'08 Bowman Sterling Mini Box/Pack Break

A mini box IS a pack, and that my friends, is lame. I knew that going in, and it still didn't stop me from picking one up. I've always secretly wished I had the cash to be a high-end breaker, and every once in a while, that desire gets the better of me. A seller on eBay had a bunch of these mini boxes listed, with a starting bid of $20.00, and no one was bidding. Without thinking, I bid the minimum, and won the auction, which ended about 10 minutes later.

This is my first experience with any Sterling product, and honestly, since I'm not so much into prospecting, I'm kind of left wondering what people find so appealing about this product. The base cards are nice, sort of chromey, but they sure don't scan well, and it's not like these are cheap packs to rip. I wonder if that affects a products sales figures? With everyone getting their news and info via the web these days, does a release that doesn't scan well, and thus does not look good online, pay the ultimate price with decreased sales? I probably shouldn't be thinking anything so hard this early in the morning (6:15am).


Here's the wrapper:

See that guy right there on the front? Yeah, that's who we're looking for. Him, or one of those WBC patches that I keep seeing on the boards. Those things are nice!

And here is what I pulled:

Tom Hagan prospect base

Brett Gardner rookie base

Eww.

Quinton Miller prospect auto

Only 19, and looks like he may have some potential. A couple of years ago, he was the 52nd ranked prospect in the nation. Playing for a team like Pittsburgh, he'll probably get a shot to pitch in the bigs, since there should be no shortage of opportunities.

Seth Smith rookie auto

It could have been a lot worse than Seth Smith

Ryan Braun veteran refractor relic #'d /199

The only numbered card in the whole pack. At least it's a nice looking relic card, and I'm sure it will generate some trade interest from the Brew Crew fans out there in the great ether.

Well, that sure was fun. We won't really know how well I did for a few years, but I'm not holding my breath. One of the things that really irritates me is the use of sticker autos in high-end products. If you're going to spend more than $120 on a box, all cards should be hard signed. We're all going to be mighty pissed in 20 years when all we have are shiny or clear stickers to stare at, and are left reminisce about the beautiful signature that used to be there. Even if I'm wrong, and the signatures won't fade, and the stickers won't fall off, there's still something cheap and impersonal about having a signed sticker on your baseball card, even if it is "certified".

All cards for trade if you see something you like. If you happen to be a Rockies fan, I've got a bunch of cards to trade you. Where are all the Rockies fans anyway? They played in the World Series a couple of few years ago, so you'd figure SOMEONE would have jumped on the bandwagon, yet I've never met a single Rockies collector.