The Devil's in the Details

(An expression of the concept that many things seem straightforward on the surface, but difficulties, problems, and obstacles are later discovered while trying to implement or execute a task or plan)


EBay can be a great spot for grabbing onto that sweet piece of memorabilia for your collection. Whether it’s cards, pucks, jerseys or autographs it’s pretty likely you will be able to find someone who has what you want.

Just as likely, however, is that you may get fleeced out of some hard earned cash if you don’t keep your eyes open! Case in point for card collectors: the listing that describes a box of cards as a “Factory Sealed Box”. The Devil in the Details here? More often than not the person is selling what is called a “Blaster Box”, not a full 20+ pack box as you might be expecting.

A blaster box is in effect an economy-sized product containing 8 to 12 packs of cards at a lower price (normally $25 in store) than one would pay for a 24-36 pack box. In theory this provides a more affordable way for people to access the hobby, and it achieves this goal as long as someone realizes what they are buying. The long time collector knows what the newer or returning collector may not in this regard: blaster boxes contain retail packs as opposed to hobby packs. This is a distinction that will be covered in more detail in a future column, but the basic breakdown is this: you are less likely to pull a rookie, memorabilia or particular insert cards from a retail pack than a hobby one. So if you are buying blaster boxes expecting to pull big money cards from the packs at the same rate as you would from hobby packs you’re going to be disappointed! At the same time, blaster boxes will often contain a bonus of sorts unique to that packaging that add a little extra bang to your buck, most often in the form of an oversized card of a star player, so sometimes it’s landing you something that no one gets by buying the larger retail or hobby boxes.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand! When you see a “Factory Sealed Box” posted for sale, or any box for that matter, you need to immediately scour the item description with a fine toothed comb looking for more information on the box. Nine times out of 10, that item description for a “Factory Sealed Box” will tell you that it contains 12 packs or less, telling you that it is a blaster box, not the full box you might have assumed it to be.

This raises the question: “Are these sellers trying to scam people?”. Well, that’s debatable. In my view what the majority of these people are doing is certainly deceitful in that they are hiding their product under jargon, hoping people will simply bid on what they “think” it is they’re buying. At the same time they include info that points to the fact that it is a blaster box for sale so they are technically not pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes. So the verdict: They’re being sneaky and trying to catch people who are bid-happy which really is the bidder’s fault. At the same time they are also preying on people who might not know any better and that’s pretty slimy in my books.

At any rate, what it all boils down to here is this:

The Devil's In The Details #1: A “Factory Sealed Box” does NOT necessarily mean a full 24 to 36 pack box so be sure to read the item description in detail before bidding.

Shawn Gates
[email protected]
Twitter: ShawnHockeybuzz
Facebook: Shawn Gates
BBM: 311A4F7D
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INDEX


Previous “Who Am I?” Articles

#1, #2, #3, #4, #5


Previous “WHAT IF…?” Articles

#1 What If The NHL Contracted To 24 Teams?

#2 What If Quebec Traded Lindros To The Rangers Instead Of The Flyers?

#3 What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?

#3a What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?: A RESPONSE

#4 What If The WHA Never Existed?

#5 What If The Position Of Rover Had Not Been Eliminated?

#6 What If Pittsburgh Had Not Been Awarded A Team In 1967?

#7 What If Steve Smith Had Not Scored In His Own Net In Game 7?

#8 What If The NHL Had a Cross-Conference Playoff Structure?

#9 What If The NHL Asked For Fan Ideas For Improving The Game??

#10 What If Henderson Had Missed The Net In Game 8?

#11 What If You Could Sneak Into A Stanley Cup Celebration?

#12 What If The NHL Returned To Quebec City?

#13 What if Toronto and Edmonton Had Traded Teams in 1981?

#14 What if You Could Create Your Own Hockey Dream Team?

#15 What if An Active Player in the NHL “Came Out” as Gay?

#16 You Could Assemble Your Own Fantasy Pick-up Hockey Team?

#17 Hockey Had A Champions League Tournament?

#18 Team "X" Did NOT Make Trade "Y" At The Deadline?

#19 Gretzky Had Been Called For he High Stick?

#20 Star Players Hadn't Had Their Careers Cut Short?


Previous “Devil's Advocate” Articles

Gary Bettman and the Phoenix Coyotes


Previous “According to Twitter” Articles

Olympic Gold Medal Game

Olympic Hockey

Kovalchuk Trade


Previous “Humpday Hockey Videos”

January 20, 2010: Pain for Pleasure

January 27, 2010: National Anthems

February 3, 2010: Dion Phaneuf

February 10, 2010: Hockey Fans



Previous “Who Knew?” Articles
#1: Gordie Howe

#2: The Zamboni

#3: Maurice “The Rocket” Richard

#4: Ron Hextall

#5: Stanley Cup Abuse, Neglect and Versatility

#6: The Puck

#7: Don Cherry

#8: Cam Neely

#9: The Early Years of Les Canadiens

#10: Hockey Superstitions!

#11: Olympic Hockey Pt1



Previous “Town Without A Team” Articles

Booger Hollow, Arkansas

Hell, Michigan



Previous “Hockey Psychology” Articles

State Dependent Learning

Arousal and Performance

Depression