2011 Sweet Spot NCAA Football Hobby Box Break

2011 Sweet Spot

What We Pulled:

Packs Per Box:  4

Cards Per Pack:  8

Base Set Completion:  22 out of 100

Redemptions:  1
     2011 Sweet Spot Football Sweet Spot Rivalries Book Card Varied #'ing CD #SSR-WJ
              Bo Jackson/Herschel Walker





Inserts: 7

Todd McShay Scouting Report (2) - Torry Smith, Mark Ingram

 Chris Mortensen Retro Report (2) - Brian Bosworth, Bo Jackson

Sweet Spot Sweet Beginnings Autographs (2) - Colin McCarthy, Cecil Shorts

Sweet Spot Rookie Signatures (1) - Ryan Kerrigan

Our Thoughts:

While this would never be considered our favorite Upper Deck product that they put out each and every year, the product is unique due to the Rookie Signatures that they have.  I am disappointed in not being able to collect a set of base set cards unless you purchase 5 boxes of this product.  That is a major complaint that I have for each and every card manufacturer.  I understand that base set cards aren't what the true hardcore collector wants, but completing a 100 card base set should not require that you spend lots of money to do it.  This product is the lower end of the one autograph per pack sets, so there should be more value to the product to entice people to buy it. One way to do that is to make the base set easier to obtain.

I do like the fact that the inserts are 1 per pack.  Having Todd McShay and Chris Mortensen scouting reports as the inserts does bring a sense of the big time.  Almost everybody that follows sports on even a casual level knows about Chris Mortensen and Todd McShay has been a real fine analyst for ESPN for the past couple of years.  A big thumbs up for Upper Deck in having those two insert sets.

As for the one autograph per pack gimmick, it is an OK one, but it needs to be rethought.  Not the one autograph per pack, but who they are including in the autographs and how they are devising the autograph sets.  Maybe do the Top 50 college players in your set as 1st Round Talents.  The next 25 as Building Blocks For Success and the last 25 as your Rookie Signatures.  I would also do a College Hall of Fame subset of Autographs.  As for the autographs on the helmets, the quality control on those leaves something to be desired.  Maybe figure out how to put the helmet up further on the card and put the auto below or something.  Because I did open a second box and the Christian Ponder signature on the Florida State helmet is a C and a line then a P and an arc.  I expect more form the autographs than that.

Overall, while there are some drawbacks, there are some redeeming qualities about the product.   I don't need the NFL logo and team symbol on a card to enjoy the product.  And the fact that using the college teams for players does make the set seem a little more unique isn't a bad thing.  And while I don't like redemptions, I can understand that some have to be included if the item is too big to be included in the packs.  If Upper Deck can figure out how to make the autos on the helmets look better, then this product could be one of those that I look forward to each year when it is released.

Box Value:  2.5 out of 5 Stars.

2010 Crown Royale Football Hobby Box Break

2010 Crown Royale

WHAT WE PULLED

Packs Per Box:  4

Cards Per Pack:  5

Cards Per Box:  24

Base Set Completion:  12 out of 235

Base Set Rookie Cards Pulled:  (4) - Everson Griffin, Dan LeFevour, Carlos Dunlap, Blair White

Parallels: Rookie Blue - (1) Zac Robinson

Redemptions:  2

- 2010 Crown Royale Signatures (1)
- 2010 Crown Royale RPS Rookies (1)

Inserts:  9

Royalty (2) - Maurice Jones-Drew, Dexter McCluster

Majestic (1) - Sammy Baugh

The Zone (1) - Pierre Garcon

Living Legends (1) - Charley Taylor

Kings Of The NFL (1) - Dallas Clark

Kings Of The NFL Materials (1) - Matt Forte

All Pros (1) - Chris Cooley

All Pros Materials (1) - Jonathan Stewart

Our Thougths:

Another Panini product, another Panini failure.  8 different insert sets in this release.  There are 235 base set cards and 235 insert set cards in this release.  That means that an insert card isn't special.  There are also different levels of parallels, so more inserts than base set cards.  Just a repeat of every other Panini release.

I do like the fact that the base set card are die-cut while the inserts are a typical card shape.  The insert card designs are real busy but not so busy that they are ugly.  Again there are too many insert sets.  And they could have combined some of the different insert sets.

