tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86828002810291206762024-03-04T23:32:54.695-06:00Bluff City Box BreaksBluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-77416597790629046432016-12-28T14:13:00.001-06:002016-12-28T14:16:43.749-06:002016-17 Panini Prizm Basketball Blaster x 3<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"> Basketball</span></h3>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016-17 Panini Prizm hobby box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> December 24, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> one auto or game-used card per blaster</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Still more Prizm. I have a problem, and can't stop. Every time we're at Target, if it's on the shelf, I can't resist.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This time, three blasters over two retail trips. Overall, still fun. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I still haven't hit an auto out of a blaster; the three hits were all game-used, but t</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">wo of the jersey cards were the Prizm variation; one was a Grizz PC card, so that was nice.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I pulled some decent parallels - a Green RC (Maker) a Green insert (Wiggins Explosion) were nice, but the card of the break was definitely the LeBron Orange Wave #25/25 insert. I listed it on ebay, and didn't really look at what they were going for before I put the Buy It Now on there, which was my bad. I listed for $19.99 and it sold within minutes, as they seem to go for around $30 currently. Oh well - seller's mistake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were some decent rookies – </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Buddy Hield, Kay Felder, Jaylen Brown, and Dario Saric –</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"> but no Simmons or Ingram.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Overall, this was a fun break, but I really need to kick my Prizm addiction.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">B+</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Rookie Jersey Prizm: </i>Skal Labissiere, Wade Baldwin IV</span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Rookie Jersey: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">DeJounte Murray</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Go Hard or Go Home Orange Wave Prizm /25:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> LeBron James</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Explosion </i><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><i>Green Prizm:</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Andrew Wiggins</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><i><br /></i></i></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><i>Green Prizm (RC):</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Thon Maker</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><i>Green Prizm:</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Devin Booker, Kyle Lowry</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Silver Prizm:</i> Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Al-Farouq Aminu, Nene</span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All Day:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Khris Middleton, Kyrie Irving</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First Step:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Reggie Jackson</span></i></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Go Hard or Go Home:</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Justise Winslow, Mike Conley</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-19968790698871340212016-12-11T11:52:00.001-06:002016-12-11T11:52:35.867-06:002016-17 Panini Prizm Basketball Rack x 3 / Blaster x 2<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016-17 Panini Prizm hobby box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> December 4, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Blaster: one auto or game-used / Rack: three starburst Prizm</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>After breaking the jumbo box, I got sucked into 2016-17 Prizm basketball in a way I didn't anticipate, and last weekend I was at Target and grabbed a few blasters and rack packs over two days </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This year's blasters advertise a game-used or auto per box, and I didn't hit any home runs on that front. But, I did pull a /25 orange wave Prizm out of each of the blasters, with decent names (Paul Millsap and Draymond Green). Each was an eBay 1/1 for anyone that cares about that nonsense - one was 01/25, and one was 25/25.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The racks, though, were solid. I think the starburst Prizm look really nice, and there are three in each rack. I pulled a few rookies including Brandon Ingram, which is a really nice card. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The rack that had the Ingram also had an auto...and it was Gold /10. Dan Issel signs a lot, but he's a Hall of Famer, and to pull that out of a rack pack is pretty absurd (especially since it was in the same one as the Ingram.) Probably the nicest retail pull I've ever had.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Across the board I was really happy with the break. A Gold auto, the Ingram, and two /25 Orange Wave Prizms is about as good a break as you can ask for. For $70, it's about as good as a hobby box. I know that's long odds, but it was worth it.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B+</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Autographs Prizm Gold /10: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;">Dan Issel</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Rookie Jersey: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Patrick McCaw, Cheick Diallo</span></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Orange Wave Prizm /25:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paul Millsap, Draymond Green</span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Starburst Prizm:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"> Shaun Livingston, Hassan Whiteside, Joe Young, Clint Capela, Dwyane Wade, Gary Harris, Meyers Leonard</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Starburst Prizm (Rookies):</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"> Brandon Ingram, Deyonta Davis</span></i></i></i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Green Prizm:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;">Evan Turner, James Harden, Rodney Stuckey, Will Barton</span></i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Silver Prizm:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Gordon Hayward, Aaron Gordon, J.J. Redick, Dwight Powell, Rudy Gobert, Jahlil Okafor, Jeremy Lamb</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sky's The Limit:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Julius Randle, DeAndre Jordan</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All Day:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> James Harden</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Explosion:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Kyrie Irving</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First Step:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> James Harden</span></i></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Go Hard or Go Home:</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Ricky Rubio</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-79658554798282058912016-11-27T11:08:00.002-06:002016-11-27T11:12:45.999-06:002016-17 Panini Prizm hobby box<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016-17 Panini Prizm hobby box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> November 26, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>When I saw the first images of 2016/17 Panini Prizm basketball I wasn't really that enamored with the set. I didn't love the design, which is important to me. But, as time went on, I started to get the itch to open something. So, I broke down, drove to the LCS, and grabbed a box.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, after having them in my hand, my initial impression of the cards themselves stands. I think the borders are too busy, and I don't love the black honeycomb thing they have going on. The colored accents are nice but I think they could have possibly married the honeycomb and color somehow to de-clutter the cards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That said, it was a fun break. I haven't paid too much attention to what everyone else has been pulling out of their boxes, so I don't know if the amount of colored parallels I pulled is the norm or an aberration. But, there were a decent amount of numbered Prizms, even though none were TOO low (none lower than /49). It was nice to pull a numbered rookie, though. Pascal Siakam isn't lighting the league on fire but he does get quality minutes in Toronto right now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People have been chasing Silver Prizm rookies a lot lately, so pulling four of those was nice. Plus, one was Jaylen Brown, a high pick, so if he pans out that could turn out to be a great card.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The autos were nothing huge. CJ McCollum showed up again (<a href="http://bluffcityboxbreaks.blogspot.com/2016/10/2016-17-panini-hoops-basketball-hobby.html" target="_blank">pulled one of his autos in my last Hoops break</a>), and he's a really solid, if not underrated player. Plus, it was a Blue /49 variation, so that was cool. The second auto was some dude who is currently playing in Turkey (Zach Auguste). He was with the Lakers for about 15 minutes, so maybe he'll end up back in the NBA at some point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My one gripe about Prizm continues - there are too many variations. It used to be so simple, but a look at the checklist shows there are 13 Prizm variations in 2016/17, which is just absurd.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All that said, Prizm is just a nice product year in and year out. I don't love this year's design but it's once again a good mid-end product that delivers a lot of bang for the buck.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B+</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B+</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Veteran Signatures Blue /49: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">CJ McCollum</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Rookie Signatures: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zach Auguste</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Orange Prizm /49:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Udonis Haslem, Myles Turner</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Purple Prizm /75:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;">Jusuf Nurkic, Roy Hibbert</span></i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Purple Prizm /75 (Rookies):</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pascal Siakam</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Blue Wave Prizm /99:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, Robin Lopez</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Sky's The Limit Silver Prizm: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: italic;">DeAndre Jordan</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Silver Prizm:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Al Horford, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Tyler Johnson, Brandon Bass, Goran Dragic, Aaron Harrison</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Silver Prizm (Rookies):</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Jaylen Brown, Brice Johnson, Thon Maker, Dario Saric</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: italic;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Ruby Wave Prizm:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jarrett Jack, Vince Carter</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Ruby Wave Prizm (Rookies):</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Denzel Valentine</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Go Hard or Go Home Ruby Wave Prizm:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kyrie Irving</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sky's The Limit:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Damian Lillard, Victor Oladipo</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All Day:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Khris Middleton, Dirk Nowitzki</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Explosion:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Klay Thompson, Dirk Nowitzki</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Go Hard or Go Home:</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Tony Parker, Reggie Jackson</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-50374193597598399342016-10-17T14:57:00.000-05:002016-10-17T14:57:01.857-05:002016-17 Panini Hoops Basketball Hobby Box x2<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016-17 Panini Hoops hobby box (2)</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> October 16, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>The release of Panini Hoops basketball signifies a few things. First, it's the first basketball product of the year. </span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Second, though - it means the NBA season is right around the corner, and we're die-hard Grizzlies fans and season-ticket holders in our house. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hoops has steadily gotten better with each passing year the last few years, and when I saw the preview of this year's release, I was pleased. I love that they numbered the gold and green parallels, and the inserts seemed to look great on the preview as well.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I took my kid to the LCS and we picked up a couple of boxes, and got to cracking. My immediate impression verified what I thought of the preview - this is a nice-looking set.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For one, the base. People get tired of the same white-on-white color scheme of higher-end products like National Treasures, Immaculate, and Flawless. With Hoops, Panini has a classy parquet floor border with team color accents. And, the photography is fantastic - full action shots rather than typical torso-and-up portraits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The inserts, though, are what really make the set. Almost all have shiny refractor-esque color layers on top, which make the cards pop. The Courtside inserts look particularly nice this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Panini brought back the Road to the Finals set, with a card for each game of each round, serial-numbered starting at /2016 for the first round and getting harder to pull with each round.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best of all, though, are the parallels. In years past, the green and gold have been randomly inserted in packs, but this year they numbered them - Green at /149 and Gold at /10. It just adds to the excitement of pulling them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My two boxes were fairly good. With Hoops, you're generally unlikely to pull a huge auto, and I've seen at least one break where one of the rookie autos was of a dude who was an undrafted free agent - thus unlikely to ever sniff an NBA roster. