Breakin Wax:2023-24 Prizm Basketball Value Pack

 Hello! Glad to have you back to read today's post.

Today is the second of the two packs that I bought and overpaid for on eBay using a gift card that I earned from Fetch. Details on the Fetch app is at the end of the post and hopefully you will sign up yourself and earn gift cards!

Anyways, this past basketball card season was all about WEMBY WEMBY WEMBY. It was being shoved down our throats and no product screams you need a Wemby from it more than Prizm. Prizm is still the heavy hitter when it comes to base rookie cards. The Wemby I believe for a base rookie still goes for $30-$35. It was up to $100 upon release.

But still, for a base rookie with nothing special about it, it's a good one.

I snagged this Value pack of Prizm hoping to beat the odds and pull one.

The value packs come with 15-cards which isn't much for the $17 I put into it. However, I was impressed that it wasn't just all base cards with a couple parallels.

I pulled a couple of base rookies, not Wemby so have no idea if they are any good.

Also three rookie inserts, not Wemby, but one is a silver.

 

And three Red, White and Blue parallels, not Wemby, but there was a Curry so there's that. Curry was probably the highlight of the pack.

I felt better about this break than I did the Bowman one. But still, rough for the price.

Before I end today's post, if you download the Fetch app to start earning points by simply SCANNING RECIEPTS you throw away, please use my referral code so I can earn points for doing so. Use code 8TB9M when you download the app and it asks if you were referred. Thank you so much in advance!!

REVIEW:2018 Bowman Draft Baseball

Like to prospect? Love rookies of players who could be future stars? Love on card autographs of those guys? Well, look no further than Bowman Draft. It has it all.

I love collecting the cards from this product as they are usually the ones collectors most seek out when it comes to rookie cards of first Bowman released players.

Let's see how my 2018 break went!

 

In every hobby box of 2018 Bowman Draft baseball, there are 12 packs of 32 cards. No  you didn't read that backwards like I thought I had. Less packs, more cards per pack seems to be the approach here. Each pack comes with a few refractors and a bonus parallel along with paper base and chrome base. You also will find three autographs per box and boxes run around $180.

 

There are also box toppers to be found as well. Some are autographed.

 

Mine wasn't but is numbered  to 99. There are also parallels to be found of, Gold /50, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1. There are 12 toppers in all from all of the top of the class.

 

The base card design is exactly the same one as Bowman used as this product is really a Bowman 2.0 minus the bigger veteran presence. There are 200 cards to collect in the paper set with  many stars like Shed Long who should have a great career as a Red.

 

The same 200 prospects can be found in the Chrome version.as well

There are also base card variations to chase as well. I didn't know about them til after I posted this so I will have to go and look and see if I pulled one. If I did, I will update this post as so. There are only 14 to chase.

 

With anything chrome, you find refractors.There are plenty of them to chase including, Refractor, Asia Refractor, Sky Blue /402, Purple /250, Sparkles, Blue /150, Green /99, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Blue /150

 

Sky Blue /402

 

And there are paper parallels to of course! Can you imagine building a rainbow of all of them? Paper parallels include, Sky Blue /499, Purple /250, Blue /150, Green /99 (above), Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Sky Blue /499

Inserts can have the following parallels Atomic Refractor, Refractor /250, Gold /50, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

 

Recommended viewing as 15 cards to collect in the set

 

Franchise Futures has 10 cards to collect. Glad I found a Yankees one

 

I really like the Bowman Sterling addition to the product. Nice looking cards. There are 10 of these to build a set of.

 

With it being the 20th anniversary of Bowman, well, there is an insert for that. Not an app if you get what I mean. 10 cards to chase in this set.

Now onto everyone's favorite part of the product, the on-card autographs! They have the following parallels, Refractor /499, Purple /250, Blue /150, Blue Wave /150, Green /99, Black /75, Sparkles /71, Gold /50, Gold Wave /50, Orange /25 (Jumbo), Red /5, Red Wave /5, Black Wave 1/1, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Jeremiah Jackson was selected by the Angels in the second round of the 2018 draft. Looks to be a superstar in the making.

