Going Offbeat Again

@offbeatallstars and myself seem to be on a trading spree right now. This will mark the second one in about a month and it's the biggest trade we have done yet.

What started off as a few Steve Youngs, ramped up to a few other odds and ends cards and some serious, SERIOUS, set help.

 

This Sprewell is my first gold from this set for my 90's Spx project.

Eli Manning rookie card I didn't have was one of the first things I needed. Eli remains the second biggest player PC I have for the Giants outside of my main PC of Rodney Hampton.

 

What is the birth child of Sp Authentic, Upper Deck Sp came out in 1996 and had some decent looking base cards full of foil. I will say though that they player head pictures are kinda cheesy and hilarious on some. For example, look at that Troy Aikman.

 

Do I collect Andre Reed? No. Do I collect Bills? No. Do I collect 90's cards like this? Yes! Do I collect Collectors Edge? Umm Yeah!

What isn't there to like about this Marvin Harrison? Its a subtle mind control card that tells me that I need it.

Seeing Emmitt in a Cardinals uniform gives me the weird vibes everytime I do, but this card overall was pure fire. Literally. The eye candy of this card is why I needed to come home to me and not the fact it's Smith who I didn't like seeing in the 90's face my Giants.

 

The final piece of our trade was a ton of football set needs for myself which most will be posted in the popular series, Let's Talk About Sets. Stay tuned for those.

Breakin' Wax:1996 Scoreboard NFL Lasers

My latest box break made possible by Shane over at Project Pedro Blog, features "Lasers". Something that Dr.Evil and myself can get behind.

Well, they aren't real lasers, but a fun product that could produce some decent pulls. Like the box says, insert quality on every card and even the wrappers are collectible!

Inside of every box of 1996 NFL Lasers, there is 24 packs of 6 cards. There are long hard odds of finding autographs but there's a chance. Fingers crossed.

The base set featured 100 cards including veterans and top rookies like Eddie George and Marvin Harrison. Not too mention Amani Toomer. The base design was a foil etching and basically focused on the main player. There was also a faded background

I didn't complete my full base set chase in this box, so will need some help to get me there. I have those needs listed under football card needs.

Now here's the moment of truth, did I pull one of the 1:150 odds autograph....

Laser Images that fell 1:7 packs. Great looking insert. The black rainbow foil really makes these stand out.

 

Sunday's Heroes fell 1:22 packs

And my autograph...sorry there wasn't one. However, Shane got this box as well and found a Drew Bledsoe auto in his. Luck of the pick I guess.

This was a pretty fun break and took me back to when I picked up a few packs of the product when it released. I don't believe there was another release of this product again. I keep waiting for Panini to rename one of their many products this, just give it time.

Did you ever bust any of this?

You Wanted More

Packs are tragic, cards are bold, you will always open what you wanted more
Packs can be hard, cards are strong, you will never say they don't belong

Cause I wanted more
More than I could get
More than I could afford

For about a year, I have watched a five pack lot of 1997 Bowman's Best football packs rot away in my watch list. I just couldn't pull the trigger on them despite the slight price decrease every couple of weeks.

Why wouldn't I want the shiny-goodness that comes from Bowman's Best? Well, I busted a box not too long ago and have most of the base set-I still have some needs for it-and wouldn't want to bust more just to land a bunch of dupes. It's not like its 1997 anymore and I can trade my duplicates with my friends. They no longer collect and haven't for years.

Then the price dropped again....

I wanted more
More than I could bear

And for $3.49 and shipping, I finally pulled the trigger. Those packs went for much more individually back then and the risk over reward seemed worth it. What happened if I pulled a refractor of Brett Favre? Autograph? Tough insert? Maybe even some set help?

A few days later, they arrived and I was in happy anticipating. Remember that this was awhile ago I picked these up before Coronavirus. Mail right now must be carried by horse and buggy at the speed it moves. Most packages for me take a week to ten days to arrive depending on where it's coming from.

