Cheap Fun Breaks Mystery Box Break

For the second month in a row, I decided to purchase a Mystery Box from Cheap Fun Breaks:

Despite getting close many times in the past, I’ve never actually dabbled with mystery boxes. Many collectors/breakers have tried to create them and sell them over the years, but I can’t recall any that any have had lasting success. I think the biggest issue with these products is that you rarely have an accurate idea of what types of packs you’ll be getting, so there’s always the risk of lots of junk packs and non-licensed brands. It also seems like mystery boxes rarely include hobby packs. Couple these factors with trepidation over legitimacy and trustworthiness, and it’s usually best to stay away.

 

I have been ordering hobby boxes from Blowout Cards since 2013, and on the rare occasion I join a group break, I usually use Cheap Fun Breaks, run by JBrooks and Houdini who are affiliated with Blowout. All experiences with Blowout have been great, so I took a stab at a Mystery Box in July, and I was very happy with the contents. I ordered again for August and decided to recap on the blog.

 

Each box is $200, which is in the ballpark of what you’ll fork over for a hobby box these days. The mystery boxes typically contain an assortment of hobby packs from very recent releases. You are promised at least $200 in “sealed” value, and you will have a good idea of what types of products will be included, so there’s no real surprises. For August, potential packs included: 2021 Topps Chrome, box hobby and jumbo, 2021 A&G, 2021 GQ, 2021 Museum Collection, 2021 Bowman Sapphire, 2021 S2 Jumbo, 2021 Bowman hobby and jumbo, 2021 Heritage, and a few other older releases. 

 

Here's what I ended up with:

 

Not a bad mix! There were a few certain packs that I hoped to see, and I was perfectly fine with a big chunk of Topps Chrome.

 

I did some math (cross multiplying is sweet) to calculate my odds of getting some hits. Topps Chrome hobby has an autograph in every 12 packs, so with seven packs, I could expect .6 hits, if you will. In TC jumbo, you’ll find five autographs in each 12 pack box, so three packs should yield me 1.25 hits.

 

Allen & Ginter has three hits in each hobby box of 24 packs. With four packs, I should expect .5 hits, so it would be fair to expect a 50/50 shot at a hit.

 

Here’s how it went:

As you can see, I was very lucky and beat the odds big time with both Topps Chrome and Ginter. Nothing here is too spectacular, and none of the rookies are big names. Regardless, it’s always fun to pull some rookie autographs as you never know where these guys careers may take them. It’s also nice to pull some hits out of a mystery box. I have full trust in the product, but it never hurts to have some reassurance that there’s no funny business with pack searching, or something of the like.

 

The 2021 Topps design works much better with Chrome than it did on the paper cards, in my opinion. The silver borders are clean. On card autographs are also a big plus. The Ginter hits are underwhelming, although the Chapman relic does have a pinstripe, if you look closely. Always nice to get more than just a white patch on a relic. Aside from hits, I also pulled a few other noteworthy cards:

 

Some refractors from some “veterans,” including a Pirate who is having *abysmal* season.

A few noteworthy rookies.

 

 

These two cards may very well be the best pulls from the box. Both players have showed flashes of excellence this year, albeit very inconsistent. Bohm has been terrible defensively and the Phillies have had a hard time justifying keeping him on the hot corner. His power has also been down, but he’s made a ton of hard contact and by no means has been an easy out. It’s always exciting to pull some rookie parallels, so I’ll be stashing these away.

 

To wrap it up, this was a really fun rip. I’m well aware that I got lucky and beat the odds with hits. I’ll do my best to prevent that from creating a bias. Bottom line, there are less fun ways to burn through $200 in this hobby and I fully endorse grabbing Cheap Fun Breaks Mystery Box. Thanks to JBrooks and Houdini for creating the opportunity to purchase and enjoy these boxes.

Secret Santa Has Arrived!

First off, let’s all take a minute to say a big thank you to Jon at A Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts for hosting another successful Secret Santa. This was probably my personal highlight in terms of collecting in 2019. Waiting for my Secret Santa package to arrive admittedly gave me a the good old kid-on-Christmas feeling. I also had tons of fun putting together a package for my Secret Santa, Henry at Cardboard Greats. He recently posted a recap of what I sent him if you’re interested in checking it out.

I received my secret Santa package last week in the form of a bubble mailer. I didn’t recognize the return address, so I had a feeling this was the surprise that I had been waiting for. Upon opening the mailer I was greeted by a nice typed letter revealing my Secret Santa as Jim, who joined the fun via The Trading Card Database. Jim mentioned in his letter that our collecting habits didn’t exactly align so he didn’t have a lot to send my way. So what did he do?

Jim went out and bought something that he knew I’d love. HOW COOL! This really resonates with me. If you’re going to join a Secret Santa to voluntarily send a stranger a gift, I’d say you’re a kind and generous person. But Jim took it to the next level by going out of his way and spending some money to get send something that he knew I’d enjoy. No matter what was in the packs, I was already overjoyed.

I’ve opened several packs of 2019 Topps Chrome Update and I have yet to pull a base card from “THE guy” of 2019 baseball collecting. You know who I’m talking about:

There he is. 

I for one am not a believer of the Vlad Jr. hype – or least the level of hype that he’s getting. I think he’s going to be very good in the MLB, but I haven’t seen enough to merit the first ballot HOF acclaim that he’s been garnering and I certainly wouldn’t pay the sky high prices for his rookie cards. But to pull one out of a pack that was a gift? Now we’re talking! This will be archived with my other rookies and revisited someday.

Out of all the Topps Chrome Update that I’ve ripped, it’s been exclusively Mega Boxes which do not include the Pink Parallel packs. Those are exclusive to hanger packs.

This could have gone a whole lot worse! Chavis is an exciting rookie on a promising team. I don’t know much about this other dude – but it’s a chrome rookie parallel, and I’ll never complain about that.

Aside the packs, Jim also threw in a few Pirates and one awesome Steelers card:

I’ll be honest – These two names are new to me and I had to hop on Google to learn who these guys are... and wow, I'm glad I did. Both of these guys have some cool stories:

Dick Stuart enjoyed a 10 year career in the majors after serving briefly in the military. He had a handful of nicknames due to his subpar fielding abilities, such as "Dr. Strangeglove" and "Stonefingers," which was given to him by none other than Hank Aaron. At the plate, it was a different story. The slugger finished his career with 228 home runs. In 1963 on the Red Sox, he hit 42 home runs and led the majors with 118 RBI. 

On the topic of nicknames, Richard "Ducky" Schofield also enjoyed a great career. While his statistics wouldn't indicate anything special (career .221 hitter, 21 HR and 211 RBI in 19 seasons), he played for nineteen damn years! He must have been doing something right. In 1960, he took over at shortstop in September after the legendary Dick Groat broke his wrist, and Ducky batted .403 for the rest of the season. He was instrumental in the playoff run, any Pirates fan and most baseball fans can tell you how the 1960 ended. He's also got one pretty autograph.

To wrap it up, a beautiful 2007 Topps Chrome Hines Ward Refractor. I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again – Pirates and Steelers cards look sensational with black, yellow, and gold borders. This card is no exception. The black border matching with the black jersey is such a smooth combination.

Thanks again to Jim for this awesome Secret Santa package, and thanks to Jon for hosting. Until next year!