Group Break Box #2: 2002-03 Vanguard Hockey

Hopefully everyone had a chance to at least peruse the videos from the first box break.  It wasn't horrible, but it could have been better.  More hits would have been nice.  I would have liked to see more parallels too (I can't believe I am saying that) because they are all low numbered but you can't win them all.

So with that, it's time for Box #2 of the break.  This time we have a hobby box of

2002-03 Pacific Vanguard Hockey 

Vanguard was considered an upper echelon set at the time of it's release, or at least would have been if Pacific hadn't flooded the market with additional sets, parallels of sets, and endless inserts.  Overall though, the cards are real nice, kind of kitschy, but still offer something for everyone I think.  And, they are shiny!

Judge for yourself.

Part 1



Part 2



As I said in the first video, I will post scans of some of the non-base stuff.  Here is what we had in that box.

First, the Parallels (Vanguard LTD)

 Brad gets the Roenick, DFG gets the Lemieux (hey, that's me)

 The Frolov rookie goes to BA Benny, the Drury to Dave H

The Guerin goes to DFG (hey that's me)

Next up are some of the rookies

 The Blouin goes to Nick B and the Bykov to Captain Canuck

 Both of these go to Dave H

The Sharp rookie goes to Brad

Next we have the inserts

The Nash goes to Dave H. (this is a sweet looking card, IMHO)

 The Jackman goes into the bank pile, the Leopold goes to Dave H.

 The Chistov belongs to Brad and the Weiss goes to Captain Canuck

 The Belfour goes to 1967ers and the Roy goes to Kevin O.

The Richter goes to Jason and the second Belfour insert in the same box to 1967ers

These two will be random'd off at the end.  The Vinny/Joe will go to either Michael or Kevin.  The Bure/Fedorov will go to either Jason or Captain Canuck.

Finally, we have our three hits.

 The Brodeur goes to Alfredo (Wicked)
This is probably the best hit thus far for player selection and scarcity.  Let's hope it isn't the only good one either.

 The Demitra goes into the bank pile (which is growing faster than I would have liked)

 The Moose card goes to DFG (hey, that's me)

I'd rather everyone else get the hits in here but you can't control the cardboard gods.  Wait...didn't I say that already?

Box #3 will be posted in the next day or two (hopefully) so stay tuned. (it will take you that long to watch these videos).  I also should have a running total for everyone as well by then.

Ready Or Not, Here We Go

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all Ages...Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.  Right here, Right Now!!  It's the highly anticipated, REAL DFG's FIRST EVER MID-SUMMER PRE-SEASON AFFORDABLE COMMUNITY GROUP HOCKEY BOX BREAK EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

How's that for an excitement builder?

So here is the deal...I gave everyone a couple days (in real time) to sort out their teams.  We had lots of teams up for trade but only two actual deals made.  So NO MORE TRADING...until the end.

I'm not waiting around any longer because to be perfectly honest with everyone...I already busted the first box about two hours before I gave the extra time.  Why?  Well, because the teams had already been assigned and randomized so I didn't think we would need the trade period at first (until everyone went crazy) but mainly because A) I knew I wasn't going to have the time Friday or Saturday to do it because of my band's gig we played (which was ridiculous by the way), B) I needed time to edit the video, C) In hindsight, I needed extra time to edit the video because of all the screw ups and mishaps that happened (don't ask, it's a long story), D) I was anxious, E) It's my party and I'll break boxes if I want to.

A couple of things will be observed in the video's so bear with me if you can.  First, for those of you familiar with my video box breaks you will know that I suck at it.  I am boring and droll, and I bring nothing to the table.  Second, since I wanted to show everything, these videos are long.  Very long.  I had to break the first one into two separate ones because I couldn't upload them to Youtube, my current Tube of choice.  Third, in the video, I make reference to some teams and participants.  After the short trading frenzy, those references may not apply to you any longer.  You'll know who you are after watching.  Not until I was done with the box did I have the bright idea to give you guys some time to trade.  Like I said, I'm new at this.

