From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there’s a box you’d want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
The box: 1999 Comic Images WWF Smackdown! cards
Where to buy: Poke around online
Packs per box: 36
Cards per pack: 7
Cards in this box: 252
Base set completion:
71 of 72 (99 percent)
Duplicates: 66
Triplicates: 52
Quadruplicates: 33
Quintuplicates: 15
Sextuplicates: 8
Septuplicates: 2
Octuplicates: 1
Notables on base cards – Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, Undertaker, Triple H, Edge, Chyna, The Hardy Boyz, Debra, Jerry Lawler, Shane McMahon, Vince McMahon, X-Pac, Road Dogg and … Mr. Socko!
Insert/short-print cards: 4 (gallery of inserts and notable base cards below)
Chromium Smackdown! (4) – Mankind, The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, X-Pac
Autographs/Memorabilia: None
What’s Buzz-worthy: A couple of DuoCards/Comic Images sets from the late 1990s offer us the first cardboard for a number of stars from the boom of World Wrestling Entertainment — “The Attitude Era” — that defined the top time for the company and a new time in the years after Hulk Hogan. This timeframe, which was still under the WWF name, gave us “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind and so many more. This set was the second release of that timeframe so we don’t quite get Rookie Cards of those names, but there are debuts (RCs) for Shane McMahon, Matt and Jeff Hardy, Debra, Ivory and Terri Runnels to name a few. (The real star debut? Mr. Socko — card No. 62.) … This set could be close to an iconic release if it wasn’t for printing issues that can make opening boxes hit and miss. The cards are prone to stick together to the point of catasrophic damage though this box was more prone to minor sticking, which meant some specks of color loss here and there along with rough cuts (seen mostly on the back) and fuzzy corners. (This was a cheap buy so I went in knowing this was possible.) High-grade copies of key cards here could do very well. … There are Chromium inserts and this box delivered on those, but didn’t include an autograph (one in every third box). This box is also reflective of a weird set-up for this product — it’s a tiny base set in a big box meaning there were as many as eight copies of cards inside. (Octuplicates? I had to Google everything after four … ) Meanwhile, it didn’t include a complete set, either. Boxes aren’t too easy to find but they aren’t super-expensive buys. The ink lineup includes Al Snow, Big Boss Man, D’Lo Brown, Godfather, Hardcore Holly, The Hardy Boyz (a big card), Ivory and Tori (no, not Torrie Wilson) — a few big names but nothing like the previous year, which included Chyna, The Rock, Road Warrior Hawk, Mankind, Sable and Owen Hart to name a few. This is a fun set but one that has its flaws with printing and being too simple but it’s reflective of a big, big time in WWE history. That makes it memorable enough to be found here.
Product Grade: B+
Box Grade: C+
Fun Grade: B-
Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
>> Click here to buy WWE cards on BlowoutCards.com
BlowoutBuzz.com 