I believe packs of this in the 90's carried a $6.99 price point. At least it did where I bought them. Today's gamble lot I grabbed is $1.47 a pack with shipping involved in that price.

Each pack of 1997 Bowman's Best Football comes with 6 cards and with chances at Refractors,
Atomic Refractors, Mirror Images with Refractors and Atomic Refractors, and Autographs with Refractors and Atomic Refractors. With key rookies to find of Jake Plummer, Corey Dillon, Tony Gonzalez, Tiki Barber, Warrick Dunn, and Jon Kitna.

Any of those names hit the spot?

With five packs in hand, I couldn't decide how many I was going to open. With any pack lot I buy, I always find myself not opening the entire lot. I always save one or two for memories sake. So I decided to break three out of five and save two for the memories. At least then sealed, those two packs would be worth the price of admission I paid for the lot.

I broke these down by pack. So let's see how I did and let's hope for something good!

Pack 1: Key highlights, Eddie George, Cris Carter and Andre Reed base. I also dig the old school Ravens logo on the Vinny.

Pack 2 Key Highlights:Derrick Thomas, Marvin Harrison and Natrone Means with the Jags uni.

Still no rookies. Hmph.

Ohhhh, that's because Pack 3 Highlights has two rookie cards in it. We have the two rookies in Ike Hilliard (PC material despite having three copies already), David LaFleur (who appeared in every pack I opened I felt in 1997) and a Drew Bledsoe base.

Not a whole lot of whoopie here, but it was fun. That's what truly matters to me.

Opening these three however left me staring at the other two like they were still in my watch list. Like they were the last box of Dunkaroos on the store shelves. Like they were the last chance date with Kelly Bundy.

Will I be able to withstand the temptation......time can only tell.

Cause I wanted more
More than these packs could give
More than I could handleAnd packs that I can't live without opening

Today's lyrical re-write is from the song You Wanted More by Tonic in 1999. Great song that you should listen to over and over again like I do.

REVIEW:2016 Panini Black Gold Football

Black Gold makes another stunning return for the 2016 season. It's a product that looks beautiful from the outside of the box to within. However, it's a high-end one that not everyone can afford.

I have been lucky enough to been able to review a box every year since it's kickoff, like what I did there, and this year is no different. So let's see what the 2016 version is like, shall we?

In every box of 2016 Panini Black Gold football, you will find 10 cards in a two pack setup. Each Box contains Four Autographs or Memorabilia Cards, Two Shadowbox Base Cards, Two Shadowbox Inserts, and Two additional Autographs, Memorabilia, or Metal Cards! Boxes as you would expect run just under $240 per. So you are hoping that every card in this box is valued at least $24 per.

The base card set sticks to it's winning design with all acetate heavy shadowboxes. The base set is has 48 veterans and 33 legends making it 81 cards deep. With only one-per-box and them being limited to 225, it would be a fun challenging set to build.

 

The base set also has parallels. The bronze border color changes to the parallel color which other than the numbering seperates it from the regular issue. This is a Brock Osweiler White Gold /100. There is also Holo White Gold /50, Holo Gold /25, Reverse Black Gold /10, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Insert time!

 

Every box is supposed to have two shadowbox inserts. They look as sharp, if not sharper than the base. This is a Franchise Gold which contains three of the best players on the featured Franchise with a mix of current, future and legendary stars. I got a decent one of Mariota and friends. However, I was a bit surprised and disappointed the Giants don't have one.

These also have parallels of White Gold #100, Holo White Gold /50, Holo Gold /25, and Reverse Black Gold #/15.

 

Gold Rush is a beautiful work of art. The mustard uni's are featured on this card of Rams runner Gurley. This is also a Holo White Gold /50 parallel so the holofoil brings out the card even more. Normally these are numbered to 225 with other parallels of White Gold /100, Holo Gold /25, and Reverse Black Gold /15.