Here we go.


Part one of Box #1, the 2001-02 Crown Royale Hockey Hobby Box




Part two of Box #1, the 2001-02 Crown Royale Hockey Hobby Box



And since my camera is crappy and I am too lazy or indifferent to go buy a better one, here are the scans of the "hits" and inserts that we pulled.

 Kristian Huselius (Crowning Achievements)

Florida Panthers - Captain Canuck

(that actual looks pretty good scanned)

 Brian Sutherby - (Die-Cut Crown Rookie #/267)

Washington Capitals - - Dave H

Vaclav Nedorost (Rookie Royalty)

Colorado Avalanche - - Kevin O.

(psycho, just psycho)

Brent Johnson (Premier Date Parallel #/60)

St. Louis Blues - - NO ONE CLAIMED

HIT #1:  Jarome Iginla, Jochen Hecht, & Andrew Cassels (Triple Threads GU)

Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks - - Eligible for this card at the end of the break = Dave H., Kevin O., and Michael

HIT #2:  Mike Modano, Pierre Turgeon, & Derian Hatcher (Triple Threads GU)

Dallas Stars - - The Real DFG (hey, that's me)

I'm not going to scan all the base cards or anything but I may give a running total of what people have thus far if I get the chance.  Hopefully you weren't too bored watching the 30 minutes of me rambling.  I'll try to do better.  At least, I will try to do better after the next box because I just busted Box #2 and I think I may have screwed that one up too.  I will try to get that posted up tomorrow.

Video Box Break - - 2002-03 Private Stock Titanium

I picked up a box of this a while back for a pretty good price from D&A Card World and I am just now getting around to posting the video. I decided to go back to a video break just to break up the monotony a bit.

A couple things I realized though...1) My camera is awful both for resolution and sound quality of the mic.  2) I should really prepare these things better and plan out what I am going to do.  3) If I put music in the video, regardless of what it is, YouTube flags it as having a copyright violation.  I guess you can't win them all.

At any rate, check out the break and enjoy!

Video Box Break - - 2010-11 Upper Deck The Cup

The Cup!!  That Holy of Holy's...the proverbial Grail of the sports card world was released back on August 30th to it's annual massive fanfare of praises, jaw drops, and eye ball pops.  And from this collector's standpoint, it was quite impressive.


I have never been a big proponent of The Cup because as a standard-type run of the mill collector, there just usually isn't the coin to plunk down a mortgage payment for 10-15 cards.  My last mass foray into the Cup was back in 2006 when a couple guys and myself split a case and boy was I disappointed.  Since then, I have only managed a few singles here and there when they catch my eye.

Well enough standing in the shadows.  It's time I venture into the ring where the big dogs play and get myself a taste for the finer things.  Yes, my friends.  I ventured to the uber-premium side of collecting and picked up a couple boxes of Upper Deck's 2010-11 The Cup.  Did I die from it as I thought I would?  No.  Did I hurt a little afterward?  Yes, maybe.  But it was a whole lot of fun, and quite exhilarating to boot.

A couple of things to note though.  I was kind of shocked by the serial numbering of some of the cards.  The fact that there are cards numbered out of 249 or higher was perplexing to me considering the steep price tag on this set.  Anything over 200 seems out of sorts for this level, at least to me.  Also, the amount of plain color swatches is a little ridiculous.  I know it happens and is a reoccurring theme in the industry but for a super premium product to throw 3-4 of the same color on one card???  That's kind of nuts, don't you think?  The last thing...quality control.  Since these are hand packed, I would think there would be better care made to keep corners and edges clean.  Especially when you have foil embossing that tends to flake with little to no force.  I didn't see that kind of care here, even if it was only on the base cards (on another guys box that bought one too).

