REVIEW:2017 Panini Limited Football

Another year, another Limited football release.

Limited has always been popular among collectors and has always stuck to a basic layout for the overall product with just a few tweaks here and there. Which isn't a bad thing.

The point of Limited is to make all of its hits and parallels,well, limited. Each one is numbered.

Let's check out the 2017 edition.

In each box of 2017 Panini Limited football has 3 packs and 5 cards per box. There is 2 autographs and 1 memorabilia card per box and boxes are currently running $99 per. Not many cards per box so you are banking that those hits will rock.

The base card design sticks with it's norm with just a fresher layout. But, it's a bit thicker cardstock with a white background. The base set is 100 cards and has players of the past and present.

There are parallels to the base set which are pretty easy to spot as the lettering how you spot them. They include, Silver /99 (below), Gold /49, Ruby /25, Emerald /5, Sapphire 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Limited doesn't have any inserts so let's get straight to the hits.

My first pull was this Limitless relic which also has Prime /25 and Super Prime 1/1.

My next pull was this rookie autograph of Aaron Jones. These make up the final cards in the "base set". These rookies have parallels of Silver /35, Gold #/25 (the Jones), Ruby /10, Emerald /5, Sapphire 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

My final pull was this Darboh auto patch card. These cards make up cards 101-140 in the base set. These also have parallels of Silver /75, Gold /50 (my pull below), Ruby /10, Emerald /5, and Sapphire 1/1.

Other hits not found in my box include,

Limited Ink Autographs, Limited Combos Autograph, Limited Trios Autograph Jersey, Limited Quad Autograph Booklet, Draft Day Signatures Booklet, Game Day Swatches, Limited Partnership Dual Autographs, Limited Partnership Trios Autographs, Prime Time Jerseys , Ring of Honor Autographs, Rookie Phenoms Jerseys and Team Trademark Signatures.

You can see the full checklist for 2017 Limited football HERE.

OVERALL: My box wasn't a hot hitter, but there is plenty of hot hits in limited. The checklist is full of superstars of today, tomorrow and the past. The card design is solid throughout the product and with each of the hits and parallels being numbered it helps add a bit extra value.

Most of the hits, if not all, from this break will be given away for #SCC6YR celebration. Please, please tell Panini America and Tracy Hackler thanks for the shot at these cards. Without their support with these reviews giveaways wouldn't be possible. Check them out at Panini America website and all social media sites.

MT, A Redemption Mail Day

A few months ago I busted a box of 2016 Panini Optic and pulled a redemption as my autograph hit...just my luck. But, I don't mind redemptions personally. Usually I mark 4 months on them when I redeem them so I can exchange them later on for NY Giants cards I actually want.

To my surprise, the Michael Thomas autograph I pulled from Optic came just a month later. Not a bad looking card and is an on-card auto. However, he has a terrible signature.

 

I am not going to complain about this one actually showing up however. This guy showed some spots of talent last year and with Brees down a top WR, this guy could be ready for super star status.

REVIEW:2016-2017 Panini Limited Basketball

It has been a couple of years since I have busted any form of Limited so it was refreshing to see it once again. This time around the word limited is really put to use with all hits being numbered to 99 or less. So none of that high numbered stuff will be found in here.

Limited over the years has been toyed when it comes to amount of cards and hits per pack and what those hits and cards per pack are. 

So let's see how it went shall we?

In every box of 2016-2017 Limited basketball is one pack with 8 cards. Boxes should have two Autographed Memorabilia or Memorabilia cards per box (at least one auto/mem). Boxes are running a bit high at $90 per so it's a bit of a gamble and from reviews I have seen, it truly is.

The base card set is built up of 100 players of today with stars and vets. It's not too shabby of a looking base set and the base cards are a tad thicker than usual. Kind of reminds me of Panini's Momentum.

Rookies in the product fall card numbers 101-140 and are all memorabilia/auto cards. There is also cards 141-150 which are base card Sp's in the set that includes big names like Lebron and Ben Simmons.

Key Rookies in the autograph memorabilia part of the set are Dario Saric, Malcolm Brogdon, Buddy Hield, and Brandon Ingram.

As with most products today, there are parallels to chase in the base set to. There is Red Spotlight /99, Silver Spotlight /49, Gold Spotlight /25, Emerald Spotlight /15, and Platinum Spotlight 1/1.I Pulled a nice Silver of Chris Paul here: the only thing that separates it from the base besides the numbering is the silver in the names.

Onto the inserts or insert I should say.

