Now that my huge group break has started, I really ought to finish ripping my own personal box and get those cards all put away in my set binder. For those that might have missed some of my earlier posts, I've been working my way through a birthday gift from last November - a box of 2001 Upper Deck Vintage baseball.
The '01 Vintage set is one that I've been trying to collect for quite some time - and my hope was that this box would finish off my base set for me (or at least get me close to being done). Unfortunately, through the first 3/4 of the box, that hasn't been the case at all! Let's rip the final six packs and see how things all shake out.
Packs 19 - 24:
Let's start with the most important bit for me - the base cards. Within the six packs, I pulled three duplicates (this box has been loaded with duplicates). As for my set build, the final six packs gave me 16 cards that I needed for my set. That is, by far, the best that any set of six packs did for my set build!
In total, I ended up landing 22 new cards for my base set out of the box. That's not exactly a great total but it could have been much, much worse if it weren't for the 16 new cards I found in today's final six packs!
Moving on to the inserts, I found our usual smattering...plus one more interesting card that I'll get to in a moment. First through, the "regular" inserts.
Two of the Matinee Idols (1:4 packs) and one more Retro Rules (1:15 packs) round out the regular inserts for the box. Nothing hugely spectacular here but I do like the simplicity of the inserts in this set!
And finally, we get to the "bonus" of the box - the one unexpected insert - a Timeless Teams bat card of Mark Belanger of the Balitmore Orioles.
The Timeless Team bat cards are seeded 1:72 packs (or 1:3 boxes) so pulling one here made for a great surprise! I don't know anything about Belanger (but I probably should). According to the card back, he had 1,316 career hits and played for the "timeless team" the 1970 Baltimore Orioles.
For me, the last six packs saved the box in more ways than one. Getting the relic was a fun surprise - and finding 16 cards for my base set after only pulling 6 total new cards through the first 18 packs helped to cheer me up there as well. I do know that I won't be buying (or asking for) another box of 2001 Vintage - instead I'll try to use TCDB to finish off this set!
I've bought boxes in hopes of completing sets on multiple occasions. Sometimes it works out... but in most of my experiences it doesn't. That being said... it's way more entertaining than just buying the singles. If I found a cheap box of UD Vintage, I'd probably bust it too. Congratulations on pulling the Bellanger. It's always fun to pull relics of old school players.
ReplyDeleteMark Belanger was one of the greatest defensive shortstops of all time, although he was not much of a hitter and didn't have any power to speak of (20 home runs in 5,874 career at-bats). Baseball Reference has him as having the second-highest defensive WAR of any player in history, behind only Ozzie Smith. The guy in third place played next to Belanger for a decade--Brooks Robinson.
ReplyDeleteAt least it was a relic of someone different for a change.
ReplyDelete