The variety, the brands, the innovations, the value.
It's all in there.
For me there is also a bonus, the memories. This was and always will be my best time in the hobby. Nothing will ever change that.
So when I pulled off my last trade with Project Pedro blog I got the opportunity to take a trip back down memory lane with some packs/box breaks from my past. I loved every aspect of our trade, but these breaks were truly what hit me the hardest and what I enjoyed the most. With every pack I busted a smile can be seen for miles across my face and the next chance to open the next pack brought me joy like no other.
There will be multiple breaks coming up on here and all that remains are football ones. Football season never ends.
Today's break takes me back. I remember when Pinnacle Mint first hit the shelves and how brilliant of an idea I thought it was and still think it was with the combination of two hobbies. However, when it came to other collectors, most were split on how they felt. Some were excited. Some didn't care. I think most weren't fans which is why the line only made it a couple of years. But, it was hobby innovation and something I always reflect upon when I think about what the late 90's brought to the hobby. There were some very intelligent individuals running the card companies and marketing back then. They knew how to target, innovate and keep kids interested in the hobby. I don't feel like this kind of innovation exists today. Feel like we are in a rut.
Anyways, enough with that. Let's get onto breaking this box.
Each pack of 1996 Pinnacle Mint football came with three cards, one with a hole in the middle-to insert a coin if you pleased-and two coins in a plastic holder. Both cards and coins had parallels as well. You could be even lucky enough to even find a redemption card for a 24kt gold coin. I was never that fortunate even after busting many packs of football and baseball of the product. But, I did pull a gold coin once from the baseball version of Manny Ramirez. Those weren't easy pulls but sadly I traded it off years ago. I regret doing so. Maybe I can hunt one down someday.
The base cards were simple but looked cool. The Kosar is actually a gold parallel. I think those fell 1:4 packs. The bronze Stewart is the base.
Here is a Dave Brown I didn't have. Bet many collectors wouldn't hold onto this guy like me. But, if you look closely, Rodney Hampton exists in this photo as well....
The biggest problem I had with this break was the cards all stuck together. Many were damaged because of that. It was something I hadn't experienced in some time breaking older wax.
Here were all of the coins I found. Many of the big stars like Marino, Young, Rice, Sanders and even some multiples of those guys. The base coins were made of brass with a players imprinted face. There are 30 in the set to collect. After busting this, I am considering that to be a set chase.
I didn't find any gold redemption cards, silver, nickel, gold but I did pull a 1:48 gold plated coin of the GOAT Barry Sanders. I put it side by side with the brass. You can see the obvious difference.
Not a bad overall break other than the cards being damaged. I was pretty happy with everything but that. The Sanders was a nice surprise.
Will we ever see another product like this again? Probably not. But at least I was there to experience it when it first came out and had this opportunity to do it all over again.
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