2017 Leaf Originals Wrestling Box Break

2017 Leaf Originals Wrestling

Base Autograph Set: 1 out of 17

Base Set Autograph Parallel Yellow #/99: 1 out of 17
Base Set Autograph Parallel Blue #/25: 0

Base Set Autograph Parallel Red #/10: 0
Base Set Autograph Parallel Black #/1: 0




















Base Set Autographs (2014/2016): 0 out of 26
Alternate Art Autographs: 0 out of 26
Alternate Art Autographs (2014/2016): 2 out of 26

Alternate Art Autographs (2014/2016)
Yellow #/25: 0
Blue #/10: 1
Red #/5: 0
Black #/1: 0

2014 Autographed Printing Plates: 0 out of 38

What We Think:

We are a little bit underwhelmed about the signers of this set. It is disappointing that the company put signers from 2014 and 2016 into this product as well. I would have hoped that Leaf would have went out and gotten agreements with some of the biggest independent stars out there. Why not get people from Impact, PWG, AAW, and ROH if you could. And then get 10 of the retired stars that are in this product to round out the set. Just imagine if you have a Candice LaRae or a Ricochet autograph and they have just been signed to the WWE and an autograph of Manny Fernandez, Jim Ross, or Barry Windham on the next card. That would give people both the new generation and the past generations that have built wrestling.

I would have liked for a non-autographed set to be produced. I understand that they wouldn't be as collectible, but it would have been cool for a set divided into 4 generations of performers. The pre-1980's, The Monday Night Wars, The Attitude Era, and present day. 25 people from each era.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

2016 Panini Prestige Football Hobby Box

What We Pulled:

Base Set: 128 out of 300 (43%) 87 Veterans, 41 Rookies
     Short Print (1 out of 10): Devontae Booker
     Xtra Points Red Parallel: (2) Kevin Dodd, AJ McCarron
     Xtra Points Purple Parallel #/100: (1) Randall Cobb
     Xtra Points Black Parallel #/10: (1) Matthew Stafford

Rookie Signatures: (1 out of 99) Reggie Ragland
     Xtra Points Red Parallel: (1) Nelson Spruce
     Xtra Points Purple Parallel #/100: (1) Nate Sudfeld
   
Veteran Signatures: (0 out of 99)

All-Americans: (1 out of 15) Hunter Henry

Alma Maters: (0 out of 25), Retail Only

Banner Season: (4 out of 40): Doug Martin, Jamal Lewis, Thomas Rawls, Michael Strahan
     Ink #/50: (1) Michael Strahan

Blue Chip Recruits: (4 out of 20) Jared Goff, Leonard Floyd, Reggie Ragland, Myles Jack

Connections: (0 out of 25), Retail Only

Draft Big Board: (4 out of 20) Jarran Reed, DeForest Buckner, Vernon Hargreaves III, Myles Jack

Draft Day Signatures Blue Ink: (0 out of 39)

Draft Picks: (2 out of 35) Jack Conklin, Thomas Duarte

Hardwear: (0 out of 25), Retail Only

Inside The Numbers: (1 out of 30) Ben Roethlisberger

NFL Passport: (4 out of 20) Braxton Miller, Kenny Lawler, Jerell Adams, Sterling Shepard

NFL Shield: (1 out of 23) Demaryius Thomas

Rising Stars: (0 out of 50), Retail Only

Shirt Off My Back: (0 out of 50), Retail Only

Stars Of The NFL: (0 out of 25), Retail Only

Super Bowl Heroes: (2 out of 30) Jacoby Jones, Eli Manning

Team Logos: (1 out of 32) Drew Brees

What We Think:

The design of the card on the front is a basic design. The card brand in the upper Left hand corner with the player's name and team logo on the bottom. I like the fact that most of the pictures included in the set are action shots. The back of the card has the veteran cards the front side picture of the player in black and white with the logo of the team imposed onto the picture. I usually don't like just the last year stats and career totals on the card, but it fits with this set. The rookies have the same set up, but without the team logo.

We listed 18 insert sets. That are a few too many. 6 are Retail Only. And while I recognize that sometimes the Retail Sales of cards help a company get rid of their product, it still means that if there is a collector out there that wants all the insert sets, they will either have to buy retail and hobby packs and/or boxes. Otherwise they will have to find people who buy the one that they don't. And out of those 18 insert sets, you have all the parallels to those sets. That is just too many to try and complete all the sets. Finally, only Hobby packs have Autographs and Retail packs have the Material cards. I am torn about whether or not I like that concept.

