Old School Boxes- 1996 METAL UNVIERSE & 1997 Best Prospects

[BenP34]

As a kid I always loved the Metal Universe cards. I finally pulled the trigger on a box of 1996 Metal Universe box and it arrived last night.

I've only opened half of the packs so far. Will open the other half later tonight.

1996 Metal Universe

Notable Base Cards
Ken Griffey Jr.
Derek Jeter
Cal Ripken Jr.
Manny Ramirez
Randy Johnson
More...

Platinum Parallels
Joe Girardi
Mo Vaughn
Al Martin
Mark Gubicza
Pete Schourek
Otis Nixon
Jim Leyritz
Glenallen Hill
Shane Reynolds
Manny Ramirez :)!
Barry Larkin

Mining For Gold
Alex Ochoa
Yamil Benitez

Platinum Portraits
Carlos Perez

Heavy Metal
Ken Griffey Jr. :)!:flex:
Barry Bonds :doh:

Titanium
Barry Bonds :doh:

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The listing and the invoice both say "1996 Metal Universe Hobby Box" but the box says "Retail" on it, and the packs list the inserts on the back and say the set Mining for Gold can only be found in retail packs. After a little research I found that the insert set "Mother Lode" is only in hobby, and those are probably the best selling insert from this product. I'm debating whether or not to say something, curious what others would do in my situation.

Also grabbed a box of 1997 Best Prospects for $5. Was hoping for a Big Papi base card but no luck. Weird cause I got dupes and triplicates of other guys. Makes me think he wasn't in this series or something.

Box Topper Best 5 Hideki Irabu

Autograph Brett Tomko

Notable Base Cards- Roy Halladay, Adrian Beltre, Aramis Ramirez, Kerry Wood

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[pac_rat_76]

Beckett has the Mining for Gold inserts @ 1:12 retail packs. Complete set of 12 books at 25.00-60.00. The Mother Lode are 1:12 hobby packs. Complete set of 12 books at 20.00-50.00.

Looks like the checklists are rising/up-and-coming players in the retail exclusive. Only one that really stands out is Jeter. The hobby checklist is has the established stars..Bonds, Griffey Jr., Ripken, etc.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the mix-up unless your sole intent was to recoup some of the cost by selling. Maybe just drop the seller a message and see what they respond with.

[BenP34]

Thanks for the help. Yeah, I'm not sure what I'll do. I was hoping for inserts of Griffey, then Jeter, Ripken and Manny. But the Mother Lode Griffey would have been my ideal card to hit. I guess knowing I can't hit it is a little disappointing even though I'm definitely happy with the box so far.

[patrickdouglas]

i loved that set i remember spending all my money as a kid at the comic book store buying these up.

[BenP34]

Yeah me too. I'm looking for another cheap box to buy for next week. Maybe ionix football or a late 90s Topps Chrome or Finest.


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[Chris P]

Yeah me too. I'm looking for another cheap box to buy for next week. Maybe ionix football or a late 90s Topps Chrome or Finest.


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Finest 98 Series 1 Baseball was fun. Just did a box of that, it's around $40. I noticed most Finest stuff from that time are under $50.

[Tom Oates]

Nice break, let me know if you decide to put the set together. I opened a lot of this stuff. I'm sure I could help you out.

Tom

[BenP34]

Nice break, let me know if you decide to put the set together. I opened a lot of this stuff. I'm sure I could help you out.

Tom

Thanks! It's not a bad idea. I have started to get dupes already and still have 8 of the 24 packs to open.

[scotthenrichs]

That Irabu is big time $$$$ :)!

[NMCBravesfan]

Metal Universe was one of my absolute favorite products as a kid. 96-98 were excellent products. I wasn't much of a fan when they went to the more generic backgrounds for the base cards in 99 and 00 though. The random backgrounds, from space monsters to a city skyline, are what made the earlier sets so unique.

[joey_peapod]

Thanks for the help. Yeah, I'm not sure what I'll do. I was hoping for inserts of Griffey, then Jeter, Ripken and Manny. But the Mother Lode Griffey would have been my ideal card to hit. I guess knowing I can't hit it is a little disappointing even though I'm definitely happy with the box so far.

Nothing sells well from this set. You can buy the complete mother lode set around $10. I just checked the completed sales and I wouldn't put faith the $37 sale is legit since it got relisted. The people that list stupid titles and that got $10 have followings of buyers that don't do research apparently so good for them for getting the most they can but it's not rare

[HYPTZEMDSTRPLES]

A similar situation happened to me a few years ago. I wanted the 1991 or 1992 low boxes only for the specific insert set. Seller listed boxes as low boxes, but when I got them they were the high boxes. Told him he made a mistake. He sent me a 1989 UD high sealed set to make up for the oversight. He was professional about it, so I left it at that.