Five cards per pack, 15 packs per box
Base set completion: 50 of 100 (50%)
Base duplicates: 1
Inserts: 18
“Hits”
Impressions
As you can see from the scans, it looks like I ended up with a Yankee-heavy box. Too bad for me!
This was the first of three boxes I ordered from Dave & Adam’s, taking advantage of their Christmas sale prices and free shipping. That this box even arrived here today when it did is a feat in itself. I had originally ordered these on Monday the 15th, assuming that between the time it took UPS to deliver, and the final work week of the year, I’d have something to occupy myself the first couple of days of vacation. I should’ve figured on late ship dates though — DACW didn’t ship until 12/16, which meant the maximum time UPS would take extended my delivery time until 12/24, meaning I’d have no time to break the box until after Christmas!
Fast forward to today, when UPS finally showed them out for delivery. I waited for the usual time the driver comes by, and nothing. Checked my tracking numbers — wait a minute, delivered? Our usually reliable driver for some reason sent my boxes next door.
Long story short, it took a while, but they’re finally here.
I feel this set is what 08 Donruss Threads should’ve been. The 100-card checklist is nothing but HOFers and retired stars. It seems to me that the last set to do really well with a checklist of non-active players was 07 Legendary Cuts. Everything else since then has really faltered in terms of checklist variety.
But as for these cards, as I mentioned in a pack break earlier, they feature a simple, bordered design with enough old-timey looking artistic accents to give them the proper feel for a retired players set.
As for the box, I’m disappointed (though not surprised) that I only managed half of a base set with one hobby box. Even if the 18 inserts had been base cards, I’d still be only a little more than two-thirds of the way to a full set. Still, with a five-card/15 pack configuration, that’s not a surprise. What I am happy about is the price point on the box compared to its actual retail price. I bought a single pack for $6. I saved $20 off the price of 15 hobby packs.
I do wish we could go back to 04-06 in the baseball card production era. Lots of 100-150 card base sets; hobby boxes with 20 or more packs per box, and a greater variety of interesting sets to collect — as opposed to the Upper Deck Timeline/Documentary/X debacle of 2008. Those three years were great, and it’s no surprise that I continue to bust boxes from that time period.
As an added bonus from DACW, with a $50 purchase, I received two free hobby packs of 07 UD Masterpieces. In one of the packs was this card:
Once again, as a Dodger fan, it sure is odd ending up with all these Giants and Yankees!
Coming tomorrow: 2007 Bowman Heritage hobby box, and a package from Cards on Cards
Free Andy LaRoche 