Base Design: 3.5 out of 5
Autographs: 3 out of 5
Insert Pulls: 2.5 out of 5
Memorabilia: N/A

Overall: 3 out of 5

Agents of Shield Season Two Box

2015 Agents of Shield Season Two Trading Cards

Base Set: 72 Cards
Set Completion: 100% (72 out of 72)
Base Set Duplicate Cards: 58% (40 out of 72)

Base Set Card

Parallel Cards: Gold #/100
Parallel Set Completion: 1% (1 out of 72)

Insert Sets:
Autographs: 43 Cards
Autographs Set Completion: 5% (Ming-Na Wen, Ric Sarabia) Both Bordered

Archives Box Exclusive Autographs: 9 Cards
Archives Box Exclusive Autographs Set Completion: 0%

Agents of Shield (1:24 Packs): 9 Cards
Agents of Shield Set Completion:  11% (Bobbi Morse)

Art of Evolution (1:24 Packs) 12 Cards
Art of Evolution Set Completion: 8% (The Dirty Half Dozen)

Costume Set (1:24 Packs): 17 Cards
Costume Set Completion: 6% (Agent Skye Tactical Uniform Cowl #/425)

Gifted Index (1:24 Packs): 18 Cards
Gifted Index Set Completion: 6% (Jiaying)

Bobbi Morse Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Insert Card

Sketch (1:864 Packs)
Sketch Card Pulled: 0

Review:

I liked the base set. The card set is broken down into three card subsets. The first three cards of the set break down the episode titles and what date they aired. Almost the rest of the base set are synopsis for each episode. Each episode gets 3 cards with pictures on the front and the breakdown of the episode on the back. The last three cards form a cast shot with the checklist on the back. The formula isn't anything special, but for me, it does the job of telling the story of the season real well.

For the inserts, I am happy with what I received. 2 autos and a piece card is what I expect. The Autographs have different levels. Scarce, Extremely Limited, and Very Limited. Although actual print runs are not known, the Scarce autos are under 100 cards, Extremely Limited are 100 to 200, and Very Limited are 200 to 300 cards. They are on card autographs as well., There are bordered and full-bleed autographs for almost all the actors that signed. The piece of costume is a small circular piece of cloth which is normal. The Agents of Shield insert set cards look like publicity photos, so that is a little disappointing.

Overall, I would get another box of these cards if the price was right. A good card set that captures what the TV show does.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Ming-Na Wen Autograph Card

2014 UFC Champions Box Break

What We Pulled:

Cards Per Pack: 10
Packs Per Box: 24
Cards Expected: 200
Cards Received: 190

Base Set Completion: 76% (152 out of 200)
Duplicates: 8

Inserts:
Fight Night Highlights: (7) Lesnar vs. Carwin, Garcia vs. Jung, Liddell vs. Silva, Mir vs. Lesnar, Guillard vs. Miller, Silva vs. Franklin, Whittaker vs. Thompson
Octagon Greats: (6) Chuck Liddell, Demetrious Johnson, Jose Aldo, Johny Hendricks, Renan Barao, Rich Franklin
Topps Parallel Black #/188: (6) Jake Ellenberger, Jason High, Liz Carmouche, Issac Vallie-Flagg, Rodrigo Damm, Ross Pearson
Topps Parallel Blue #/88: (4) Francis Carmont, Bobby Green, Alex White, Raquel Pennington

Topps Gold Champions Predictor #/25: (1) Brandon Thatch
Topps Parallel Platinum #1/1: (1) Ricardo Lamas
Topps Autograph Red Ink #/15: (1) Stipe Miocic
Topps Autograph Relics: (1) Zach Maxovsky
Topps Relics: (2) Cain Velazquez, Rafael Dos Anjos
Topps Mat Relics: (1) Chris Weidman

Opening Thought:

I like the design of the front of the cards. The name of the fighter is close to the edge of the card, the Champions logo is in the corner and the pictures are of the fighters in the octagon. Some during the fight, some before or after a fight. The fighters that have been newly signed to the UFC are also annotated on the front of the cards. The back of the cards have basic personal stats for the fighter, their twitter handle, and a blurb about the fighter.

The value from this box is there. Getting over 70% of the base set is a pleasant surprise. There are at least 10 parallels in each box. I don't like runaway parallels, but they weren't a distraction in this set. The mat cards are good, and I hope there are some out there that show actual use. The material cards aren't worth much, and Topps might want to put some multi-colored swatches in for more variety. If I were in charge of the product, there would be more autographs. If you have 200 fighters, you can get more fighters than 49 to sign cards. The rest of the inserts are more of the garden variety type.






Even though I know that I will not get all my money back from selling these cards, I feel like it was a good product. I didn't pull the big hits and that is part of card collecting.

