30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Thursday, December 24, 2020

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 Product1993 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 ContentsForty-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 Set165 Cards

The set is broken down into two partsplayer 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 BuildTerrible 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 packagesIf 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!

21 comments:

  1. Interesting set! I love the early 1990s sets. Nothing was off limits. These are pretty cool.

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  2. If you have extras of 1, 49, 50 all Hank Aaron's.

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  3. I love this set and I'm happy you found a box to try. Sorry the collation sucked but I hope you can easily complete it!

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  4. That's a great set and a great idea since there are not many places to pick up cards. I think it was Topps that did a promo like that at The National where collectors were not given complete sets.

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  5. I bought the set a few years ago ,missed out on the inserts ,may have to look for some now.

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  6. I like my cards standard-sized. And until Ultra Pro gets it together, vertical.

    Nice to see people trying different things though.

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  7. Whoa. I was still collecting in 1993 bit have zero memory of these. I'd've totally bought a pack too back then as well.

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  8. I've not yet seen a box break of this before. I've had a Reggie Jackson promo card since 1993 though, haha.

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  9. Merry Christmas, Fuji. If you could spare a Dave Dravecky, I would appreciate it. Glad you got more enjoyment out of this box than the Chrome one. Hope you can finish the set.

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  10. Merry Christmas! I stay away from different sized cards. These are pretty cool though and I've never seen them before. Fun post and glad you shared!

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  11. Merry Christmas. The Hassan triple folders are one of my favorites

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  12. Never seen these before but they look very cool!

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  13. I really love those combo cards...the Ruth / Gehrig is priceless. Oddball cards are always a challenge to store. i have a few randomly located in the sides of shoes, 3500 or 5000 counts. Have you looked at graded card boxes? those may be a good, safer fit for this size.

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  14. This is a lovely set. I remember buying two packs of these back then at Walmart and it was only time I saw them. It was good stuff and still is to this day. The collation can be terrible during junk wax years. Not even one cello box can net you entire set.

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  15. I love these cards and just happen to have a box myself. I'm not sure if I even busted the whole thing, it's been so long. I'll dig it up to see if we can swap a few cards. I'd like a set too. :}

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  16. I have my cards from this set in the six card pages. There are a lot of great cards and under represented players in the set. Rick Monday's is one of my faves.

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  17. I don't believe I have this set but a stack of the cards. They are quite unique

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  18. Merry Christmas! These cards have always been a little love/hate for me, but I've come to appreciate them more recently.

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  19. Merry Christmas! What a nice box o' cards! Never heard it it myself and I'm grateful to you showing some of them off! Be well.

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  20. Merry Christmas, it's good you had some fun after that chrome box (plus that seems like a great deal)! I hadn't paid much attention to this set until I got Haddix from this set and wrote about it here (https://athleteswithphones.blogspot.com/2019/06/an-almost-perfect-game.html). I'll this post as a link because this is some good additional background info. I did get a six card pocket page and it does work good.

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  21. sumomenkoman - sets like 1991 archives and this one sure paved the way for retro/reprint products released in wax form

    johnnys trading spot - found five i'll send your way

    dennis - sportlots will hopefully provide an all in one stop and shop.

    runforekelloggs - it's a creative way to promote trading

    sg488 - i ended up picking up a starter set. now i just need two more to finish it. i have a couple of duplicates i'll send your way

    elliptical man - yeah... these were definitely not made for those who don't like oddball size product.

    nick vossbrink - i don't remember seeing these either... although i was on a short break from the hobby in 1993

    grant - i saw the promos while doing my research. maybe i'll track one down for my collection (especially if i decide to display this set in a binder)

    jeremya1um - he's (dravecky) yours. i'm sending out a bunch of packages this week, so stay tuned

    bulldog - yeah... still figuring out how i'm going to store my set and dupes

    mark hoyle - do you want any of these? if so, let me know and i'll send them your way.

    swing and a pop-up - great looking set. pain in the butt to store ;D

    cardboardhogs - Oh. The graded card box is a good idea. I'll look into it.

    rebel coyote - yeah... i was pretty bummed about the collation. but had a lot of fun tearing into the packs

    acrackedbat - awesome. let me know which singles you need and i'll send them your way

    gcrl - yeah, i love the inclusion of all of the fan favorites. dravecky was a very plesant surprise. monday too.

    matt - if you decide to build it let me know and i can help you out

    the lost collector - hope you had a great christmas. lots of yankees in it aj. let me know if you want me to send you some.

    peter k steinberg - upper deck missed a perfect opportunity to create a kruk/strawberry combo card ;D

    steve at 1975baseballcards.com - while opening the packs, i didn't even notice that haddix (phone) card. very cool. btw... i replied to your email. reply back with your address and any cards you are interested in and i'll ship them out this week.

    bulldog -

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