Here is what a Limited Rookies insert looks like. To me these should have been apart of the base set from the appearance. It's also a little disappointing these aren't numbered at all. They do have parallels that are including Emerald Spotlight /15 and Platinum Spotlight 1/1

There are other inserts to find including the extremely tough one-per-case find in No Limits. Other inserts have the same parallels as well.

Time to show off the hits!

First one is a decent size swatch of Isaiah Whitehead from the Unlimited memorabilia set.

My second is the autograph memorabilia card of Dwight Powell. It's a Phenoms /99 with a little color in the memorabilia. I think the design looks nice despite the sloppy lazy auto. I am also a bit confused on why the players name isn't on the front of the card. At least I couldn't find it. I had to look on the back.

Other hits not found in my box include, DECADE DOMINANCE MATERIALS, PREPARATION PRIME, UNLIMITED POTENTIAL PRIME, LIMITED JERSEY SIGNATURES PRIME, PHENOMS JERSEY AUTOGRAPHS SUPER PRIME, ROOKIE PHENOMS JERSEY AUTOGRAPHS PRIME, ROOKIE JERSEY AUTOGRAPHS SILVER SPOTLIGHT, ROOKIE JERSEY AUTOGRAPHS GOLD SPOTLIGHT, and ROOKIE JERSEY AUTOGRAPHS PLATINUM SPOTLIGHT. So some good stuff to find if you are lucky.

Overall, this was a bit of a rough break for the cost. It's not that the cards don't look nice, but I didn't feel there was enough in here to warrant value back. I think another autograph such as a guaranteed rookie would have helped. But, like I say with every break because that's the rule, anything is a gamble. It just feels the products with the least amount of cards per box are the toughest and easiest to spot when it happens.

By the way, make sure you thank Panini America for this review box and check out their site for products like this one and others. Also thank Tracy Hackler and give him a Twitter follow too!Stay tuned for some of these cards in an upcoming Panini America giveaway to celebrate #SCC5year!

REVIEW:2016 Topps Chrome Baseball (GIVEAWAY)

Since 1996, Topps Chrome has been a staple in the hobby and especially in my household. It's quite possibly my favorite product out on the market overall.

It is a sad year however without a football version, but I still at least get my taste of Chrome and keep my streak up of at least busting one sport or the other since 1996.

Let's see how this years stacks up against the rest.

In every box of 2016 Topps Chrome baseball is 24 packs with 4 cards per pack. You will find a ton of parallels and 2 autographs per box. Boxes run at a reasonable $65.

The base set design matches the same one you find in the flagship. The only difference is the back of the card numbering and the cut down to just 200 players. Other than that, a good design to begin with and you stick some chrome on it and it looks even better.

The base set also features photo variations that fall 1:423 packs with a limited amount of players. So not an easy pull.

Now time for the parallels.

Refractors!! There is a ton to find from this variety:

• Refractor
• Prism Refractor
• Purple Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Blue Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Green Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Gold Refractor: sequentially numbered to 50.
• Orange Refractor: sequentially numbered to 25. HOBBY ONLY
• Red Refractor: sequentially numbered to 5.
• SuperFractor: numbered 1/1
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1

Here are my refractor card parallels. I must also note the word "refractor" has made its presence on the back of the cards again.

Prism refractors. These look great but are unnumbered.

David Wright is a purple numbered /275 and Syndergaard is a blue numbered /150

Now onto the inserts. These bad boys looked great in flagship, but the power of these has been taken to the max! The chrome finish and rainbow refractor overly improved all inserts into ones some may collect sets of.

The next couple of inserts have parallels of Green #/99, Orange #/25, Red #/5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Okay, just going to say it, these Future Star cards look amazing. The stained glass approach with a slap of chrome and refractor gives your eyes some candy for sure. Of course the First Pitch card I pulled of a Nina Agdal does that too ;)

Youth Impact is another eye stunner. This years Chrome inserts have really taken a great turn

Other inserts I didn't pull were ROY Chronicles Set Checklist that has 15 cards to collect with 1 card falling per case. Good luck putting this set together!

I should also mention before moving on.....2016 TOPPS CHROME BASEBALL will also have exclusive HOT BOXES that will replace base cards with all BLACK REFRACTOR PARALLELS!

Yeah, pretty sweet. I would love to bust a box with those in it.

Now onto the hits!

My two autographs were not the best, but I have never pulled the in-terms of hits in Chrome. To me, that's not what Chrome is about anyways.

The rookie autos are on-card though which makes plenty of collectors happy.