Overall Judgment:

If Topps and the UFC continue to produce products like this, it will help with the popularity of UFC. The monetary value isn't there, but the 5 pulls that you receive in each box, combined with the parallels will make you want to see what else is in the box. You want to build a set of base cards, then two boxes is probably what you will need. The small amount of duplicates helps me with feeling good with this product. The inserts are OK. you might need to do more hunting than hoping you can pull the ones you need in a box to complete those insert sets. I would make the parallels stand out a little more than they do but that is a minor thing. I would say get yourself a box and see if you can get that big hit and also enjoy these cards.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Retro Box Break: 2013 Rookies and Stars Longevity

What We Pulled:

Cards Per Pack: 5
Packs Per Box: 10
Cards Expected: 50
Cards Received: 54

Base Set Completion: 35% (35 out of 100)
Rookies: 10 (1 per pack) Dion Jordan, Mike Glennon, Christine Michael, Tyrann Mathieu, Bjoern Werner, Jawan Jamison, Onterio McCalebb, Denard Robinson, Matt Elam, Kenny Stills

Inserts:

Freshman Orientation Materials: (3) Geno Smith, Denard Robinson,Robert Woods
Cross Training Materials: (1) Markus Wheaton
Longevity Ruby: (4) Josh Freeman, Jordan Poyer, Santonio Holmes, Steadman Bailey
Longevity Emerald: (1) A.J. Green #/5

Opening Thought:

I do like the design of the front of the cards. The team logo and Last Name of the player on the team color down the left side of the card sets it apart from other cards. The veteran cards have action photos while the Rookies do have some shots of the players during training camp. The back of the cards are nothing too special. The last year stats, the career stats, and a blurb about the player.

The value from this box wasn't there. The material cards aren't worth much, although all 4 were colored, not white. The Emerald card helps because it is semi-star. The rookies didn't pan out.

Best card pulled: A.J. Green #/5
Worst Pull of the Box: Longevity Ruby of Josh Freeman

There are 21 parallels and insert sets in this release. You have Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and Signature parallels for lots of the cards. That is too many for a release like this. But all the parallels are a staple of Panini products.

Overall Judgment:

I understand that each and every box that you buy is a crapshoot. There are boxes that will wow you and there are boxes that leave you feeling ripped off. Amazingly, this box was somewhere in the middle. If you go by value only, you would be the latter. But I like the design of the cards, there is a rookie in every pack, and there are 4 hits in each and every box. It would have been better if there was 1 guaranteed Auto in each box, but it was not meant to be. This isn't for a set builder, but for those that feel lucky. If you spend more than $50 on a box, you have overspent. But enjoy the cards and hopefully the pack gods smile upon you.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Retro Box Break - 2012-13 Panini Certified Hockey

What We Pulled:

Packs: 10
Cards Per Pack: 5
Cards Expected: 50
Cards Received: 51

Base Set Completion: 41% (41 out of 100 Base Cards)
Duplicates: 0

Inserts:
Masked Marvels: 1 - Cam Ward #/999
Base Set Blue Parallel: 1- Nicklas Lidstrom #/99
Immortals: 1 - Mario Lemieux #/999
Immortals Mirror Hot Box: 1 - Gordie Howe #/75
Path To The Cup Conference Semifinals: 1 - Shea Weber/Mike Smith #/299
Fabrics of the Game: 1 - Simon Gagne #/299
Fabrics of the Game Mirror Hot Box: 2 - Scott Clemmensen, Frans Nielsen #/75
Freshman Signature Rookies: 1 - Chay Genoway #/999
Certified Redemption Rookie: 1 - R3 #/499

Our Thoughts:

Design

Nothing spectacular. A simple design with the name across the bottom woth the Certified logo in the lower right hand corner with an arc of color in the background. The player is featured on the rest of the card with the background foiled out for the base set. The back has a blurb about the player, the last 4 years of stats and career totals. The inserts are about the same excitement. Not much to differentiate them from other releases that Panini puts out.

Player Selection

The base 100 card selection is for the larger hyped players. The insert sets do a good job of highlighting different players and some past greats. This is satisfactory.

Inserts

I like that there isn't tons of insert sets that you might want to chase. In each insert set though, they have usually put in at least 20 cards which means hunting around to find that elusive single card to complete the subset. The parallels are held to 5 of each card.

Price

I found this box for around $40 without hunting too hard. For the price, I might think about purchasing another box. In this box, I did receive a redemption for a Certified Rookie Redemption of R3. Jonathan Huberdeau from the Florida Panthers. The redemption date has expired. For what I received, a $35-$40 price range is about right.

Final Thoughts:

I did receive the Rookie Redemption of  R3. Jonathan Huberdeau from the Florida Panthers but it expired a year ago. I hate redemption cards. If you want to include rookies, then hold off releasing the sets until they have signed and you can produce the cards. Otherwise, it is a solid but unspectacular release. If the big hit out of the packs is a Simon Gagne piece of jersey and you can still halfways like the product, then you know that it is a good thing. I am thinking about completing the base set just because.

Box Value: 3 out of 5.

