-Chee will be the largest set of the 2012-13 season. There are 500 base cards, 50 Marquee Rookie cards and 50 Marquee Legends cards, making a total of 600 cards. There are several different parallel sets and a few interesting inserts, like Stickers and Pop-Ups, giving this year’s OPC set some nice variety.

I recently opened another box of OPC. Here are the results: Continue reading “2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Box Break”

Motown Madness, released at the end of February 2013, continues In The Game’s series of team-centric hockey card sets. Previously, ITG has released sets focusing on the Montreal Canadiens (Blue, Blanc et Rouge) and the Philadelphia Flyers (Broad Street Bullies). This set is all about the Detroit Red Wings.

A box of Motown Madness currently sells for around $90 and contains 12 cards. Each box guarantees 4 autographs and 2 game-used memorabilia cards.

Here are the results of the box I opened. Continue reading “Motown Madness Box Break”

Upper Deck Series One was released in November 2012. A box will cost you roughly $70 or $80, and contains 24 8-card packs. You can pretty much expect 6 Young Guns, 4 Canvas cards and 2 memorabilia cards in every box.

Here are the results of my most recent box break. Continue reading “2012-13 Upper Deck Series 1 Box Break”

Back in December, there was seemingly no NHL season in sight. But that didn’t stop Upper Deck from releasing their 2012-13 Black Diamond set. This set  has no redemption cards–just base cards, short-prints (at various levels of scarcity), and jersey cards (and we KNOW what I generally think of those). You might pull an autographed card, but at 1 in every 60 packs, your odds aren’t the greatest.

A box will cost you roughly between $90 to $110, and contains 24 five-card packs. Also included is a 25th “Bonus Pack” which has 5 cards from 2012-13 Upper Deck Ice.

By the way, these cards are all metallic-y, so they do not scan too well.

Here is what I got inside the box I opened: Continue reading “2012-13 Black Diamond Box Break”

I 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.

Continue reading “2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Case Break”

About a week ago, I went to my local Target and purchased 4 O-Pee-Chee “Fat Boxes” and 1 Fat Pack. I did not have time to open them–I haven’t had much time to do anything fun lately–so there they sat, on the floor of my hockey room, in the Target shopping bag, minding their own business.

Then the other day, Gomez the Basset Hound decided that he wanted to rip some wax–and not the way most collectors do.

Keep in mind the following:

• The bag had no food in it–only hockey cards.
• The bag had been sitting on the floor all week–in plain sight and within reach.
• As far as dogs go, Basset Hounds have the second-best sense of smell–second only to the Bloodhound and 800 times stronger than a human’s sense of smell.

So the dumb dog should have sniffed the bag and went about his business. But noooo--he had to bite the box open, just to make sure that there was no candy or gum or anything edible inside it.

The result…

The good news is that the cards rest in the bottom of the box, and Gomez tore into the top. None of the cards were harmed. Which brings us to this box break:

39 base card
No surprises here, as most of the cards in this box are going to be base cards.This mid-range photo of Patrick Kane was one of the best of the 39 base cards.

1 Marquee Rookie
Like my first “Fat Box,” this one also had a Marquee Rookie. Brenden Dillon is a defenseman who played 1 game for the Dallas Stars last year.

1 Sticker
It appears that every Fat Box will have 1 Marquee Rookie and 1 sticker. But the reason why I bought this was the next card, which you can only get in these boxes:

1 Marquee Legends Gold Card
What the…? I already got a Patrick Roy Marquee Legends Gold card in my first box. There are 10 different cards, and now I got 2 of the same one. I was hoping, you know, to get one I didn’t already have. I’m debating if I am going to chase this Gold insert set.

***
NOTE: I am definitely building this set. Cash flow has returned, and I plan on picking up a few hobby boxes in the next week. I will them post my Want List and Trade list for 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee.

***
NOTE:  If you come across the October 29 issue of The Hockey News, I have another “In the Cards” article published on page 11.

My good buddy Phil has supported Puck Junk since I launched the site in 2007. He’s not really a hockey fan per se, but he was always willing to proofread my articles, and he’s always good for a game of NHL ’94 on the SNES. Phil has lived in Cologne, Germany for the past two years, and brought me some German Hockey Cards last time he visited Chicago.