This is an orange parallel /25

 

Rookie autos have the following refractor parallels

• Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Purple Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Blue Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Gold Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Orange Refractor: sequentially numbered to 25.
• Red Refractor: sequentially numbered to 5.
• SuperFractor: numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1.

Other fun autograph finds not in my box include, MLB DEBUT AUTOGRAPHS, YOUTH IMPACT AUTOGRAPHS, R.O.Y. CHRONICLES AUTOGRAPHS, TEAM LOGO AUTOGRAPHS (includes the Team Pin like in the flagship) and CARLOS CORREA ROOKIE AUTOGRAPH CARDS (The 2015 Topps Chrome Rookie Autograph cards of Carlos Correa were not available in time for last year's release so find them in 2016)

Overall, I am just as in love with chrome as I have always been. I feel every box comes packing with value with parallels and autographs and the retail versions are the best retail buys you can get. Others of you may have an opposite feel, but this is just my opinion and I am sticking to it!

Now time for the giveaway. 
This time a prize pack of inserts/parallels are up for grabs. 

ALSO, LET ME KNOW ONE OF THE PARALLELS OR INSERTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND IN YOUR WINNINGS AND IT MAY BE IN THERE :)

RULES:

1. Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to host this/these nice giveaways with. Follow them on all social media sites and visit their site, HERE, as well.
2. ***VERY IMPORTANT***MUST BE A U.S. RESIDENT to enter or have a shipping address in the U.S. Shipping costs have gone haywire and I can't afford to ship everywhere.This is always hard to do as I appreciate all readers but I hope you all understand non-U.S. readers.
3. Random winner will be chosen after 7 randoms
4. Card may be shipped PWE. I like to forewarn on this.
5. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW telling me ONE PRO AND ONE CON OF THE PRODUCT.
6. EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY FOR SHARING THIS CONTEST ON YOUR BLOG AND/OR ON TWITTER. Make sure to leave your link in comments too so I can count it. If not, I won't be able to give you the credit. Commenting with it is very important or you WILL LOSE OUT an extra entry!
7. Sport Card Collectors or it's owner (person who runs the blog), WILL NOT be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged mail. Sorry had to add this in since someone tried to scam me once about this.
8. Contest starts today, ends on September 2nd 2016. Winner will be announced in a separate post on  September 3rd 2016
9. Don't forget to thank the above sponsor of this contest and I won't mind a thank you as well :)

Good luck to all that enter and thanks for reading!

REVIEW:2016 Bowman Baseball+GIVEAWAY!

One of my yearly buys, Bowman baseball released with some new and classic favorites within the box. The one thing that never changes about Bowman and the biggest reason I buy is the prospect hunt. So let's go on one!

Here is how a 2016 Bowman baseball card box should break:

• 24 packs, 10 cards per pack
• One Autograph Card Per Box
• $90 per box

I like this years base card design with the faded border around the edges leaving more of a full picture reveal. I also like how the layout. The name of the player up the left side of the card with colorful team logo below and the small touch of player position in the right hand corner. Looks snazzy.

There are 150 base cards in the set with rookies and veterans such as Kris Bryant, Mike Trout, Miguel Sano and Corey Seager.

Bowman also has the big offseason moves with players on their new teams such as Zack Greinke and David Price. No photo shopping and I like it!

Rookie cards, yes, I call these the true rookies (I know many don't like that label but I call it as I see it), these are the ones with the RC logo within the base set. They have the same design except the added RC logo at the top. I pulled most of the key ones in this box including Corey Seager.

Now begins, PROSPECT MANIA!!! With players having both "paper" and chromed versions of their prospect cards there is plenty to chase. Most packs are also made up of the combo of the two as well.

There are also Bowman 1st year cards of key up-comers such as Yoan Moncada. The design on these stays pretty much the same on the Prospect/1st year cards except the player name gets moved to the bottom. I still think it looks nice.

 I also wanted to note that I think the chrome used on these is much thicker I feel than past issues. I like it better that way as it may decrease the odds of it bending later on down the road.

Overall there are 150 prospect cards to find of each paper and of Chrome.

There are a lot of parallels to find all over the base/prospect sets.

Parallels for the "paper" Veteran & Rookie Base Cards &Prospects will include:

• Silver Border
• Purple Border: sequentially numbered.
• Blue Border: sequentially numbered.
• Gold Border: sequentially numbered.
• Orange Border: sequentially numbered to 25.
• Red Border: sequentially numbered to 5.
• Metallic Border: numbered 1/1.

