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!

1996 SPx Baseball Review (John is BACK!)

First off, I’d just like to thank anyone who has been reading this blog though the years. The fact that my reviews still are still gaining views and comments years after they’ve been posted online (especially after a long dormancy years ago), means a lot to me. I especially want to thank Matthew for his amazing work and keeping the blog alive with new content. Since he can’t have all the fun, I decided to bust a box of 1996 SPx baseball today. Old school SPx cards are some of my all-time favorites! Anyway, I may be a little rusty at this (after it’s been SIX years since I’ve done a review) but here goes nothing!

Box Details: 36 packs per box, 1 card per pack, $30

Base set: The base set is comprised of 60 cards. Each card features features a small action shot of the player as well as a close-up and second action shot using holoview technology. The perimeter of each card features a die-cut design and a special color corresponding to the player’s team. In this box I received 29 base cards, completing 48.3% of the set in the process. I did not receive a single duplicate.

Gold Parallel (60 cards, 1:7 packs): Derek Jeter, Wade Boggs, Ron Gant, Jason Kendall, Rey Ordoñez

It was somewhat strange pulling cards 42, 43, 44, 46, and 47 for my gold parallels but I was very stoked to find that Jeter!

Bound for Glory (10 cards, 1:24 packs): Manny Ramirez

This set features some of the game’s best of the mid ’90s but it doesn’t differ very much from the base set.

Ken Griffey, Jr. Commemorative  Card #KG1 (1:75 packs)

Mike Piazza Commemorative Card #MP1 (1:95 packs)

Final Thoughts/Grades:

Collation: A+

Like I stated earlier, I received no duplicates in this box. Those that were paying close attention may have noticed that I actually received an extra card in this box. One pack had two base cards instead of one and brought my total to 37 instead of 36. 🙂

Condition: B

I was a little worried that between all the die-cut edges and foil that I could end up with several damaged cards but this box was actually relatively kind! Aside from some damage on the back edge of one of my base cards and a severe centering issue on another, the cards were in excellent shape.

Pulls: A-

I really can’t complain here. I received both Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Piazza commemorative cards as well the one gold parallel I wanted more than any other in Jeter. I was also happy to get a second Yankee gold parallel in Boggs. A different Bound for Glory insert would’ve been nice but I still can’t complain. Realistically, I did about as well as I could without pulling one of the very rare autographed Commemorative cards, both of which are seeded 1:2000 packs.

Value: B+

This was a very fun break for the price of about $34 after shipping. Many other sellers online are asking for anywhere between $45-65 not including shipping. You will get a pretty decent starter set for a very attractive product as well as a few cool inserts and parallels. If you are really fortunate, you can pull a great early certified autograph of a member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2016.

For a complete checklist of this product, click here.

Overall Grade: A-

Old School Hits: 2001 SPx Winning Materials Update Trios

Inserted into every box of 2001 UD Rookie Update was an SPx Winning Materials Update card. While the regular Winning Materials set featured bat-jersey, base-ball, and base-base combinations, the update set had dual and triple jersey swatches, with each swatch belonging to a different player. Both update variations were accompanied by a gold parallel limited to 25 copies. The combinations of players on the update cards featured teammates (as is the case with this card) or players of the same position (Clemens/Hudson/Nomo for example). I acquired this card the ‘Bay a few years back. Sorry Eric, but this is one Pettitte I can’t let go.

And the Next “Old School” Break Will Be…(Poll Results)

One week ago, I asked you to vote on my next box break. There were three choices: 1994 Flair Series 2, 1996 SPx, and 2000 UD Legends. While I did not mention a deadline, I figure enough time has passed and would like to announce that the winner was 2000 UD Legends!!!

The Final Standings:
1994 Flair S2: 17 votes
1996 SPx: 8 votes
2000 UD Legends: 20 votes

Flair and Legends ran a very close race throughout, but Legends pulled it out. Due to popular demand, I will bust 1994 Flair Series 2 in the future but for now, it’s all about the Legends!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll.

2000 SPx Baseball Review (HUGE PULL!!!)

Well, here she is! It’s the box of 2000 SPx I told you guys (and gals) about last week. If you’re wondering where my “huge pull” is, you’re just going to have to read on, or just scroll down if you want. I’ve seen boxes of this product being priced at $80-100 (sometimes more) online. Recently, I found this box on sale for just about $60 (DACardWorld) and took a shot. I was VERY pleased with the results.