2013-14 Panini Titanium Hockey

What We Pulled:

Packs: 5
Cards Per Pack: 4
Cards Expected: 20
Cards Received: 20

Base Set Completion: 14% (14 out of 100 cards)
Duplicates: 0

Inserts:
Commons Hobby Jersey Number Parallel: 1 - Sergei Bobrovsky #/72
Titanium Reserve Autograph: 1- Ryan Hamilton
Game Worn Gear: 1 - Kaspars Daugavins
Game Worn Gear Dual: 1 - MacInnis/Shattenkirk #/300
Game Worn Gear Prime: 1 - Steven Stamkos #/50
Game Worm Gear Patch: 1 - Pat Falloon #/25

Our Thoughts:

Design

Simple design of the base set cards. The name and team are on one side with the Titanium logo overlapping into the picture of the player. The backs have the last year and career totals along with a little blurb about the player. Standard stuff here.

Player Checklist

With only 100 cards, the more hyped players are in the base set. The Rookie Cards being serial numbered to their Jersey number and basically being inserted 1 per case makes them a find if you do get one, which I did not. A satisfactory product from this perspective.

Inserts

Way too many for a product like this. 44 insert sets or parallels, with another 4 if you include the printing plates. The designs for the inserts that I have seen are lack luster and don't do anything much for me.

Price

This product came out with much fanfare and way over priced. I purchased this box at around $50. I still believe that it was not worth that amount. If I am going to get hockey cards, I want legends and today's players, not borderline players from a decade ago. Pat f'n Falloon in a Penguins jersey?! Makes me shake my head.

Final Thoughts:

Ugh. This was tough to stomach. The One Memorabilia/Autograph per pack is a lure but that is all there is here. There wasn't much thought put into the design. The 1 rookie per case on average is going to scare off collectors. Way too many inserts that you will never collect the entire subset. Panini did not do a good job with this release. If you can find boxes cheap, it might give you a little bit of satisfaction, but otherwise find something else.

Box Value: 1.5 out of 5.

2013 SPx Football

What We Pulled:

Packs: 10
Cards Per Pack:  5
Total Cards Expected: 50
Total Cards Received: 50

Base Set Completion: 80% (40 out of 50 Cards)
Duplicates: 0

1997 SPx Subset Card

Inserts:
SPx Rookie Auto Jersey (1:10 Packs): 1 - Tyler Eifert #/30 (Autograph Patch)
Autographs (1:5 Packs): 2 - Rookie Signatures Cierre Wood #/299, Redemption of a Rookie Signatures of Sheldon Richardson #/299
SP Finite Rookies (3:10 Packs): 2 - Mike Gillespie #/899 Marcus Lattimore #/10 (Spectrum)
SP Finite Legends: 1 - Barry Sanders #/899
1996 SPx Subset:  2 - Earl Campbell, Aaron Dobson
1997 SPx Subset: 1 - Joseph Randle
SPx Shadow Box: 0
Memorabilia Cards (1:10): 1 - Eddie Lacy #/250

Our Thoughts:

Design - This is a simple design for the cards. The main team color on top and an arrow on the bottom with gold outline for the different aspects of the card and the picture in the middle. The pictures are basically only of the player which is refreshing. There are some black and white pictures which only enhances the set.

Player Selection - You know most if not all the players in the base set. It is nice to see some of the players you might forget like Steve Owens. Also included are players that did not go on to have stellar pro careers like Charlie Ward and Tommie Frazier.  I would like to see some more players that did not have stellar pro careers included in future sets. Use the set as a way to reach those people that don't necessarily know the history of college football to expand what they know.

Inserts - Too many insert subsets. Auto Rookie Jerseys, 1996 SPx, 1997 SPx, Rookie Auto Jerseys: Tier 1, Rookie Auto Jerseys: Tier 2, Rookie Signatures, SPx Finite Legends, SPx Finite Rookies, Shadow Box, Shadow Box Signatures, Shadow Box Dual, Shadow Box Dual Signatures, SPx Signatures, Super Scripts Autographs, UD Rookie Premier Auto Jersey: Tier 1, UD Rookie Premier Auto Jersey: Tier 2, UD Premier Auto Jersey, Winning Big Materials, Winning Big Materials Patch Auto, Winning Materials Combos, Winning Materials Combos Patch Auto, Winning Materials Trios

That is 22 insert sets. That does not all the parallel sets. That is just too many subsets to even think about collecting. And some of the subsets are at least 30 cards big. I believe that Upper Deck would do themselves a favor to cut back on the inserts and expand the base set.

Price:  At $70.00 for the box, I thought that the value wasn't there. I believe the biggest reason for that is the redemption for the autograph that I received. If you are going to have a large batch of autographs which is your call, then have the cards that need autographs ready to go before the redemptions need to be packed. I will need to wait between 12 and 16 weeks before I can expect that card. That is unacceptable.