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I pulled CJ McCollum and Nikola Jokic out of one box (a strong pair) and Raul Neto and DeAndre Bembry out of the second; at least Bembry was a first-round pick. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We pulled a decent number of good-name inserts - a few Curry cards, a few LeBron cards, and a handful of Durants. There was also an Artist Proof insert, an Eric Bledsoe /25.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, it was a fun break. We finished a complete set out of the two boxes, and with a lot of cool inserts and parallels, it was an enjoyable couple of boxes. Panini keeps improving Hoops year over year, and 2016/17 is the strongest, in my opinion, to date.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Hot Signatures: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">CJ McCollum, Nikola Jokic</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">High Flyers Artist Proof /25:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eric Bledsoe</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Silver /99:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Caris LeVert (RC), Eric Gordon</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Green /149:</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Jerian Grant, Alec Burks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /999:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /2016:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Goran Dragic, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul</span></i></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Highlights:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Stephen Curry</span></i></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One on One:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> LeBron James & Carmelo Anthony</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Action Shots:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Elfrid Payton</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Spark Plugs:</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Allen Crabbe</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Courtside:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Kristaps Porzingis</span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">High Flyers:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Marcus Smart</span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bird's Eye View:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Jordan Clarkson</span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Picture Perfect:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Zach LaVine</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Team Leaders:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Paul Millsap</span></i></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Kobe Bryant 2K17: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#s 13, 15, 16</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Red Back:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Gorgui Dieng, Tyus Jones, Dejounte Murray (RC)</span></i></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Rookies Hot Signatures: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DeAndre Bembry</span></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Hot Signatures: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Raul Neto</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">High Flyers Artist Proof /25:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eric Bledsoe</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Silver /99:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Udonis Haslem, Evan Turner</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Green /149:</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Robin Lopez, Rudy Gobert, Andre Roberson</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /499:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Kevin Durant</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /2016:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Dwyane Wade, Al-Farouq Aminu, Kawhi Leonard, J.R. Smith, Draymond Green</span></i></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Highlights:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> LeBron James</span></i></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tip-Off:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Cavs vs. Raptors 5/27/2016</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Action Shots:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Stephen Curry</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Spark Plugs:</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Aaron Brooks</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Courtside:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Kristaps Porzingis</span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">High Flyers:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Julius Randle</span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bird's Eye View:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Kenneth Faried</span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Picture Perfect:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> C.J. McCollum</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Team Leaders:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Paul Millsap, Isaiah Thomas</span></i></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kobe Bryant 2K17: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#s 13, 15, 16</span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Red Back:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Vince Carter, Kelly Oubre, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist</span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i>
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i>Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-87960074748353138002016-08-14T10:09:00.000-05:002016-08-14T10:11:12.678-05:002016 Topps Chrome jumbo box<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Baseball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016 Topps Chrome jumbo box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> August 13, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Five autographs</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I really had no intentions of dipping my toe into the Topps Chrome pond in 2016</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. My son had picked up some of the regular Topps, and I thought the design was a complete mess. But, after seeing some of the breaks, I figured I'd pick up a blaster.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After opening that, my tune changed - the Chrome-ified version of the base cards looked really, really nice, and my son really dug the inserts, so we figured we'd build those sets. Rather than buy a bunch of blasters, I figured on National Baseball Card day, we'd head to the store to pick up a jumbo box. Plus, I was due to hit SOMETHING nice since I feel like I've been on a bit of a cold streak.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, we headed home with a jumbo box in hand. My son also grabbed a pack of 15/16 Prizm basketball that he opened in the car - he hit a Karl-Anthony Towns RC and a Ruby Wave /350 Carmelo, so we were already off to a good start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After splitting the packs up, we got to breaking. While the box was relatively short on color, we hit a bunch of inserts we needed, and the ones we hit that we already had were the kind you're cool with having more than one of (Trout, Harper, etc.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The autos with Chrome are always going to be hit or miss - the breaks I've seen have by and large had something gigantic (i.e. a Correa auto), or have been absolute duds. The autos in this break fell somewhere in the middle, which I consider a win.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first auto we hit was Tyler Duffy. No clue who that is, but a quick look at his stats shows he certainly isn't lighting the world on fire this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, my son hit the second auto - a Kyle Schwarber. As a Cardinals fan I'm not a Schwarber fan, but I can certainly respect him as a ballplayer. I'll always remember that absolute bomb he hit off the Cards in the NLDS, and that's the kind of auto you're stoked to pull out of any box.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The final three autos were nothing to write home about - Mac Williamson, Trayce Thompson, and Tyler White - the latter being a refractor. White seems like he's got some decent power, and at least it's a refractor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I really like Chrome a lot more than I thought I would, and this was a good break. We hit a lot of cool inserts, and while I'd liked to have hit a huge, colored auto, Schwarber is a great one to get if it's a base version. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Refractor Autographs /499: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tyler White</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Autographs:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kyle Schwarber, Trayce Thompson, Tyler Duffy, Mac Williamson</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Blue Refractor /150:</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Buster Posey</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Purple Refractor /275:</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Jorge Lopez</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Perspectives:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Adrian Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Yadier Molina, Mark Teixiera</span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Youth Impact:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Corey Seager, Aaron Nola, Kenta Maeda</span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Future Stars:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Byron Buxton, Jacob DeGrom, Blake Swihart, Jorge Soler</span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First Pitch:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Evelyn Jones, Levar Burton</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prism Refractor: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;">Matt Harvey, Matt Kemp, Matt Carpenter, Yasiel Puig, Paul Goldschmidt, Zack Greinke</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Refractor:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Carlos Gomez, Cole Hamels, Carlos Carrasco, Brett Gardner, Hunter Pence, Eric Hosmer, Ross Stripling (RC), Carlos Ruiz, Wade Davis, Brian Johnson (RC), Rougned Odor, Kyle Schwarber</span></i></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></i></span>Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-50023934649837579742016-07-07T15:00:00.001-05:002016-07-07T15:00:50.097-05:002016 Topps Stadium Club hobby box<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Baseball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016 Stadium Club hobby box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> July 2, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Last year's Stadium Club release was one of my favorites since I got back into collecting. I thought Topps did a phenomenal job on all fronts - from the card design to the photography to the variation of players included in the set.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I was pretty stoked when the new version came out, and a buddy and I went to the LCS to pick up a box. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, I think Topps hit it out of the park.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Back was the fantastic photography, featuring full-bleed photos that cover a variety of shooting styles. Some are action shots, others are more candid moments. I don't love the way they treaded the names this year on the front, though. Where last year's were kinda hard to read with the really light font weight, I think the last names in a hollow font aren't a whole lot better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This year's release boasts one parallel or insert per pack, so there are plenty of sets to chase along with the two hits per box.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On to the details:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The two autos were pretty terrible. It's a deep auto checklist so I don't expect much, and didn't get much. One was some dude that pitches in the Cleveland system, T.J. House. He seems to be popping up in a lot of boxes. The other was a Red Sox pitcher, Brian Johnson. He's another guy that I see in a lot of breaks, but at least he's a Gator alum, so it's a PC card.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There were two nice hits in the box - a Black and White/Orange Foil Josh Harrison, which are pretty tough to pull. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The other was a Rickey Henderson Buyback. The Buybacks aren't easy to pull, but Topps really botched this one. There's no way to differentiate the buyback from the original card. No stamp, no embossing, no certificate noting it's a buyback...nothing at all to tell the buyback from the original. I had it listed on eBay and got two separate messages asking how to tell it was a buyback, and I had no good answer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, while the break wasn't great, it wasn't terrible. For the most part, a lot of the value in Stadium Club is in the parallels, and with the B&W, the Buyback, and some decent names in the parallels and inserts, it was a fun break. And, like I said, I love the design and the photography, so there are points to be had there.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Brian Johnson, T.J. House</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Buybacks:</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Rickey Henderson (1997 Stadium Club)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Black and White with Orange Foil:</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Josh Harrison</span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Black Foil:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> T.J. House, Didi Gregorious</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gold Foil: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;">Bryce Harper, Felix Hernandez, Edgar Martinez, Rick Porcello, Kyle Gibson</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Beam Team: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Omar Vizquel</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Contact Sheet:</i> Kris Bryant, Nolan Arenado, Josh Donaldson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>IsoMetrics:</i> Miguel Cabrera, Kevin Kiermaier</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Triumvirate (Luminous):</i> Miguel Sano, Andrew Miller</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-80754401430960403342016-05-13T13:08:00.000-05:002016-05-13T13:08:56.681-05:002016 Bowman baseball blaster<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Baseball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016 Bowman blaster</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> May 12, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> No guaranteed hits</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>After posting my last blaster break of Bowman to the Blowout forum, I got blasted by criticism, asking how I can grade a product after one blaster. While a fair question, I think something got lost - the grade for the product was mean for blasters alone, not hobby or jumbo. People seemed to miss that.