Nuttin But The Hits:2015 Panini Americana HUGE PULL

I have been waiting to post this break.

Last Black Friday my friend over at Project Pedro Blog helped pick me up a box of 2015 Panini Americana that was a bargain from Da Card World for $30. I was super stoked as I had always wanted to bust a box myself after picking up and trading for some singles.

Each of the boxes have 4 Memorabilia or Autograph cards per box with at least of them being 2 autos per box. You can find names such as Bradley Cooper, Al Pacino, Paula Abdul, Sylvester Stallone, Brooke and Hulk Hogan, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Hart, Jordana Brewster, Martin Short, Alexa Vega, Nick Cannon, Laura Prepon, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Vanilla Ice among many more. So I know there was plenty to find.

Up first my insert parallel pulls. These look super cool. Got some big names as well.

My first pull, a Slade Smiley relic. Multi color. I wasn't sure who he was. But it's a cool relic none-the-less

Then came a Craig Dollase autograph

And my next find is pretty solid because she's got Bette Davis eyes....

Triple Memorabilia card of the great Bette Davis. Pretty sick! Even a piece of thread!

Then to finish it up....play the Rocky theme song...

BOOM! The man himself and one of the toughest pulls in the product!!

For $30 I think I did pretty well. It also left me wanting more. I hope to bust another box down the road. Prices have dipped even more on boxes and when or if I get more hobby dollars and I wanna grab another one or two.

A big thanks also goes out to Project Pedro Blog on the hookup!

REVIEW:2016 Topps Apex MLS Soccer (AUTO GIVEAWAY)

Last years collector's favorite Apex soccer makes its return again. This time bringing back some of last years favorites and new twists to this years.

This is my very first break of it and my thoughts on it are something you are going to have to READ ON to see...

In every 2016 Topps Apex Soccer hobby box are two mini boxes. A hobby box comes with 2 autographs and one Crest jumbo relic. However, if you were to buy just a mini box it would come with a variety of two hits or one. Hobby boxes of this product are very reasonable for $40 per so I expect more hobby boxes to be bought then mini boxes that are $22-$25 each. Each mini box comes with one silver pack of 32 cards.

The base cards are a combination of Topps Fire and Topps Valor in my opinion. The artsy brilliance that Topps Fire provided is an eye catcher on these and the combo of a rough background feel and glossy player in the forefront gives us the Topps Valor appeal. Overall, this looks great.

There are 100 base cards to collect with rookies including 2016 MLS SuperDraft #1 overall pick Jack Harrison (pictured below) and league's biggest stars and MLS newcomers.

Also look for various Rookie Short Prints featuring 1st round draft picks from the 2016 MLS SuperDraft! These will be cards #101-110.

 

It wouldn't be a Topps product without some parallel fun. This is a blue parallel /99 and these seem to be one per pack.

Other parallels you can find are...

• Green Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5
• Purple Parallel: numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1.

Inserts like these fall 3 Global Influence per pack. Gotta love the design of these with the players flag in the background. There are autograph versions of these too.

 

Golazo is the other insert set. Looks like one per pack.

 

These have parallels

• Green Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5
• Purple Parallel: numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates: numbered 1/1.

There are also Kick Exclusive Redemption Cards that you can unlock in the app. These cards are numbered to 25.

 

Now onto the hits! One mini box had one auto and one parallel. The other had one auto parallel and the memorabilia card.

For the first time in a Topps MLS set, there are some on-card autograph finds.

These are the base autographs I pulled.

 

This is a blue parallel /99

These have other parallels too.

• Green Parallel: sequentially numbered.
• Red Parallel: sequentially numbered to 5.
• Purple Parallel: numbered 1/1.

There are also other autographs to find in the product. Here they are:

2016 ALL-STAR AUTOGRAPHS feature Members of the MLS squad who shirted up against Arsenal in July 2016

MATCH DAY DIE-CUT RELIC are tough pulls at 1 per hobby case. They also have a Red Parallel numbered to 5 and a Purple Parallel numbered 1/1.

Dual Autograph Cards featuring thematically paired MLS superstars

And my final hit is a really cool one, nice swatch /50

 

 

There are tons of other fun swatches to find too.

• Red Patch Parallel numbered to 5.
• Red Collar Parallel: featuring a prime multi-color piece from the jersey collar.
• Purple Shield Parallel that features the miniature MLS shields from the back jersey number tat are numbered 1/1
• Purple Team Parallel features a multi-color patch piece from the team name logo on jersey neck and are also numbered 1/1
• Purple ADIDAS Parallel is pretty obvious as it features the Adidas logo. These are also numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates feature a multi-color patch piece and are 1/1's.

My overall thoughts are simple. I like it. Great price on the product, nice looking cards and possible big hits waiting to happen. I think it's worth the risk and if you love MLS and collecting the cards, this is definitely a way to go. I have heard many other collectors rave about the Apex product and haven't seen any complaints.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

Win this autograph card:

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 October 1st 2016. Winner will be announced in a separate post on  October 2nd 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!

Breakin Wax: 2014 Upper Deck CFL Football Cards Box Break

Sometimes trying something new can be fun. When I saw that Upper Deck was releasing a CFL product I said hey, that sounds like a fun bust. So I was able to bust a hobby box. Here is how I did:

Every box of 2014 Upper Deck CFL has 24 packs. There are 6 cards per pack and two hits per box. Mine came with three. Boxes of this average just under $75. Most online stores DO NOT carry this product so you would most likely have to find it at the Upper Deck Store.

The checklist for this set is a variety of CFL and former NFL players such as Brandon Banks. Speaking of that, anyone remember Brandon Banks when he once played for the Washington Redskins? I do. Very fast guy. The base card design for the product is typical Upper Deck with minimal border and bold colorful action photos. It doesn't matter the sport, Upper Deck just knows how to make great base cards.

Star Rookies are a fun collectible add in this product. They are even a bit of a pull falling at a rate of 1:4. I like this idea. Helps make it fun for set chasers and adds value to the set. The design is similar to ones used in the past and works well with this product.

This Star Rookie below is of former outspoken Bengals WR Chad Johnson. Some people just don't know when it's time to retire.

O-Pee-Chee retro cards fall 1:3 packs.

Then the infamous UD Game Jerseys can be found in here as well. There are two hits per box. Most boxes have memorabilia cards I believe from what I have seen. At least they are game worn!

Bonus hit! Kinds cool!

Overall, the price point is a bit steep for the box value, but I like where Upper Deck is going with the CFL license. A lot of collectors, especially those up north, love the product and the opportunity to collect players from their favorite CFL teams. I like to collect former NFL players in it as it makes a unique add to a players collection.

I am interested to see where Upper Deck goes next with this. Can you imagine how great it would be to see an Sp Authentic CFL product? I bet it would take off...are you reading this Upper Deck? Hint, Hint.