Final Thoughts: Upper Deck used to be the king of cards last decade. You would open an Upper Deck product and be in amazement at what you had. It isn't like that any more. This release shows how far they have fallen. They need the NFL license. I like Barry Sanders and others that have retired, but not featured year after year. Expand the base set to 100 and have 7 cards per pack with the same amount of inserts (3 Autos and 1 piece) for a $70.00 price tag and I think most people could stomach it. That is $7.00 per pack.  The card companies are losing collectors. And unless they can figure out how to bring good value to their product, they will continue to lose them.

Box Value 2.5 out of 5.

2014 Marvel Universe Cards Box Break

Cards Per Pack: 5
Packs Per Box: 24
Total Cards Expected: 120
Total Cards Received: 116

Total Base Set w/o SP Cards: 90
Total Base Set Completion: 100%
Duplicates: 10

Inserts and Parallels

Sapphire Parallel (1:3 Packs): (8) Angel, Cyclops, Speedball, Giant-Man, Deathbird, X-Man, Layla Miller, Ultron
Emerald Parallel (1:25 Packs): (1) The Captain #023/100
Diamond Parallel (1:288 Packs): (0)
Artist Drafts (1:12 Packs): (2) House of M #1, Dark Avengers #11
MGB Thor Expansion (1:24 Packs): (1) Thor vs. Gorr
MGB Thor Expansion Red Parallel (1:144 Packs): (0)
MGB Thor Expansion Gold Parallel (1:288 Packs): (0)
MGB Captain America Expansion (1:24 Packs): (1) Captain America vs. Captain America
MGB Captain America Red Parallel (1:144 Packs): (0)
MGB Captain America Gold Parallel (1:288 Packs): (0)

Marvel 75th Anniversary (1:144 Packs): (0)
Shadowbox Cards (1:48 Packs): (1) Wolverine
Avengers Origins (1:48 Packs): (1) Ant-Man & The Wasp
Heroes and Villians Expansion (1:48 Packs): (0)
Sketch Card (1:24 Packs): (1) Magneto & Quicksilver

Our Thoughts:

The base set cards are a good design. On the front of the card, the background has a cover of the comic book that the character is being taken from to be talked about. The character is then in full color in the middle of the card. The back has a picture of the comic that the character was in. It lists the issue and issue date. It also gives a synapses of the comic book.

The bad of the base cards? We are going back to comics that were published in the 70's. The base cards are set within 10 of the biggest events of the Marvel Universe. If the set is 2014 Marvel Universe, why are we going back in time to look at the past storylines?  And not all of your favorite characters made the cut from these storylines. Wolverine has 4 cards, while Nightcrawler has none. It seems like the major heroes of the universe get almost all of the attention. There are a couple of notable exceptions. The Swordsman, Scalphunter, Giant-Man, and Amadeus Cho all received cards in this set, which is good. But if Marvel wants to portray some of their heroes as being back burner heroes because they aren't in this set, then say hello to the back burner Daredevil, Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Beast and others.

The parallels are something that Marvel is having fun with. 8 Sapphire parallels just gives something that isn't the bast set cards. The Emerald card that is numbered to 100 is there for a hit in the box. The Artist drafts aren't real cool. While I like the sketch look on the front, I would have rather had an alternate vision from the artist and then have a colorized version of the original on the back. I do not like the Marvel's Greatest Battles expansion here. You could do 4 sets of those cards by themselves and not do a duplicate battle. So putting them in here seems like a waste.

The rest of the inserts are good to have, it allows collectors to try and find the singles that they want or need. The Shadowbox Cards are a good idea that the execution needs a little bit more work on. I would expect that the three thick pieces to make the card would be cut in the same dimensions. But they are not.

The Final Say:

I was disappointed in this set. The base set is where it went wrong. I liked the House of M as much as the next guy, but if this is 2014 Marvel Universe, I expect the 2014 Marvel Universe. Instead of doing 3 or 4 Avengers and X-Men storylines, why not do something like Shadowland. A under the radar story that would allow more characters to be spotlighted. The sketch cards are here like usual and I do like the Shadowbox cards idea. I don't believe that a lot of thought was put into this set. I am hopeful that the next release will be something that make up for this one.