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They also missed the part where I mentioned that the low product grade would be fluid based on subsequent breaks.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, this blaster here changes that. To a point. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My critique of the card design stands - I don't think they look great. They're busy. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a graphic designer, I pay attention to that sort of thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Compounding my issues with the design is a card I pulled from this blaster, a Tatis family insert. I have no clue the insert name, because it's not on the card front. I didn't look closely at the card back, but I didn't see it there either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-- ALL THAT SAID --</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My second blaster was great. There were several inserts. There was an autograph. There was a numbered card (paper, to /250).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then there was a refractor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A red one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Numbered to five. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Out of retail.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All told, this blaster was probably better than some of the hobby breaks. The dude on the red refractor doesn't seem to be a top prospect, but when it's /5, does anyone care? The auto, being out of retail, was on paper, but the guy seems, at the very least, to be a decent pitcher (at least at low A level).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, this break was a solid A+, and enough came out of it to make me move that C- to a C+ this go-round. I still think the design sucks, but the return out of the packs was far greater than the first blaster - it was the exact opposite,.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C+</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A+</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Red Refractor /5: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Iolana </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Akau</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Prospect Autographs:</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Adam Ravenelle</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Purple /250:</i></span><span style="font-style: normal;"> John Norwood</span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bowman Scouts Top 100:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Brady Aiken</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sophomore Standouts: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;">Addison Russell</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Rookie Recollections: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chipper Jones</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Family Tree:</i> Fernando Tatis Jr. / Fernando Tatis</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-81786583624204812862016-05-02T14:31:00.002-05:002016-05-02T16:12:38.224-05:002016 Bowman Baseball blaster<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Baseball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016 Bowman blaster</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> April 30, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> No guaranteed hits</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Bowman marks the beginning of the prospecting season for many collectors. While I'm not one who loves that angle of collecting, I do like opening a little bit of Bowman - mainly to see about grabbing up some Cardinals prospects.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, when I saw the huge hits people were pulling out of this year's release, I figured it was time to give it a shot. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However - the one blaster I bought turned out to be a huge swing and a miss. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Retail is always not the place you go hunting for huge cards. I've been back in the collecting world long enough to know that. But, with a Bowman blaster, I figure you'll at least get a refractor, or maybe a numbered paper base, or SOMETHING.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nope. Not this blaster, at least.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All told, it was a pretty big pile of base cards. The nicest card was probably the Kenta Maeda Chrome rookie. There was one parallel - a silver paper Raimel Tapia - and a few inserts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The design for this year's cards is pretty busy also - I'm glad they went away from the white border theme that was pretty prevalent for too many years in a row, but this year's just a tad cluttered for my taste.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, this was a dud. The low product grade may be fluid - if I get another blaster or two and do a bit better it may inch up. Again, I don't expect anything out of retail. But, for now...meh.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C-</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">D</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prospects Silver: </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Raimel Tapia</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bowman Scouts Top 100:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Andrew Benintendi</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sophomore Standouts: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: normal;">Noah Syndergaard</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-style: italic;">International Ink: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eddy Taveras</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-52845300351349144372016-04-19T12:35:00.003-05:002016-05-02T16:12:48.084-05:002016 Topps Gypsy Queen Value Pack + Blaster<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Baseball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen blaster, value pack</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> April 17, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Value Pack - three Blue Frame parallels; Blaster - 1 short-printed mini</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I've always been a fan of Gypsy Queen - it was one of the first products that sucked me back into collecting when my interest was sparked again. So, after a three-month hiatus from busting wax as we were selling our house/moving, GQ was the first thing I went to.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had seen breaks online and saw some people were pulling some nice stuff out of retail, so when we were at Target I picked up a blaster and a value pack and threw them in the cart. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All told, it was a nice little break.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There wasn't much to the value pack. No variations, no hits, and frankly, not much from the blue frames either.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The blaster, though, was solid. The first pack yieled the advertised "short print" mini, or at least what I believe is - the foil Sandy Koufax. I usually loathe minis for so many reasons (hard to store, hard to protect, and generally annoying), but this foily, refractory mini is sharp.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The pack of the break, though, was what I'll call the "green" pack. When I opened it I noticed the green base card immediately, which turned out to be an auto. I don't really care about Alcides Escobar at all, but it's a pretty rare hit out of retail at 1 in 596 packs. The card's numbered to /99.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />There was more green border in the pack, though - a green /99 mini of Joey Gallo (1:23). So, two /99 out of one pack was pretty cool.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The blaster also had an image variation - Wade Davis - which are 1 in 95 packs. So, three pretty tough pulls for retail.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The card design on the base cards themselves, though, I'm not a huge fan of this year. It seems really vanilla. I know there's only so much one can do when you're trying to keep a consistent style for a product line, but it really seems like a designer phoned this one in.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B+</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A-</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Value Pack</b></u></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Frame: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Craig Kimbrel, Andrelton Simmons, Jeurys Familia</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Power Alley: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Carlos Delgado</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walk-Off Winners: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><b>Blaster</b></u></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Green Autograph /99: </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Alcides Escobar (1:596)</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Image Variation:</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> Wade Davis (1:95)</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Glove Stories: </i><span style="font-style: normal;">George Springer</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Power Alley: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Carlos Delgado</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walk-Off Winners: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wilmer Flores</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Green Mini /99: </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Joey Gallo (1:23)</span></i></i></i></i></i></i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mini Foil: </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Sandy Koufax</span></i></i></i><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-86071307984775702062016-01-20T15:11:00.000-06:002016-01-20T15:11:04.148-06:002015-16 Prizm Basketball Jumbo Box<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015-16 Prizm Basketball Jumbo Box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> January 16, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>We're about to put our house on the market, so I decided to *gasp* stop buying wax until it sells and we move. Breaking boxes creates a ton of clutter in many cases – especially the lower-end products.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />So, I figured, for my last hurrah I'd grab a box of 2015/16 Prizm basketball and give it a go. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, Panini brought the number of autos down to two, so your odds of hitting a good name have been drastically reduced. But, there are a lot of colored parallels to chase, so it still seemed like it would be a fun break even if the autos were crappy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I'm fairly happy with the results.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The color was fairly good - there were three Ruby Wave Prizms (/350), three Blues (/199), and two Orange /65, plus a slew of Silver. Of note were the Ruby Wiggins and Duncan, and an Orange Jimmy Butler, and then a REAL nice silver - a LeBron James Team USA. The Team USA Silvers are one per 322 packs, per the back of the wrapper - real rare. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Plus, I pulled a Silver Marc Gasol Prizm and an Al Horford Flash Prizm, so two PC cards were in the mix.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were a handful of inserts also, and I pulled a Karl-Anthony Towns Emergent, which has potential as he's been having a great rookie season.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The autos were pretty solid. The first one, Langston Galloway, is certainly nothing to get too excited about. He's had some decent games here and there this season, but plays behind Carmelo Anthony, so...minutes aren't exactly guaranteed.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The second one, though, was real nice. Panini generally flips the autos upside down in the packs, and I noticed the second auto with two packs to open, so I set it to the side. When I finally got to flipping through the cards, I turned it over, and it was an on-card D'Angelo Russell. While he hasn't had a monstrous rookie season, he was the #2 overall pick and his measurables are great, so if he develops it could be a huge card.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While I would have liked the Galloway to be nearly anyone else on the auto checklist, the Russell is a real sweet card, and the colored Prizms are pretty solid. Hitting two PC parallels was great, and the LeBron is a beauty as well. Not sure how much better I could have done with my "going-away" box.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B+</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rookie Signatures: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">D'Angelo Russell</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prizm Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Langston Galloway</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Orange Prizm /65: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jimmy Butler (All-Star), Nikola Vucevic</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blue Prizm /199: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gorgui Dieng, Kyle Korver, P.J. Tucker</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruby Wave Prizm /350: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tim Duncan (All-NBA), Andrew Wiggins, Nicolas Batum</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flash Prizm: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Al Horford, LaMarcus Aldridge, Jason Terry, Anthony Brown (RC)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Silver Prizm: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marc Gasol (All-Star), Mason Plumlee, Aaron Gordon, J.J. Redick, Larry Nance Jr. (RC), Tayshaun Prince, Lou Williams, Damian Lillard, Nikola Vucevic, Tristan Thompson</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USA Basketball Prizm:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> LeBron James</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USA Basketball:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> James Harden, Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Point Men: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Allen Iverson</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fireworks:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, Manu Ginobili, Stephen Curry</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Emergent:</i> Karl-Anthony Towns, Emmanuel Mudiay, Delon Wright, Joe Young</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-77492316644260607232016-01-11T14:41:00.000-06:002016-01-11T14:42:21.142-06:002015-16 Prizm Basketball blaster<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015-16 Prizm Basketball blaster</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> January 8, 2016</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Three Orange Wave Prizms</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Panini's 2012-13 Prizm release was one of the best releases the company has ever released. It had Topps Chrome-esque card stock, it had great inserts, and a few parallels to chase - Gold to /10, Green in retail, and then the standard Prizm parallel.