First, we decided that no money would exchange hands. We figured if we had a set budget it would all equal out in the long run. This gets a little complicated as Kevin has to deal with high shipping rates to get the boxes, but for me to ship him cards probably cancels out a good bit of the discrepancy. So with the money situation in check we can focus on card distribution.
Obviously Kevin would get all the Blue Jays, and the Buccos would be mine. For the rest of teams we decided to do a divisional draft. This is something that will change with every round so both he and I can accumulate trade bait of all the big market teams that so many of the blogosphere like. This time Kevin had the AL East, AL Central and NL West (minus the Dodgers). I had the remaining divisions minus the Mariners.
Kevin let me choose our boxes for the inaugural first round (We still need a cool name for the collaboration). I decided we would go with 2006 UD Ovation and 2013 Topps mini. Ovation offers 18 packs with an auto and a relic while Mini offers 1 relic or auto per box.
While I still have all the cards in my possession, I'll only be showing off my cards (it's not many). Kevin absolutely dominated the Ovation box and did really well by getting a unique auto and a relic of an All Star. I'll just show a couple cards from Ovation more just to remind people what the look like.
If you recall these cards have a textured feel that kind of mimic the baseball stitches on the card. At least I got a Pirates right....While not an ideal box for myself, it was a blast opening. In my experiences of opening boxes with my friends it will all even out over time. I'm just glad this box yielded a cool card for Kevin.
The 2013 Topps Mini box was the real showstopper. Figures the cheap box would be right! For those who don't know this product combines Series 1 and 2 into one big mini set. While the set does offer a relic or auto per box the real prizes are the parallels. This box would not disappoint, although it looked like I was going to pretty much go empty handed until the end.
The gold parallels are /62. We pulled three and I hit two of them for myself. No big names but the DeJesus card is a cool shot. Kevin's parallels were some big names and lower numbered.....
All was not lost for me though as I made a pretty rare pull.
Henry Rodriguez Cyan printing plate. I think this is only the second plate I've ever pulled. While not a big name it was still pretty exciting to get a rare pull. Once you see Kevin's post in a week or two you will understand why this box was a real winner.
Our whole idea was to make it as fun as possible with the least amount of work for the person opening the packs. I would say we did pretty well on both accounts. Two low end boxes yielded some unique cards.
Kevin will be hosting the next break in April so he is now on the clock!
Thanks for reading.
A great idea to help split the costs!
ReplyDeleteIt will be a fun way to accumulate some trade bait and hopefully hit a good card of our chosen team.
Deletegreat fun indeed! Looking forward to Kevin's post. I've never pulled a card numbered lower than ten. Where are you finding the boxes to bust?
ReplyDeleteI either use Dave and Adams or Steel City Collectibles. The cool thing with Steel City is that if I order early enough in a day it will be at more door the following day. I'm only about 75 miles away from Steel City's store.
DeleteSteel City is where I ordered the 2002 Fleer Greats - they had the best price for that one!
DeleteThey have super quick shipping. Just about everything processes the same day as long as you are within normal business hours.
DeleteI am jealous and happy for you at the same time.
ReplyDeleteIt will be fun. Plus it will give us plenty to write about on down days..
DeleteOh u crazy kids! Just kidding i love it. Blogging innovation
ReplyDeleteWe needed creative ways to find more cards for you. Alliances are being made!
DeleteYeah! TransAtlantic Cardboard! Very cool idea.
ReplyDeleteI already do something similar with my a couple of my friends in my town and it has worked very well. Obviously doing it internationally has some obstacles but we'll figure it out.
DeleteGreat to see collaboration among bloggers! It'd be cool to see this kind of stuff more often.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us already collaborate without even noticing it like shopping for someone at a card show or picking up a few extra cards as trade bait on eBay. We just took the next obvious step with box breaks with some international flare.
DeleteYeah, that's true. Never thought of it like that. Plus there's blogs like A Pack A To Be Named Later and A Pack A Day that are authored by multiple bloggers.
DeleteA few years ago, a few of us got together and created a blog called Sports Jambalaya where we wrote posts discussing sports topics. Unfortunately most of the bloggers on that site have retired :(
I think this should work out for the long run as long as Kevin and I still blogging. Keeping the cost minimal will be the key.
DeleteWoohooo ! yeah, this is going to be fun ! Until I keep pulling all the hits, then Matt and I won't be friends anymore. It's a tricky sport we're playing there
ReplyDeleteHa. As long as I keep pulling 1/1's we'll be just fine! I should have played a joke on you and took pictures of a bunch of Pirate cards from the sets we opened and told you I had a clean sweep. Pirates hot box!!!
DeleteGreat idea guys... Should be interesting moving forward
ReplyDeleteHelp us get more trade bait for those awesome Hoyle PWE's!
DeleteDave and Adams was my spot back In the day.The lady taking my orders there was always super polite and helpful.The 2000 Ovation card was a great design also,Matt.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I have had no problems with any of the box vendors.
DeleteThis is going to be a ton of fun for sure, and anything that means you'll be busting more wax and pulling nice cards for the rest of us is a positive thing!
ReplyDeleteNot many Tigers in this break :( or Pirates :(
DeleteIt will be a fun process. We'll have to work out a few kinks with the shipping charges Kevin will have to pay, but we should accumulate some nice cards.
I recently pulled my 2nd plate from a pack. First went to Pat at Hot Corner. I wonder where the second one will end up...
ReplyDelete