2000 SPX Review #2 (Future Hall of Fame Auto)

Growing up, there weren’t many sets that could compare aesthetically to Upper Deck SPX in the 90’s.  Sure, they still make it, but the focus is not on the look of the cards more than the “hits” you get from each box.  This is why some of us prefer to open old school products right? Now John had already opened a box of this years ago, and I had no expectations of finding anything close to his Bonds Game Used/Auto that came out of there.  Here is a link to his break: https://oldschoolbreaks.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/2000-spx-baseball-review-huge-pull/

This box came in at $45 on eBay as a second chance offer which was pretty cool.  The seller even said if I wanted to pick up another box at the same price they would do that as they have 10 more…don’t tempt me 🙂 Inside were 20 packs with 4 cards in each pack.

Here’s a breakdown of what goodies were inside box #2 on this blog:

Base 70/100 with No Duplicates!

Now that’s something I could get used to!  The base are on thicker card stock and the glossy feel and look to them, makes this one of the better SPX base sets produced.

SPXcitement (1:4 packs)

These inserts actually look better the more you look at them under the lights.  As I’ve mentioned before, what draws me to products is a lot of inserts, especially cards that are pleasing to the eye, even if they’re not considered high end or rare.  These fit the bill!  In this box there were 4.  Unfortunately we came up one short of the “promised” 5.

Power Brokers (1:8 Packs)

Again, these have all sorts of reflective foil on them and feature the power hitters of the game.  It’s also neat to see a horizontal insert set as they don’t show up near as often as you’d think.  We ended up with 2 in this box.  Sean Green may surprise you but he had decent power when he was in the majors, including a 4 homer game the same season my Mariner favorite Mike Cameron hit 4 in a single game.

Heart of the Order (1:8 Packs)

These also feature power hitters from the previous season, and are the most interesting inserts that I pulled from this box.  I really like how you can see the lineup from 1999 that each player was in.  I’m all about the history of the game, and seeing those lineups reminds me of the players I grew up watching.  There were 2 in this box…I can feel myself getting bigger arms already haha!

Highlight Heroes (1:16 Packs)

Another horizontal insert set, these are pretty interesting cards as they have gold foil lettering and stats of the player along the top and bottom edges.  The Griffey that was in this box was cut a little short and the G on .AVG isn’t all the way there.  While it’s a minor detail, there’s probably a Griffey collector out there that would mind.  I don’t enjoy seeing him in a Reds uniform either!

SPX Signatures (1:179 packs) WOW!!

There’s a handful of autos in this product that are less desirable than others like most of the rookie autos.  While I was really hoping for a Rick Ankiel rookie auto before picking one up on ebay, I was shocked when I saw what came out of pack number 8….A Chipper Jones on-card autograph!  Not only is this the best pull from a box of mine in 6+ years, but this has to be one of the best looking I’ve seen.  Chipper didn’t sign a lot of cards and this one is in perfect condition.  I’ve received plenty of offers on this card but I can’t let it go unless a true Chipper collector contacts me 🙂

What wasn’t pulled:

Foundations (1:32 Packs)

Untouchable Talents (1:96 packs)

SPX Radiance (#d to 100) I was really hoping to see one of these!

Other than these there’s of course one guaranteed autograph per box, but generally you’ll see one of those being a rookie autograph.  There are also game used autographs, Mark McGwire autographs, and Ty Cobb bat relics.

Final Thoughts/Grades:

Collation: A+

No duplicates!  Any time this is the case it will receive an A+ in my book!  Can you ask for anything better when it comes to collation?

Condition: B-

This was the only downside of this box.  Because these cards have a refractor type finish to them, there were refractor lines on at least half of the base.  There were also a few dinged corners because the cards were stuck together in an off-center way in the packs.  One card, Craig Biggio, looked like a cat played with it in it’s claws as there were several little dots on the card.

Pulls: A

How can you top a future Hall of Fame on card Autograph?  It’d be pretty hard to do that’s for sure.  Not only that, but it was in Mint condition! While the rest of the pulls weren’t anything to write home about, I did get my A-Rod base card 😉

Value: A

One on card auto per box, at $45?  That’s a great deal in my opinion when it comes to a 2000 box! If you like that, as well as some aesthetically pleasing base cards and inserts, then this is definitely a box to try out, you won’t be disappointed.  Please keep in mind that both of the boxes we’ve reviewed for the blog aren’t “typical” boxes, but you never know, you may just get lucky like we did!

2000 E-X Baseball Box 2

I have a total of five boxes that have been busted and are awaiting review (yes, there will be more hockey!) so I thought I’d start things off with an old favorite of mine, 2000 E-X baseball. I broke a box of this product when this blog was brand new. In fact, this post comes nearly two years to the day that I broke that last box! Here’s a quick recap of box number two.

