Breakin Wax: 2013-2014 Sp Authentic Basketball 8 Pack Break

One of the greatest products Upper Deck has ever created is Sp Authentic. I doubt many of you would argue that.

So in my recent Upper Deck break, I went and broke eight packs. I think my results were pretty good. Only one way for you to agree. Read on!

This is usually where I put up a picture of the pack, well, I don't have one this time. I forgot to take it. So, I will still give you a pack breakdown and price but just no picture.

In every pack of 2013-2014 Sp Authentic basketball there are five cards. Each pack will run you about $5.

The base cards stay true to the Sp Authentic design with background in a gray or white color and a player in the forefront. The base card checklist is a mix of Legends, Veterans and Rookies along with Flashback Rookie FX's that fall 1:4 packs.

Back of the card:

Here are the Flashback Rookie F/X's. Landed three good players including the best one to get in Jordan.

I pulled two Canvas Collection cards that fell 1:12 packs. Can't go wrong with these two players either and the fact that I like the design.

I pulled two hits. My first one was a By The Letter Autograph numbered to 60 of Calbert Cheaney. In every box of Sp Authentic you will land three different kinds of autographs including possibly By The Letters.

And the more exciting hit, least to me, a Supreme Court Authentics of Lebron James. These bad boys fall 1:144 with a nice swatch of flooring from when Lebron played in High School.

Overall, could I ask for anything more? I think this was a tremendous break for eight packs landing two hits and five inserts. Not to mention landing the players I did.  I feel like I more than beat the odds here.

Once again, Sp Authentic hits a home run for me.

Breakin Wax: 2013-2014 Upper Deck Black Basketball Pack Break

After some hiatus, UD Black made it's return to the hard court and I was able to break one pack to show you what the product is about.

Every hobby box of UD Black comes with two packs. In each pack there are three cards and each box has four hits with two hard signed autographs per box. However, the price is a bit steep if you were to buy a full box as it falls a little under $200. A one pack break may suffice or it may not.

The base cards in UD Black are as expected. They are black. The base cards are also numbered (they have low numbered parallels as well) and have a "canvas" texture to them. They are also very thick. I think the design is nice and the cards stand out.

The player I received was Glen Rice. Someone as a Knicks fan I didn't like to face when he played for the Heat.

The "canvas" texture also carries on to the hits. My first hit of the pack was this on-card autograph of Calbert Cheaney. Not the biggest player to pull, but the design is nice and the gold ink looks amazing against the solid charcoal black.

The card is numbered to 75.

My second and final hit of my pack I think was the most impressive. It wasn't Michael Jordan or LeBron James, but the design did it for me. Check out this card...

BOOM! An Arena Art Booklet of Kenny Anderson #'d to 65.

I think this card looks amazing. However, I think silver ink might have worked better on this card since the autograph gets lost amongst the crowd. Despite that, it's very nice and even better looking in person. Sometimes a card isn't valuable because of an autograph or the player on the card, you sometimes have got to appreciate it for the card design itself. I appreciate this card for that reason and will keep it in my PC because of that.

Overall, I am a bit concerned on value vs price, but as for design, Upper Deck was spot on. This is one of those products where a risk is a risk but a return is a big return.

Upper Deck NPN Mail Day: 2013-2014 Fleer Retro Basketball Precious Metal!

There is nothing better than getting a unexpected mail day and when that mail day is an Upper Deck NPN (no purchase necessary) mail day, you know it's going to be good. This particular one is from the 2013-2014 Fleer Retro basketball.

I love Retro and PMG's! Awesome NPN mail day!

Have you ever received an Upper Deck NPN mail day? What's the best card you have gotten?

Upper Deck NPN Mail Day: 2013-2014 Spx Hockey Auto/Jersey

There is nothing better than getting a unexpected mail day and when that mail day is an Upper Deck NPN (no purchase necessary) mail day, you know it's going to be good. This particular one is from the 2013-2014 Spx.

I never argue with an autographed jersey rookie card.

Have you ever received an Upper Deck NPN mail day? What's the best card you have gotten?

Upper Deck Card Of The Week:2013-2014 Upper Deck Black Diamond All-Star Martin Brodeur Jersey Card

Panini Card Of The Week: 2013-2014 Panini Hoops Signatures Keith Bogans

Hobby Break 'Em: 2013-2014 ITG Between The Pipes Hobby Box

ITG is a company I have never opened a box of product from, but recently I was given this opportunity by winning a contest from Steel City Collectibles on Twitter.

