More My Style

Another holiday box break... with much more satisfying results than the 2020 Topps Chrome box break over the weekend.  I thought SumoMenkoMan did a great job by comparing that break to a $5 slot pull: high risk, high reward.  Well I guess that means today's break is more like penny slots... which is more my style.

The Product:  1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes of Baseball

After Whitey Ford passed away back in October, I started searching for some affordable cards of his when I stumbled across this cool card featuring him, Mickey Mantle, and Billy Martin:

I loved the look of the design, which I discovered is based on the 1912 T-202 Hassan Triple Folders.  At first I thought about purchasing a set... which seems to sell in the $20 to $30 range on eBay.  Then it hit me.  Why not buy a box and build this set the old-school way?  Two months later this box was sitting in front of me waiting to be busted open.

The Price: $21.99 + Free Shipping + $2.03 Tax - $3.87 Gift Card = $20.15

Believe it or not... the purchase of that box of Black Chrome was totally out-of-character.  This box is a more my style.  I researched the current market rate, set a price I wanted to pay, and waited for one to fall into that price range.  One eventually popped up and I immediately clicked the Buy It Now button.  After applying the last few dollars I had on an old gift card, the final price was less than what I'd have to pay for a blaster at Target.

Depending on whether or not you're into products like these... some people might prefer the blaster.  Not me though.  This is more my style.

The Contents:  Forty-Five Minutes of Pleasure

Compared to the box of Topps Black Chrome... this box was way more satisfying.

It contained 24 packs with each pack containing twelve cards.  Here's a closer look at the bottom of the box:

It looks like this was a collaboration between Upper Deck and B.A.T., which stands for Baseball Assistance Team.  Here's what some internet research revealed on the organization:

In 1993... inserts were starting to be a staple in our hobby and this product was no exception.  There is one insert set to chase and a quick peek at the side panel reveals the odds of pulling one of these cards:

The inserts are T-202 reprints which were seeded into 1:5 packs... which translates into four or five per box.  I pulled five.  Here's what one of them looks like:

Although the cards are similar to the regular base cards on the front, they are easy to spot, because they are unnumbered on the back:

The Set:  165 Cards

The set is broken down into two parts:  player cards & combination cards.

The checklist contains 130 player cards featuring hall of famers and fan favorites ranging from Hank Aaron to Richie Zisk.

The original T202 Hassan Triple Folders didn't have individual player cards like this Dave Dravecky, but Upper Deck did a nice job of sticking to the original design by leaving off statistics and delivering interesting stories about the athletes on the backs.

My only complaint about the card design is the huge B.A.T. logo that was included on one flap of every card.  I would have preferred another mini player card like the originals.

What did the originals look like?  Well the combination cards which make up the final 35 cards in the set are very similar in design:

Like the combination cards, each of the originals featured two to four players on a single card.  The card fronts would feature a painting of a group of players with two player cards on each side.

Based on what I've seen with the originals, people would sometimes separate the panels into three separate cards.  You could do that with these too, but I doubt many people have.

Like I mentioned at the start of this post, my goal was to build a hand collated set by busting packs.

The Set Build:  Terrible Collation

 

You would think that a single box with twenty-four packs containing twelve cards each would easily produce a complete 165 card set with over one hundred cards to spare.  Unfortunately collation was terrible.

I ended up falling twenty-one cards short of a complete set, but Upper Deck did make sure to provide me five extra Glenn Beckerts, four spare Dizzy Deans, and a ton of other guys with at least two duplicates each.

Honestly... it kind of reminded me of the whole Mother's Cookies stadium giveaway sets where they'd include 90% of the set with six or seven duplicates of one guy to trade with other fans who attended the game.

I realize this set isn't your typical Junk Wax Era product, but if you happen to have extras of this stuff laying around and/or you are building this set yourself... let me know.  If not... I'll just place a Sportlots order and try to wrap it up there.

Like I said... I have plenty of extras that I'll be shipping out to people in care packages.  If you're looking for any specific players or teams, leave a comment down below.  Here's a link to the checklist.

The Fine Print: Not Your Average Baseball Card

In case it wasn't obvious... these aren't your standard size baseball cards.  I realize some collectors aren't fans of oddball sized cards... which is exactly what these are.  They are narrower than your standard trading card (2.25") and much longer (5.25").

But don't worry... according to the advertisement included as a box topper, they fit perfectly in Ultra Pro six pocket pages.  Unfortunately... I haven't figured out a way to store the set I'm building, but it'll probably involve a 400ct. box and some foam pads.

Whether or not this is your kind of box break, I'd love to hear your opinions on this set down in the comment section below.

Happy Christmas Eve and sayonara!