Category: Box / Pack Breaks

Recently, I went to a card show and picked up a box of 1992-93 O-Pee-Chee Premier hockey cards for $8.

As much as I like old cards and opening packs, this set left me wishing I just bought a complete set online. The problem with that, though, is that many people want to charge you $8 to ship a 132-card set.

So, I thought that I’d buy this box and get a complete set.

I thought wrong. Even though a box would yield you 252 “regular” cards and 36 insert cards, I came surprisingly short of completing a set. Here’s the breakdown of what I got:

Regular cards
– 115 cards towards my set
– 94 doubles
– 42 triples
– 1 quadruple

Insert cards
– 32 “Star Performers” (22 plus 10 doubles)
– 5 “Top Rookies” (4 plus 1 double)

Overall, I now have 88% of a complete set, 100% of the 22-card “Star Performers insert set and 100% of the 4-card “Top Rookies” insert set. Even though it’s cool that I got all the inserts, I really didn’t need them, since I bought those a long time ago.

As you can see, I got a lot of doubles–and quite a few triples too. I even got a quadruple, of Tampa Bay Lightning player Joe Reekie.

Many of the packs had a “packaging flaw”, where you would get two cards of the same player in the same pack. One particular pack gave me three doubles in the same pack, as I pulled two cards of Glen Murray, two cards of Gordie Roberts and two cards of Guy Hebert.

But I ended up with one more insert card than I should have–37 instead of 36…so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

Another interesting tidbit: these cards seemed to “segregate” themselves. In every pack that I pulled a card of Reggie Savage, I also got a card of Darren Banks in the very same pack! I don’t know if the card-packing machines in London, Ontario really intended to put both black players in the same pack, though; it was probably coincidental.

If anyone has doubles and can help me out, I still need 17 cards to complete my set–see my Wantlist here.

I also have numerous doubles to trade of both the base and insert cards, as well as complete insert sets for trade. Reply here, or Contact Me if interested.

Look for a review of this set once I complete it.

I went to a card shop on Sunday, and purchased–among other things–a box of 2006-07 Power Play hockey cards. In retrospect, I paid more than I should have for the box–I now see that they don’t sell for much on eBay…damn. But at the time, the price that I paid seemed like a good deal–the card shop owner marked down the price, since it was last year’s product.

I love opening packs, and I figured a full box would make me a complete base set, plus maybe give me a chance to pick up a few special cards. Besides, there’s “one jersey card per box, on average”.

Without further ado, here’s what these 24 packs yielded:

– 131 base cards
– 6 Prospects (Yan Stastny, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Steve Reiger, Cole Jarrett, Matt Carle & Jeremy Williams)
– 2 Goal Robbers (Manny Fernandez & Marty Turco)
– 3 In Action (Sidney Crosby, Henrik Zetterberg & Matts Sundin)
– 1 Last Man Standing (Chris Simon)
– 1 “Specialist” jersey swatch card (Brad Richards)

I’ve got mixed feelings about these cards.

The set, overall, is just OK. One hundred base cards, and the design is not all that great. I did get a complete base set though, which is always nice.

The Brad Richards card isn’t really worth all that much–I see two currently *not* selling on eBay for 99 cents each, and one that did not sell about two weeks back. It’s the risk you take. Sometimes you get a well-sought after jersey or autograph card, but most times you don’t. No big deal. Richards is a good player, so I don’t mind having this card around if I can’t trade it to someone.

The 30 rookie cards in this set–of which I got six of–are nothing special, either. No Malkin, Staal or Paul Stastny (though his brother Yan is in this set). Why go through the trouble of making the rookie cards six per box if they are going to be of mostly ho-hum players?

I guess that’s why these cards don’t sell for all that much. But then again, I am forgetting *why* I collect. Sure, value is a part of it–I’d be lying if I said that was not a part of it. But what is, and always will be, the most important is the fun factor.

And what was fun, though, is opening the packs, and building a set (yes, even if it’s just a 100-card base set).

Beckett Hockey Magazine suggested that if you want your girlfriend to like, or at least understand, your hobby, then you should ask her to open some packs of cards with you. Well, it worked for me.

