PACK RIPPING - A Monster Of A Group Break

Well, it's either the laziness....err, I mean business of my unexpected work week or the sheer disappointment of the card scanning process that has made me delay posting these pickups.

For the last little while I have been checking out some of the group breaks posted online over at Cloutsnchara's Blogtv site.  They put on some nice weekend monster breaks and some very - VERY nice cards have been pulled.  It's been fun to watch and so when I heard of one of their big "year-end" breaks, I thought I'd dip my toe into the pool.

Alright, it's more like jumping off into the deep end....but still.

For those not in the know when it comes to group breaks, you pay for a slot (or in this case a team) and every "hit" from that team that comes from the subsequent pack rips go to you.

For this "Monster Break" there were 25 boxes of product broken.
11-12 UD The CUP x 2
11-12 Dominion x 2
11-12 Panini Prime x 2
09-10 OPC Premier
12-13 ITG History of Hockey
11-12 UD Ultimate
12-13 Artifacts
12-13 Series 1
11-12 Contenders
11-12 Canada vs the World
11-12 Between the Pipes
11-12 Certified
11-12 Limited
11-12 Titanium
11-12 Series 1 Tin
11-12 Series 2 Tin
11-12 Pinnacle
11-12 Enforcers
10-11 Decades
10-11 Zenith
10-11 Luxury Suite
07-08 Sweet Shot

A spot in the break was $154.

Now, after you pay your name goes on the list.  Team selection is determined by a random draw.  I received the 15th pick.  Right off the bat I knew teams like Edmonton, Pittsburgh and Colorado (the teams with the potential for the biggest pulls) would be out of the question.  But at spot 15....the Canucks might be available.  After all, some of those products have my guy in them - right?

As my luck would have it, not only were the Canucks there at pick 15, they were probably the best team available at that point.  Vancouver was mine.

Over the next hour and a bit, I anxiously watched as box after box were opened.  Let's see how I did.

The first box opened was 2011/12 Enforcers and I landed not only this sweet looking insert.....

but a solid autograph (player-wise......not quality of scribble).  Box one was clearly a great start.

Box two was 2011/12 Pinnacle and was minimal in hits as it was.  I snagged nothing (BTW, base cards are not included or sent in these breaks).

Box three was a tin of 2011/12 Upper Deck Series I.  In it was a pair of Lacks.  This Victory rookie insert...

and a nice Young Guns canvas card.  Another nice box break.  I was feeling really good about joining this group break and my anxiousness and hesitancy swayed over to excitement and anticipation.

Box four was an Upper Deck Series II tin and landed me this nice Cody Hodgson YG.  Because he is pictured in a Canucks uniform, he goes to the "Canucks" rather than the team he currently plays with - the "Sabres".

Five cards in the first four boxes.  What could be in store next?

NOTHING!!  NOTHING!!

NOTHING!!

Over the next half an hour and peeling through 11 boxes of product, there was not a single Canucks player highlighted.  Without question the vibe went from a pretty nice high to an excruciating low.

But then a slight ray of light.

This Team Trademarks of Daniel Sedin from the 2011/12 Panini Limited product got me back on track.  Right?

Not so fast.

With nine boxes left to open (and all of the "higher-end" kind), I literally had my fingers crossed that I would just walk away from this break "even steven".

History of Hockey - Nope

Ultimate - Nope

Premier - Nope

Prime - Nope x2

Dominion - ahhhhhhh....finally!!!

UGH!!!  A base card.  Thankfully CnC included numbered base cards as part of the "hits".  It lessened the blow (only slightly).

The last two boxes were the big ones - 2011/12 The Cup x2

Without drawing it out....I hit a pair of blanks.

All totaled, there might be $20 of Canucks cards shipped my way.  But the kind folks at CnC added a complimentary pack of cards.

These 2012 Panini Father's Day cards were a store promotion, with some long odds at pulling a nice auto of parallel.  Still, the gesture was appreciated.

Meh.

That not only sums up the pack rip, but the group break in general.

Am I glad I participated?  You bet.  I realized that it's fun to watch, but my participation in them is over.  During most of the break, all I could think about was the nice Linden cards I could have invested in. But if you don't play, you can't win.

One and done for me.