REVIEW:2018 Select Football Box 1

Select football comes out again with another hot release and it's on my want lists because for the first time in 5 years Rodney Hampton has autographs back in products. I knew about the Panini Illusions ones but the Select caught me by surprise with 11 more to chase. 11. 11.

Anyways, got my hands on a couple of boxes to review and give some stuff away so let's see how the break went! Part 1.

 

In every box of 2018 Select football there are 12 packs of 5 cards each. Each box comes with three hits including autographs and memorabilia cards. There is also plenty of shiny color to chase as well. Boxes currently run just under $200.

 

Concourse

 

Field Level

  

Premier

The base set is an odd one but a deep one for set collectors. There are 300 cards to collect and three levels of three different designs to do so in with rookies, stars and legends. You will find this breakdown per box, Concourse with 30 per box, Premier Level with 10 per box, and Field Level with only 2 per box.

With anything with a chromed surface, there will be parallels and there are plenty of them to find in Select.They are called Prizm parallels which is Panini's word for refractors. As you can tell, there are different levels of refractors with each level of base.

Here is an overall look at the parallels

Concourse Prizms
 Silver, Zebra SSP, Tri-Color /199, Blue /175, Maroon /99, White /75, Orange /49, Tie-Dye /25, Gold /10, Neon Orange Pulsar FOTL /9, Green /5, and Black 1/1.

Premier Level Prizms
Silver, Tri-Color /199.
DIE-CUT PRIZM PARALLELS: Zebra SSP, Light Blue /99, Purple /75, Neon Green /49, Tie-Dye #/25, Gold /10, Neon Orange Pulsar FOTL /9, Green /5, and Black 1/1.
Field Level Prizms
Silver, Zebra SSP, Tri-Color /99, Copper /75, Red /49, Tie-Dye /25, Gold /10, Neon Orange Pulsar FOTL /9, Green /5, and Black 1/1.

Here were the ones I found,

Silver

 

Copper

 

Tri Color

 

Tie Die /25

  

Maroon /99

 

Blue /175

 

Orange /49

Select is also has some inserts and most or all of those have the Prizm parallels too.

Those parallels include, Prizm, Tie-Dye /25, Gold /10, Green /5, and Black 1/1.

 

Rookie Selections

 

Sensations

 

Phenomenon. Gronk is a silver prizm

 

Snapshots both base and prizm

Now onto the hits. All look amazing with this chromed technology but when you pull the prizm parallels of them even more so. I didn't find a Rodney Hampton in my box, but still hit a pretty cool one.

All hits have parallels to. No surprises here.

 

Select Swatches. These have White /149. Copper /99, Tie-Dye /25, Gold /10, Green /5, and Black 1/1.

 

Rookie Signatures. Not a bad one here. Nick came on strong last season filling in for Garrop. This is a Maroon parallel /75. These also have the following parallels, 

PRIZM PARALLELS: Maroon /75, Light Blue /49, Tie-Dye /25, Gold /10, Green /5, and Black 1/1.

DIE-CUT PRIZM PARALLELS: Tie-Dye /25, Gold /10, Green /5, and Black 1/1.

And the pretty card of the box, a Sammy Watkins /5 autograph patch card. Great layout and design.

Other hits not found in my box but could be in yours includes,

• 2019 XRC Prizm Redemption
• 2019 XRC Mystery Autograph Prizm Redemption
• Signatures Prizm
• Signatures Maroon Prizm
• Rookie Signature Memorabilia Prizm
• Signature Memorabilia Prizm
• Signature Memorabilia Blue Prizm
• Jumbo Rookie Signature Swatches Prizm
• Prime Selections Prizm Signatures
• Jumbo Rookie Swatch Prizm
• Sparks Relic Prizm

OVERALL: Box cost is high, but there is a lot of potentially big time hits to find. I think if you want to gamble, gamble on this product. Great looking from base to parallels to hits. And I have seen some amazing patches being pulled. Not to mention, land a Rodney auto and trade it my way.

If you can't afford a full box, try buying a few packs to try or get into a box break. That will probably be the most affordable way to enjoy it.

I strongly recommend using Midwest Box Breaks for your breaking needs. They are always hitting the big pulls so if they are breaking this, you could put yourself in a good spot. They also SHIP ALL CARDS! Get what you pay for!

Please thank Panini America and Tracy Hackler for providing this box for me to review to giveaway some of the hits ON TWITTER!! Please follow them on all social media sites and visit their website for all your card needs, HERE.

REVIEW: 2018 Contenders Optic Football Box 1

How business smart are you? I am not sure where I stand but Panini has it figured it.

What do you do? Well, you take a successful product and add a successful line to it and gel it together. Then boom, you birth out Contenders Optic. A chromed version of Contenders which I consider to be the most successful rookie card line out there. Been that way since the 90's.

The product worked well last season so it made came back another year. I didn't get to open any last year but got the opportunity to see a two box break for this year. How did my break go for box one? Well, let's check it out.

 

In each box of 2018 Contenders Optic, You will find one pack with 6 cards in it. Each box comes with two autographs and one that is signed on-card. Boxes currently run $135 per.

 

The base set is chromed up versions of the base for Contenders.  There are 90 star player cards to seek for the base set, along with 10 Rookie Base Card Contenders for a total of 100 cards. The cards are much thicker than regular Contenders. About the thickness of a filler card.

 

As with anything chromed, there are parallels to seek as well for both the base and the rookie base. I pulled a red /199 of Sean Lee in this break. There is also, Blue /99, Orange /49, Gold /10, Gold Vinyl 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1. I think these would build one impressive rainbow.

There are roughly 6 insert sets to chase in Optic Contenders. All inserts are numbered to 175 with the following parallels, Purple /99, Orange /49, Blue /25, Gold /10, and Gold Vinyl 1/1.

X and O's insert is the one I found in my box. It is also the purple parallel /99.

Now onto my hits. One was a promised on-card autograph while the other was a sticker

 

Justin Watson Rookie Ticket autograph. There are 58 cards to collect.

My best pull of the box was this Rookie Of The Year Contenders purple parallel /99 auto of Calvin Ridley. This dude could ball but needs a lesson in autograph signing.

Other hits not found in my box includes,

• Rookie Ticket RPS Autographs
• All-Time Contenders Autographs
• Contenders Tribute Autographs
• Franchise Honors Autographs
• Player of the Year Contenders Autographs
• Super Bowl Signatures
• Veteran Ticket Autographs
• 2017 Contenders Optic RPS Rookie Ticket Autograph

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I really liked this product look. I have always been a fan of Contenders and this just amped up my love of the product. I do worry about dud boxes though and $135 for only 6 cards can be a big gamble. But, once again, isn't every product a gamble honestly.

My box was saved somewhat by the Ridley auto.

Another thing that would have been nice for a product like this, all on card autographs. At least the main guys are on card.

I think for a product like this it's best to stick with a box break and I strongly recommend using Midwest Box Breaks for your breaking needs. They are always hitting the big pulls so if they are breaking this, you could put yourself in a good spot. They also SHIP ALL CARDS! Get what you pay for!

Please thank Panini America and Tracy Hackler for providing this box for me to review to giveaway some of the hits ON TWITTER!! Please follow them on all social media sites and visit their website for all your card needs, HERE.