Each hobby box of 2013-14 In The Game Between The Pipes Hockey comes with 18 packs and 9 cards per pack. Boxes roughly run for $40 with 4 hits.This product is goalies only as the product title states.

Here is what the base cards look like. There are three types, Greats Of The Game, Regular and Stars Of The Game. The design and card stock are okay. Nothing overly exciting.

Inserts.... Really like the look of these.

These are really cool. The Masked Men are chromed. You know how much I love Chrome and especially well done Chrome. Refractor parallels need to be done!

Game Used jersey cards! You don't find those too often anymore in a hobby loaded with event worn. Pulled a nice Hasek as my top hit.The designs are okay, the impressive part is the decent swatch size.

My auto pulls...eh.

My first break of ITG wasn't bad. Got an extra hit and I guess you can't argue with that. Wasn't anything big or anything that really jumped out but I did like the Hasek. I guess to me a goalies only product isn't a hit. I know being a goalie is the most important position and toughest one on the ice, but it just doesn't have that collecting appeal as opening an all position product would and landing for an example, a Sidney Crosby. A goalies only product is sort of like making a football product all of offensive and defensive lineman. Not exciting, despite respecting the position.

I would like to say thanks to SCC for the box and the contest as well. They have great deals on products and run many promotions as well.

Let me know your thoughts on my break and if you have broken any.

Upper Deck NPN Mail Day: 2013-2014 Sp Game Used Hockey

There is nothing better than getting a unexpected mail day and when that mail day is an Upper Deck NPN (no purchase necessary) mail day, you know it's going to be good. This particular one is from the 2013-2014 SP Game Used Hockey

It's a low numbered rookie card, works for me! Doesn't have to always be flashy.

Have you ever received an Upper Deck NPN mail day? What's the best card you have gotten?

REVIEW: 2013-2014 Panini Prime Hockey

For the first time ever, this blogger got to get a taste of what high end hockey was about. I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read on to see why..

Before I start my review, here are many places you can find Panini America: Their official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook. If you don't follow them you should! They interact with you on Twitter, have contests on their blog and Facebook and the site is also fun to visit!

Now onto the review:

BOX BREAK DOWN:  

20 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack

Four Autograph or Memorabilia Cards

- See more at: http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2014-panini-elite-football-hobby-box#sthash.rIpKSdxT.dpuf

• 1 Packs Per Box, 7 Cards Per Pack
• One auto per box, one jersey card per box and two other jersey/auto cards per box
• Around $200 per box 

- One Rookie Quad Autograph
- One Memorabilia Card
- One Autograph Card
- Two Additional Autographs or Memorabilia Cards
- One Base Card
- One Additional Base Card or Parallel Card - See more at: http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2013-14-panini-prime-hobby-box#sthash.McyVltsq.dpuf

20 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack

Four Autograph or Memorabilia Cards

- See more at: http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2014-panini-elite-football-hobby-box#sthash.rIpKSdxT.dpufPRICE: You can find most boxes around $60 

BASE CARDS: The base card design is simple. Picture of the player, name, team name and numbered to 299. I like how there is a "spotlight" appeal to the players face.

INSERTS:N/A in this box but look for parallel cards!

 

AUTOGRAPHED CARDS:This product is loaded! You get one of these on-card Rookie Quad autographs per pack. I lucked out and got two including a PRIME version of Ryan Murphy with four nice looking swatches. I like the layout of these as well. Nice balance.

HOLY MOLY...GET READY FOR THIS BAD BOY...EPIC PATCH!!

MEMORABILIA CARDS: Here to me is the bread and butter of the product, the memorabilia cards. They are PRIMED to be pulled. In most boxes, you would pull maybe two memorabilia cards, but like I beat the odds here as well pulling four. One of which is probably the most beautiful card I have ever held in the Tyler Toffoli Prime Colors. I have seen some incredible swatches from this memorabilia insert and this product is loaded with them. I think the design is done just right for those kinds of swatches as well.

I am also a fan of the Prime Duals. I have always enjoyed memorabilia being placed in letters.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Was it worth $200? Hard to tell. But, I will tell you this, the outside of the box lies. There is much more to every box of Prime hockey then 7 cards and 4 hits. For the third time in this review, I will mention that this product is loaded. The packs are loaded and there are some treasures to be found. I have personally seen some amazing breaks and every box had more than what it stated.

I will also say, if I was going to buy a high end product, I would probably take a chance on this one. The Prime Colors patch alone is worth the chase.

