10/10/2026
FanZone Collectibles ‘Catch the Babe’ Mystery Box Promotion
What’s it all about?
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Hopefully, we cover everything within this post and the follow-up videos that will be posted to the FanZone Collectibles page shortly after this post goes public. However, with so much involved it would seem that some things will almost certainly be left out. There is a comments section to post questions and we fully intend to address all of those as soon as possible.
The most simplistic version regarding what this is all about: Purchase a Mystery Box assortment of cards for $100 Dollars and have a shot at various “upgrade” items, the most attention grabbing one being a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth baseball card.
The $100 price tag is good for anyone whether they are able to pick up a box locally or if they require a box to be shipped to them. We will be limiting shipping to the USA and it’s territories.
The Ruth card has been professionally graded and authenticated, receiving a grade of 1 on a 1-10 scale. Not the highest grade but still a highly sought after collectible with a current market value in the ten thousand dollar range.
Each Mystery Box will consist of no less than one thousand trading cards. The assortment will include cards from sports trading card products….primarily baseball and football. Each assortment will include cards from the 1960s to the 2020s. That’s seven decades! Some may include cards from the 1950s as well.
Some may say, I collect Football cards or Basketball cards, why should I care about Babe Ruth? Well, just imagine all the stuff you can add to your collection, that you can buy if you sold the Ruth or possibly even traded it for items you prefer?
We hope to have similar promotions in the future. We just thought it might be nice to start with one of the most iconic sports figures of all time!
What will actually be included in the boxes?
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The boxes will include an assortment of trading cards, the bulk of which will be sports trading cards. Roughly eighty percent of the cards in each box will be baseball and football trading cards. FanZone Collectibles currently has an inventory of over two million trading cards, the majority of which are baseball and football cards. Other cards included in the Mystery Boxes may consist of trading cards from basketball, hockey, soccer, wrestling, and non-sports sets (such as Star Wars, Pokemon, One Piece and other TCGs, superhero card sets, Movie & TV products.)
Trading card products will come from manufacturers such as Topps, Fleer, Skybox, Donruss, Panini, Impel and others.
The contents of the Mystery Boxes will be chosen at random. We will make efforts to make sure there are no duplicates within any particular box. The sports card era between roughly 1986 to 1994 is a time frame that most hobbyists refer to as the ‘Junk Wax Era’ due to massive overproduction throughout the sports trading card hobby. A fair amount of cards from this era will be included in these Mystery Boxes but we don’t want the boxes to be inundated with cards from this era. We wish to limit any product to no more than 20-30 cards represented within each box, though there will be occasional exceptions.
The majority of the cards within each box will be what hobbyists refer to as “base” or “common” cards. Each box will also contain an assortment of cards that may (and most likely WILL) include special inserts, parallels, refractors, serial numbered cards, relic cards, autographed cards, rookie cards, superstar and star cards, Hall of Famers from their respective sports, short prints and other sought after cards. The intent is make sure that each Mystery Box is well worth the purchase price.
Also, the majority of the cards in each Mystery Box will not be protected. We simply do not have the resources or time to sleeve hundreds of thousands of cards. Efforts will be made to protect (at least with a penny sleeve) the cards that are determined to have a value above the base/common level. We should also note that some cards, particularly those from vintage era products, will be in lower grade condition.
Once all the boxes have been sold and all the contact info is confirmed. We will be conducting a randome drawing using the “third party” option on Random.org. We intend to have the drawing for the top item, streaming live. Surely, we can figure out to do that in the coming weeks?
We have determined Random.org to be the best option. If others have input on a better option, we will certainly consider any and all options.
Inserted into the Mystery Boxes for the Catch the Babe promotion, are certificates for special upgrades. The initial upgrade items will be featured in a video on the FanZone Collectibles page. Certificates will be redeemable for special autographed items, card collectibles and possibly complete card sets from various sports. There are also certificates that, if pulled, will give the purchaser an additional chance for the “top upgrade” item. These upgrade items will be shipped to the recipient, free of charge. Random.org will most likely be put to use for the lower tier items as well. Once a box purchases has contacted us with their certificate information, we will randomize the “upgrade” offerings and use this method to select the item that will be sent out.
The boxes will be sold at upcoming FanZone Collectibles Expos in Big Spring, TX. The next Expo is slated for December 12th, 2026. This event will take place at the Dorothy Garrett Coliseum on the campus of Howard College in Big Spring, TX. We will also have them available at the Old Sorehead Trade Days in Stanton, TX, the weekend of October 10-11th, 2026.
We do not know any dates for 2027 Expos as of yet but hopefully, the Catch the Babe promotion will be completed by then.
The boxes will also be sold at our brick and mortar store. Contact us for information regarding the address. There will be additional pick-up spots in Big Spring, TX as well.
We are not giving out any phone numbers as we have learned the hard way, that scammers can create major headaches with the use of a business phone number. The best ways to contact us is via the FanZone Collectibles page or via email at: [email protected]
We will have multiple payment options available…..presently, these include Paypal, Venmo, CashApp and we can even use the Square App to process card payments.
Why are we doing this?
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In a word: Fun!
We have been involved with the hobby for over fifty years. The main thing for us is to have fun within our hobby. It seems that lately, there’s a lot of griping and perhaps some mistrust between hobbyists and manufacturers, grading companies, online selling platforms, the postal service and other entities. If, in our own little way, we can run a promotion that brings back some fun, we’re going to strive for that.
Also, we have way too much stuff! It’s time for a massive inventory reduction. We hope that eventually we can get down to less than a couple hundred thousand cards in our inventory. That will make things much more manageable for us, in the long run.
We would also like to raise funds for the business and also help to raise funds for a good cause in our community, a West Texas Veterans Memorial. This memorial is still in the early stages of development but knowing the folks behind the effort, it won’t be long before ground is broken on the project and the vision becomes reality.
In addition to the upgrades already mentioned, we intend to have a few more random drawings along the way. Details for those drawings will be given as time goes by. Any items given away as a result of those drawings will be provided to the recipient, free of charge….including shipping.
What information do we need from you?
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When you purchase a FanZone Collectibles Mystery Box, whether in person or through an online or e-mail channel, we will ask for name, address, phone number, and e-mail address as well a user name that you may wish to use for the random.org drawings.
How many boxes will be sold?
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We plan to limit the number of mystery boxes for the “Catch The Babe” promotion to just 600 boxes. If the boxes sell out quickly...say within the first month, we may add more but as of right now, the number is 600. We also are hoping to have the big drawing shortly after our December 12th Expo. If everything sells out before that, then we’ll have the drawing even sooner. The date could also be moved back to a later date. We will keep all interested parties informed here on the FanZone Collectibles page.
If additional boxes are added, there will be no more 150 boxes added. So, the absolute maximum number of Mystery Boxes to be sold in this promotion is 750.
Some of the certificates for upgrades inserted randomly into the boxes will be for additional free entries for the main item among the upgrades. So, yes….it is possible that a purchase of one Mystery Box may yield the purchaser two entries for the price of one. All in all, we expect there to be no more than 650 possible entries for the top upgrade item. This number is also subject to change if more boxes are added to the fold.
Sorry for alll the skipping around. Hopefully, we covered everything but fairly certain that additional questions will arise. Use the comments section to ask any questions you may have. Thanks!