Box Value 1.5 out of 5

Women Of Marvel Series 2 Box Break

What We Pulled:

Packs: 24
Cards Per Pack:  5
Total Cards Expected: 120
Total Cards Received: 120

Base Set Completion: 100% (90 Cards)
Duplicates: 13

Inserts:
Color Sketch Card: 1 (Crystal)
Multi Card Sketch Puzzle: 0
Embrace (1:8 Packs): 3 (Black Widow & Hawkeye, Elektra & Punisher, X-23 & Hellion)
Marvel Artifex (1:12 Packs): 2 (Storm & Invisible Woman)
Women of Marvel Framed (1:24 Packs): 1 (Rogue)
Ultimate Heroes (1:24 Packs): 1 (Kitty Pryde)
Emerald Insert #/100 (1:24 Packs): 1 (Rescue)
Sapphire Inserts (1:3 Packs): 8 (Domino, Firestar, Hope, Mystique, Psylocke, Spider-Girl, Warbird, White Tiger)

 Our Thoughts:

Overall: We enjoy taking a look at sets like these because it reminds us that there are other characters in their respective universe than the ones that we all follow because of the comics we read. I forgot all about Princess Omaka until I ran into her card here. The 90 card base set does well in representing almost all the women in the marvel universe that matter.

Design: The base set is OK. I don't like the fact that they did the offset box on the front and back. I just causes less artwork to be shown which is a bad thing. The back of the card is simplistic. Real Name, First Appearance and Little Known Fact are what are put on the card. I would have liked either Team Affiliation or Primary Nemesis to have been included. Maybe even a Powers heading. I think that they could have done so much more with the base set cards.

Design of the Inserts: These are good. To the right is the Marvel Artifex Insert of Storm.  The other card is the Women of Marvel Framed of Rogue. Each of the insert sets has its own design and play off each other rather well. The only thing that I would have done different is somehow included a 10 card insert set of the Women of Marvel that were not Heroes. An Aunt May who has played a major part in Spider-Man's life, a Mary Jane, a Pepper Parks, etc. 10 cards for the Women behind the Heroes. Marvel has enough talent to get the sketches looking up to comic book standards. So there should be no reason that we get a sketch card and ask if a 9 year old might have drawn the image. This is a pet peeve of mine. If your business is drawing, then let's get the standards up there.

The value of the box is around $60 at the current time. It is about right for what you get and if you want to collect an insert set, you will have to either collect a couple of boxes or go onto the secondary market.

If you like looking at the artwork portrayed by those who work on the Women of Marvel, then it is a good thing to get. If you like knowing about characters that you might have forgotten or want to discover a character that you do not know of the female persuasion, then this is a good product. It is a good product, but it could be better.

Box Value: 3 out of 5.

2013 Impact Wrestling Live Box Break

Cards Per Pack: 6
Packs Per Box: 20
Total Cards Expected: 120
Total Cards Received: 120

Total Base Set (W/O SP Cards): 100
Total Base Set Completion (W/O SP Cards): 100%
Total Base Set (W/ SP Cards): 110
Total Base Set Completion (W/ SP Cards): 91%

Base Set Parallels: 2 Gold(Devon, Gail Kim) #/50
Duplicates: 13 cards

Inserts: 4

Gold Autograph: Garrett Bischoff #/99
Green Autograph: Hernandez #/50
Blue 6 Person Autograph: Gail Kim, Tara, Mickie James, Velvet Sky, Miss Tessmacher, and Madison  Rayne. #/25
Gold Single Memorabilia Card: Chavo Guerrero Jr. #/50

Our Thoughts:

Design: Simplistic and effective for the Base Set. The name is written over fire at the bottom of the card. Right above is the card set name. In the upper corners of the card are the TNA and Tri-Star logos. The rest of the card is for the person or moment being talked about. Even the subsets of the Base set like Live Events which talk about a certain match that the person had or reality TV which talks about what TV shows the performers like just have a graphic near the bottom of the card and do not take away much of the good design.

The autographs are all stickered. It would have been nice to have them on-card. I don't understand how difficult it would be for Tri-Star to go to a TV taping or two and have the performers do autographs on the cards themselves. I do like the fact that all autographs are numbered 99 or less. I also like the fact that Tri-Star went big with the autographs for this set. There are 2 different sets of cards that have 12 autographs on them. 3 sets of cards that have 10 autographs on them.

A couple of days ago, I reviewed the Best of 2013 WWE Cards. This is what they need to aspire to. Because right now, TNA and Tri-Star are kicking some serious ass in the card world in comparison to the stuff that WWE and Topps are putting out there for collectors.

Final Say:

This product is one of those that you should not be disappointed with if you do decide to purchase a box. I bought a second box just to make sure that the first wasn't a fluke. In the second box, I got the complete set without SPs again. 2 Base Set Gold Parallel Cards #/50, a SP Base set card of Bully Ray, a Silver Shirt Piece of Sting #/199. 2 Blue Autographs #/25 of Hernandez and Velvet Sky. And a Rainbow Dual Autograph #1/1 of Gail Kim and Mickie James. Right now these boxes are running between $60 and $70. If you like value for your money, these boxes are up your alley.