I hate that there are two redemption cards.  Pony up some cash and get the players to sign before the production and release of the product.  And the fact that Panini gives you two different redemption times of 4 months or 8 months is unfathomable.  At the longest, the redemptions should take a month.  And the people that answer inquiries into if the redemptions are available do not have the correct information.  Kelly, the other person behind KBee Cards had three redemptions from Panini, called after 4 months and asked if they had any of those cards that he was supposed to get.  He was told that they didn't and he accepted the offer of replacement cards because the company did not know if they would ever have the cards that he was supposed to get.  So they sent out some cards to Kelly.  And when he opened up the package, it was like viola!  The William Baldwin auto he was supposed to get was there.  The Chuck Howley auto/Jersey # out of 20 that he was supposed to get was in there and the third card that he was supposed to get was also in there. 

Overall, this release was one of the worst that Panini has produced since buying Donruss.  The same things that plague other Panini releases are in this one as well.  The thing that makes it worse is all the redemptions in the product and the lack of customer service for Panini that actually means something.

Box Value:  1 out of 5 Stars

2009 Rookies And Stars Longevity Football Hobby Box Break

2009 Rookies And Stars Longevity Box

WHAT WE PULLED


Packs Per Box:  10

Cards Per Pack:  5 (6 if pack has jersey card)

Cards Per Box:  50 to 53

Base Set Completion:  46 out of 185

Base Set Completion (w/o Rookies):  39 out of 100
Duplicates:  0

Parallels:  4

Longevity Ruby (2) - Tony Gonzalez, Rashad Johnson

Longevity Sapphire (1) - Eugene Monroe

Longevity Gold (1) - Thomas Jones

Inserts:  3

Longevity Materials Ruby (1) - Reggie Bush

Longevity Materials Sapphire (1) - Peyton Manning

Freshman Orientation Materials (1) - Shonn Greene

Our Thoughts:

I was excited to open this box of cards.  After all 10 packs, 3 pulls and possible rookies of the 2009 class.  After seeing what was in this box, I am going to say that I will not be purchasing another box of this product. 

The first thing that disappointed me was the design of the set.  I want the player's name to be clear, so there is no problems in telling who it is.  I don't need the names weathered so there are bits and pieces missing.  They do have mostly picture shots of the players, so that is a plus.  Another pet peeve of mine came through in this product.  If the player goes undrafted, do not include him in the set.  Graham Harrell is the player that went undrafted.  His rookie card has the Texas Tech logo and him in a Red Raiders uniform.  There are too many parallels, but that is a trait that Donruss which has become Panini will continue.

I was hoping for one autograph out of the 3 hits that the box delivered, but I wasn't fortunate.  I can't complain about the pieces of memorabilia that I did recieve.  Manning, Bush, and Shonn Greene are recognized names.  And I did smile when I opened one pack.  It was pure quarterbacks.  Kerry Collins, Peyton Manning, Graham Harrell, Donovan McNabb, and Tom Brady.

Box Value:  2 out of 5 stars.

2009 Certified Blaster Box Break

2009 Certified Blaster Box

WHAT WE PULLED

Packs Per Box:  3

Cards Per Pack:  5

Cards Per Box:  15

Inserts:  3

Mirror Gold # to 25:  1 - AJ Hawk

Mirror Red # to 250:  1 - Jake Delhomme

Souvenir Stamps # to 99:  1 - Jeremy Maclin

Our Thoughts:

I found this box for $15 online.  And it did guarantee either one piece of memorabilia or autograph.  I did get the piece of memorabilia on the Souvenir Stamps of Jeremy Maclin, but with a piece of event-worn jersey that small, it was a big disappointment. 

The other two packs had the mirror parallel cards and I wasn't surprised about that.  Certified has been doing that for years.  About all the regular set cards, the pictures were too big for the card.  Every player had the top of his head cut off.  I understand that there is nothing important about the top of the helmet, but the way that it gets cut off really detracts from what looks like a good card design. 

Box Value:  1.5 out of 5 stars.

The handle for ebay

If you are looking for us on ebay, most of the cards do end up there.  The User ID is coyotecc1.  If you do see something that you might be interested in, leave us a message.  We will get back to you as soon as possible.

2003 Benchwarmer Series 3 Retro Box Break

2003 Benchwarmer Series 3

WHAT WE PULLED

Packs Per Box:  36

Cards Per Pack:  8

Cards Per Box:  288

Base Set Completion: 100%.  2 Sets of 100 Cards Each.  78 Other Base Cards

Duplicates:  178

Inserts:  8

Painted Beauties FX: (1:9 Packs) 3 - Nissa Hall, Flo Jalin, Rebecca Mary

Hotties (1:12 Packs):  3 - Janelle Perzina, Candice Michelle, Kate Lae

Autograph Cards (1:18 Packs):  2 - Yvette Nelson, Amber Goetz

Authentic Kiss Cards (1:108 Packs):  0

Lenticular Movie Cards (1:72 Packs):  0

Authentic Bikini Card Swatch (1:432 Packs):  0

Jumbo Card (1:1 Box):  1 - Jamie Everett (Autographed)

Our Thoughts:

For what the going rate on ebay is, ($35) I would say that the value isn't there unless you pull a kiss or bikini swatch card.  I got lucky with the jumbo card being signed and numbered out of 75.  The base cards are bland and set on generic backgrounds.  The Autographed cards are OK, but trying to get anything over $5 for them is real tough.  Getting the insert sets complete by pulling from the packs, requires 3 boxes. 

