Another Comment On The Exquisite Golden Ticket Boxes

When Exquisite Basketball first came out, there was quite a buzz over the few people that got to go to UD HQ and package their own box. Per the rules, they were to pack a box that contained the same collation as a normal box, so obviously, no 5 logomen boxes were possible.

As far as I can tell, due to posts on message boards, this experience was a complete bust. There have been 2 boxes revealed, one box kept under lock and key for eternity, one sold with no report of what was in it, and a few others that were never posted about. Of those boxes, the one kept under lock and key was built by a collector who was not looking to make any money, but rather keep it for his massive exquisite collection. He paid around $8000 to get the coupon to go on the trip. Fine, whatever, ill get to this in a second.

The problem that I see with all of this was the deliberate and secretive plotting and scheming to help those people who wanted sell their boxes. From what has been revealed by the people on the trip, UD asked them to keep quiet until Exquisite hit the streets (understandable - no objection here), but the people took that to the Nth degree and I dont see why. Its like these people swore themselves to secrecy so some money grubbing "collectors" could make more money. That is bullshit, and the contents of the boxes are something that people should be able to find out, especially if they are purchasing the sealed boxes on eBay. Plus, if you were never going to sell the box, why dont you tell people what was in it? Inquiring minds would like to know, including myself, considering the junk that was in the two revealed boxes.

So far, the best cards out of these boxes were a Jordan/Bron dual auto /15 and an MJ Scripted Swatches /10. No logomen, no 1/1s. In fact, one person paid 6500 for the sealed box and pulled about 1000 in cards. That sucks. The fact that these boxes were allowed to sell, with the sellers knowing EXACTLY what was inside, is fucking crap. If the people who were there knew that the boxes were a duds, they had an ethical responsibility to say something. They didnt, and someone got screwed. Again, more proof that integrity in this hobby has no place. In my opinion, this secretive pact is just some bullshit way for greedy people to be more greedy, and for the collecting base to get screwed once more. I dont really know why this whole situation bugs me so much, but it just twinges those ethical bones in my body to the point of breaking.

To this day, only two of the boxes have been revealed, and the others are not surfacing despite all but one belonging to message board users and frequent posters. Its time to see what this experience brought, and I am looking at Upper Deck to tell us if the "collectors" wont. Hell, Beckett was there and they saw everything, possibly even building a box for one of the winners. Have they said anything? Fuck no, why would we expect any pertinent info from them? They never give it on anything else.