Review: Sp Authentic Basketball 2012-2013

Upper Deck's most popular brand (least I think it is) packs a punch every year and has collectors running out to get it. Though it may not be the same product that came out a few years ago when Upper Deck had an NBA license for it, the product still looks great and can still produce those one of a kind hits.

Box Break Down:

• 24 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack
• 3 Autographs or Memorabilia Cards Per Box!
• Find Auto's from Jordan, LeBron, Magic, Bird!
• Look for rare Final Floor Signature Cards
• $110 a Box 

 

BASE CARDS: Sp Authentic stays to its core, white/grayish background base card with player the main focus. I am usually not one for non action photos for products, but this is Sp Authentic, this is an exception. The thing I don't like about the base card is the players name on top of the head. I would have either just left the last name the way it is or have put the first name on top of it. And its very small. Other than that, glad Sp Authentic stays with its success with the base cards.

The subset 1:4 odds of pulling is the Flashback Rookie FX. I like the design because it reminds me of past ones, but what I don't like is the non numbering on them. I think the chase would be more fun if they were numbered like classic Sp Authentic releases.

You do however, get two complete base sets in a box. At least we did. Only 4 triples.

INSERTS: If you haven't tried this product, the Canvas cards have got to be some of the coolest inserts out on the market. However, they are the only ones in this product. Thats a tough sell for me. I wished they did what they did last year and include the hologram inserts. They include the Rookie FX Flashback and there are canvas parallels but doesn't seem like enough to me.

The canvas card above is a gold parallel.

AUTOGRAPHS: There seems to be a color scheme in this product that matches the base cards. I do like the Sign Of The Times done with a darkened background and a colorful version of the player coming out at you. Pulled a no namer for a base auto.

However this product has a great autograph checklist as you can look for Autographs of Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Julius Irving, Allen Iverson, Reggie Miller, Karl Malone, Grant Hill, or Chris Paul!

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: You can land a Jordan Brand Classic Jersey card or pull a By The Letter Signature like we did. I don't care what people say about these, I really like the manufactured letter patch autos. To me, this card was the most exciting hit of the box and stood out in terms of color and design above the rest.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Sp Authentic is worth a try. Hopefully your box turns out the big auto hits with three per box its worth a shot. Hopefully you get that big hit or name auto.There are some nooks that I hope UD improves on next year like adding more inserts and maybe numbering to the subsets. Other than that, another solid Upper Deck Sp Authentic product.

Other info:

Memorabilia and Insert Cards:
 Jordan Brand Classic Jersey
-Canvas Collection (1:8)
 Canvas Collection Gold Parallel (1:72)

Base Set:
Regular Cards - 50 cards
2000-01 SP Flashback Rookie F/X - 50 cards (1:4)

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 5
                Base Design: 3
                Insert Design: 4
                Memorablila/Autographs: 4
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 3.5

FANdom Card Of The Day: Ray Allen Hoops Basketball 2012-2013

 

 Our fan Miami Vice found this card very fitting for today's after last nights EPIC Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Thanks goes out to him for providing us with this FANdom Card Of The Day. 

Review: Panini Preferred Basketball 2012-2013

One of the very few blessed times I got to try a high end product. Normally I can only stare at them. This one on the other hand if I could afford it, I would try it. Its a very cool product. Find out rest of my thoughts below and what low numbered auto hit we found. And as always, comment below your thoughts on this product.

First off, I would like to say thanks to the WONDERFUL people at Panini America for providing us with this box to review. Here are many places you can find Panini America: official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook. If you don't follow them at all..you should! They talk to you on Twitter, have contests on their blog and Facebook and the site is also fun to visit!

  

Box Break Down:

• 1 Pack Per Box
• (3) Autographs Per Box!
• (1) 6-8 Player Memorabilia Booklet Per
• $200 a box 

BASE CARDS:  Since the product technically doesn't have what I consider base cards since everything is autographed, I will take a second to focus on the box. The box for starters is HUGE! You read the outside and it says 4 cards per box. You are scratching your head as if why make a huge box for such little cards. Well, then you open it up. To be honest when opening it, I thought I found treasure at first or was in a mobster movie and had to drop off some cash in exchange for something as I felt I was opening a suit case and revealing its contents.The packs, the bonus Kobe pack, and the booklet are all in their own separate sections. I found this very classy.. Panini did great laying this one out.

INSERTS: No inserts only parallels to the autographs.

AUTOGRAPHS: Three autographs (three packs) in this product makes up a box alongside the booklet. One card per pack. The first card I pulled was the Mark Price numbered to 25 and in form of a Crown Royale silhouette auto. The next card found was the Nick Collison numbered to 49 and then the biggie of the box the Lenny Wilkens autograph green parallel numbered 1/5.

The autographed silhouettes are one of my favorite autographed card designs if not the favorite. The Panini's Choice award also comes out of Crown Royale and gives you a nice die cut auto and the players name in silver just jumps off from the cardboard. Then there is the Panini signatures that come in a array of colors of Red, Green, Blue, Gold and Black. I like the design on these as the background, at least on this one, has the player in a 3D appeal jumping out with you with color and with the background darkened.

Here are other types of autographs to find in this product

ROOKIE SILHOUETTES PRIME
ROOKIE CROWN ROYALE SIGNATURES:
PANINI SIGNATURES
PANINI'S CHOICE BLACK
There is a 600-CARD AUTOGRAPHED BASE SET 

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: I absolutely love booklets. Look for incredible combinations featuring Draft Classes, Positions, Statistics, Career Achievements, Teams, and more. We got one called Inducted featuring a class of HOFers. And being a Knicks fan, find Ewing on this really excited me.

