REVIEW:2016-2017 Totally Certified Basketball Box 1

Many of us 90's collectors will remember the Totally Certified brand and how excited we were when Panini announced they were bringing it back.

Well, it back again for another year on the hard-court.

How did my break go in Box 1 review and my thoughts, well, read on!

In every box of 2016-2017 Totally Certified basketball, you will find 8 packs with 5 cards per pack. There should be 1 autograph and 2 memorabilia cards to find per box. Panini has played with the amount of hits per box, packs, etc for years now trying to figure out what's best. I actually liked the one-hit-per-pack deal on these. Boxes this year run you around $80.

The base cards look great. They are silver and embossed with a squiggly background design.The base set is 140 cards deep featuring players also on their new teams. 100 of those will be star players while

40 are rookies. I think you will find about one rookie per pack on average making it not easy to land top stars with only 6-8 per box.

This years parallel cards look absolutely stunning. Not sure how many of you saw have seen a Fleer Metal PMG with the reflective shine it gives, but these do the same. Probably the best mirrors they have ever put in the product.

 

Mine above are red #d to 199, but you can also find Blue #/99, Orange #/60, Camo #/25, Gold #/10, Green #/5, and Holo Blue 1/1.

Staying with the product layout, Franchise Foundations are also embossed and have parallels.I pulled a blue of Leonard and red of Butler. There is also, Orange #/60, Camo #/25, Gold #/10, Green #/5, Holo and Blue 1/1.

Once again, Energizers and Return To Sender stay true to the overall product. They are embossed and have Red #/199, Blue #/99, Orange #/60, Camo #/25, Gold #/10, Green #/5, and Holo Blue 1/1 parallels. I really liked finding the John Starks one and Energizers looks really cool.

  

 

Up next, Calling Cards featuring players and their most known "calling card" in the league. These also have parallels of Mirror #d to 25.

Time for the hits. 

Fabric Of The Game is a staple throughout the Certified brand name. The rookie and veteran designs are different. This is what you will find with the rookie and

this is what you will find with the veteran. Panini has played with the design of Fabric Of The Game over the years as well. I tend to like the words written out with the embedded fabric. These designs aren't bad as they all look good on this surface.

And my autograph hit from the box, a Rookie Roll Call autograph. Another standby autograph set in Totally Certified. These are signed on-card. It's just too bad it's of a player assigned by the Magic to NBA development league and not even a guy currently in the NBA.

Other hits not found in my box are, Draft Day Ink Set, Representatives Autographs Set, Rookie Autographs Set, Signed, Sealed, Delivered and Totally Certified Materials Set. All materials have prime parallels which I bet look really good on this design. 

Overall, my box was a bit of a tough one. I didn't pull any top tier rookies, my hits were a little below par. I only found 4 parallels which were higher numbered ones.  

If just based on design, the product is a winner. However, this box wasn't.

Tomorrow Box 2 will be posted. Will it be better than Box 1, well, come back to see. There will be a giveaway too.

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!

Favorite Card Thursday!

One of my favorite pulls this year still. That amazing blaster of Leaf Rookies And Stars Basketball 2010/2011. If you missed it, check back on our search and search review Leaf Rookies And Stars Basketball 2010/2011 and you will see what we mean.

Despite Jeremy Lin being down with an injury right now, his cards are still on fire. The Knicks are heading towards the playoffs and hopefully for them and for my collection, he makes his return before then.

Review: The Linsane Leaf Rookie and Stars Blaster 2010-2011

Well, first I must say, I found this blaster for $11.98!! But, what a break. Originally as I posted I didn't buy into the Lin hype. But, finding a cheap blaster and taking a chance to try and get one instead of buying one on ebay for tons of money, I figured it was worth the risk. And boy, was it!!!!

Box: The box I really liked the design of. 2 top players and Panini spokesmen. A huge draw. Once again the only negative was the fact you get an auto or memorabilia per box but you don't know that unless you check out the side panel. I knew where to look this time because of my last Panini blaster break. Please Panini put there is one auto or jersey per box on the front!!

$$$ out of 5

Wrapper: It matches the box. Looks nice. A big draw with the 2 spokesman. I usually like to take a pic of the wrapper before digging in, but this time its a little crumpled from my opening.

$$$ out of 5

Base: Like the base card design. Kinda wished there was action shots instead of a white back ground again, but it does well with the "splash" type design with the double lines added as well. I do enjoy the fact Panini mixes in old timers into their products. And its nice to see the rookies match the base cards. However, if you don't look close enough you will not see that they are rookies. I wished there was a different way to stand these out. But one great thing always about Rookie and Stars is the unknown rookies who sometimes turn stars...just check below....

Was stoked to find one of these in there with its current book value of $30. But read on...it gets better!!!

$$$ out of 5

Inserts: Parallels are fun to chase and who doesn't like cards that shine. The insert designs look great and match the feeling of the product as you can see.

$$$ out of 5

Autographs: N/A

Jerseys:  Just look at it....enough said. We hit the jackpot with this blaster. This card is bv of $100 and is numbered to 299. So its a rare find.

$$$ out of 5

Overall: We can't say every blaster is going to bring you this kind of luck. But it could. We really enjoyed this break and Panini does a great job with their blaster products.

Was Jeremy Lin built up Hobby Hype?

It's been a few weeks it feels like since Jeremy Lin owned the television set and every channel and highlight. Now, he is not on there anymore. ESPN's Sportscenter even mentioned his autograph Panini rookie card and what it was going for and how much it had increased.

Now, all feels like history. The dust has settled. The hype is over. Why I think this has happened, he has on and off games, has way too many turnovers, the Knicks are on a skid. However, despite the hype ending, his autographs still command way over $100 and plain rookies like Prestige still command a big penny.

I can say that I didn't buy into the hype. I didn't run out and buy up all of his rookies. I still don't own one. Not that I don't want to own one, I just feel he was built up too much and prices were way to high for a guy who hadn't completely shown himself yet. The best thing to do is wait for the prices to drop, the buy some.

What are your feelings about Jeremy Lin and do you think the hype will make its return? Did you buy into the hype and buy up all of his rookie and autograph cards?