The problem that Benchwarmer had during this time is the packaging of these cards.  It says that 8 Cards come in a pack.  Well, that is what is supposed to be in a pack.  Some had 8, some had 7, some had 9.  One had an Autograph, but only 5 other cards.  There was also a problem with some of the cards on the back.  On the back about midcard on the right edge, some of the cards have a crease about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch long.  It doesn't appear on the front.  But the crease is there.  It is visible under light and you can feel it without difficulty. 

The back of the cards that have the personal information and the paragraph about the woman's accomplishments is great.  Then after all those cards, the duplicates only have another picture of the woman.  The insert backs are just another picture as well.  Overall, this is the format that Benchwarmer has kept throughout their products.  I wish that they would start changing and bringing in more models for each of their releases.

Box Value:  1.5 out of 5 stars.

2011 Prestige Football Box Break

2011 Prestige Box

WHAT WE PULLED


Packs Per Box:  24

Cards Per Pack:  8

Cards Per Box:  192

Base Set Completion:  164 out of 300

Base Set Completion (w/o Rookies):  138 out of 200

Duplicates:  0

Parallels:  8

Extra Points Gold (2) - Brooks Reed, Devin Hester

Extra Points Red (1) - Von Miller

Draft Picks Light Blue (3) - Stephen Paea, Curtis Brown, Blaine Gabbert

Draft Picks Rights Autographs (2) - Jerrel Jernigan, Tyler Sash

Inserts:  20

Connections (1) - Javhid Best/Calvin Johnson

Inside The Numbers (1) - Maurice Jones-Drew

NFL Passport (1) - Aldon Smith


League Leaders (1) - Eli Manning, Carson Palmer, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady

League Leaders Dual Jerseys (1) - Michael Turner, Chris Johnson

Stars Of The NFL (4) - Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer, Sam Bradford, Greg Jennings

Rookie Review (1) - T.J. Ward

NFL Draft Class (3) - Pat Devlin, Jacquizz Rodgers, DeAndre McDaniel

Prestigious Pros Green (1) - Julius Peppers

Prestigious Pros Red Jerseys (1) - Tony Romo

Prestigious Pros Red (4) - DeAngelo Hall, Dez Bryant, Ryan Grant, Nate Washington

Prestigious Pors Blue Patch (1) - Reggie Bush

Our Thoughts:

Prestige Football 2011 is a microcosm of what many people dislike about releases in the previous editions of Playoff cards and now that plagues Panini.  Way too many parallels of base cards and also inserts.  The Extra Points parallels have Gold, Red, Purple, Green, Black.  Then the Draft Picks Light Blue/Rights Autos are included.  Extra Points Black Signatures are also included.  We are up to 8 parallels of a base set.  That is ridiculous.  It is the same with the inserts.  Each and every insert set has parallels of the base insert.  All told, there are over 25 parallels of base set cards and base insert cards.  Talk about overkill and making people just not want to buy this product.

Speaking of inserts, there are 10 base inserts in this product.  There are 300 base cards and 329 base insert cards.  Not a way of making friends.  Panini has to eliminate some of these inserts.  The inserts should be about half the cards that the base sets are, otherwise the inserts mean nothing.  As i was pulling these cards out of the box, I was realizing that there are too many unneeded inserts.  If I were in charge of this set, I would eliminate the NFL Passport and Stars of the NFL.  That would eliminate 90 cards of inserts which would make the remaining inserts mean more.

The design of the base cards is good enough to be attractive.  Although on the back if you are going to include the round that they were drafted, I would like to see who they were drafted by.  And one final complaint that we here at KBee Cards had was the inclusion of free agent rookies included in the set.  There are over 250 players that were drafted in the latest NFL draft.  There are 100 rookies in this set and you include a player that the 32 teams passed over all 7 rounds.  There is no reason for that.  If you take the top 40% of players drafted, you have your 100 players and don't have to worry about any free agents and you might include a player that will play for 10 years instead of including a free agent rookie that is going to be lucky to be on a roster come the next year.

Box Value:  2 out of 5 stars.