After going to the card shop, my girlfriend Shellie and I got dinner and opened some of the packs before dinner, and the rest over desert. She seemed to enjoy opening these packs even more than I did. Whereas I would open the pack, glance at the names, and see if I got any special cards, she would look at each and every card, and notice certain things about many of them. She mentioned that Todd Bertuzzi looked intense and creepy (“You have no idea!” I told her), and the fact that the Ducks are no longer “Mighty”.

So, OK, I overpaid a bit for these “unpopular” cards. But I did get a complete base set, a Sidney Crosby “In Action” card, a lackluster jersey card (white swatch, oh yeah!), some doubles to trade…and the enjoyment of opening some packs. I guess that’s not so bad.

Sooner or later, I will post a review about this set.

My last tin of 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee. That is, unless I decide to buy more. Here’s what this last batch of 13 packs got me:

– 66 base cards
– 7 Marquee Rookies
– 1 Base Parallels
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 2 Team Checklists
– 1 OPC Buyback (1989-90 Pierre Turgeon)

Sweet! More team checklists. I think I have over half of them now (I did get some duplicates). In addition to all 500 base cards and all 100 Marquee Rookies, I am trying to get all 30 Team Checklists. The other insert cards I can take or leave.

Speaking of take or leave, I got another card from the infamous ’89-90 OPC set–a card of former sniper Pierre Turgeon. Sigh…another quarter card.

After opening three blaster boxes, five wax boxes and five collectors tins, I still need 14 base cards and eight Marquee Rookies. I also need nine Team Checklists, as well as other insert cards…should I decide to pursue those insert sets.

Of course, now I have tons of cards to trade. So, if any of you out there are trying to build this 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee set, drop me a line at sjb44@hotmail.com

Results from my fourth OPC tin. Remember, there are only 13 packs per tin…

– 66 base cards
– 7 Marquee Rookies
– 1 Base Parallels
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 2 Team Checklists
– 1 OPC buyback

Hey! Team Checklists! I haven’t gotten any of those in a while. I also got a 1989-90 OPC Kirk McLean rookie card. This card is maybe worth a buck…maybe. Since that set was so over-produced, you can get the set of 330 cards for $10. So, I find it hard to believe that someone would shell out a dollar for this ex-Canucks goalie. Though I was a fan of McLean “back in the day”. I even did a portrait of him, standing in his net, ready for action. I think I was in ninth grade when I drew it. I was doing a lot of portraits and caricatures of hockey players back then. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be the next Carlton McDiarmid or the next Dave Elston.

My third collectors tin. Now we’re getting somewhere…sort of.

– 66 base cards
– 7 Marquee Rookies
– 1 Base Parallels
– 1 Season Highlights
– 1 In-Action
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 1 OPC Buyback (1987-88 Mike Bossy)
– 1 Quad Materials: Minnesota Wild

I got another “old” buyback card, an ’87-88 Mike Bossy card. OK, so this one is only 20 years old, but at least it’s not growing on trees like its ’89-90 brethren.

More importantly, I got one of those Quad Materials cards. You have to open a lot of packs to get one of these. Allegedly, you get one of these in about every 288 packs or so. Looking at this “prized pull”, I am reminded why I hate memorabilia cards so damn much.

Yes, this is a nice, colorful card. But why did Upper Deck (the company “leasing” the O-Pee-Chee name) decide to use a purple and black swatch for Pavol Demitra??? Yes, Demitra did play one season for the Los Angeles Kings–two years ago–so they probablby have some leftover Kings jersey of his to cut up and put on a card. But why use it on this one? There’s a green swatch of a Marioan Gaborik jersey, a red swatch from a Piere-Marc Bouchard jersey, and a white (or maybe gray) swatch from an Adam Hall jersey. These three swatches look nice–they are all of the Minnesota Wild’s color scheme (as you’d expect). But the Demitra swatch “clashes” with the other three, ruining what otherwise would be a nice presentation and welcome addition to my collection.

Adding insult to injury is that the Demitra swatch is “multi-colored”. Why couldn’t that swatch go with a pic of Demitra as a King? Sure, he no longer plays with them. But why put a swatch from a Kings’ jersey when it’s a Wild card?

Wild card? Ugh. Time for sleep.

