Box Break : free rollin'

hon′or roll`

 
n.

1. a list of students who have earned grades above a specific average during a semester or school year.

2. a list of names place, of citizens who have served or died in the armed forces.

Here's the last box I bought from Dave & Adam's. It was cheap enough ($15) and it promised one game used item per box, plus Ichiro was pictured on it. I figured hey, why not ? This is such a strange product, though.

You get one player per position, one for each league.

 Pitcher and catcher.

Infielders

Outfielders

Same thing with the AL

Then there are 9 prospects that look completely random to me, but it's because I'm too lazy to check Baseball America from that period.

And then, each Dream 9 player (except prospects) gets 4 cards each commemorating milestones from his career.

As for the player selection...well, per the very definition of Honor roll, I gather they didn't die or serve in the armed forces (not that I know of anyway). So it looks like they took players who had a very good year in 2001, which is confirmed by the backs of the cards.

Let's have a look at All star starting rosters for 2001

AL : Ichiro / A-Rod / Manny / Bret Boone / Juan Gonzalez / John Olerud / Edgar Martinez / Cal Ripken / Ivan Rodriguez / Clemens .

6 players included in the checklist.

NL : Luis Gonzalez / Todd Helton / Bonds / Sosa / Larry Walker / Piazza / Chipper / Jeff Kent / Aurilia / Big Unit

6 players also

At least, it's coherent.

So you have 18 presentation cards + 9 prospects + 4 x 18 cards + 1 checklist = 100 total
This checks out.

The good news is that there were very few duplicates (around a dozen) and that the box yielded a complete set. Plus, I like that they mixed some boring white backs with some action and stadium shots.

Of course, no 2000s product would be complete without a swatch card

If you look closely, you'll notice it's green. At least the back of the card mentions it's from an Athletic's game (in case we wouldn't have guessed), which is the team he played for in 2001. This is so consistent, it makes me dizzy.

And of course, there's also a parallel set. I was lucky enough to pull a SN Griffey, so yay. Even though it's the exact same card, but with little numbers on the bottom right to show it's extra special.

Strange, consistent product that I actually enjoyed putting together !