BASEically Awesome Part 1:2012 Gridiron Football

This new segment, I take a glance at base cards from a variety of sports and products and look at some of my favorite images of each. Yes, I am a collector who still cares about base cards so deal with it.

Today I kick off this new segment with a great one. I take a look at 2012 Gridiron Football. A product that wasn't really easy to narrow down some of my favorite images from as it was loaded, so I found these five images that were the most accessible to grab from my collection that way other images from the set won't be jealous I left them out.

Gridiron is the first and one of the very few that Panini took a lot of effort in amazing choosing images for. It's too bad the product was a one year and done one.

So let's take a gander.

This is probably my favorite image of this group. I hope the fans involved in this image with Jamaal got themselves a copy. They made it onto a football card for just being at a game!

Matty Ice running an audible and most likely looking Julio's way.

 

No butt fumble here. Straight up TD. Jets a flyin!

Brees is a tough guy who fights for extra yards when he can and I still think one of the more underrated throwers in the game. Guy puts up incredible record breaking numbers every year with a bunch of no name WR's. He turns them into stars.

And Larry Fitz, boy we will miss him making plays like this attempt to break free from a wannabe tackler.

Sadly these are just a tip of the iceberg of images in this product. I could have posted every card, but 200 images is a lot to post. Though I am sure you guys would have enjoyed every one of them.

Which one of the above images are your favorite? If you know this product well or wanna spend a few minutes looking up the images online, which card overall in the set is your top notch favorite? Let me know in comments!

Panini Card Of The Week: 2010 Panini Gridiron Tony Romo

Brand: Panini Gridiron

Card Number:41

Card Type: Base Card

Reuben Randle PC pickups

I don't usually put a focus on a certain player because usually what I have is called an open PC. Meaning I don't collect one thing or another. I just collect whatever falls into my hands. But after getting a small eBay gift card for Christmas I thought to myself...is it time to dig back into collecting a player like I used to in my earlier collecting years? If you don't know by now, I hugely collected Ken Griffey Jr and even made it into Super Collectors portion of Beckett Baseball a few years ago. But I gave up on Griffey after he got injured and I lost out on values and have just collected everything. My fear would be investing into a player and losing out in the long run. Thats why I like an open PC, you always have everything. So some will jump, some will fall but you will always win when it comes to values.

However, I did sit down thinking to myself, boy I really think it would be fun to maybe find a player to collect and maybe give my collection another project (not that it needs one). And since I collect mainly football and my love of Giants I put the best of two together. However my rules were, only a young rookie offensive player this year or last and they had to be reasonably priced because I didn't know how long I would do this for and didn't want to invest into a guy too much.

Than I thought of one. I at first wanted to do David Wilson who I think will be the Giants starting running back next season, but prices are way too high. Then I thought to myself...what about the other young talented Giants rookie...yes! Thats it. I will start to collect Reuben Randle!

Here is my $20...thats right...$20 pickup from eBay to start off my collection:

Hard to see but the Chrome is an auto. The Strata is numbered to 99

I would say for $20 I got a great deal. The card below this I got for $7 alone!

As I continue to pick up more Randles I will do more updates right here on the blog. That way you guys can keep track of me to make sure I am adding to it and this wasn't just it. Like I said, I don't know how long my Randle PC will run for, but for now I can say I am collecting him. However, I am keeping my main emphasis on my open PC. This will just be a side burner project for now. But you never know.

Thanks for viewing and your thoughts are always welcomed! And if you have a PC you would like to share with us, please email us to sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com and give us a small writeup and pictures with it. You yourself can also pose with it.

Random Card Of The Day: Bernard Pierce Gridiron Auto Rookie

When I pulled this my first reaction was wow..this is a nice looking card but then my second was uggh figures I would pull a no name rookie who backs up a star running back and probably has no chance of playing time. But watching this guy torch the Giants for over 100 yards and then almost follow it up the week after with the same I started to get more excited. He continued to progress as the season went on. This guy could start to split carries in the Baltimore backfield with the way he performs. And it will be interesting if the Ravens give him more carries this weekend against the Pats if Ray Rice can't get it going.

Have you ever had that ugh feeling when you pulled a certain player than got excited when they player got playing time and started to succeed?

1st Annual SCC Sport Card Awards!

This is our first annual Sport Card Collectors SCC Yearly Awards.

The year 2012 has come to a close and I had the opportunity to open quite a few products throughout the year and thought I would hand out some awards from the products that I have opened. Remember, these awards are based ONLY on the ones I have opened. All of these are based on design, appeal, and collectability. They include all 4 major sports.