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As time has gone on, with each passing year the company has released more and more parallels, and the product has lost its luster as master set chasers have found it's tougher and tougher to put a set together when there are 12 versions of each card.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, last year's product came out, and it was a mess. The card design itself suffered, as they had photos from the torso up with no background; in its place was a geometric design. A once great product, in my opinion, hit rock bottom.</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the 2015-16 release, though, Panini finally seems to be back on track. The card design themselves mirror 2012-13 closely - back are the action photos. There are still a ton of parallels, but that's a problem that can be overlooked when the cards themselves are strong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I opened my first blaster, and was fairly pleased with the product. I didn't hit anything huge, but it's just a nice-looking set. Each blaster comes with three Orange Wave Prizm parallels, and I got no one of note - Josh Smith, Nene, and some rookie I've never heard of named Branden Dawson (he plays for the Clippers, and by "plays" I mean he's played 12 minutes all season over two games).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The nicest card out of the box was probably the Green James Harden, the All-NBA First Team version which are pretty rare (I think the box said they were 1 per 70+ packs). While this break itself was pretty lackluster as I didn't hit any huge cards - not like most do in retail breaks - or any cards for any of my player PCs, I was pretty impressed with the product and will definitely buy some more.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Orange Wave Prizm: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Josh Smith, Nene, Branden Dawson</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Green Prizm: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Harden</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Silver Prizm: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marcus Morris</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Point Men: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isiah Thomas</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">USA Basketball:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Chris Paul</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fireworks:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Carmelo Anthony</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Emergent:</i> Delon Wright</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-84651325925603101472015-12-24T16:11:00.001-06:002015-12-24T16:14:22.746-06:002013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball Case<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball Case</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> December 18, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs and two jersey cards</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Anyone who follows what I post with any regularity (and let's face it - that should be all of y'all, because I'm awesome) knows I love Intrigue. So, with some gift cards, checks, and other random $$ built up, I pulled the trigger on a case...my first case ever, so why not Intrigue?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, with ten boxes in hand, I got to crackin'. I'm not going to go box by box, because that would take forever. Overall, I'd say the jury is still out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reason for that? I was shorted two hits - two autos at that. The copy on the box says it's four hits – four autographs or memorabilia – per box. It doesn't say "on average" or any other vague loophole-esque language. I've opened a ton of this product, and it's always two autos and two jersey cards. So, to be shorted one hit in a case is bad, but two? And two autos? Not really cool. I've already contacted the company via email and voicemail, but it being the holidays, I'm not shocked I haven't heard back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, the cards I DID get? Fairly happy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The highlights:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Autos:</u></b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giannis rookie auto</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - killer card with a full name sig, not the abbreviated one he's using now</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Winning Ink Luc Longley</b> - a beaut, for sure. On-card auto. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Red White & Blue David Robinson</b> - my favorite card of the break. Short-printed to /25 and on-card. Stunner for sure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Slam Ink Ron Harper</b> - I don't need this for my set, and it's a redemption, but if it ever gets made and it's a Bulls uni, a winner.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Autographed Jerseys Tony Parker</b> - per usual, TP can't keep his sig on the sticker, but it's /25 and he's a future Hall of Famer</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Jerseys Mitch Richmond</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Same insert set, and he's <i>already</i> a future Hall of Famer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hall Dwellers Dominique Wilkins</b> - 'Nique signs a lot so I assume this redemption will get made, it's got a jersey swatch, and it's /15</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Jersey Cards</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>OJ Mayo First Flight Unis</b> - only because I need it for my set</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Top Flight Unis Kobe</b> - The Mamba. 'Nuff said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Top Flight Unis Prime </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Channing Frye</b> - great patch on a /25 card</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fearless Foursomes Prime</b> - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carmelo, Amar'e Stoudemire, Felton, and Bargnani with some nice patches</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kevin Durant</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> & Blake Griffin -</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Two big names. It's a neat card</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Terrific Trios </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kyrie Irving / John Wall / Tyreke Evans</b> - nice card with three great guards, numbered to /199</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Misc. Cards</u></b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Julius Randle</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zach LaVine</span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts Gold /10</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kyrie Irving</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base Gold /10</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Randy Foye</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base Gold /10</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Manu Ginobili</span></b></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B (but TBD)</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PHOTOS AT THE BOTTOM</i><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Box 1</u></b><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Impact Rookie Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Giannis Antetokounmpo /149</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Immortalized Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dana Barros</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">/99</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terrific Trios: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deron Williams / Chris Paul / Raymond Felton /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carmelo Anthony</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> / J.R. Smith</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /99</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Bruno Caboclo (#20)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> LeBron James, Damian Lillard, John Wall </span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> LeBron James, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dwight Howard</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Marcin Gortat, Eric Bledsoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 2</u></b></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winning Ink: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luc Longley /49</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Jerseys: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fat Lever /149</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fearless Foursomes: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anthony Bennett / Otto Porter / Victor Oladipo / Cody Zeller /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reggie Jackson /99</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Zach LaVine (#13)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> Dirk Nowitzki, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Derrick Rose</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Shawn Marion, Thaddeus Young</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 3</u></b></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Jerseys: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Darrell Griffith /149</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Immortalized Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spencer Haywood</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">/99</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Flight Unis Prime: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Channing Frye /25</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">O.J. Mayo /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Noah Vonleh (#9)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> James Harden, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis </span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> Damian Lillard, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dwyane Wade</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Brooke Lopez, Greivis Vasquez</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 4</u></b></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Red White & Blue Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">David Robinson</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">/25</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Jerseys: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ron Harper /149</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base Gold /10:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Randy Foye</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew Bynum /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shane Larkin</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> / Ricky Ledo</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Julius Randle (#7)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Russell Westbrook, Tim Duncan, Derrick Rose</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Derrick Rose, Tony Parker</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Gerald Wallace</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 5</u></b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u> <i>(missing a hit - autograph)</i></u></b><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts Gold /10:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kyrie Irving</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Jerseys: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mitch Richmond /75</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fearless Foursomes Prime: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carmelo Anthony / Amar'e Stoudemire / Raymond Felton / Andrea Bargnani /20</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dwight Howard /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dante Exum (#5)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Paul George, Dwyane Wade</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Paul Pierce, Stephen Curry</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Box 6</u></b><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slam Ink: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ron Harper /49 (Redemption)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dual Jersey Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jayson Williams /99</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ben McLemore</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> / Archie Goodwin</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kenneth Faried /49</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Tyler Ennis (#18)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Chris Paul, Paul George, Dwyane Wade</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Tim Duncan, James Harden</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Anthony Davis, Kevin Martin</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Box 7</u></b><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Jerseys: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony Parker /25</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dual Jersey Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dee Brown /99</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kobe Bryant /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrei Kirilenko /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Doug McDermott (#11)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kyrie Irving, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Tim Duncan, James Harden</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Gerald Green, Damian Lillard</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Box 8 <i>(missing a hit - autograph)</i></u></b><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Impact Rookie Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allen Crabbe /149</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blake Griffin</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> / J.J. Redick</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /169</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kevin Durant</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> / Blake Griffin</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Clint Capela (#25)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kyrie Irving, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Al Horford, Tim Duncan</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Box 9</u></b><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Red White & Blue Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charlie Scott</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">/99</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Impact Rookie Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Glen