Wednesday, August 12, 2009

In The Game box break review

Now that blogger is actually working and letting me upload images, it's time to finish off part two of my last post. If you haven't read it yet, scroll down quick and read it first. then pop back up here.
I received quite a few responses from my question of what makes a good box break. I was surprised to hear most of you say you're looking for sets. Maybe set builders are the only ones who take time out to comment. Possible. Anyways, on with the break, and then I'll have another question for you.

2007/08 In The Game O Canada Hockey!
If you've read my blog enough, you know that In The Game is a Canadian company that produces unlicensed hockey cards. So think, Upper Deck baseball. But better quality. And fresh, original (for the most part) ideas. So maybe don't think Upper Deck baseball.
This set consists of 100 base cards, no SP's!!! and out of every three boxes, one box will have 2 autos and 1 patch, one box will have 1 auto and 2 patches, and one box will have 1 auto and 1 patch. You can guess which box I got... *sigh*

But enough lamenting the odds. The set consists of players who have played for Team Canada at various "amateur" tournaments. Like every four years, if you know what I mean. If I type the "O" word, I'll have to pay a royalty. And if In The Game ain't paying it, neither am I.

First up, the Youngin's
21 cards of the Under 18 team. Great to see some of the future stars on card in full Team Canada colours.

Next, 20 cards featuring the ladies of Canadian hockey. Ms. Goyette seen here is a friend of mine. She used to work for me back in the day.... really nice, funny accent, always wanting time off to travel to Nagano and Sweden and Lake Placid. Not very becoming of an employee, but we worked through it.
21 cards of the World Juniors. You readers down south who don't follow hockey much will be able to identify these guys anytime by looking for the gold medal around their necks at Christmas time.
17 Graduates of the Canadian program. You might recognize some of their names, like this fellow...
10 dual cards. Just for fun.
And 10 cards of the top players from other countries. These are the ones with silver medals around their necks.
For you younger readers, this guy was the best goalie to never play in the NHL. Maybe the best goalie. Period.
All in all I got a complete 100 card set out of my box, with 19 duplicates. If any of you want/need them, they're yours. Speak Up.
Now onto the hits. From my last post, I gave you a sneak peek at what I got. An auto and a beautiful 4 colour game used patch.
Here they are...
Cassie Campbell. Arguably the best female defenceman ever to suit up for Canada, or any country for that matter. She wore the "C" for Canada, and now works for the CBC on their Hockey Night in Canada telecasts.
And the patch? One of only 20...
Vicky Sunohara please go to her website and give a quick read over her biography. 15 Gold Medals kids. They don't give those out in cereal boxes, although she was on one once.
Okay, so if you've stayed with me this far, we'll now get to the second part of my question. Would you be happy with this box now, knowing the checklist. With possible autos from Ovechkin, Sakic, Brodeur, Kurri, Yzerman, Jagr etc... and patches from all the same... would you be happy with this?
I, personally, am thrilled. Even knowing I could've got a Carey Price patch, or a Joe Thornton auto, I am thrilled with who I got, and the quality of said cards.
In The Game does game used right. Look at their checklists. No card over 100, most out of 20. I couldn't be happier.
What about you? Would you consider this a disappointment now that you know who the hits are?
And by the way, if you like hockey cards, or are thinking about starting, check out ITG. This box was $30. Seriously. Here's another ITG product review I did....
EDIT: It has been pointed out that I did not give Ms Campbells website its' due. LINK Very impressive.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not into hockey all that much ( which reminds me I have some UD artictfacts Numbrered and some GU'S, UD young gun rookies I'd be more then happy to send your way)I think these cards are pretty nice! Iv'e really noticed just in the few 08'-09' hockey packs I bought it seems like UD at least Designs Hockey a lot better in their low to mid range products then they do any other sport. That's just what I gathered from articfacts and the young guns that Iv'e seen an of course just an opinion. It seems you get a lot of bang for your buck in hockey as well. Congrats on the break good stuff! Grant

shoeboxlegends said...

Nice break. I bought a couple packs of this stuff back in the day but never went for the set. I've bought a box or two of Heroes & Prospects and have always been pleased.

Anonymous said...

Marty!!!

Motherscratcher said...

I'm not a hockey collector so it will be tough to answer that question, but I'll try.

I would not be happy. I know a lot of people answered the last post that they bust boxes for the base set, and I do too, but I think that's beside the point. You completed your base set with this box. It stands to reason that you would have completed the base set with ANY box you got of this product, or pretty damn close to it.

It's not like there's a chance of getting a box with only 30% or the base set. As far as the base cards go, the boxes are fairly indistinguishable. You pretty much know what you are getting, and you likely know it before you even get the box. The only real difference between boxes of a product is the hits. That's it.

And it doesn't seem like you got a very good hit (although I could be wrong about that, I don't know hockey). In other words, would you have expected any significant difference in the base set if you had gotten a box with 2 autos, one being Ovechkin? Probably not. Even if you where a few cards shy of the base set and a few more doubles it's no big deal. And that's the worst case scenario for the base cards.

I have no idea if this makes any sense. I just think that saying you collect and bust BECAUSE of the base cards is a different thing altogether than whether or not you got a good box. That question is almost entirely decided by the hits.

I'll shut up now.

And for $30 I still think it's a good box.

thehamiltonian said...

As far as good hits - the women's team emblems and numbers were the best ones to hit beyone the absolute superstars (Tavares, Brodeur, Stamkos).

Campbell autograph is sweet - I paid $25 for my copy, and the Sunohara emblem is great (not just because it looks awesome). There were three or four people duking it out on eBay for the women's master sets (emblems /20 and numbers /10). I started working on them, but gave it up when I saw what it would cost me. I sold my Sunohara emblem (similar to yours, but I think mine was only 3 colours) for $65.

ITG filled a long neglected niche with this product. Its cooled off quite a bit since release, both in terms of box price and secondary market sales, but it is probably my favorite product ever - I have the jersey and auto sets for all of the 'teams' as well as the duals featuring the women's team and a couple of complete jerseys.