Box Break: 1999-00 MVP Stanley Cup Edition

Its been over 20 years now since Upper Deck's 1999-00 MVP Stanley Cup Edition set was released and this will only be the fourth full box I've opened. I've probably said this on here before, but I consider this to be my favorite hockey card set. In all my years of collecting, I believe this is the only product that I've ever bought more than one or two boxes of.

There main reason I like the set so much is the parallels. I know there were two previous MVP releases with the same parallels, but this set was my first exposure to them back when I was lucky enough to pull my Dominik Hasek and Alexei Kovalev Super Scripts. Those two got me hooked on this particular set and I've been after them ever since.

Of the four Stanley Cup Edition boxes I've opened, three of them have only happened because of this blog. It wasn't until I started it up that I really dove into looking for Super Scripts to add to ones I already had. From there I expanded to the Gold and Silver Scripts and even all of the insert sets at one point.

I know it would be much easier and cheaper to build these sets through purchasing singles and lots, but box breaking has always seemed like more fun to me. For each of these boxes I've known there was little to no chance of pulling Super Scripts, but there's always that slight possibility so I figured why not give it a shot each time.

Before I dive into the details of my latest break, here are the links to my previous breaks:

        - Previous Box Break #1: October 6, 2010
        - Previous Box Break #2: January 20, 2012

A quick note on that first one from 2010: I realize now that it was actually a retail box and I never even had a chance at the Super or Gold Scripts as they were hobby exclusives. The dead giveaway is the "Retail Exclusive" written right on the wrapper. I'm not sure how I screwed that up, but it's kind of funny looking back on it now.

Back to the reason for this post, here are some quick details about my newest box:

        - Purchased on eBay for $45 plus shipping
        - From original sealed case the seller bought at release
        - Hobby version (28 Packs, 10 Cards per Pack)

I found the listing for this box a few months ago and it had been sitting in my watchlist ever since. It was originally listed for $50, but I after some back and forth offers with the seller I was able to grab it for $45. A little more than I was hoping to spend based on the ones I've bought in the past, but I decided to go for it anyway just for the fun of it.

Here is a summary of what is available in these boxes and what I actually ended up with.

        - 220 Base --> 238
        - 220 Silver Script (1:2) --> 14
        - 220 Gold Script (#/100) --> 0
        - 220 Super Script (#/25) --> 0
        - 20 Stanley Cup Talent (1:5) --> 7
        - 10 Cup Contenders (1:9) --> 3
        - 10 Playoff Heroes (1:84) --> 0
        - 12 Second Season Snipers (1:28) --> 1    
        - 10 Golden Memories (1:14) --> 2
        - 10 Clutch Performers (1:28) --> 1
        - Great Combinations (1:196) --> 0
        - Game Used Souvenirs (1:130) --> 0
        - 500 Goal Club (1:3995) --> 0

Overall this was not too bad all things considered. While I didn't get any of the Golds or Supers I was hoping for, it was still fun to sort cards from my favorite set. The players in this set are the ones I grew up watching on TV so its always nice to see them on cardboard.

A couple of general notes before I get into the details:

        - No serial numbered cards pulled
        - No autographs or memorabilia pulled
        - 7 packs did not have all 10 cards
        - 2 packs had more than 10 cards
        - 1 damaged card
        - 92% base set completion
        - 35 base duplicates

In the interest of trying to do something different for a box break post, I was crazy enough to keep track of which cards came from every pack of the box in a spreadsheet. I basically created a box break matrix and thought it would be fun to share on here.

The first column on the left is the pack # as I pulled them from the box. The top row is the card # in the order I pulled them from each individual pack. The cells contain the actual card numbers. The (S) notation is for Silver Scripts and the (D) is for damaged cards.

Pack #	Card #1	Card #2	Card #3	Card #4	Card #5	Card #6	Card #7	Card #8	Card #9	Card #10	Card #11	Card #12
1	57	84	111	61	89	113	118	142	166	192	201(D)
2	85	112	139	6	21	49	206	3(S)
3	79	105	18	149	36	57	84
4	70	96	100	77
5	127	155	182	208	122	150	106	133	40(S)
6	1	55	80	SC14	25	172	197
7	67	93	120	45	217	76	80	126(S)	207
8	167	15	62	90	SC5	163	190	179	5	28
9	43	91	114	214	143	CP8	135	12(S)	205	65
10	100	96	208	81	107	134	191	9	198	77
11	183	39	144	170	204	CC9	181	143(S)	194	13
12	127	155	182	122	150	172	GM4	162	214(S)	35
13	72	98	125	137	164	212	21	49	151	192(S)
14	153	11	187	30	71	97	200	178	8	CC3
15	147	175	103	129	SC2	123	161	109	136	159
16	37	58	185	124	97	71	102	128	152	SS10
17	1	25	197	7	SC18	189	23	69	95	211
18	53	78	104	34	68	94	51	73	99(S)	121
19	131	156	210	115	99	126	154	145	171	63
20	173	24	52	12	40	70	SC9	56	73(S)	165
21	50	199	110	135	163	190	215	101	123	22
22	86	116	82	108	148	176	176	220	42	209
23	140	168	10	130	216	158	SC20	148	195(S)	75
24	17	48	193	19	3	31	55	26	47	83
25	132	160	184	27	60	88	SC11	111	154(S)	74
26	177	38	59	20	46	203	GM6	124	181(S)	213	186	14
27	173	24	52	195	12	40	CC5	31(S)
28	2	29	54	157	196	180	188	219	166(S)	202

While that may not be interesting to anyone else, I thought it was a neat exercise to run through. This is a hobby after all and I'm just trying to find some new ways to enjoy it.

Since I've already completed the Silver Script set and posted most of it on here, I thought I would choose a random base card to show off first. Here is card #8 featuring Ray Ferraro of the Atlanta Thrashers and one of my all time favorite NHL jerseys.

As far as the inserts go, I did actually get a few new ones. While I'm not actively pursuing the full master set of inserts, it was still cool to add some to get me a little closer to finishing them. These are from back when people seemed to actually care about basic inserts so the designs are quite nice all things considered. 

We'll start off the run of inserts with Second Season Snipers. These are printed on a nice rainbow foil board and look great in person. This one is card #SS10 and features Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins. I always liked those jerseys for some reason.

The Golden Memories were printed on a similar foil board and look just as good in person. I really like the old fashioned looking font on on the set name and player name. This one is card #GM6 and features Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils.

Clutch Performers is another nice looking insert set with a really cool double image effect. I will say these were a bit harder to scan and it took some editing to make it look this good. This one is card #CP8 and featured John LeClair of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Cup Contenders was printed on a silver foil board and is one of those sets that just does not scan very well. I did what I could to make this one look ok. This is card #CC3 and features Milan Hejduk of the Colorado Avalanche.

Stanley Cup Talent was the most common insert and I'm pretty sure between all the boxes I've opened I have them all. These are another example of the silver foil board that does not want to scan. This one is card #SC5 and features Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche.

Overall this was a really fun experience. I got to bust some packs for the first time in quite a while and they were from my favorite set. While I didn't hit any of the big cards I was hoping for, it was still neat to sort through them all and sort them so I could place them in a binder. I guess its back to eBay for the Supers and Golds.

Unless I come across a great deal on one, I don't see myself opening any more boxes of this stuff. I know I'm better off just buying the singles, but there is just something about busting boxes and hoping to hit something cool that keeps me going back to it. In this case though I'm over it and just want to focus on singles to help finish my parallel sets.