Box Details: 4 cards per pack, 18 packs per box. ~$60

Base set: The set is comprised of a 90-card short set, which is followed by 30 rookies/young stars. I pulled 56 of 90 short set cards, for 62%. There were also 5 duplicates.

Young Star Signature: The rookies/young stars featured on cards 91-120 are broken into three tiers:

Tier 1 – 1,000 of each, unautographed
Tier 2 – 1,500 of each, autographed
Tier 3 – 500 of each, autographed (Burrell, Beltran, Kapler only)

My pull was none other than Vernon Wells (/1,500), a two-time All-Star for the Blue Jays. I can live with that. At least it wasn’t Erubiel Durazo, who has haunted me in the past.

SPXCitement (20 cares, 1:4 packs): These are just some low filler inserts, but I kinda like them. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I like black? My pulls were: Chipper, Maddux, Rolen, Pudge, and Nomar. Pudge came out of the pack with some nasty chipping along the top.

Power Brokers (20 cards, 1:8 packs): Our first headache-inducing card belongs to Carlos Delgado. This insert looks like it belongs in the Black Diamond product of the same year. It’s a busy design to say the least…

Heart of the Order (20 cards, 1:8 packs): Of all the regular inserts in this product, this one is my favorite. The players in this set all batted somewhere in the 3-4-5 spots in their team’s lineup on a regular basis. Those exact 1999 lineups can be found on the left side of the card. I pulled a Bernie Williams and a Larry Walker. It’s been a while since you’ve seen the names Ricky Ledee or Edgard Clemente, huh?

Highlight Heroes (10 cards, 1:16 packs): This insert set highlights men who won the major awards (MVP, Cy Young, ROY, etc.) of 1999. The small writing in the black boxes at the top and bottom of the card are the player’s stat line from the award-winning season. My pull was Randy Johnson, whose line looked like this: 17-9, 2.48 ERA, 364 K’s.

What WASN’T Pulled: Here’s a quick rundown of what I didn’t pull in this box. Foundations is a 10-card set with inserts coming in just about every other box. These feature a nice closeup shot of the player, with three much smaller pictures in the foreground. Untouchable Talents are found 1 in every 96 packs and feature the same type of technology used on the Power Brokers insert. The Radiance (/100) and Spectrum (/1) parallels are also here as well. Lastly, SPx Signatures are found at a rate of 1 in every 10 boxes. This set boasts a VERY impressive checklists featuring Ripken, Griffey, Bonds, Jeter, Clemens, Gwynn, Guerrero, Bagwell, Manny, and even El Duque!

Alright, now for the part you’ve all been waiting for, the huge pull I promised. Remember those Winning Materials cards I recently talked about on an Old School Hits post? Well, I pulled the Vernon Wells autograph about halfway into this box, and immediately thought the box was virtually “dead.” I was very wrong. About four packs after finding the Wells, THIS SHOWED UP:

BONDS-JO!!!!!!!!

OH. MY. GAWD. AN AUTOGRAPHED WINNING MATERIALS BARRY BONDS 8/25!!!!! That’s one hell of an extra hit, isn’t it? Say what you will about Bonds, this is still a RIDICULOUS card. To illustrate just how hard these are to find, there are only 75 total amongst FOUR players. Bonds signed 25 while Griffey signed 24, ManRam signed 24 and some other guy only signed 2 (but if I pulled that, someone would have a major problem with me and show up at my door with weapons or something, ha!).

Final Thoughts: I think it goes without saying that this was one of the best boxes I’ve ever ripped, with the Bonds being of my top 2 or 3 pulls to date. When considering buying a box of this product, remember there’s only one guaranteed hit per box. In all likelikhood, it will be a young star/rookie autograph, and if it isn’t someone named Beltran, Burrell, Beckett, or Soriano, you may walk away disappointed. Despite the fact that the price has come down recently (Dave and Adam’s have them regularly for 70 now), it might be a bit much of a gamble for some. But you folks should know by now that I’ll bust anything old for this blog.

As always, thanks for reading and good luck with your own breaks!
-John