But enough criticism.  While I didn't love the nervous twitch this decision gave me or the indigestion afterward, I loved busting the product.  The whole experience was fun and exciting.  Upper Deck made the packages very rewarding and made me feel like I was really getting something special.  I was skeptical at first but to hold the cards in hand is something quite awe inspiring (flair for the dramatic?).  Even more so when they come straight from a pack that you opened yourself.   

I busted everything right there in my LCS so I had nothing to open officially on camera but I did a little video anyway.  Here it is if you'd like to waste about 14 minutes..



As you can see by my overwhelming enthusiasm, I am not really attached to any of these cards despite their aesthetic beauty.  I pulled no Penguins, which was probably the only bad part about the whole thing.  I pulled one more autograph than expected but also got one more base card than I would have liked so it balances out.  They were, as I said, a blast to open though.  Such an adrenalin rush.

If anyone out there might be interested in any of these beauts, they are all posted on my Ebay auction site against my best judgement, and also a few football I found lying around that I got tired of looking at, including my 1/1 Calvin Johnson Sketch Card that I have been asked close to 100 times about.

It will be interesting to see where, if anywhere, these might go considering The Cup is notorious for spiraling out of control at times on auction, although, I doubt any of mine would because I didn't pull any Lemieux, Gretzky, Crosby, or Ovechkin's.  Either way, if I can recoup half a box it will have been worth it.

Here are some scans for those that couldn't get a good look because of my shoddy video skills.

Video Box Break - - 2002-03 Pacific Hockey Hobby Box

Here is another box I picked up from the National when it was held in Chicago.  These came from the guys at Atlanta Sports Cards just like most of the boxes I purchased.  I decided since it was sooooo much fun, eh em...doing a video box break for the last one, why not try it again.

So with crappy webcam, no video recording ability, and shoddy editing skills I give you my break of 2002-03 Pacific Hockey.

Video Box Break - - 2001-02 Pacific Private Stock Titanium Hobby

The National is over and what a fun time it was.  I got to see lots of cool stuff, meet a lot of fun and interesting people, pick up some stuff I didn't think I would, and of course, add to my box break inventory.

All the times I have been on Atlanta Sports Cards website, filling up my cart with all sorts of boxes from an age where collecting was the farthest thing from my mind, and I never once actually completed my order.  I don't know why.  I just didn't.  Seeing that they were actually at the National show, I didn't think for one minute that they would have any of what I wanted.  Well I was wrong.  They had everything, and then some.

I've been a little burned out on new product (that's not to say I didn't get any) so I wanted to boost my collection a bit with early 00's stuff, namely 2000-01 through 2004-05.  The first box I purchased was 2001-02 Pacific Private Stock Titanium.

Not the best year for cards but the Titanium set had such a limited print run of rookie cards, that they all carry a pretty high demand and dollar value. Plus, this was a premium set at the time with only 6 packs and a "hit" in every pack. That hit is a dual sided GU jersey card of various teammates around the league.  There is also usually an insert card in each pack as well consisting of a Premier Date parallel, Hobby parallel, All Star, Rookie Team, Saturday Knights, or 3-Star Selection.

I decided to try my hand at another Video Box Break just because I am a glutton for punishment and really have no idea what I am doing.  So maybe the practice will help.  Check it out if you need to waste 12 minutes of your life on something.

Video Box Break - - 2010-11 Black Diamond Hockey (X2)

I decided that since these cards look awful as scans, I would try my hand at another video box break.  The video captures the card design a whole lot better.  Although, I would watch with the sound turned off because I suck at doing these things. No, really. Shut off the sound because I am awful. I can't even pronounce peoples names correctly.

Here we go...



I've got duplicates of the following if anyone is interested in trading:

2(x2), 4, 6, 7(x2), 10, 15, 16(x2), 20, 23, 26, 31, 34(x2), 39, 43, 47, 48, 60, 62(x2), 68, 71, 76, 79(x2), 81, 82, 83, 84, 87(x2)