Earlier this year, I shared a cool story about buying a couple of hockey wax boxes from a facebook marketplace member and receiving a third box for free. It was 1991-92 Score Canadian Hockey Bilingual (Series 1). And although that set wasn't anywhere near my radar for completion, the box got me close enough to provide all the motivation I needed. Within a couple of months, Series 1 was done and dusted.
Since then (and thanks to some encouragement from commenters), I've tossed around the idea of building Series 2. Sure, I could have just purchased the complete set and then added it to my finished Series 1 set, but I just didn't see the fun in that—especially because I built Series 1 myself.
And considering that Series 2 was only another 330 cards, and that wax boxes were readily available on sites like ebay for around $30, shipping included, it didn't take too long for me to make the decision.
Wax box acquired.
I've got to say, the nostalgia factor was higher than expected. It went up another few points once I opened the lid.
I'd forgotten about those wrappers. Even their plastic "trash bag" quality, which was a nuisance back then, made me happy somehow.
You'll notice that all four wrappers feature Canadian teams, which is fitting for this Canadian version of the set. Series 2 had Calgary, Winnipeg, Québec, and Toronto. Series 1 wrappers featured the other three Canadian teams of the era: Vancouver, Edmonton, and Montreal. The fourth variant featured Pittsburgh, which I'd assume was chosen because they were the defending Stanley Cup champs going into that season.
So, did I dig right in and voraciously open all the packs in one sitting, hoping to find all the big stars of the era or one of the Bobby Orr insert cards?
No.
I thought it would be much more fun to open them gradually. So, on a rainy weekend morning, or if I wanted a little break from work during the week, I'd open a pack. Or three.
Here's how it often went:
"Time to take a quick break and open a pack."
Takes box off shelf, takes a pack out, and opens it.
"Nice. Let's do one more."
Takes another pack out. Opens it.
"Nice. Okay, back to work."
Five minutes pass.
"Who am I kidding? Let's open another one."
I don't think I ever opened more than four in one sitting, though. And it was a worthwhile endeavor, for sure. Knowing I had a little reprieve was good for the collecting soul, especially since I'd also be building a set in the process.
In my first pack, I found a Sergei Fedorov card and a Mike Modano card back-to-back, which was a great start. Soon after, though, it seemed like collation might be an issue. Some packs contained at least of few of the same cards, in the same consecutive order. But I didn't let that bother me too much.
It's largely because just like Series 1, there's some good carboard to be found in Series 2.
Look here:
15 cards per pack x 36 packs = 540 total cards
Series 2 = 330 total cards (#331–660)
As long as the number of duplicates could stay under 210, and as long as I found at least one copy of each card in the set, I'd get there.
How close did I come?
Here's the final result of sorting, in stacks of 70, 100, 100, and 60:
Looks like a pretty good amount of cards in each stack, right? So what are the results? And how many duplicates did I accumulate?
|
Card Range |
Number of Unique |
Number of |
|
330–400 |
70/70 |
46 |
|
401–500 |
100/100 |
95 |
|
501–600 |
93/100 |
36 |
|
601–660 |
60/60 |
40 |
|
TOTAL |
323/330 |
217 |
Impressive!
If you're familiar with Score products from the late '80s and early '90s, you'll know that their collation across packs and boxes left a lot to be desired. But this box was certainly different. I only need 7 more cards to complete Series 2!
For my Series 1 build, the numbers were skewed much more toward duplicates. I needed 43 cards to complete the set instead of 7, and I had 253 duplicates instead of 217.
In any case, I'm sure some folks on TCDB will be happy to rid themselves of a few junk wax cards in a trade. I should have Series 2 finished in no time.
For now, here are a few more well-designed cards to whet your appetite for the set completion post:
Oh, and now for the big, dramatic moment.
Did I pull a Bobby Orr autograph?
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No.
Did I at least pull one of the non-autographed inserts?
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No.
(Sad Trombone)
That surprised me a little. Would have been fun to pull one.
Despite that, the whole experience was fantastic. Opening up a bunch of packs and collating a set by hand brought back a lot of fun childhood memories. And for only $30 or so, it was totally worth it.
I guess you can say it's one of the positives of the junk wax era. Here we are, 30+ years later, and you can still buy a sealed wax box at an affordable price and try to build a set.
Stay tuned for set completion.
Now here are two questions for you readers and collectors:
When was the last time you opened an entire box of cards with the goal of putting together the complete set?
Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading along!
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