Box Value: 4.5 out of 5

2013 Press Pass Gameday Gallery Box Break

Packs Per Box: 1
Cards Per Pack: 4
     Geno Smith Gold #01/25
     Kenjon Barner Gold #75/99
     Zac Dysert Bronze #38/65
     Sheldon Richardson #67/99
    
Our Thoughts:

Design:  Simple. A picture of the player with all NCAA and school markings taken off the picture and then the main school color being put in the background to give it a splash of color. It allows for plenty of room for the autograph and the numbering of the card is up in the Upper Right hand corner out of the way of everything.

This product doesn't mess around. All 4 cards are autographed. There are green ink that are 1/1 cards. Did not pull any of those. There are cards with inscriptions on them, did not pull any of them. What I did pull are 4 autos signed with blue ink and all are numbered to 99 or less.  There are silver cards out there that are numbered up to 149. All cards are on-card signatures.

I believe that the $70.00 price tag for these cards is a bit steep for what you get. Yes, 4 autographs are nice, but there isn't the wow factor that I would have expected. Another thing that might cause you pause is that certain players are inserted more than others. There are 136 Keenen Allen regular cards inserted in the boxes.  The non-helmet picture alternative, there are 26. That is fine. But then you take Geno Smith and he has 64 regular cards inserted in boxes and 26 alternatives. Matt Barkley has 72 regular cards and 26 alternative ones. It doesn't make any sense.

The numbered for bronze, silver, gold, red and blue are different for each and every player. There is no standard. So your gold card could be numbered as low as 20 and as high as 99. I would figure that if it is a gold parallel or whatever they are calling it, that the numbering would be the same. It is not.

If the price came down to around $50.00, I would say that it is a fair price. But until that does happen, I would think twice before purchasing the product.

Box Value: 3 out of 5

Best of WWE 2013 Box Break

Well, since Kelly has stubbornly refused to blog about what he is opening, I am quitting my pledge not to post anything on here until he does. We have opened a Hobby Box of Best of WWE 2013. The Stats are below.

Packs: 24
Cards Per Pack: 7
Total Cards Advertised In Box: 168
Actual Total Cards: 168

Base Set Completion:  70% (77 out of 110 Cards)

Base Set Parallels:
Bronze (1:2 Packs) - 12
Silver (1:24 Packs) - 1
Gold (1:684 Packs) - 0
Printing Plate (1:1235 Packs) - 0
Duplicates - 6 (#8's - 2, #9's - 2, #10's - 2)

Inserts:
Top Ten Inserts
#1's (1:24 Packs) - 1
#2's (1:12 Packs) -2
#3's (1:6 Packs) - 4
#4's (1:4 Packs) - 6
#5's (1:4 Packs) - 6
#6's (1:3 Packs) - 8
#7's (1:3 Packs) - 8
#8's (1:2 Packs) - 12
#9's (1:2 Packs) - 12
#10's (1:2 Packs) - 12

Top Ten Inserts Printing Plates
All Numbers (1:14000 Packs) - 0

Autographs (1:49 Packs) -0

Dual Autographs (1:3064 Packs) - 0

Jerry Lawler Portrait Card - 0

Swatch Relics
Shirt (1:25 Packs) - 1 Daniel Bryan
AJ Lee Teddy Bear (1:1300 Packs) - 0
John Cena Hat (1:2775 Packs) - 0
John Cena Wristband (1:7830 Packs) - 0
John Cena Headband (1:4400 Packs) - 0
Mat Relic (1:48 Packs) - 1 Big E Langston

Thoughts:

Design of the Base Cards: They highlight what people think are the best things that happened in WWE for the last part of 2012 and the early part of 2013. Ugh. Even the writings of Mick Foley on the cards cannot save this mess.  The pictures on the cards are all stills. Some are shot at an angle that you cannot tell exactly what is being done in the shot. And while I like the stories of Mick Foley, the commentary that he provides on the back of the cards grows tiresome.

Design of the Inserts: The numbers are simplistic. And I do like the way that they do the Gold, Silver, and Bronze for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finisher of each Top 10 category.  #4 through 10 are in blue. The categories for the Numbers are Rivalries, Undertaker Matches, Catchphrases, Tag Team Champs, World Heavyweight Champs, Greatest WWE Moments, Trash Talkers, WWE Champions, Intercontinental Champs, and Finishers. The Wrestlemania Mat Card and Shirt cards are uninspired. They are just your average ordinary piece cards.

Other Thoughts:  This is a box and set to stay away from. This looks like a product that was put out there just to satisfy some sort of contract between Topps and WWE. I paid less that $30.00 for the box and I still feel like I needed more to justify spending the money. The WWE may be the biggest Sports Entertainment wrestling company out there, but this shows that they are a clear #2 in the business of wrestling cards.

Box Value 1.5 out of 5.