Top Base Card Of The Year

And the award goes to:  Panini Gridiron Football

Reason:  In a card world of white base card backgrounds and borders so thick they take up most of the base card, Gridiron gives us some amazing photography that makes you feel like you are watching the game live capturing all of the game’s greatest plays, hits and celebrations. It’s what you want to see on a football card.

Top Rookie Card Design Of The Year

And the award goes to: Panini Momentum Football

Reason:  The combination of silver cardboard, three small jersey swatches and an autograph is very appealing to the eyes. And it also takes away from the usual rookie photo shoot photos that are used in most rookie cards.

 

Top Insert Card Set Of The Year

And the award goes to:  Panini Elite Hard Hats Football

Reason: Acetate insert cards. Enough said.

Top Memorabilia Card Design Of The Year

And the award goes to:  Panini Rookies And Stars Football Crusade Materials

Reason: The design is spectacular. The card is high gloss and thick. And the swatches are decent sized. Combine all of this together and you got a winner.

Top Autograph Card Design Of The Year

And the award goes to: TIE: Panini Elite Hard Hats and Rookie Inscriptions

Reason:  Once again you take the acetate and throw an autograph on it, how can it not be a winner.

Top New Product Of The Year

And the award goes to: Panini Prizm Basketball

Reason: With Panini jumping into using the chrome technology they improved upon the Topps formula by making their cards thicker and by this they do not bend over time. With rare hard to find Gold Prizms and 2 autographs per box this is a very good buy if you put all phases of the product together.

Top Returning Product (one that comes out yearly) Of The Year

And the award goes to: Topps Chrome Football

Reason: One of the most hyped years of Topps Chrome football ever and it lived up to its hype. Added refractors, autograph rookie, and if you got a redemption card you could even get a bonus Blue Wave pack to make up for the fact you got a redemption. Not bad at all.

Best Bang For Your Buck Product Of The Year

And the award goes to:  Score Football or Hockey

Reason: For a dollar a pack, you get rookies, inserts and even a chance at autographs and now even printing plates (football)

 

Top Retail Product Of The Year

And the award goes to: Topps Chrome Football

Reason: Refractors, Rookie cards and insert overload makes this a very valuable retail product that brings value with every purchase. Now this year with the inclusion of jersey cards into the Walmart retail blaster boxes it improves it even more.

 

Product I Wished I Could Have Afforded This Year

And the award goes to: TIE: Panini Black and Topps Triple Threads Baseball

Reason: Panini Blacks rookie cards look terrific with a silver or gold auto on a black card and a patch. And Topps Triple Threads has always been on my want to try list because of the hits you could land.

 (No picture)

We have covered all of the positive big awards but not all products were great and that’s where this part of the awards comes in. We have 3 categories:

Worst Overall Product Of The Year (Base, RC’s, Autos, Etc.)

And the award goes to:  Bowman Football

Reason: Ugly. This product was one of the worst looking overall products of the year if not in some time. The rookie cards lacked logos on the helmets (though not Topps fault since Upper Deck owns licensing to NCAA) and all of them seem to have been drawn by a cartoon artist. Horribly done. This also includes the autographed  and insert cards in this product.

 

Toughest Buy Of The Year

And the award goes to: Panini Momentum Football

Reason: Though a great looking product, when I say toughest buy it’s not because of the cards, it’s because of the value. You pay close to $200 and may not even get half of that back in value as in my case for the one box I opened. I only put it in this category from my one break. I would be scared to go back again.

Worst Retail Product Of The Year

And the award goes to: Upper Deck Football 2012

Reason: No star player base cards and are all rookies that are usually the lesser name ones. No auto or jersey card per blaster. Its a really hard sell with this product when there isn't much to get from it. The only improvement in terms of this years retail compared to last is the bonus 5 card insert pack where you could get a good player.

 Biggest Letdown Product Of The Year

And the award goes to: Upper Deck Spx Football 2012

Reason:   Without an NFL license, the product just doesn’t feel the same like it used to. It seems to be lacking. With a small checklist of a veteran base set, no Andrew Luck in the auto/jersey cards, and a it being tough to hit a top rookie auto it makes this product a little disappointing compared to past Spx brands.

 

Do you agree with me? Which of these products did you try and would have switched in the categories?

Please remember these are judgements made from products that I opened and do not include ones I didn't try.

REVIEW: 2012 Panini Gridiron Football

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.

We are going to start a new review process starting with this product. Just the wanting to showcase the cards more in-depth is the aim here. Let us know your thoughts on our new set up for reviews.