The one thing I like about booklet cards, it finally takes us away from the generic plain color swatch jersey card. I think most of us get tired of pulling those. I love the combinations Panini put together on these and I like how they all spell out a word with the a players swatch. You can also find Prime pieces in these as well that look absolutely stunning.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:Definitely has a high end feel from the outside of the box, to the inside of the box. The only card that was high numbered was the booklet and that was only numbered to 99. I think with the amount of low numbered hits and the many big hits this product has to offer, I Prefer to recommend you to it.I think most boxes will pack a punch from the multiple breaks. Not to mention how great the cards look.

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 5
                Base Design: NA
                Insert Design: NA
                Memorablila/Autographs: 5
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 5

Box Break of Panini Basketball 2012-2013

Wanted to give this product another go...this time i got both autographs in my box. I still like the product as a fun break. With a double rookie class, which we got two rookies of each Irving and Lillard now from two breaks this makes for load up on rookie product.

Base Cards

Knights Lance Parallel

Inserts (got more also)

Don't forget about the bonus Kobe pack

 

  

What are your thoughts on this break now that you have seen two of them?

FANdom Card Of The Day: 2012-13 ITG Heroes and Prospects Jersey Patches Silver #M33 Nick Baptiste

2012-13 ITG Heroes and Prospects Jersey Patches Silver #M33 Nick Baptiste

Thanks to Jammin JDcards for providing this card to us.

REVIEW: Limited Hockey 12-13

First off, I would like to say thanks to the WONDERFUL people at Panini America for providing us with this box to review. Here are many places you can find Panini America: official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook. Please check them out!! Best in the business!

This is my first go at Limited Hockey and I was pretty impressed. After opening up the football and being disappointed due to the content,  I feel the hockey is a much better upgrade. I hope you feel the same.

Box Break Down:

• 1 Pack Per Box, 7 Cards Per Pack
• 3 Autographs or Memorabilia Cards Per Box!
• At least 1 Autograph per Box!
• $100 a Box

BASE CARDS: The base card are numbered to 299. They are thicker than they appear in this pic and are just about the size thickness of a filler card. The design is nice with the main focus and full color on the player with the background a faded bronze color almost making the player appear 3D.

INSERTS: I put Lindros under the inserts, though its a subset because of its low numbering to 49. The Back To The Future insert is unique. Its numbered and placed a star from the past with a comparison from now one on the front and one on the back. Card companies don't seem to do much with double sided player cards anymore so this was nice to see again. The 90's had a lot of this and I rather enjoyed collecting them. The only issue I had was which player to sort it under :)

AUTOGRAPHS: I know I hear it all of the time how collectors do not like the manufactured relics. I think this is a different form of them. I really like these cards. They are very thick. The team logo on the manufactured jersey with the auto pops out at you. The only argument would be how the autographs bleed a little on the fabric used. Maybe a different form of auto marker needs to be used. Or pen. The nice hit here was the Patrice Bergeron # to 49 though I really like both cards.

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: The design is good for these despite the one color swatch. I like the team logo and the fact the jersey swatch runs up the card and not in the middle on the bottom like most would for this type of card. Panini did good here.


OVERALL THOUGHTS: As the title of the product states..its a numbered product that some can be Limited. I feel this product is better than its other sport counterparts. It feels to have more to it and possibly bigger hit finds.I like the base card design and I feel the price and what you get in return pays for it. I do wish products like this just had a few more cards in them just in case you hit that box with nobodies.

Let me know your thoughts on Limited in general or this break in comments!

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 4
                Base Design: 4
                Insert Design: 4
                Memorablila/Autographs: 5
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 4

Preview: Upper Deck Fleer Retro Hockey 12-13

I think Upper Deck has found something good...they revived the Fleer brands for Basketball..soon for football and now they have announced for hockey.

  

With Upper Deck even including one of my favorite base sets of all time in Ex which is a combination of acetate and cardboard that shines like no other it makes me want to do a little more hockey card collecting. Just wished it was in my affording range assuming this will be priced like the basketball and football versions that were going for over $300 a hobby box. Just wished they would make each of these products individually for $80-$100 a box. Also do a retail version as well.That way the rest of us collectors could afford this beauty for all of the sports.



2012-13 Fleer Retro Hockey box comes with two ten-pack mini boxes just like the other two sport releases of this. There should be six overall autographs. Three per mini box. As for a release date there isn't much out there yet for product info but we will update when we know.

Check out the Upper Deck blog for more info and images:
http://upperdeckblog.com/2013/01/brag-photo-upper-deck-shares-new-plans-and-images-for-2012-13-nhl-trading-card-sets/

Preview: Panini Gold Standard Basketball 12-13

Panini released images of Gold Standard Basketball and I can say once again I am impressed by another Panini NBA release.

This product is due out in April and from the gallery (and more info) on the Knights Lance: http://paniniamerica.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/panini-america-provides-detailed-first-look-at-2012-13-gold-standard-basketball/

It appears this years version will surpass all others.

 

A break should deliver four autographs, one memorabilia card and one metal card in every 10-card box

  

There is also a 305-card base set featuring 80 autographed memorabilia RCs, five base inserts, three memorabilia inserts and four autograph inserts. Makes quite a thing to chase after.

There is also 25 base-set SPs featuring selected stars wearing the jerseys of every team they have ever played for.

What are your thoughts on this NBA product?