These “playercards,” as they are called on the wrapper, are from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), which is the top-tier professional league in Germany. Each pack has 6 cards. You probably haven’t heard of most of these guys–but that’s OK, because I haven’t either.

#24 – Constantin Braun – Berlin Polar Bears
Braun is a defenseman and was a 6th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2006.

#117 – Thomas Holzmann – Iserlohn Roosters
Holzmann seems to be a fringe player. A look at his stats on HockeyDB shows that he bounces between the DEL and the second-tier league in Germany.

#10 – Greg Moore – Augsburger Panther
Hey! A name I can pronounce! Greg Moore is an American who was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2003. He played 10 games in the NHL–6 for the New York Rangers and 4 for the Columbus Blue Jackets–and spent most of his pro career in the American Hockey League. Last year was his first in the DEL, where he finished 4th in team scoring.

#146 – Danijel Kovacic – Krefeld Penguins
Danijel does not play a lot of games for the Krefeld Penguins–a team that uses an insane cartoon bird on their logo. The photo on the front shows some great action of Danijel about to trap the puck.

#115 – Jassen Cullimore- Iserlohn Roosters
I know this guy! I think we all remember Jassen Cullimore during his 15-plus seasons in the NHL. He played in 51 out of 52 games for the Iserlohn Roosters in the 2011-12 season, which was his first year in Europe.

#67 – Thomas Oppenheimer – Hamburg Freezers
Oppenheimer is currently in his 7th season in the DEL. You know…if they got rid of the advertisements, that Hamburg Freezers jersey would be totally awesome (and not just mostly awesome).

What I like about these cards
The design on the front is very clean, with the player name, number, position, team logo and league logo all nicely arranged at the bottom of the card. Since the players’ uniforms are so cluttered with ads, it was a wise move to design a card that is decidedly un-cluttered.

I also like the backs of the cards. You get a helmet-less photograph of the player, vitals and 5 lines of statistics. Such a nice, simple, effective use of space.

If Upper Deck Victory was designed as good as this set, I’d be a fan of Victory.

What I don’t like about these cards
The card number is very small and not very noticeable–it is buried in the lower right corner on the card back, if anyone is looking for it. Should I ever put a set of these together, it is gonna be murder sorting them out.

So, what do you think of these cards?

Even though I love everything about the new O-Pee-Chee set, I have yet to take the plunge and buy a whole box. Part of me really wants to buy a whole case, but in order to do that I need to accumulate a bit of disposable income (well, more than a bit actually). The summer months were rough for me financially, but now that I am teaching again (yay Fall semester!) I should have some funds to buy at least a few boxes next month.

In the meantime, I purchased a hobby pack to tide me over. It was not the pack to end all packs, but it was still a darn good pack. No, I did not get a Gretzky autograph or some 1-in-6400 deckle edge insert card.

Still, I think I got my money’s worth.

5 Base Cards

Let’s see…one Red Wing, one Flame, one Predator and two Sharks. Nice–none of those silly Eastern Conference teams!

1 Retro Parallel

One big reason that I am NOT buying retail packs is because you get a Retro Parallel in every other retail pack.. In hobby packs, the Retros are one per pack. Getting a Retro here is no big deal–because you are supposed to get one–but I enjoy the card nonetheless.

1 Rainbow Parallel

I can do without the Rainbow Parallels. These fall 1 in every 4 packs.

1 Sticker

Am I the only one who wishes that the sticker design was instead the base card design? I think the stickers look fabulous–a combination of old OPC hockey and old Topps baseball. Stickers happen at a rate of 1 in every 3 packs, so I think I did pretty good getting a 1-in-4 card and a 1-in-3 card in the same pack.

---

Contest Update
Twelve hockey card collectors have participated in the One-Card Challenge so far. As of this writing, Captain Canuck is narrowly in the lead with 5 points. Kazi is in 2nd place with 4 points, and Dave H is in 3rd with 3 points.

But it is still anyone’s game! There are 13 days left until the end of the contest. Give a card–or receive a card–to complete a set and get a point in the standings. Give me a card (hint, hint) and get TWO points in the standings.

Rules for the contest and a list of what “last cards” are needed can be seen here.

(And Jimmy, I have emailed you about that Arturs Irbe card you have for me–twice in fact.)