Help/Advice

[LeChuck]

As you all may or may not know, I busted two of the most vile cases of Upper Deck product ever witnessed by man. Last night, someone suggested that I should check the serial numbers on the boxes to see if they are all sequentual. The Hardcourt was, but the Authentic was not. Here's how the Authentic was sequenced:

NB079410157
NB079410159
NB079410253
NB079410254
NB079410255
NB079410256
NB079410257
NB079410258
NB079410259
NB079410260
NB079410261
NB079410263

Not to mention, the tape sealing the Authentic case had a scattered diamond shapes all around it, whereas the Hardcourt had the Upper Deck logo all around it. I called Upper Deck about it and the guy I spoke with said that it's not necessarily the case that all the boxes in the case will be sequential, nor do they always use tape with the Upper Deck logo. I not sure if I really trust this. If it was the case that the boxes should have been in sequential order, I see no benefit on Upper Deck's end to tell me about it because it implies that the dealer, their real customer, either sold a case that was mixed and not factory sealed or far worse things, such as searching/weighing boxes. Not to mention it's not in their best interest to admit that certain practices like these could be commonplace, which would certainly decrease consumer confidence in their product. Not to keep throwing Blowoutcards (where I purchased the cases) under the bus, but it could be that the boxes should be sequential, the case was factory sealed, and Upper Deck was the one that goofed when they packaged it. So I'm looking for opinions on the matter. Keep in mind the following:

- The thickest card I pulled from the case was a Tyson Chandler Auto Jersey. I pulled another auto jersey from the case, but it was a redemption. The next thickest were cards from their basic GU sets.

- Of the 12 GUs that I should have and did pull from the case, 11 of them were basic GUs, meaning they came from either the Authentic Fabric set or the Rookie Exclusive Jersey set. The other one was a Dual Authentic Fabric. So no Rookie patches, triple jerseys, or quad jerseys.

- Every box had two autos and one GU, except the box I was shorted an auto. So I didn't get a "hotbox" in the sense that I got an additional auto or GU. That might be the case with all of the Authentic product, but it's something to keep in mind.

Any thoughts on the matter or how I should proceed would be appreciated. Thanks.

[CrazyCarl]

Weighing does happen.

That said, I've done only a few cases myself (05-06 Topps Chrome, 06-07 Turkey Red, 06-07 Finest, and 06-07 Topps Chrome) and the NBA stickers were not sequential in ANY of them. They were all around the same, I'd say about the same spread of serial #'s as you got but I did get the number of hits and big hits as I would expect (well, the 05 Chrome was a bit weak, but I did get my 1/1 and a "hot box").

That said, I've had horrible luck with UD in general when buying quantities of boxes. I just purchased two 03-04 SPx boxes... total duds (see the box break forum for the first breakdown) and they were close to each other in serial #. Though, I must say, I do recall a box of 06-07 SPx that had a jordan dual jersey and a pair of nice auto's that definitely made the box worth it's cost. In general though, UD has disappointed me more than Topps.

I hate to sound like a fan boy, but Topps has always kept a pretty solid hit rate for me.

So as far as your question(s):

It could have been broken/weighed but I would say that is far-fetched especially if the case's box was the original and it didn't have re-tape marks (regardless of the tape's logo - if I remember correctly both Chrome boxes has Topps' logo, but the Turkey Red was plain).

I've never dealt with blowoutcards, but considering their retail-ish looking prices and some of their customer's forum posts under "box breaks" I would say they look pretty reputable.

One other thing to take into account is the amount of the product released. These are just roundball guestimates but I would say that there are 10 cases of standard UD for each case of UD researve, SPx, or even SPGU. That means a lot more dud-boxes, which increases the rate of dud-cases. I hate to think of collecting cards in such a business mentality, but it may sadly be you get what you pay for. That's probably why Topps has been consistant for me - I go after some of the medium/higher end stuff generally. In fact, I haven't opened any of the namesake boxes this year EXCEPT for Fleer - no Topps regular, no UD regular, and really, the Fleer boxes have been duds too except for the couple auto's and REALLY crappy buy-backs.

Anyhow, enough ranting. I believe you got what you paid for unfortunately. :-/.

/Carl

[unknown_device]

dang.. Im planning on buying a case of trilogy and or luxury box in the next week or so... Reading this kinda stuff iskinda scarring me.. I would had to throw out $1200 for a case of trilogy and just be throwing away my money.. Ide be kinda pissed if i seen ANY KIND of tampering with the case and if i seen it b4 i got it I probably wouldnt of even open it.. I have never purchased a case in my life but just from what ive read of them dont u guys think UPPERDECK should sumhow do a " BETTER SEALING " on their casing? Just my 2 cents worth.. Both of these cases would be hard just to " weigh " and be like " something is in this lets kepe " to do the fact in trilogy the auto focus, game used.. same with luxury box.. Agian just my few cents worth

James