Buzz 12 in 12: Busting 1997-98 Pinnacle BeeHive NHL (Hour 11)

Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour all day long ... this is Hour 11.

The box: 1997-98 Pinnacle BeeHive hockey
The cost: $19.95 (will vary by location)

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

Packs per box: 18
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 72
Base set completion: 
60 of 75 (80 percent)
Duplicates: 5

Notables on base cards – Eric Lindros, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg, Ed Belfour, Curtis Joseph, Felix Potvin, Ray Bourque, Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek, Chris Chelios, Mike Modano, Mark Messier, Mats Sundin, Grant Fuhr, Sergei Fedorov, Johnny Bower, John Bucyk, Maurice Richard, Andy Bathgate, Roberto Luongo, Willie O'Ree

Inserts: 7
BeeHive Team (2) – Wayne Gretzky, Pat LaFontaine
Golden Portraits (5) – Felix Potvin, Brett Hull, Saku Koivu, Paul Kariya, Marian Cisar

Autographs/Memorabilia: 2
Golden Originals (1) – John Bucyk
CHL Future Stars (1) – Stefan Cherneski

What's Buzz-worthy: When this one hit retail stores at one point in the early 2000s, I busted a ton of these because the ink flowed pretty well -- just like this one did -- and it's worth the rip because the autograph lineup includes some solid names. Stan Mikita, Maurice Richard, Johnny Bower, Ted Lindsay, Roberto Luongo and NHL social pioneer Willie O'Ree are among the signers here and you get at least one and sometimes two autos per box per the odds. (They always delivered better than that for me.) This set's only drawback is the size -- these cards are 5-by-7s and perhaps some of the packaging issues that can plague the foilboard parallels and inserts (Each had roller-mark nicks in this particular box.) It's a simple set other than the parallels and you should be able to build everything base-wise with just a couple of boxes. This one has a good mix of action photos and portraits and a mix of veterans CHL prospects at the time and some Hall of Famers. Its size is probably why it's still available and relatively cheap -- storage is always an issue but top loaders can be found for 5x7s of note. If I could tear into these at this price in bulk I probably would just to get a couple of those autos mentioned. The top names can pay for two or three boxes at this price and a jumbo auto can be a little more impressive than a standard card in some situations.

Product Grade: A
Box Grade: A-
Fun Grade: B+

What's next? Be back in an hour ...

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