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.