Here are two paper parallels I found in my box:

Here is a silver Prospect Parallel of Daniel Robertson. These fall, 1:43. They are a tad bit hard to spot, but in comparison to the other prospect cards you will figure it out pretty fast. These seem to be unnumbered.

 

And here is a really nice pull in a orange base rookie card parallel of Michael Conforto numbered to 25. These fall, 1:165 packs.

New to this years Chrome rookie parallels are these Shimmer Variation Refractors. Find the following of these:

• Green Shimmer Variation Refractor
• Orange Shimmer Variation Refractor
• Red Shimmer Variation Refractor

Other Chrome parallels are:

• Refractor
• Purple Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Blue Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Gold Refractor: sequentially numbered.
• Orange Refractor: sequentially numbered to 25
• Red Refractor: sequentially numbered to 5.
• SuperFractor: numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1

I found these two parallels in my box:

Regular refractor, these fall, 1:33 packs

A blue parallel. These fall, 1:110 packs

Other inserts in Bowman are Sophomore Standouts (1:8 packs), International Ink  (1:12 packs) and Family Tree (1:24 packs) I like the concept of the Family Tree with the showcasing father-son player combinations. The designs are pretty bland compared to the rest of the inserts in the product but they serve a spot none-the-less. They also have parallels to them as well.

Parallels for these insert sets will include:

• Blue Parallel: sequentially numbered
• Orange Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5.
• Metallic Parallel: numbered 1/1.

One of my favorite inserts in this product is the Turn Two. Nice looking double-sided chrome refractor cards featuring two prospects. There is also autograph and parallel versions to this too.

• Gold Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• SuperFractor Parallel: numbered 1/1.

Other fun shiny inserts to find in this years Bowman, Bowman Scouts' Top 100 Prospects that fall 1:8 packs, here are their parallels:

• Gold Parallel: sequentially numbered. NEW!
• Orange Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25
• SuperFractor Parallel: numbered 1/1. NEW!

And Rookie Recollections featuring this years design with former players celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1991 Bowman Rookie Class. I pulled Chipper who I consider the best of the group!

These have parallels as well:

• Gold Parallel: sequentially numbered
• Orange Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5
• SuperFractor: numbered 1/1

Now onto the one hit per box you can find. I have never had a lot of success in pulling the "big guys" and this box stayed in that direction. However, Bowman isn't always about pulling the big boys. There are a lot of low to mid-tier prospects that come out of nowhere in 2-4 years and turn out to be superstars. Hence, Trevor Story. So pulling a rookie auto of a not-big-namer may not always be a bad thing.

 

Like the rest of the product, the chrome rookie autographs also have parallels:

• Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Purple Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Blue Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Gold Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered
• Orange Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 25
• Red Refractor Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5
• SuperFractor Parallel: numbered 1/1
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1

Other autographed cards find are Sophomore Standouts, Ultimate Autograph Book Card, All-America Game Autographs. There are also "paper" autographs you can find only in retail.

Overall, I think the price point is scary at first with it being $90 for one-hit, but, there is a lot of offerings in a box of Bowman and this is one of the very few products I probably would take a chance on with only that one hit for that price. As always, it's a risk with any product, but this one is packed with prospects from top to bottom so you are bound to hit on someone somewhere. This rookie class is also looking pretty solid so far as well.

 

Now onto the contest part of this review, this time I thought two maybe three winners.

1st place (with a couple bonus cards):  

 

2nd Place and 3rd place: Your favorite team related cards 3-5 of them containing base/inserts/prospects. We must get to 25 entries to unlock three winners BUT will be two at least. If we can reach 50 entries, I will randomly insert that autograph from this box into one of those Top 3 prizes.

Now onto the small print.

1. Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to host this/these nice giveaways with. Follow them on all social media sites and visit their site, HERE, as well.
2. ***VERY IMPORTANT***MUST BE A U.S. RESIDENT to enter or have a shipping address in the U.S. Shipping costs have gone haywire and I can't afford to ship everywhere.This is always hard to do as I appreciate all readers but I hope you all understand non-U.S. readers.
3. Random winner(s) will be chosen after 7 randoms
4. Card may be shipped PWE. I like to forewarn on this.
5. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW telling me your thoughts on this product and what team/prospect you will be chasing cards of in here
6. EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY FOR SHARING THIS CONTEST ON YOUR BLOG AND/OR ON TWITTER. Make sure to leave your link in comments too so I can count it. If not, I won't be able to give you the credit. Commenting with it is very important!!
7. Sport Card Collectors or it's owner (person who runs the blog), WILL NOT be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged mail. Sorry had to add this in since someone tried to scam me once about this.
8. Contest starts today, ends on Saturday, MAY 14TH 2016. Winner will be announced in a separate post on Sunday MAY 15th 2016. 
9. Don't forget to thank the above sponsor of this contest and I won't mind a thank you as well :) 
10. PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT OUT TO TWEET THIS, FACEBOOK OR BLOG POST THIS OUT WHEN YOU GET IT!! 

