BOX BREAK - 2013/14 O-Pee-Chee

Finally got around to scanning in my OPC box break from the start of the month.  I think the crazy collation and the lack of a killer hit had me a little lazy in showing off the goods.

Or is that the bads.

OPC has been a favorite product of mine for a few years.  I really like the diverse and beefy set (both the base and retro variations), the inserts and long odds pulls.  And while this year seems to be more of a "next verse, same as the first" feel, the overall appeal of OPC was enough for me to cave and buy a box.

I'll say this right off the bat...one and done.

2013/14 O-Pee-Chee

8 cards per pack / 32 packs per box

Remember people to take a look at the bottom of your box.  There's free stuff sitting there.  I was excited to see Carey Price as a part of my free box bottom cards...then I realized that it's the exact same box bottom as Captain Canuck's break.  BOOOO!

Oh well, free is free.  And be sure to save your wrappers.  There's a redemption program again so that's even more free stuff.  And we haven't even busted a pack yet.

The base cards are ok.  Nothing fantastic but not the worst OPC cards I've seen.  A nice full window for the photo and some basic text in the left corner.

The photo selections are average at best with most cards falling in the "nothing special" category.  That said, there's always a few surprises.

Like that Jason Garrison in the vintage threads.

The color selections are not matched to the team colors (a little odd if you ask me).  Instead they are linked to the card number.  The first 100 cards are one color, the next 100 are another, and so on.  Check out Captain Canucks' review for more details (again with the laziness).

Some older guys made the grade.  I've never seen that Orr pic before.  I'm on the fence as to whether or not I like it.  His face seems weird for some reason.

The Clarke is nice.  Can anybody name the goalie in the background?

The 500-card base set makes for a nice chase.  In my box I had 184 of the 500 and no doubles.  The collation is absolutely crazy though.  I won't go through the numbering in detail (lazy) but I can say that it was real easy to guess the cards I had after just sifting through the first few.

51, 54, 56, 59, 61, 64, 66, 69, 71, 74, 76, 79, etc.

And while I had a lot of cards in the 1-100 and 400-500 range, I had only one.....that's ONE card in the 200's.  Bizarre.

As always, there's a crop of rookies in the mix.  I snagged 20 but 4 are doubles.  I'd be miffed but Yakupov was one of my doubles.

Staying with the theme of the base design, these cards don't scream awesome which is too bad because it's a pretty beefy rookie crop.

Retros!!!  And retros of retro players are even better.  This design is truly hit and miss.  I like the Yzerman...

but hate the Oieem Nlrsn.  I'm ok with contrasting colors and all, but let's use readable hues.

I cracked 32 retros (one per pack) and they all end in either 3 or 8.  Thanks for that eh.

Only one retro that stood out from the bunch.  This Rookie retro reminds me of a That's 70's Show dance sequence in between scenes.

JT Miller....is he any good?  Cause I got a desirable card.

It's blank backed.

I was going to have some fun and say that my entire box was blank backed (and just use this scan over and over again) but then I remembered that I'm lazy.

Not sure how rare the blank backs are, but I'm asking big coin for it.  I gotta recoup my money somehow.

Stickers!!!  These are yellow and colorful and star the greatest of all time.  Can't complain there.

I picked up 10 stickers in total and am covering my binders for the upcoming school year.  Wicked!!!!

Shiny cards.  Some people love 'em, some hate.  I don't mind them.  I think it would be a tall task to complete the 500-card base set considering that I only hit 8 of 'em.

A nice white glossy back of the card is par for the OPC course and look sharp.  What else can I say.

Shiny parallels.  Why not.

These are numbered to 100 and I pulled a Schroeder rookie.  Again...big coin.

The black border are a dead giveaway here (not to mention the serial numbering on the back).  Overkill?  It's the OPC way.

Last but not least (and certainly not the most) are the team rings.  I'll admit, I like last years' pop-ups more.  Two of 'em in the box but I feel like they are already destined for the loonie box.

Overall, a fun break.  Was hoping for one of those manufactured patches but alas no.  How many boxes would one need for the set?  I don't know.  Part of me feels like if you hit the unlucky button you could literally end up with a box full of doubles.  I'm sure I'll be able to trade most of these off and help the set builders.

No Linden in this set so I'm off the hook there (but he's rearing his ugly head in ITG's Decades 90's very soon).

And with that...another year of OPC is in the books.

Remember.....readable hues.