Lets Rip Some Wax - 8 Packs of 10-11 Zenith

I love wax as much as any other collector, but sometimes I find myself having trouble justifying buying a box and ending up with a pile of useless base cards (because I don't want to chase the set) and a few hits which are hit and miss sometimes. So what I do myself is try and balance the packs, boxes and singles to optimize fun and success. Well just before Christmas I bought myself 8 packs of Zenith as a gift to myself and here are the results. You may find my luck unbelievable, so I must say they were supposedly "hot" packs.

Hit 1 Antropov, Boulton, Pavelec Mosaics

Talk about a Motley Crew. I don't know ANYONE on the planet who would want this card or think this card is a good idea. The design is cool, don't get me wrong but these three guys? It would be like getting a trio card with Pelle Eklund, Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget.

Hit 2 Jared Boll Winter Warriors

Here is a hit that would hurt if it happened. Mr. Boll has appeared in a break before, and I am just as excited as the last time.

Hit 3 Michael Del Zotto

Mike has loads of offensive talent and it ends there. For a defenseman that can be problematic which is why he spend some of 10-11 in the minors despite an awesome rookie campaign.

Hit 4 Oliver Eckman-Larsson /498

Not sure if my card is an error or not, but my version is numbered out of 498 where the guide suggests it is out of 499. A couple for sale online also say 498 so who really knows. Best  hit of the lot by far and Oliver is off to a pretty good start this season too (7 points in 11 games).

Not a hit, but a pretty good card

In with my next hit was this card. Wish it was Dustin Tokarski, but a rookie is a rookie.

Hit 5 George Parros Epix /100

Very cool looking card or another tough customer. I am sensing a theme here. 

Hit 6 Chris Neil Yours Truly Auto

A very cool auto of a tough guy. These autos are nice, huge space for an on-card auto and his signature is pretty solid.


Hit 7 Tartar/Lidstrom/Zetterberg Mosaics

Ok, this group of three makes a little more sense. Three very good players with one being a prospect and the other two being established stars.

Well there you have it, a small wax fix with 7 out of 8 yielding a hit. It was all fun, but apart from the Ekman-Larson I can certainly live without them. Anyone interested in any of these hits, let's make a deal! Thanks for stopping by.

Video Break - 83-84 OPC Pack 2 of 2

Here is the other pack of 83-84 OPC. In all it was lots of fun ripping these packs and like I mentioned before, I hope to do some more vintage and new pack/box rips via video!

Mystery Repack Box Break 2

Here is the second repack box I bought. Not as good as the first, but maybe still worth the 6 bucks....let me know what you think.

Video Break - 1983-84 OPC Pack 1 of 2

OK, so finally I made a video worth watching. 1983-84 is a fun year, no super rookies, but a set that looks decent and has many stars in it. There was no Topps release that year so the production numbers were a little high which means the set itself isn't terribly valuable. However packs can still be a little pricey, I was lucky to land two for 11 bucks with shipping so I thought I would share them with you folks.

I did film this the same night as the Score pack and the second pack of OPC so everything looks similar. Maybe I should expense my pack costs to Nike. I will hopefully get the missing cards from my 83-84 set posted on my want list soon, so if anyone can help me via trade I would appreciate it.

First ever video break - Ripping a pack of 93-94 Score

Luke over at the cardboard review just completed a trade with me. I helped him out with his desire for San Jose Sharks and in return I received a couple Devils AND a unexpected pack of 93-94 Score. I have never opened a pack of such product and never created a youtube video so lets cash in both V-cards at the same time!

I was a little awkward making this video, so I probably don't sound very natural, but who gets it right their first time anyway!

11-12 Victory Review

Well with the great value offered last year by Score (autos etc.), it was up to Upper Deck to either revamp Victory or keep it the same and hope the legions of Victory fans out there will sustain the product. So what does Upper Deck do? Lets shove our second cheapest franchise in as inserts, so Victory now comes with MVP!

I was a pretty big fan of 07-08 Victory but each year I get more and more dissatisfied with the product to the point where I will buy two packs a year and that is pretty much it. I will try and nail some good rookies as part of UD Series 2, but that is pretty much it.

Base card front

Hate it. Looks like they hired some people off the street who just completed a Photoshop workshop and know next to nothing about anything else. IS there any need to have Victory appear TWICE on the front?

Back side

For good measure, lets have Victory appear TWICE on the back too!

Victory Rookies

Rookie design isn't much better which would be the only reason why I would buy a pack ever. In my two packs I ended up with one rookie. Aaron Palushaj who came over from the Blues as part of the D'Agostini trade. If you want to get technical, he has played 3 NHL games and has been traded 3 times (2 where his draft pick rights)

MVP Insert

Not a bad design, by far the highlight of the two packs. Still, I would much rather pull 1 real auto per box or two than have a few facsimile autos in a box. The MVP rookies fall about 1 per 18 packs so they will have some value to them, but not enough for me to drop 30 on a box.

Game breakers insert

Again, I loved the Stars of the Game and Gamebreakers inserts from 07-08. They had nice foil, decent design and were overall appealing to the eyes. This is pretty much crap.

What I like about 11/12 Victory:

- First chance to see new players in their new uniforms

- First look at the late arrival rookies

- Parallel Rookies are always attractive

- MVP offers some value

What I dislike about 11/12 Victory:

- Uninspired card design

- Few decent rookies

- Much better value in Score

- Inserts are mostly a waste of cardboard

- Little value in completing set

10-11 Panini Sticker Pack Break

I was out getting supplies for my son's first birthday and I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Panini stickers! I haven't purchased these in over 20 years. The last time I did this, I was trying to complete the 89-90 sticker set (and didn't have any success).

Anyway, seeing those little packs brought back some fun memories and I decided to buy a pack.

$1.00 got you 8 stickers

Well this pack appears to have been sponsored by the Toronto Maple Leafs

(which I used to be part owner of when I was an Ontario Teacher High School Teacher so I guess I should be happy...)

Poor Giggy.....Could be the goalie of the future for the Marlies.....Thanks to a hot James Reimer

Rinne, the reason the Preds made the playoffs in the first place. Here is hoping he can continue the success next season as the Preds are becoming a good young team.

Bryan Bickell....Had a good breakout year with the Hawks (17 goals)

Colten Orr....another Leaf....

Battling for the position of starting Marlies goalie will the Jonas Gustavsson

Underrated and very talented, David Booth. He impressed me at the '08 Worlds and I hope he can avoid further concussions otherwise he might be taking an early retirement from hockey.

Wojtek Wolski. Devils drafted Zajac over Wolski in 2004. Glad they did....

Klementyev, not the rookie I was hoping to get out of the pack....Anton spent the year in Bridgeport and I suspect he will head to the KHL before long...

There you have it. 10-11 Panini stickers. Glad I bought the pack for nostalgia sakes, but this isn't a product I probably will be purchasing until my son is into collecting them.