Upper Deck Card Of The Week: 2013-2014 Upper Deck UD Game Jersey Bryan Trottier

Retail Break 'Em: 2013-2014 Upper Deck Series 2 Hockey

In this edition of Retail Break 'Em, I wanted to go rookie card hunting, specifically Young Guns. So I found myself getting a blaster box of 2013-2014 Upper Deck Series 2 hockey. I expected to land a couple of rookie cards and maybe a canvas, however, this blaster provided much more!

Man do I love UD photography!

I know this one isn't an action shot, but you gotta love UD showing what the NHL Playoffs is all about....THE BEARDS!

My Young Gun pulls are usually lame, this blaster however provided me with two upcoming stars. Young Guns fall 1:6 packs so you should get two per blaster:

Pulled a Young Gun canvas 1:96 packs and a O-Pee-Chee  Rookie update card that falls 1:14 packs:

Then the BIG PULL of the blaster...a 1:384 hit of Freddie Hamilton UD Canvas Program Of Excellence!!!

Overall, this was an awesome break! You really don't have to pull jersey cards or autographs to enjoy yourself with UD Series 2 no matter if it's retail or hobby. Go ahead, take my word and try one for yourself!

Upper Deck Card Of The Week: 2013-2014 Upper Deck Black Diamond Quad Diamond Tyler Toffoli

REVIEW: Crusade Basketball 2013-2014

This has a been a basketball product I have always wanted to get my hands on and finally was able to. From the outside of the box to in, this product had a theme and stuck to it. It also packed a punch in this particular box with the hits and designs. I for one know it has me wanting more!

Before I start my review, 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 interact with you on Twitter, have contests on their blog and Facebook and the site is also fun to visit!

Now onto the review:

BOX BREAK DOWN: 

• 6 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack
• One Autograph Per Box!
• One Memorabilia Card Per Box!
• Eighteen Cruasde Cards Per Box!

PRICE: You can find most boxes under $70

 

 

BASE CARDS: .Crusade's base cards look quite impressive with the lion in stone design etched into the background, name in silver and when opening up a pack of Crusade it's great to see all of the vibrant color that the Crusade Prizms bring against the white-tinted base cards. It's an eye catcher for sure! In each pack you will get 2 of the base cards or 1 base card and 1 insert card and three of the Crusade Prizms.

The base set consists of 200 cards made up of 100 veterans, 50 rookies and 50 retired.

BOOM YA!

INSERTS: For me its all about the Crusade Prizms not that the regular inserts are ugly but in comparison with the Crusade Prizms unless you are color blind your eyes will drift that way. Also believe me when I say you have no idea how eye stunning these things are til you have them in person.

Crusade Prizms also feature three new color variations: Teal #'d/249, Orange Die-Cut #'d/99 and Purple #'d/99 all of which made an appearance out of the 18 Prizms found in a box. I was also fortunate to pull a Crusade orange die-cut: #'d to 99 of Larry Sanders.

It would take some effort to put together a set of Crusades as there are 300 in the set. But, it would be one amazing accomplishment!

I also pulled a 1/1 black base card parallel of Moses Malone. There are gold and black parallels of the rookies, veterans and retired.

AUTOGRAPHED CARDS: Just when you thought this particular break couldn't get any better after pulling some nice Crusade Prizms and a 1/1, I then came across a black parallel version of the Apprentice autographs. This one is numbered 5/10. There are 40 Apprentice rookie autos in the set.

New to this years Crusade product is autographed sets Hardwood Homage and Sultans of Springfield, featuring autos from legends of the game and members of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

As for autographs in this product, its well rounded. The designs stick with the theme of the product.

MEMORABILIA CARDS:  Panini stuck to a design in this set and passed it along to the inserts, autographs and also to the memorabilia. This is a pretty nice looking card of Shawn Kemp.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I don't know if all boxes are packed like this with low numbered autos and 1/1's but I know after opening this up I want more! The design is spectacular, the Crusade inserts are mind blowing, and the price vs value is excellent. I will say the Crusades alone are worth the risk of this product and with so many other options it offers and being under $70 a box, why not give it a try.

Another thing to note about Crusade is a powder substance that you will immediately notice when handling the cards. I can try to explain what it is but it will serve you best to go straight to the source, Panini's blog The Knights Lance. I have provided the link with that info below:

http://paniniamerica.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/a-small-dust-up-panini-america-addresses-powder-mystery-in-prizm-and-crusade/