Other insert finds are,

Golden Arms Set Checklist and VS Versus Set Checklist with the same parallels of White Gold #100, Holo White Gold /50, Holo Gold /25, and Reverse Black Gold #/15.

 

Now time to roll out the hits. The things you are banking on in the product.

Massive Materials is closely designed to a Silhouette but with a Black Gold touch. Looks really nice especially when you pull the top rookie in Elliot. There are 15 cards to collect with parallels and prime pieces of White Gold /99 or less, Prime /25 or less, White Gold Prime /5, and Super Prime 1/1

 

My next pull is Golden Hands of Colts legend, Marvin Harrison that is a parallel /25. There are 15 cards in this set featuring players of today, tomorrow and yesterday. I really want the Shepard and Beckham! There are parallels of White Gold /99 or less, Prime /49 or less, White Gold Prime /5, and Super Prime 1/1.

 

Up next, I was a little surprised to find a Barnidge autograph in a $200+ product but it seems like most of the names on the Gilded Signatures checklist are a little under the medium name players. A lot don't have a ton of signatures. These have parallels of White Gold /99 or less, and Black Gold 1/1.

 

Up next, a beautiful Rookie Autograph of Raiders future star Jalen Richard who could take over at starter next year. I love the gold signature on the black card. This particular set appears to have on-card autos.

 

Metal cards make a return to the product as well. I got lucky and pulled the Super Bowl runners up Black Gold parallel /6. There is also White Gold /25 and Holo Gold 1/1. This is one of many different metal cards featured in the product. There is also Hall of Fame Symbols this year too.

 

And finally with a rookie signature checklist with all of the stars like Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Derrick Henry, Paxton Lynch, has a few different memorabilia autograph options. This one is Sizeable Signatures which features a nice size swatch along with a gold on card auto in a silhouette layout. I really want the Perkins and Shepard versions!!!

Other hits not found in my box are, Gold Records Autographs, Hall of Fame Symbols, Gold Nuggets, Metallic Marks signature cards feature autographs on both black and gold metal pieces. Grand Debut Autograph jersey sets, Autograph jersey auto, Metallic Marks, Gold Strike auto, and a few others. Plenty of rookie, veteran and legend content.

Overall, top notch looking product with plenty of surprises. This years rookie class is a seller alone and with more added legendary content, this may be the best Black Gold yet. 

 

My pulls weren't the best, but also not the worst. This is the type of product I recommend for the high-end gamblers but also suggest to those who can't afford it to buy into breaks of it or wait til prices drop on the boxes. I personally can't afford a box so I usually pick up many singles. This year I haven't gotten any yet so if you come across any and are feeling generous....lol.

 

Thoughts on Black Gold are welcomed in comments!

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!

Incredible Upper Deck Trade Mail Day From JBF

Just a short couple of weeks ago, I pulled off a pretty cool trade with Jaybarkerfans Junk blog where I landed a few cards for my PC. This time the ante was way upped! Happiness doesn't even begin to express how I felt when this package arrived as I knew three amazing cards were arriving. I am sure you guys would agree.

Up first, as you know from past reads on here, I love unique pieces. This is a 2001 Fleer (yes I know I said this was an Upper Deck post but they own the Fleer license so technically it is) Hot Prospect Goal Post Cover Card. Pretty cool huh? Nothing that I knew of existed.

Up next is a 1/1 Printing Plate of the speedy Raghib Ismail. I like printing plates and he was also a golden domer.

And finally, the apple of my card eye of the group, a 2009 Prominent Cuts Holllywood History Dual Memorabilia card of Jackie Gleason (the multi color) and Jim Carrey!!!

Now, don't get me wrong, all three cards are awesome. But when it comes to just picking one, the last card wins slightly. It's soooooooooooooooooooooo cool to own a piece of Hollywood history. Gleason's shirt is from The Honeymooners and Carrey's hockey jersey swatch is from Bruce Almighty.

A big thanks is due to JBF for the trade! I look forward to our next one which I think will be very soon!