Rice Jr. /149</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terrific Trios: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kyrie Irving / John Wall / Tyreke Evans /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alex Len</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> / Nerlens Noel</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /199</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Rodney Hood (#23)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> LeBron James, Damian Lillard, John Wall</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> LeBron James, Dwight Howard</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Marcin Gortat, Eric Bledsoe</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 10</u></b></span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hall Dwellers Jersey Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dominique Wilkins</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">/15</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dunk Co Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Larry Nance /99</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base Gold /10:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Manu Ginobili</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andray Blatche /199</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ben Mclemore</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> / Jeff Withey</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /199</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Nik Stauskas (#8)</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Derrick Rose, Tony Parker</span></span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Base:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Harrison Barnes</span></span></span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-74416027134469719062015-11-13T14:07:00.000-06:002015-11-13T14:07:19.011-06:002015-16 Panini Prestige Plus box<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeeOPXhuct7pkhxg_fNSP6vQdiG0P86b6Ubu-kciB2MuEJNDUH1ydZLZThijWNdXtmGR_e62Uzlt_uP6sAgQh5rRgOBRO3gEPZeldkuRoSU3RpASuTkhRrfxRbIZbYUmR2xjyUoIC2qs/s1600/Prestige1516thumb.jpg" style="float: right; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px;" /><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015-16 Panini Prestige</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> November 11, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Four autographs or memorabilia</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I didn't intend to get involved with Prestige basketball this year, but with a strong rookie class, four hits per box, and a $10 off coupon to Target, I really couldn't resist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">First impression of Prestige is it's a decent product. I like that they went to full-bleed action photos this year rather than photos with knocked out backgrounds. But, I think Panini overdid the Prestige logo - it takes up too much real estate on the card. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And, I think it was a good move to limit the categories of boxes in the product line to just Plus, rather than Plus and Premium like last year.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I think I did ok. Whenever there's a guarantee for four "autograph or memorabilia" cards and you get three autos, that's generally a plus. But, two of the three autos were fairly pedestrian Panini output - Danny Manning and Ricky Pierce Distinctive Ink. The third auto, though, has potential - a Myles Turner NBA Passport auto, on-card and numbered to /99. I've seen Turner play this year, and he's got potential. The fourth hit was a jersey card, an NBA Materials Stephen Curry; it's plain white jersey, but I guess if you're going to get a plain white jersey card of anyone, Curry's pretty high up there.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The inserts look pretty nice, and at least out of the gate have good resale value. I've listed three on eBay (the Lebron, Durant, and Kevin Love), and all three had bids within a day of listing. And, hitting a parallel of one was nice - the Stat Stars Dwight Howard /99 is a nice-looking card.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The third category of "hit" out of the box are the Bonus Shots. I pulled seven - a green /5 Matt Barnes, three Blue /99, and three Red /199. My only gripe is that for the second year in a row, I've gotten duplicate players out of the Bonus Shots...in this case, a Red and Blue Reggie Jackson. I guess if it was LeBron I wouldn't be complaining, but it happened last year with <a href="http://bluffcityboxbreaks.blogspot.com/2014/12/prestige-premium-basketball-box-2.html" target="_blank">Gerald Henderson</a>, and I feel like there was another instance that I can't track down in my box break archives. There weren't really any big names out of the parallels, but at least Matt Barnes is a Grizz player (even though I hate him).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Initial impression is I did OK. If Turner turns out to be a good player, then it obviously turns out better down the road. But, at the moment, with no big rookie or vet autos and no big names in the parallel department, this is a solid B/B+ break.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b>B+</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">B</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NBA Passport Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Myles Turner /99</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Distinctive Ink: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Danny Manning /149, Ricky Pierce /199</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NBA Materials: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stephen Curry</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Bonus Shots Green /5</i>: Matt Barnes</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bonus Shots Blue /99: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stanley Johnson (RC), Roy Hibbert, Reggie Jackson</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bonus Shots Red /199: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reggie Jackson, DeMar DeRozan, Evan Turner</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stat Stars /99: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dwight Howard</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stat Stars: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Artis Gilmore</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Playmakers:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> LeBron James</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Franchise Favorites:</i> Bill Russell</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Prestigious Picks:</i> Montrezl Harrell, Stanley Johnson</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Prestigious Pros:</i> Kevin Love, Kevin Durant</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-85892539291250178882015-10-27T12:39:00.001-05:002015-12-02T11:34:21.623-06:002015-16 Panini Hoops Basketball hobby box x 2<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVZi3wOPfe6sJ9Sohs9CXBROukCtTyGF_N3mAjXoz4R4JgFeW6G3gyMO-ZC-5D921egqcFNe93LtIzH-mCdMSLRlPdDFoTEZRUVcq29Y672zGp0b3ci9_tErOPn167WwtuS-chFMkciU/s1600/Hoopsthumb201516.jpg" style="float: right; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px;" /><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015-16 Panini Hoops</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> October 24, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I thought last year's Hoops product was a step forward for Panini's flagship low-end release. They added nice parallels and did a good job with the inserts, so it made for a fun break.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This year, they took a bigger step in the right direction with Hoops - it's a really strong product. </span><br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sPGEMQRD2EHzj3ytW-oscwB3_GLiO4OWuslRL058aieWgPdt_xDoiusDBFlKhquUkammYn0Ri2PC0N5S9gouV_OepAgHTjw-B1FdnrNDf27JJgvggTFCMmZvYATCUmMrjCzH58PTrKI/s320/Hoops1201516.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 10px;" width="320" /></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First off - the inserts. With fewer inserts per box, they seemed to have focused on quality, and really did an outstanding job. Panini has used holofoil to accent the card designs, and they look real sharp.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Second - card quality. I think they did a great job on improving the overall quality of the printing process. Last year, the black accents seemed to come out of the box chipped in places, and these seemed to be fairly clean.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And lastly, the autographs, The card designs (Hot Signatures, at least) seem tailor-made for sticker autographs, so while some folk will feel it's lipstick on a pig, I think they're making the best of a hard situation. I don't expect on-card autos at Hoops's price point.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As far as my particular break, though - not exactly thrilling. The first box had two fairly week autographs; the second at least had Devin Booker, who was a lottery pick. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The inserts were nice, but all the numbered cards and parallels were fairly blase – at least one of the two Artist's Proofs /99 was Zach Randolph, a nice PC card. The gold and green parallels were basically no one to blow my skirt up.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I really like Hoops, and generally I'm not opening any product, let alone one like Hoops, to make any sort of profit. That said, I wish I had walked away with some more PC stuff...but I also know you can't win 'em all. If Devin Booker turns into a stud, then maybe it'll end up being a better break. As of now, though, the major cards from these boxes were merely pedestrian.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C+</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Larry Nance Jr. (RC)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Artist's Proof /99: </i></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">TJ Warren<i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Silver /299</i>: Anderson Varejao, Kent Bazemore, Joe Johnson </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /499: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stephen Curry</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /2015: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tim Duncan, Josh Smith</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bird's Eye View: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kobe Bryant<i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>High Flyers:</i> Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade </span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Highlights:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> LeBron James</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Triple Double:</i> Chris Paul</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Team Leaders:</i> Kenneth Faried, Damian Lillard</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Gold:</i> Kevon Looney (RC), Patrick Patterson, Al Jefferson</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Green:</i> Chris Andersen, Patrick Beverly</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Red Back:</i> Justise Winslow (RC), Deron Williams, DeAndre Jordan, Tim Duncan</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Matthew Dellavedova, Devin Booker (RC)</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Artist's Proof /99: </i></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zach Randoph</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Silver /299</i>: Sam Dekker (RC), Nikola Vucevic, Arron Afflalo</span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /999: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jeff Teague</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Road to the Finals /2015: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kyle Korver, Kyrie Irving</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dreams: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Karl-Anthony Towns</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Picture Perfect: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kobe Bryant</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">High Flyers: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anfernee Hardaway</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bird's Eye View: </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chris Paul</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Highlights:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> LeBron James</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Triple Double:</i> Tim Duncan</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Team Leaders:</i> Brook Lopez, DeAndre Jordan</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Gold:</i> Alexis Ajinca, Dante Exum</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Green:</i> Tony Wroten, Paul Pierce</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Red Back:</i> Cameron Payne (RC), Brook Lopez, Mario Chalmers, Carmelo Anthony</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-34125950941897523432015-10-20T13:35:00.001-05:002015-10-20T13:35:58.336-05:002013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball hobby box - Birthday edition<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> September 25, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs and two jersey cards</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I had an Amazon.com gift card for my birthday, so I picked up <a href="http://bluffcityboxbreaks.blogspot.com/2015/10/2014-15-spx-basketball-hobby-box.html">a box of 2014-15 Upper Deck SPx Basketball</a> and the usual...2013/14 Intrigue. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The SPx? Pretty decent. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Intrigue? Sadly, not so much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At this point, of the three sets I'm chasing out of Intrigue, I've gotten <a href="http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/jmmintz/library/Personal%20Collection/Basketball/Intrigue%20Slam%20Ink%202013-14" target="_blank">31 of the 50 Slam Ink</a>, <a href="http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/jmmintz/library/Personal%20Collection/Basketball/Intrigue%202014%20Draft%20X-Change%202013-14" target="_blank">21 of 25 of the Draft Exchange</a> (with one on the way), and 1<a href="http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/jmmintz/library/Personal%20Collection/Basketball/Intrigue%20First%20Flight%20Unis%202013-14" target="_blank">4 of the 25 First Flight Unis</a>. So, it's basically the home stretch. Even so, I really dig the product, so I keep going back for more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time, though - ugh. Pretty rough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First off, it's all relative. Prior to this break, I had opened 6 boxes of the product this year, and done fairly well. I've hit two 1/1 Intriguing Players (Westbrook and Lillard), a handful of really nice autos, and some really strong patches.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, on its face, maybe this box wouldn't have been that bad. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Intriguing Players pack didn't have any parallels, but there was a LeBron James, a Kevin Durant, and a Stephen Curry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was really as good as it got, though. I already had the Draft X-Change (no shock since I only need three), and if Dante Exum could ever stay healthy maybe it wouldn't be as bad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two jersey cards were fairly weak - one was a Carmelo Anthony Top Flight with a solid white swatch. The other was at least a little interesting - a dual rookie jersey with Tony Snell and a PC Gator alum, Erik Murphy. And, technically it's Prime at /25. But, the jersey swatches were plain black mesh...not exactly the Prime one would like. Plus, Murphy's already out of the NBA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then there were the two autos. One was a rookie, Gorgui Dieng. He's got potential, but there's a slew of dudes in front of him in Minnesota's big man rotation. The other was a low numbered but unspectacular Cedric Maxwell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I'm grading this one a C+, and that's ONLY because of the pseudo-prime jersey card and the fact that the Maxwell is /10. If it were a standard jersey and a /99 Maxell, this is a solid F.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C+</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Immortalized Autographs Gold: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cedric Maxwell</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">/10</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Impact Rookie Autographs: </i>Gorgui Dieng /149</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carmelo Anthony /99</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs Prime: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony Snell / Erik Murphy</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /25</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dante Exum (#5)</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players:</i> Kevin Durant, LeBron James, John Wall</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> Paul Pierce, Stephen Curry</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Base:</i> Serge Ibaka, Kemba Walker</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-59317339566934218772015-10-19T14:29:00.001-05:002015-10-19T14:29:30.847-05:002014-15 SPx Basketball Hobby Box<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2014-15 SPx Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> October 16, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Four hits (autograph/jersey)</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I got an Amazon.com gift card for my birthday, and after selecting the 13/14 Intrigue box that I knew I'd get, I went looking for something a little different. The allure of pulling a Michael Jordan or LeBron James autograph landed a box of 14/15 Upper Deck SPx Basketball in my mailbox.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew hitting a Jordan or Lebron would be a longshot (and obviously I didn't hit either), but the autograph checklist was pretty compelling anyway. After opening the box, I'm pretty happy with the return.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People hate on Upper Deck because they're tired of UD cranking out college-uniformed sets, and I get that gripe. But, with SPx, I think the company did a good job. They pulled out some retro designs for the inserts, which I really liked. The die-cut Stephen Curry and Alonzo Mourning cards I pulled are really sharp. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, the Finite /799 card design is great as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are four hits per box (2/2 auto/jersey cards, with the possibility - I think - of 3 autos and 1 jersey card). I pulled 2 and 2. The two jersey cards were pretty cool - a Corliss Williamson, and then a dual Christian Laettner/Keith Smart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two autos, though, were fairly strong (for not getting a HUGE hit). The first I pulled was an Antonio McDyess. It's not a huge name, but I think it's a cool card – I'd rather have that than some draft pick that never pans out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second was a great card. It was a rookie, but if you're going to pull a rookie, Zach LaVine is one of the better names. Plus, it was a jersey auto, serial-numbered to /499.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, I did pull a Jordan base card, so at least I got SOME Jordan content.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I thought SPx was a fun break at its current price point. Right when it came out it was probably a bit pricey for the content, but at the current rate of under $60 a box, it's a good value in my opinion...if you hit the right cards (always the big "if.")</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b>B</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 1</u></b></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rookie Autograph Jersey /499:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Zach LaVine</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SPx Autographs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Antonio McDyess</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Winning Materials Combos: </i>Christian Laettner/Keith Smart<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winning Big Materials: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corliss Williamson</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finite /799:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Stockton, Penny Hardaway, Elvin Hayes</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'96 Die-Cut: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alonzo Mourning</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>'97 Die-Cut:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Stephen Curry, T.J. Warren (RC)</span></span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-5937079583546441922015-09-28T15:21:00.000-05:002015-09-28T15:21:38.144-05:002013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball hobby box x2<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> September 25, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs and two jersey cards</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Back down the Intrigue rabbit hole I go...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've now got half of the Slam Ink, so picked up a few boxes to give it another go. Yet again (<a href="http://bluffcityboxbreaks.blogspot.com/2015/07/2013-14-panini-intrigue-basketball.html">like the last break</a>) </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so close. Sooooo close.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always, I
opened the Intriguing Players packs first - and the first of the two packs was the hit of the break - another 1/1 Platinum - this time, Damian Lillard. These 1/1 cards are so nice-looking, and since the entire set is made up of all stars, it's a great card.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, this was a better break than the last one. The two autos in the first box were a Nick Young jersey/auto and a David Thompson Dunk Co. auto – at least Thompson's a Hall of Famer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, the autos in the second box. The first was another Dunk Co. auto - J.R. Smith; it's the base auto, but only numbered to 15. Then, the second one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, a Slam Ink. Sadly, though, it was Terrence Ross, which I already have. It's /25, but if I was going to pull a double, at least it would have been nice if it was, say, Vince Carter, or McGrady, or something I could maybe flip for one I need.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The jersey cards were pretty good. The first box had a Andrei Kirilenko First Flight (Jazz uni) and a Kobe/Durant Intriguing Pairs dual jersey. I had actually pulled a Kobe/Durant before, but it's a nice card and I know I can trade it for something else.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second box had a Top Flight Luol Deng and a Terrific Trios card with Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Love jersey swatches – a real sharp card.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I didn't pull a Slam Ink that I needed, this was still a solid break. The Smith /15 is a nice card, and the two multi-player jersey cards are really cool. And, to top it off, the 1/1 Lillard is great.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, a solid B+ that would have been an A had the Ross been any of the other Slam Ink cards I need.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B+</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 1</u></b></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Players Platinum 1/1:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Damian Lillard</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Jerseys: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nick Young</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /149</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Dunk Co.: </i>David Thompson /99<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Flight Unis: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrei Kirilenko</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kobe Bryant/Kevin Durant</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> /199</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> P.J. Hairston(#12)</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players:</i> James Harden, Anthony Davis</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> John Wall, Kevin Durant</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Base:</i> Gerald Green, Dion Waiters</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 2</u></b></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slam Ink:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Terrance Ross /25</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Dunk Co.: </i>J.R. Smith /15<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Flight Unis:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Luol Deng /49</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terrific Trios:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Blake Griffin/Anthony Davis/Kevin Love /199</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Doug McDermott(#11)</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players:</i> Tim Duncan, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> Tim Duncan, Russell Westbrook</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Base:</i> Vince Carter, J.R. Smith</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-4685171528886705762015-09-17T13:38:00.003-05:002015-09-17T13:41:13.991-05:002014 Topps English Premier Gold Soccer hobby box<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Soccer</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2014 Topps English Premier Gold Soccer hobby box<b> </b></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> September 12, 2015<b> </b></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Five autographs and five jersey cards</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>My family and I took a quick trip down to my parents' house, so I decided it may be fun to open a box as a family – me, my brother, my father, and my son. My brother is a big EPL fan (Chelsea), so I thought it may be fun to crack a box of Topps Premier Gold. I got a decent enough deal on the 2014 set, so that's what I had shipped to my folks' house (I had it shipped there instead of to me to avoid the temptation of opening it before the trip LOL). </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew the checklist for 2014 wasn't as good as the previous year, but I'm not quite sure I expected the repetition in cards. I didn't read/watch any box breaks prior to ordering the box, so I maybe should have anticipated a lot of overlap between jersey and auto cards, because that seems the norm. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The box has five guaranteed autos and five jersey cards, and out of the ten hits, there were three that had both auto and jersey cards (Mark Noble, Darren Bent, and Fraser Forster)...and with a weaker checklist, that was pretty tough to see unfold. If the names that we hit both auto and jersey had been some of the stronger names – Diego Costa, Didier Drogba, Meszut Ozil – it may not have been as bad. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Secondly, there were doubles of an insert in the box (John Stones Future Stars). That should never happen in a box with so few cards in it, least of all from an insert. Pretty absurd.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the plus side, We did hit the case hit - the Crowning Achievement die-cut auto, but it was Kasper Schmeichel...not too exciting. If it had been his dad, Peter...well, then it would have been cool. There was also a printing plate - Phil Jagielka. While I generally don't love plates, at least it's a 1/1. Lastly, there was a low-numbered orange parallel - to /11; not sure who Vito Mannone is, but at the very least it's pretty rare.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I like the amount of parallels that came out, and hit some decent purple parallels (out of /50) with Lampard and Van Persie. But, the hits were pretty rough, and there were 10 in the box. Out of those 10, none that really excited me (or us) that much, even with the case hit. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The major enjoyment was in opening the box together - not so much the hits themselves because they were pretty unforgiving.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B-</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i></i><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crowning Achievement Die-Cut Autograph /50:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kasper Schmeichel</span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i></i><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Premier Autographs Green /99:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Darren Bent<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Premier Autographs:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fraser Forster, Mark Noble, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bobby Zamora</span></span></span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i></i></i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Football Fibers Relics:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i></i></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Darren Bent, Fraser Forster, Mile Jedinak, Adam Lallana, Mark Noble</span></span></span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Printing Plates Cyan /1: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phil Jagielka</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Orange /11:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vito Mannone</span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Purple /50:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Tom Heaton, Frank Lampard, Robin Van Persie</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Future Stars Purple /50:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Jon Flanagan</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Captains Green /60:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jose Fonte</span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Captains:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Mikel Arteta, Fabricio Coloccini</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Future Stars:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Marc Muniesa, John Stones (x2), Connor Wickham</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Signings:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Mario Balotelli, Romelu Lukaku</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-2969670188257016092015-09-10T13:49:00.000-05:002015-09-10T13:49:15.099-05:002015 Topps Chrome Hanger Pack x 3<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Baseball</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015 Topps Chrome Hanger Pack x 3</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> September 2, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Three Pink Refractors</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Since I had already opened a jumbo box and a few blasters, I decided to pick up a few hanger packs of 2015 Topps Chrome to give those a shot. I mean, why not </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People seemed to be landing some decent hits out of them, so I figured "why not?