Box Design

Box Break Down:

• 18 Packs Per Box, 8 Cards Per Pack
• (4) Autograph or Memorabilia Cards Per Box!
• Boxes Run around $110

Find one of these per pack with codes you enter for a shot to win a trip to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame!!

Base Card Front

Base Card Back

More very photographic base cards

Base Rookie Card

Back of a Base Rookie Card

BASE CARDS: The base cards in Gridiron are spectacular. The photos are stunning and make you feel like you are apart of the action. Some even make you remember that play or special moment. With little border (border consists of a players name in silver and with a team colored background) these base cards really are all about telling a story. The rookie cards are found one per pack. The one thing I have against the base cards is the black on the back. It leads to easy noticed dings. And in our box anyways, we couldn't get a base set put together.

This is how the base set breaks down:

200 Commons
100 Rookies
And if you want to put together a master set you will also need the 35 Gridiron Gems Autographs.

Rookie X parallel

Back of the parallel numbered to 100

X parallel numbered to 250

Gold X parallel numbered to 100

4 other insert sets. The bottom Air Command is the Gold Parallel numbered to 100.

INSERTS: The designs for the inserts are not bad and most seem to have numbered parallels of. The one complaint would be the X parallels. You get three per box on average, {(3) Silver X's, (2) Crash Course, (2) Arms Race, (2) Aerial Assault, and (2) Monday Night Heroes per Box} but you can't honestly tell the difference between them and a base card without feeling the card. Yes..there is a indented X in the card. I could only tell when going through the cards to sort them something felt different about one of them and at first I thought it was a printer error. But I turned the card over to find out it was numbered and after further investigation finding it was a silver X parallel. Just look at the Ray Lewis and Troy P and tell me if you can tell?

 

AUTOGRAPHS:With at least 2 per box on average, you get a nice variety. I seem to be stalked by Bengals DT Devon Still as that is my third auto of his this year. The autograph design is the rookie one but with a red color X in the back behind the player. However..I really loved the Gridiron Gems rookie autos. Though my player may never step foot on the playing field, any card that has an oversized jersey swatch that is signed and that you can pull in and out (indent to pull it out at the top of card) is alright with me.

 

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: This box landed this sick, sick patch.These prime pieces are numbered to 49.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This product provides 1. great base cards to collect, 2. at least two autographs but you would have to assume most have 3 which gives you less of the game jersey and player worn jersey experience and 3. a deep checklist of auto's. Other than the X parallel there wasn't too many negatives about this product. The box seemed well worth the price. And you never know what kind of Gridiron Gem you could find.

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: 5
                Insert Design: 3
                Memorablila/Autographs: 4
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 4

SPORT CARD COLLECTORS PANINI'S PLAYER OF THE DAY CONTEST #1 (NOW CLOSED)

Here is our first contest!! We will announced the prize when they arrive...so for now..you can just get your entries in!!

There are 6 player on this box starting from top left are, Robert Griffin, Ray Rice, Victor Cruz, Steve Smith, Lesean McCoy, and Andrew Luck...out of the six on the box...pick one player and tell us how many yards that player will have. The person that's closest wins!! In case of a tie, tell us also how many TD's that person will get as well. Contest winner we be announced on Tuesday, September 25th  with the next contest being announced that day as well. In case of another tie..tell us if the player you chose's team will win their respected game. 

Your entries should look like this:
Victor Cruz
125 yards
1 TD
Yes

YOUR ENTRIES ARE DUE BY SATURDAY NIGHT UNLESS THE PLAYER YOU ARE CHOOSING IS PLAYING ON THURSDAY NIGHT.THEN IT IS DUE BY KICKOFF OF THURSDAY NIGHTS GAME!

Bloggers Note: ALL OF THE BOX PICTURES FEATURED ON THESE CONTESTS WHEN CLICKED UPON LINK YOU TO A DIFFERENT PLACE YOU CAN PURCHASE THEM. MAKES IT EASIER THAN HAVING TO SEARCH FOR THEM WHEN THE BOXES ARE IN FRONT OF YOU TO PURCHASE.

YOU ARE ENTERING TO WIN THESE:

1 2012 PANINI PLAYER OF THE DAY T-SHIRT

1 UNOPENED PACK OF PANINI PEYTON MANNING CARDS

PLEASE also MAKE SURE you click onto the link below to check out the Panini Player Of The Day website! A lot of fun stuff to be found there and WE and Panini will much appreciate it!!

To double check the rules..follow this link: http://sportcardcollectors.blogspot.com/2012/09/sport-card-collectors-panini-nfl-player.html

*Contests are open to U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY! (sorry)