Tuesday, January 14, 2014

1998 Skybox Dugout Axcess

A couple weeks ago we voted on which products to add to the 2014 Typhoon Haiyan Charity Break, with the winners being 1997 & 1999 Stadium Club. One of the runners up was 1998 Skybox Dugout Axcess. For just $18 for a hobby box, I figured it was worth it to finally review a box from the brand that inspired this blog's name. 

This is an example of base cards 1 through 90 out of the 150 card set. Each one has a quote from another player about the player featured on the card. I guess that qualifies for getting access to the dugout. Mike Cameron pretty much says that Robin Ventura is a dick and doesn't talk much. That screams future big league manager!
91 through 120 are "Little Dawgs", a subset for young players who haven't made a name for themselves. Apparently Barry Larkin used to called every player he didn't know yet "Little Dawg". 

121 through 130 are "7th Inning Sketch" cards. Have you ever dreamed that you're watching a game and suddenly the diamond is warped into a-ha's 1986 music video for "Take On Me"? These cards make that dream come true.



Cards 131 through 140 are Name Plates, a license plate looking card because 1998 was a big year for license plates.

The base set rounds out with cards 141 through 150 being Trivia Cards. I'd give you some examples, but the text is ridiculously small and I couldn't read any of them. 

The best part of Skybox Dugout Axcess is the inserts. These Superhero inserts are supposed to fall 1 per box, but I landed two of them. The fine print says nothing about a Marvel copyright, so I'm curious about whether these were legal or not. The Ripken books at $10, but I'd bet it'd be higher if released today thanks to the renewed popularity of Iron Man.

The featured inserts are the "Gronks" diecuts. They fall in 1 out of 72 packs. As rare as this card is, it books for a whopping $15. 

As Night Owl pointed out last night, these cards have some of the flimsiest card stock ever. Judging by the texture, I'm pretty sure they're made out of the same card stock that playing cards are made out of. They bend and curve and could easily be shuffled. I'm sure that's a big reason this set has never been too popular. Not to mention it's generally pretty ugly. One out of every three hobby boxes included a redemption for an autograph which would have been long expired, so I was glad not to pull one. All in all, this was a neat throwback to the late 90's but I'm definitely glad it won't be included in the charity break. 

In other news, I've finally updated my set needs including 2013 A&G and 1975 Topps! 





5 comments:

  1. I like pretty much every card in this post. I may have to look at building this set. Highlights for me are the Superheroes inserts, a-ha Randy Johnson, and cards featuring quotes from other players about the guy featured on the card. I remember the Nameplates insert from basketball cards around that time, so I have a little nostalgia for that insert set as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I tried to post the best ones, but there are some gems in here for sure. You can pick up a box super cheap too, so it's worth a break for the nostalgia factor!

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I guess the concept behind this set was pretty cool but, my god, these are some ugly-ass cards.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I might have to grab a box of these at some point, myself. But I have to admit that I'm so cheap that I consider $15 a lot to pay for a box of cards.

    ReplyDelete