Do you like Buzz Breaks? We recently launched 12 in 12 — a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. This is a faster break in that style — but not the launching of a new 12 in 12. We’ll have another marathon soon. (Click the logo below to see the previous posts in the series.)
The box: 1997 Score Series 1 baseball cards (jumbo box)
The cost now: $9.99
The cost then: $71.64 in U.S., $107.64 in Canada ($1.99/$2.99 per pack; prices printed on them)
What’s inside this box? Keep reading …
Packs per box: 36
Cards per pack: 20
Cards in this box: 720
Base set completion: 330 of 330 (100 percent)
Duplicates: Yes
Triplicates: Yes
Quadruplicates: Yes
Notable players on base cards – Jeff Bagwell, Will Clark, Albert Belle, Mike Piazza, Frank Thomas, Derek Jeter, Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson, Roberto Alomar, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ryne Sandberg, Jim Thome, Mariano Rivera, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Manny Ramirez, Wade Boggs, Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Larry Walker, Mark McGwire, Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Ivan Rodriguez, Greg Maddux, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Andruw Jones, Paul Molitor
Rookie Cards – Nerio Rodriguez, Brian Giles … the only actual RCs in the set!
Insert cards: 18 (all in gallery below)
Showcase Series (9) – Jeff Suppan, Tony Clark, Kirt Manwaring, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Greenwell, Warren Newson, Will Clark, John Wetteland, Jaime Navarro
The Franchise (1) – Albert Belle
Stellar Season (2) – Ryan Klesko, Mark McGwire
Artist’s Proof (2) – Alan Trammell, Tom Goodwin
Randy Johnson’s Pitcher Perfect (4) – Ivan Rodriguez, Tim Salmon, Will Clark, Randy Johnson
Autographs/Memorabilia: None
What’s Buzz-worthy: This retro rip was simply because Buzz found this box cheap — and it’s not a year that’s overly plentiful since it’s from after the MLB strike. Boxes just weren’t as plentiful in those couple of years afterward — at least not like they were before. This isn’t the flashiest release but it is a set that’s pretty decent in the Score lineage in terms of its info and design, though the white-bordered, lower-case look on the fronts may not be great to some collectors. It’s aged pretty well and there are just enough inserts here to make it worth a rip for this price. (It was a slower rip as some packs were stuck together but nothing like some all-damage, don’t-even-rip years before it.) Statistically this box delivered just as it should with one of each type of insert other than The Glowing Franchise, which is one in every 120 packs. The Pitcher Perfect cards have photos taken by Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (except his card), while Stellar Season cards are foilboard and the Proofs are all kinds of wacky with their spectral wave foilboard. (At least that’s what I’m calling it.) The most-interesting insert is The Franchise, an embossed Action Packed style card that is folded and glued to make a standard card. Nothing special by today’s standards but they are interesting among the cards here.
Product Grade: A
Box Grade: A
Fun Grade: B
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