One of the more interesting recent developments in the hobby is the apparent code cracking capabilities in determining what boxes hold the coveted Kaboom insert cards in 2021-22 Crown Royale Basketball. It seems the serial numbers on certain boxes are a key to knowing which box contains a case hit.
It’s an interesting matter for us on many levels and I wanted to dig in a little bit, get informed and see if I could verify some of the information that was being spread around online. I spent a little time Saturday morning before coming into the shop, looking into it and I’m confident that I understand what the code sequence is in this particular situation. One longtime breaker put a couple of the codes to the test and discovered that some of the information did indeed seem to be accurate. At the shop, we’ve been long out of Crown and we don’t plan on getting any back anytime soon but it was still a noteworthy development for anyone who deals in current era products.
It brings up a number of interesting scenarios from all angles of the hobby. Should breakers hobby shops cover holograms and serial numbers when selling boxes in order to keep it a level playing field? How many buyers–big and small–have gobbled up those boxes? Are collectors, flippers and buyers in general who are informed enough to have the code doing anything wrong by trying to use this info to secure certain boxes with, apparently, an almost certain big hit inside? How many other products have a code that can be traced to big hits lurking inside? Some dealers insist there have long been such clues on boxes.
Wherever you fall on the scale, it’s definitely an interesting and worthy topic for the week and proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same because it’s much like the sequencing of cello and rack packs from older Topps products that some advanced vintage sleuths have known about for many years.
What’s New
As far as new releases, we received the new 2021-22 Panini One and One Basketball, which consists of, you got it, one autographed card and one base, parallel or insert card per box.
We opened a case, sold a few in store and promptly sold our nine remaining boxes to one buyer on eBay to the tune of nearly $7,000.
We got other new and restock products in this week including 2022 Score Hobby Football.
We did have a minor issue with the partial case we got. The exterior of the box was looking a little sketchy and upon further inspection even wet. Once we opened the case there was a very strong smell of Fabuloso or some other type of floor cleaning solution and, unfortunately, whatever it was made its way all over the boxes of cards inside. I can’t say I was totally opposed to the fresh lavender scent but I’m assuming Matt Stafford was not a fan.
In a case like this, we tried to go through and salvage the boxes we could and then contacted our distributor to return or replace the rest of the damaged goods.
Home State Heartbreak and Hope
It was another active sports and sports card related week at the shop, with so many of our local central PA teams in action and making noise. Some of those noises were good. Some were not so good.
The Fightin’ Phils succumbed to the Houston Astros and lost the World Series this past Saturday night. We had a lot of love in the sport for Bryce, Schwarbs and the crew. I’m not a Phillies fan but it was still a bit sad to see this spirited squad come up short and I know a lot of the area collectors who frequent are shop were, too.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles are still undefeated and remain one of the hottest teams in football and that is reflective in this shop with Jalen Hurts and company selling really well for us across the board. From cards to figures and everything in between, the birds are flying in Sunbury.
The season has not gone nearly as well for our Steelers faithful with the black and gold not getting it done between the lines so far this year, but that was a bit to be expected.
It’s one of those years when old school Steelers cards might sell better than the current crop. Mean Joe Greene anyone?
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