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After opening them, I didn't land the big hit, but did pull a few nice cards. I do think that, at this point, Topps is overdoing the colored parallel things. With guaranteed sepia in the blasters and guaranteed pinks in the hanger packs I guess it's nice that you are getting something a little bit different with each pack, but the hunt is a little less fun when there's something guaranteed, even in retail.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did hit a nice PC card, a Pink Yadi Molina, so at least there's that. And, the third hanger was full of pretty solid names - there was a Gallery of Greats Derek Jeter and the pink refractor pack included Pujols, Arenado, and McCutchen. But, no numbered cards or autos in any of the hanger packs.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So - a bunch of good names, but nothing to write home about here.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B+</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B-</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Hanger 1</u></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pink Refractor: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris Sale, Dioner Navarro, Gregory Polanco</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prism Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Marcell Ozuna</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Edwin Encarnacion</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Hanger 2</u></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pink Refractor</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Kevin Gausman, Yadier Molina, Michael Taylor (RC)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prism Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Jonathan Lucroy, Charlie Blackmon</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gallery of Greats:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Jose Altuve</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Hanger 3</u></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pink Refractor</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Albert Pujols, Nolan Arenado, Andrew McCutchen</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Justin Verlander, Robinson Cano</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gallery of Greats:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Derek Jeter</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-42236625413696613952015-09-01T14:29:00.001-05:002015-09-01T14:34:14.642-05:002015 Topps Chrome Baseball blaster x 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Baseball</span>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015 Topps Chrome blaster x 2</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> August 30, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Four Sepia Refractors</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I
saw all the news about the $9.99 Topps Chrome mis-priced blasters, but missed that boat - I never saw any at my Target. But, people seemed to be getting some decent cards out of their breaks, so figured I'd give them a shot when I saw them on shelves.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were at Wal-Mart (the most evil of all places) doing a little shopping, and they had two left. I won't ever leave one on the shelf, so I picked up both.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each comes with a pack of Sepia refractors - I liked those a lot in previous years, but I don't really love them as guaranteed hits. Still, I pulled a Cardinals PC card - a Sam Tuivailala RC - out of one of them. Otherwise, not much to report on that front.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, it was a decent break. No autos, but I finally pulled a Kris Bryant RC. Most importantly, the second one had a really nice PC hit - a Gold Yadi Molina refractor, serial-numbered to 50. That's why you never leave one box: had I just grabbed one I would have probably grabbed the OTHER one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, an A- because of the Gold Yadi and Sepia Tui, but someone else who didn't pull PC cards would probably knock it down a peg.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B+</span></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Blaster 1</u></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Purple Refractor /250: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kevin Gausman</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prism Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Yimi Garcia (RC)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sepia Refractor</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Josh Harrison, Nolan Arenado, Sam Tuivailala </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC), Brandon Phillips</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Justin Morneau, Stephen Strasburg</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Future Stars:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Daniel Norris</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Blaster 2</u></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gold Refractor /50: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yadier Molina</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prism Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Torii Hunter</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sepia Refractor</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Johnny Cueto, Ken Giles, Jose Pirela </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC), Jose Altuve</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Matt Shoemaker, Masahiro Tanaka</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Future Stars:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Brandon Finnegan</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-89217987835692684992015-08-24T09:42:00.001-05:002015-08-24T09:51:29.363-05:002015 Topps Chrome Baseball jumbo box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Baseball</span>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015 Topps Chrome jumbo box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> August 22, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Five autographs</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I had not really intended to open any Topps Chrome baseball this year. Frankly, I haven't opened that much baseball in general in 2015, and haven't felt like I've missed much. But, after seeing all the sweet Kris Bryant rookie autos people have been pulling, I figured what the heck - if I could get a good price at the LCS on a jumbo box, I'd give it a go.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They had two boxes left on the shelf priced out at $150, but there with their standard discount applied, it came down to a reasonable $140 so I took a stab.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't pull the Bryant, but it was a fun enough break. With 5 autos per box you've got a good shot at pulling SOMEONE decent, and I didn't really hit too much on that front. There was a purple refractor /250 auto, though, so that's nice. Nick Tropeano hasn't done much this year, but you never know how these prospect autos turn out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was decent enough color on the base parallels as well. It's always good to hit a gold /50 rookie, although I'm not familiar with Kyle Lobstein. The other two were a /150 blue and a /250 purple, so all in all a decent batch. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I also hit a short-printed rookie - Carlos Correa. Topps included five rookies that are seemingly tougher to pull, although there doesn't seem to be any shortage as there are plenty on eBay and in breaks I've read online.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My biggest gripe this year with Chrome is the lack of the word "refractor" on the back. The base refractors come one per pack, and in some cases they're extremely difficult to differentiate from the base card. Without a side-by-side of the same player, you may miss one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The inserts look really nice, though. I think overall Topps did a good job on Chrome, but I can't fathom the thought process behind removing "refractor" from the card back. I think this break grades out at a solid B. I hit decent color but no huge names, and the autos, at least today, aren't players who are sought-after guys.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b>B+</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Rookie Purple Refractor /250: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nick Tropeano<br /><i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Autographed Rookie: </i></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A.J. Cole, Jake Lamb, Jose Pirela, Rymer Liriano</span><i><br />Gold Refractor /50: </i>Kyle Lobstein (RC)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Blue Refractor /150</i>: Eric Hosmer </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Purple Refractor /250</i>: Lisalverto Bonilla (RC)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Rookie Short Print:</i> Carlos Correa (RC)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prism Refractor:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dallas Keuchel, Sonny Gray, Melvin Mercedes (RC), Jonathan Schoop, Madison Bumgarner, Salvador Perez</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Refractor</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Anthony Ranaudo (RC), Edwin Escobar </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC), Zack Wheeler, Kendall Graveman </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC), Xavier Scruggs </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC), Michael Cuddyer, Dellin Betances, Daniel Norris </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC), Phil Hughes, Michah Johnson </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Gallery of Greats:</i> Evan Longoria </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Chrome Commencements:</i> Mookie Betts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Future Stars:</i> Rusney Castillo, Christian Walker, Mike Foltynewicz</span><br />
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</div>Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-15892532702954144802015-08-06T18:25:00.000-05:002015-08-06T19:47:46.481-05:002014-15 Panini Excalibur Basketball retail box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyCmX8c2ki5DimVpBZ7_jSLyhXWTLWYGGFTXr6uFAidYyqWWAUAphbB1Di7IRNTO9ILpqYSjtt5poFXFOEWyh4r8AW_sMlncXXF9rO8sjNt_iyF_iXKm7fGlLM0_jMGsEoPP87AkI8x4Y/s1600/ex100x1002015.jpg" style="float: right; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px;" /></div>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2014-15 Panini Excalibur Basketball box</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> August 5, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Three autograph or jersey cards</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Since I'm toying with the idea of building the Excalibur set, I figured I'd pick up a box when they started showing up at Target. My in-laws were keeping our kids for the night, so when my wife and I went to dinner across the street, I figured it was worth seeing if they were in stock, and I was in luck.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$109 for a box isn't crazy with three guaranteed hits - the box says "three autographs or memorabilia cards per box on average." Fortunately, my box had two autos and a jersey card. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are four packs per box, and a decent amount of cards per pack, so it was a fairly fun break.</span><br />
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH2BMv4nO9JXPwvKlXYXRocsz3TcGldxqIVbaSejxXJ5O8GVIUtW468A-nUab7iXNsyUTos7S6H8rzOnrKP8o-D7s6GM5vcU_WyasNbUOT63KUzbTzVos78MPEy_MMa62wLQ1RJclLQzA/s320/ex300px2015.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" width="320" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't checked to see how I did on set needs yet, but I guess I'm fairly pleased. The first autograph was a Rookie Rampage Nik Stauskas. It's numbered to /349, and has a piece of ball and a two-color jersey swatch (purple and white). Stauskas didn't have a huge year last year but he draft pick and now plays on a horrific Sixers team, so he may be in for a good season - there's certainly not a lot in front of him on the depth chart.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The second auto was Kendall Gill. I have a small side PC of 90s Charlotte Hornets since I grew up a fan of theirs in South Carolina. Unfortunately though, I already have a Gill. The jersey card was also a PC card - Chandler Parsons - so I was pleased with that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were four numbered Crusade inserts: two Michael Carter-Williams (die-cut orange /60 and purple /75), a Derrick Favors red (#99/99) and a blue Shaq /149. I was fairly pleased with those. There was also a numbered Dwyane Wade Nobility insert (Silver, /49). </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also pulled one silver parallel per pack (I believe these are the Knights Templar cards?).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oddly enough, all of the rookies were consolidated to one pack. I don't recall if it was the pack that didn't have the hit in it, and I'm not sure if all boxes are like that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I certainly could have done better on the break, but if Stauskas lives up to his #8 overall draft position, then it may turn out OK. And, since I'm doing the set, I'm not as concerned with getting a huge hit. </span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b>B+</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B-</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rookie Rampage Autograph Dual Jerseys /349: Nik Stauskas</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Majectic Marks Signatures: </i>Kendall Gill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Dunk Co. Jerseys</i>: Chandler Parsons</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nobility Silver /49: </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dwyane Wade</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crusade Orange Die-Cut /60:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Carter-Williams</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crusade Purple /75:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Michael Carter-Williams</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crusade Red /99:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Derrick Favors</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crusade Blue /149:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Shaquille O'Neal</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Knights Templar parallel:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Derrick Rose, Nene, Nicholas Batum</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, Markel Brown </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slam Inc.:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> DeMar DeRozan</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knight Court:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> James Harden, Kevin Love, Jimmy Butler</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nobility:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dirk Nowitzki</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Juggernauts:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dirk Nowitzki, Kyrie Irving, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</span></div>