2012 Topps Magic Football Box Break

Packs Per Box: 24
Cards Per Pack: 8
Total Cards Expected: 192

Total Cards Received: 187
Total Veteran Base Cards: 98
Total Veteran Mini Cards: 16
Total Rookie Cards: 44
Total Rookie Mini Cards: 6

Total Insert Cards: 23

Supernatural Stars (1:4 Packs): (6) A. Johnson, A. Smith, B. Roethlisberger, A. Dalton, A. Foster, A. Bradshaw
Rookie Enchantment (1:6 Packs): (4) D. Martin, R. Griffin III, L. Kuechly, M. Claiborne
Magical Moments (1:6 Packs): (4) R. Gronkowski, P. Peterson, M. Jones-Drew, M. Stafford
Magic Autograph (1:9 Packs): (3) R. Lindley, L. Kuechly, M. Kalil
Charismatic Combos (1:12 Packs): (2) M.Vick/D. Jackson, M. Ryan/R. White
'48 Magic (1:12 Packs): (2) T. Richardson, T. Aikman
Black Border Mini Card (1:24 Packs): (1) Victor Cruz
Pigskin Mini Card (1:65 Packs): (1) Janoris Jenkins #/50

Our Thoughts:

Design of Base Cards: Simple but classic. See the picture and tell for yourself. It seems like something out of the 60's or 70's. The back doesn't contain season or career stats. It contains facts and a question about the player. I don't really like that.

Design of Inserts: Simplistic as well. There is no foil or raised cards except for the Rookie Enchantment cards. The backs of the cards are plain white with writing only. It isn't the wow factor that is going to sell these cards.

The box is OK. It isn't a blow me away product and nor should it be when you can obtain a box for less than $100. But there is a lack of innovation or fun in these cards. Everything is straight forward and would have been in place back when I was a kid. The autos are stickered. And it just seems like everything is just there. Nothing to say I really like the design or not even a "wow" at anything that was pulled.

The value is there for a box that costs about $70.  But that would be about the top end that I would pay for the box. You do get rookies in the product, and I pulled the Big 3 from the year, Luck, RG III, and Wilson. However, it just isn't a product that I feel like I would want to collect.

Box Value: 2.5 out of 5.

2011-12 Pinnacle Hockey Box Break

Packs Per Box:  24
Card Per Pack:  8
Expected Cards:  192

Common Base Set Cards:  175 out of 250.
     Duplicates:  6
Insert Cards:
Rink Collection Parallels:  (5) R. Whitney, C. Smith, P. Wiercioch, C. Atkinson, B. Saad
Team Pinnacle: (1) C. Price/P. Rinne
Tough Times: (2) B. Shoebottom, W. Clark
Breakthrough: (3)J. Van Riemsdyk, J. Skinner, L. Eriksson
Game Night Materials: (1) Claude Giroux
Threads Prime: (1) Marc-Andre Fleury #/50
Starting Six Threads: (1) N. Backstrom/A. Semin/K. Alzner/A. Ovechkin/J. Carlson/M. Neuvirth #/199

Our Thoughts:

Panini should have renamed this product as lacking instead of Pinnacle.  I expected more from this product and was disappointed in what the box contained.  To be fair, the product does guarantee two autographs or memorabila per box.  I received three, and the Prime variant of Marc-Andre Fleury was nice as well as pulling the 6 piece Washington Capitals card.  But it seemed like there wasn't much thought on the design of the cards or the inserts.

The base set according to Pinnacle are the 250 veteran cards, 30 Ice Breaker Rookie cards and 10 Ice Breaker Autograph cards.  Um, no.  The base set is the 250 veteran cards.  If you open a box and do not receive one single Rookie card, how in hell can you decide that they are part of the base set?  All the photos in the base set are orinentated so the card is longer sideways.  That is about the only plus to be found here.  The design is basic with team colors and doesn't inspire anything.  One of the coolest pictures is Card #125, Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators.  He is in the locker room area about ready to go through some double doors and two large Senator logs around him.  The visual is real nice.  The worst photo is Marc-Andre Fleury on the ice during warm-ups skating around in a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet.  That is card #129.

The inserts are also just bland.  The jersey cards are just a picture with straight lines dividing the colors.  We got the team logo as well, but it doesn't do anything.  And who decided that a guy who played 35 games at the NHL level and accumulated 53 Penalty Minutes in those games as a Tough Guy.  I don't care what he did in the minors.  Bruce Shoebottom should not be in the Tough Times insert set. 

I paid $45 for this box and if it wasn't for the Starting Six Threads, I would have felt cheated.  As for a regular box, $45 is too high for this substandard product.  It is OK for a set builder, but that is about it.  The only other reason is if you feel lucky and want to try for an autograph.  But that seems to me something that you cannot bank on that one.

Box Value 1.5 out of 5.