Box Details: 24 packs per box, 3 cards per pack, $29
From: Baseball Card Exchange

Base set: Each base card has a unique color theme, based on the team of the player depicted. Altogether, there are 60 short set base cards (I pulled 56/60, 93%), followed by 30 shortprinted prospect cards which are numbered to 3499….

…..and they look something like this. I pulled two prospects: Wily Mo Pena (1522/3499) and Cesar King (1302/3499).

Generation E-X (15 cards, 1:8 packs): Rick Ankiel, Nomar Garciaparra, Pat Burrell

E-Xciting (10 cards, 1:24 packs): Mark McGwire

I love the creativity of this insert. The player….not so much.

E-Xplosive (20 cards, numbered to 2499): Sammy Sosa

E-Xceptional (15 cards, varied numbering): Pedro Martinez (0539/1999)

These cards are available in Red (/1999), Green (/999), and Blue (/250) variations. I love these cards. Some day I’ll make a master set of them….maybe.

Autographics (1:24 packs): Bobby Abreu

Here’s a solid piece of Phillies tradebait. Anyone interested?

Final Thoughts/Grades:

Collation: B

The collation was about what I expected. I received one more duplicate from this box than I had the last one. I’m used to far worse.

Condition: D

The base cards are very subject to peeling. In some cases, it may just be a corner. In others, much worse. I didn’t experience too much of this in the last box I opened, but I wasn’t as lucky this time. Keep this fact in mind when deciding whether or not to try a box. (For the record, the inserts were flawless).

Pulls: B

Nothing to complain about here. I was especially happy that my autograph was of an established veteran and not someone with 5 career games.

Value: A

I was happy to find this box for around the $30 mark, about $20 less than the typical asking price. For that price, I’d still recommend the box regardless of what I said about potential condition issues. The cards are brilliant overall and if you pull any damaged base cards, just let me know and I can replace them for you as I have nearly 3 sets worth of this stuff!

It’s great to be back.

Overall Grade: B

Old School Hits: 2000 Fleer Mystique Fresh Ink

Inserted at a rate of 1 in 40 packs, the Fresh Ink set from 2000 Fleer Mystique featured a bevy of star autographs which included the likes of Tony Gwynn, Andruw Jones, Will Clark, Mike Mussina, Lance Berkman, Carlos Delgado, Magglio Ordonez, and Cal Ripken, Jr. This set is significant as it included the first-ever certified autograph of Hideo Nomo, who was with the Detroit Tigers at the time. Needless to say, that card regularly sold for hundreds when it appeared online.

I pulled one of these autographs a while back but obviously, I pulled the wrong Tiger. Boxes of 2000 Fleer Mystique can be found online for approximately $40-45. In each box, collectors not only have a chance at pulling one of the 47 Fresh Ink autographs, not to mention Feel the Game and 3000 Club memorabilia cards as well.

Old School Hits: 2000 Upper Deck Game Ball

In my personal opinion, game-used ball or base cards are about as useless as a manufactured lettermen patch, with a few exceptions, of course. However, this card is not one of those exceptions. In 2000, Upper Deck inserted game-used ball cards at a rate of 1 in every 287 packs. The cards are approximately 1/8 of an inch thick and each piece is from a “ball used in an official Major League game” and has no personal connection with the depicted player. Like I said earlier, not all base or ball cards have this trait. 2000 UD HoloGrFX Piece of the Series and 2004 Donruss World Series Souvenirs cards actually feature relics from games/series that the depicted player actually participated in.

Altogether, there are ten players on the checklist of UD’s inaugural game-ball set:

Andruw Jones
Tony Gwynn
Roger Clemens
Mark McGwire
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Jeff Bagwell
Derek Jeter
Bernie Williams
Alex Rodriguez
Vladimir Guerrero

2000 Fleer Focus Baseball Box 4

Here it is, my fourth box of 2000 Fleer Focus, the second box sent to me from Peter of Dropped Third Strike.

Base: Tons. Someday I’ll organize the base from these two boxes. If anyone would like a team set, I’ll gladly send one.

Prospects: Ben Petrick (3997/3999)

Masterpiece Mania (/300): Doug Glanville (036/300) and Robin Ventura (007/300)

Focal Points (1:6 packs): Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter

Future Vision (1:9 packs): Adam Kennedy, Octavio Dotel, Mario Encarnacion

Focus Pocus (1:14 packs): Tony Gwynn x2 (seriously)

Club 3000 (1:36 packs): Steve Carlton

Fresh Ink (1:96 packs): Erubiel Durazo

Final Thoughts: This box certainly wasn’t short on the inserts, which is good, but pulling the same inserts over and over again gets a bit annoying, especially when you get duplicates in the same box. Once again, I was haunted by Erubiel Durazo. While it wasn’t nearly as good as the autograph from Box 1, it’s still an autograph so no complaints here. Once again, I have to give a huge thank you to Peter for everything!

Final Grade: B