Upper Deck ePack, Trading Card, “Breaks,” and the Question of Just What the Future Holds for Sport and Nonsport Cards

It started in early 2024, or so. I didn’t follow any sports besides Hockey, and figured I would dabble in hockey sports cards. I’d mainly collected some nonsport cards at other times in my life, such as superheroes (I’ve always loved comics) or things that were funny, such as the Garbage Pail Kids. I saw on some internet forum/Reddit/Twitter/whatever that because Upper Deck was the sole company with a hockey license, you could buy the physical boxes and packs in stores or do this thing called, “ePack.” It was a way to buy the cards online–but not some weird digital card/currency. You couldn’t do much with, “Base,” cards, but could always mail any inserts home. Plus, you could easily trade with anyone on the site–no more waiting for mail or worrying someone will flake and rip you off! Plus, besides the hockey, there was nonsport from X-Files to James Bond, Marvel (then, when Topps got Marvel, Upper Deck started doing DC-themed stuff), and more. Almost any boxes in stores (that were…