 And of course, good luck to all that enter! And remember to spread the word!

Breakin Wax:2014 Sage Hit Low Series Football (NICE PULL)

Sage Hit not normally a product I buy hobby of as it's usually a retail buy for me, but with a price under $30 and 8 autographs, how could I not gamble a bit.

In every box of 2014 Sage Hit, you will get 30 packs with 4 cards per pack. There are 8 autographs per box with a box on average carrying a price of $40. I found mine on sale for $29.

Here are the silver parallels I found. Bridgewater and Bortles led the group!

Gold parallels, Write STuff, ROY, and Artistry insert. All pretty nice with the rainbow foil involved.

Start of the autographs. Not too many big names here...

Things get better here with Hyde, Thomas and former NY Giant Xavier Grimble (the Grimble is good to me for that reason)

But things got explosive when I found this Teddy in my box /100!!!!

Overall, I obviously rocked this box out for the price I paid. The Teddy looks even better in person. I haven't had the chance to look at the base cards closely, but I have been told that U.S. Presidents had photobombed some and if you find all of them you win an autograph set. I think it would be cool just to find one. I will let you know if I do.

Now I gotta ask, how many of you buy Sage products? Your thoughts on them? Let me hear it all!

Breakin Wax REVIEW:2015 Panini Contenders Football (BIG BOOM!)

There are a few products that I can't wait to come out on a yearly basis and one of the top if not the top is Contenders. Why? It's hard not to see that in the football card market this is top dog for autographed rookie cards. It's the must have and one that I did need to have.

In every box of 2015 Contenders is 24 packs with 5 cards per pack. You should find 5 autographs per box with some coming with 6.  You should also find  3 PENNANTS, 2 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CONTENDERS,1 MVP CONTENDERS,1 LEGENDARY CONTENDERS AND TWO OTHER INSERTS. Each box will roughly run you around $130.

The base cards simply don't change much. That's something I have no problem with. I think they look nice and stick with the theme that has been throughout the product since 1998.

The inserts look much nicer than past years. They seem to be all die cuts as well. (of course you could also find base card parallels that I didn't get that are not die cut)

 

 

These remind me of two things. One, they look like the ones that were used in Rookies and Stars. Two, back in the 90's Contenders had felt die cut pennants that were awesome. I kinda like this addition and seem to fit this product better. Time to put some felt on these and break out the leather inserts now!

Now onto the main course of Contenders. The rookie autograph tickets. Along with parallels, Sp (these are always so unknown early on that you are never sure you have one til Panini releases the info) the tickets have variations too.

Unlike past years, they are easy to spot. Here is a Lorenzo Mauldin auto I pulled. This is a plain RPS (yes this is also a Playoff Ticket parallel but you get my point)

 

 

Now here is an image off Panini Knights Lance of a variation of Ty Montgomery. Notice the helmet is exchanged just for a logo. Like I said, easy. There are also College uni variations too but those as well are easy to spot.

 

Here is another parallel I pulled. This is a Bryan Bennett Championship ticket numbered to 99. I love the rainbow shine.

 

The box seemed a bit flat until this found it's way into the second to last pack......

HOLY BOOM BATMAN!! TODD GURLEY AUTOGRAPHED VARIATION ROOKIE CARD REDEMPTION. By far my greatest 2015 haul.

Overall, what can I say, I got a great pull in the box. I can't say each box is going to have one of these, but I will say you can never go wrong with Contenders. There are so many offerings and big ticket chases. Yes, pun intended. I didn't even touch base on the veteran or coaches autographs in the product too that you can check out HERE. You also won't find any of those weak jersey card fill-ins like with most products. You only find straight up autographs, unless you buy retail.

I will also note that not all autographs are going to be somebodies and some you may never see them on the field, but what's fun are the ones that slip through the cracks and become stars. Like Victor Cruz or that guy named Tom Brady. You just never know. It's at least great to have the chance to snag one. I wished the product had Will Tye however (he is the Giants rookie TE who led all rookie TE's)

Comments on your thoughts on Contendes are welcomed below.

 

Writers Note: Look for some of these cards in future giveaways and #SCCGivesBack mail days. Stay Tuned and make sure to thank Panini America and Tracy Hackler.