Here is the breakdown for the second of five tins I purchased recently:

– 67 base cards
– 6 Marquee Rookies
– 1 Base Parallels
– 1 Season Highlights
– 1 In-Action
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 1 OPC Buyback (1976-77 Canadiens)

Hmmm, one less Marque Rookie in this tin. That sucks. I also got one of those “buyback cards” that I’ve gotten so tired of. At least this time, it was not another Patrick Roy award winner card. This go-around, it was a card from 30 years ago, featuring the Montreal Canadiens. I don’t mind getting a 30 year old card in a pack of new cards, even if it is a common.

OK, I’ve been meaning to post more box breakdowns. I recently purchased five tins of 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards. Each tin contains 13 packs of cards, and each pack has six cards. If you recall, I’m still trying to get that elusive Patrick Kane rookie card.

Without further ado, here is how I did on the first tin:

– 66 base cards
– 7 Marquee Rookies
– 1 Base Parallels
– 1 Season Highlights
– 1 In-Action
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 1 Record Breakers

I got two particularly good rookie cards in this tin: Erik Johnson and Patrick Kane. Finally! I finally got a Patrick Kane card. Yes! Now I have all of the “pricey” rookie cards.

My fifth (and final) OPC wax box break:

– 184 base cards
– 18 Marquee Rookies
– 4 Base Parallels
– 2 Team Checklists
– 2 Season Highlights
– 2 In-Action
– 2 Stat Leaders
– 1 Record Breakers
– 1 OPC Buyback (1989-90 OPC Vezina Trophy: Patrick Roy–yet again!!!)

Would getting three of these cards be called a “Pat Trick”?

These OPC buyback cards are getting nuts! In the past three boxes, I have gotten the exact same card–a 1989-90 OPC Vezina Trophy Patrick Roy card. Would getting three of these Roy cards be called a “Pat Trick”? Since I got them in three boxes in a row, maybe it should be called a “Natural Pat Trick”?

I don’t know. I think the buyback cards would be OK if I got some variety in years. But to get the exact same card three times in a row is ridiculous!

The only other notable card I got is a base parallel of Henrik Lundqvist–I guess these are called “Micromotion”. While these inserts are not all that notable–you get four of them per box–I really like this Lundqvist card, especially the way the rays emanate from behind the goalie, and how his glove hand is outstretched. It’s a dynamic pose; adding the rays behind Lundqvist gives the card an even cooler look.

Still no Patrick Kane card (but three Patrick Roy cards). Oh well, on to the OPC tins…

Box number four in my OPC box breaks…

– 183 base cards
– 18 Marquee Rookies
– 4 Base Parallels
– 3 Team Checklists
– 2 Season Highlights
– 2 In-Action
– 1 Stat Leaders
– 1 Record Breakers
– 1 Marquee Rookies parallel
– 1 OPC Buyback (1989-90 OPC Vezina Trophy: Patrick Roy–again!!!)

Why did I want two of these?

Not only did I get another 1989-90 OPC card…but I got the exact same card that I pulled from the last box! I am now the proud owner of not one, but two 1989-90 OPC Patrick Roy Vezina Trophy cards. It’s easier to get this 19-year old card than it is to get a card of 19-year old Patrick Kane. In four boxes, I’ve gotten two of this Roy card, and not one Kane.

I got a decent Marquee Rookie card of Washington Capitals Nicklas Backstrom

I also got a Marquee Rookies parallel of Marc Staal–I think they call these cards “Micromotion” in the Beckett guide:

Another day, another box break. I got a few good rookie cards in this one (more on those in a moment). Here’s what this 36-pack box yielded me:

– 185 base cards
– 18 Marquee Rookies
– 3 Base Parallels
– 3 Team Checklists
– 2 Stat Leaders
– 2 Season Highlights
– 1 In-Action
– 1 Record Breakers
– 1 Marquee Rookies parallel
– 1 OPC Buyback (1989-90 OPC Vezina Trophy: Patrick Roy)

Wow…another 1989-90 OPC card. Though this one is of Patrick Roy, so maybe it’s worth a quarter instead of a dime.

I did get two good Marquee Rookies in this box: Jonathan Towes and Jack Johnson.

The only top-tier rookie card I need now is Patrick Kane…