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-40532367470812837682015-07-25T16:58:00.002-05:002015-08-06T12:20:37.540-05:002014-15 Panini Excalibur gravity feed pack x 6<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2013-14 Panini Excalibur Basketball gravity feed pack</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> July 25, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> No guaranteed hits</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>Grabbing any retail wax is always risky, especially when it's in pack form - pack searchers generally grab any obvious thicker packs out of boxes and gravity feeds in an attempt to grab up the few hits that come out of retail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, I liked what I'd seen out of Excalibur, so when I took my son to use some of his birthday Target gift cards, I grabbed up six packs. The gravity feed box looked like it had possibly been searched, but I don't really know what the distributors do with the box when they put it out, so I guess it's possible that it was fresh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out of six packs, I guess I'm pretty pleased. I didn't get any hits, but the cards are really nice. Excalibur's base set is really solid - I like the card design a lot - it reminds me a lot of National Treasures, and I may do the base set.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't get any hits out of the packs, but I did pull three camo Crusade cards – unfortunately, no big names - I did pull a Maravich and a rookie (KJ McDaniel) though. And, I did pull a numbered insert, a Slam Inc. Dominique Wilkins, numbered to /99.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, it's a nice break, and once the boxes hit shelves I may pick one up to try to build the set.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b>B</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">B</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slam Inc. Red /99:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Dominique Wilkins</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slam Inc.:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crusade Camo:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Pete Maravich, OJ Mayo, KJ McDaniels (RC)</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knight Court:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler, Eric Bledsoe</span></div>
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Red parallel:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Jeff Teague, George Hill, Damian Lillard, Nik Stauskas (RC), Damien Inglis </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC), Markel Brown </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(RC)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-963085961058088722015-07-07T16:09:00.001-05:002015-07-07T16:09:56.609-05:002013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball hobby box x2<div class="p1">
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2013-14 Panini Intrigue Basketball</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> July 6, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> Two autographs and two jersey cards</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>So my obsession with Intrigue continues...</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm about a third of the way through my chase for the Slam Ink set, and had some money laying around so I picked up a couple of more hobby boxes.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time - so close. So freakin' close.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I opened the Intriguing Players packs first - this time, no gold or platinum. But, the assortment of players was pretty solid. Lebron and Kobe showed up for the first time, and the usual other names were there (Durant, Wall, Tony Parker, etc.). I like the insert set, but man, it's getting a little old seeing the same faces again and again. Each player has about 6 cards, so I'd have rather them done fewer cards of more players.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, I opened the first "hit" pack. The draft redemption was nice - the #4 pick, Aaron Gordon. I liked him going into last year but he got hurt. But, he has had a strong summer league so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two jersey cards were a Harden First Flight (Thunder uni) and a J.J. Redick prime Top Flight, which has a great 4-color 6-break patch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The autos were pretty bad, though - a Muggsy Bogues and Shane Larkin. I like Muggsy and have a small Charlotte Hornets PC, so I guess that's OK...and it's on-card, which is nice. But man, pretty rough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second "hit" pack started off nice enough, again because of the Draft Redemption - #7, Julius Randle. It was pretty much downhill from there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pulled a dual jersey Cousins/Thomas, and a First Flight uni of Danilo Galinari. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first auto was Michael Ray Richardson, anti-climactic at best. At least it's on-card. But, I've got one of his already.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then...a redemption. I flipped it over, and there it was.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slam Ink.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />But, it's the Gold version - I'm trying to collect the base versions. And, to make it worse, it's Michael Finley. I loved Michael Finley back in the day, but if I'm going to get a low-numbered card (these are /10), at least I'd like it to be something I'd love to keep. This? Not it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I'm going to keep buying Intrigue because I'm a glutton for punishment, but man, this was pretty rough. It would actually have been a more satisfying break if the Finley was the base version, which is saying something. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm grading this a C+ mainly on the strength of the two draft redemptions and the fact that the Finley was a /10. Otherwise? A pretty clear D at best.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C+</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 1</u></b></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Immortalized Autographs:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Muggsy Bogues /99</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Impact Rookie Autographs:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Shane Larkin /149</span></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Flight Unis Prime:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> J.J. Redick /25</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>First Flight Unis:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> James Harden /199</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Aaron Gordon (#4)</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players:</i> Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker, Carmelo Anthony</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Base:</i> Randy Foye, Dwyane Wade</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Box 2</u></b></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slam Ink Gold:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Michael Finley /10</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Immortalized Autographs:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Michael Ray Richardson /99</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intriguing Pairs:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> DeMarcus Cousins/Isaiah Thomas /99</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>First Flight Unis:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Danilo Galinari /199</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>'14 Draft X-change:</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Julius Randle (#7)</span></span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players:</i> John Wall, Kevin Durant, Lebron James</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Intriguing Players Die Cuts:</i> Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Base:</i> Roy Hibbert, Larry Sanders</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8682800281029120676.post-20235371799283605012015-07-02T13:15:00.000-05:002016-05-02T16:13:08.771-05:002015 Topps Stadium Club blaster x 3<img border="0" separator="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0W3vYUKpdCBcZW7eEhAGR_n4wuVwUV3YOYokMAoNhSsxaBg6M4Ijvaj0Ft70_W3iV86nnKvuxHhHfiRNed9zR1HTyQwm6qhOeYt3h4L4XequzsuMVTC6pR-ziJvZjsywLprbYiwBBEAw/s1600/tscblasterx3.jpg" style="float: right; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px;" />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sport:</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Baseball</span>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Product:</b> 2015 Topps Stadium Club blaster</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Break Date:</b> July 1, 2015</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hit Breakdown:</b> No guaranteed hits</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b>I think Topps hit a home run with Stadium Club this year, for a variety of reasons.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's everything that a baseball card product should be, in my opinion. The photography is top-notch: it's got full-bleed images, for one. There are action photos, and there are candid, lifestyle-like shots as well. The Greg Maddux photo (him golfing, see the photos below) reminds me of the classic 1992 Stadium Club Nolan Ryan "pitching in the tuxedo" photo, and the Ken Griffey Jr. image (him with his dad) is straight out of the 90s.</span><br />
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxTkeJks4TbnrwIbOZgXnxrMkAsNqNNU2ZfZ0aSmPg9ddHuQVE2J6dc0oujbkhjM3x2iEa1JUbSwBoZkDzFFuYdsMc4W65X1c2b25u8__gCIgwbnDEXfooo4iCqYTDeZy6PS9j4_YD0I/s320/tscpacks.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which brings me to the second reason I love Stadium Club - nostalgia. Topps has done a good job of including retired veterans in the product, along with today's stars. But the retirees aren't limited to guys like Reggie Jackson and Lou Gehrig. There's Chris Sabo, and Rob Dibble - guys that would have been included in the flagship release.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are rookies too, but they're seemingly pretty tough to come by. Through three blasters, I think I pulled four rookies (and two were the same player, Rusney Castillo). It's almost like Topps is making a deliberate effort to make rookies desirable again, since they seem to be rare. It's just like the 90s, before everyone opened packs just to hit an autograph of Kris Bryant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Frankly, this set reminds me an awful lot of the original Stadium Club, and maybe that's why I like it - I remember when the original release came out, and everyone kinda balked at the price, because back then, paying more than a buck for a pack of cards seemed like paying an awful lot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The break itself was quite solid. I hit a nice PC parallel, a black Trevor Rosenthal, in the first blaster. Apparently there are only 201 copies of each, although they're not numbered. There were two golds as well. And, I hit a refractor version of the True Colors insert set - David Ortiz. Overall, a really good start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The second blaster, though, made the break. The die-cut Triumvirate Jorge Soler was a cool card, and any time you get a Willie Mays you're doing well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But, who would have thought the card of the break would have been a John Olerud - especially in 2015. There it was, though, a Members Only Olerud. There are only 7 copies of each card, and they're hard enough to pull out of hobby packs, so pulling one in retail has some pretty long odds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The third blaster had the golfing Greg Maddux gold in it, which is just a cool card - again, very retro.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I really like Stadium Club for the aforementioned reasons. As a collector who great up in the 80s, it reminds me so much of my childhood. I'll definitely be opening some more of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the product: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grade for the break: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Blaster 1:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>True Colors Refractor:</i> David Ortiz</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Black /201:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Trevor Rosenthal</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gold:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Whitey Ford, Nolan Arenado</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Blaster 2:</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Members Only /7:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> John Olerud</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Luminous Triumvirate:</i> Jorge Soler</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True Colors:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Willie Mays</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gold:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Jered Weaver</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Blaster 3:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Luminous Triumvirate:</i> Starlin Castro</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Legends:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Ted Williams</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True Colors:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Luis Gonzalez</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gold:</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Greg Maddux, Alfredo Simon</span><br />
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Bluff_City_Box_Breakshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17316893170649004767noreply@blogger.com0