Nico was selected by the Cubs with the 24th pick in the 2018 draft. Many feel this guy has a big future ahead.

My final hit wasn't base auto,

I pulled a Bowman Sterling auto. Never seen one up close. Pretty cool. Travis Swaggerty  Pirates selected him with the 10th overall pick and could be Cutch's repalcement.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty solid box in my opinion. Best one I have broken of this product. The things with products like this, you never truly know how these guys will turn out so it's hard to judge box value at this point. They could be studs or become duds. There always seems to be that sneaky player who nobody thought would make it, not only make it, but make it big time. So for me, if you are into rookies and autographs, this is your best way to go.

Of course not all can afford hobby, so look for retail and other options such as a box break to make it cheaper.

I think if you need to, jump in on a box break, 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.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add cards to GIVEAWAYS! Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well. 

Breakin Wax: 2015 Upper Deck Football 2-Rack Pack Break

FINALLY!!! That's exactly my words when I found out that my local Walmart had gotten in 2015 Upper Deck football. I felt like they were trying to exclude me from being able to rip a few packs.In what is Upper Deck's last run with the CLC license, they obviously wanted to go out with a big bang and leave all of us wanting more. Why do I feel this way, well, read on!

In every rack pack of 2015 Upper Deck football, there are 32 cards. Along with those 32 there is ONE Jameis Winston and ONE Marcus Mariota College Football Heroes inserts. Each rack pack runs for $4.98.

This years base card design take a big upgrade. It still has Upper Deck's glorious action photography now along with a clean design and gold foil. These are probably the best flagship base rookie design I have seen since they took the CLC license. Way to go UD!

In my first rack pack, I got exactly what I had wanted immediately. The Giants first two round picks. I especially like the Collins. He will be a big difference maker in that secondary.

In both packs combined, other than Amari Cooper, I landed all of the rookies I targeted.

I even got the Top 2 picks and Top 2 rookies in this class I believe in

Jameis Winston....

And Marcus Mariota

Above I mentioned the Football Heroes inserts that fall one of each player per rack pack and here they are. I totally love the revamped design on these.

Overall, very stoked with my results.$10 well spent. Great design, bonus inserts in each and a shot at autographs (I have seen them pulled by others) and Upper Deck rack packs are a great value. I will miss this product if it is no longer made.

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Topic:
What are your thoughts on 2015 Upper Deck football? Do you like the design? Will you miss this product going forward? Let's hear your thoughts!

Grady M Mail Day Part 7/7: GRAND FINALE! HOFer's RCs!

In what can be called, the Grand Finale of all Grand Finales, this portion of my mail day was mind blowing. However, I will say that I did know about this part as we worked out a trade for it. The rest of the mail day was unknown as he always sends a bunch of goodies.

Let's see what we got in this finale.

I really wanted a Dan Marino rookie, this is what he had available. I was still excited to have a card from his rookie year, but still need to knock Dan's rookie off my list. Nice card none-the-less.

I will say that I didn't know about this however, a Fleer 90's All-Stars set. Pretty cool!

My boy Phil! Can't go wrong adding another rookie of his!

Yup, your eyes are seeing this right. A 1986-1987 Fleer rookie of Knicks great Patrick Ewing. Now, the card isn't in mint shape with some rough corners up top, but the fact that I have the card and a card from that iconic set was enough for me.

And another one I have wanted off my list. The card looks really mint except a small stain from gum that was in the pack. But, to me, this is still a rookie off my list. It's mint enough to me.

And you can never go wrong with a Joe Montana rookie. The top corners are a bit rough, but hey, it's stinkin Joe Montana! This card isn't going anywhere.

In the the grandest of finales, no mail day gets better than this. There is also no argument on how great of a guy Grady is. I am glad to have met him on Sport Card Collectors Facebook page.

Thanks again Grady for this one-of-a-kind mail day and all that it brought. I will be hitting you back soon and look forward to even more of this in the future :)

Grady M Mail Day Part 6/7: NY Giants, Odell, Andre AND MORE!

If you have been reading my blog, you know how much passion I have for the NY Giants and my love of football. So anytime I can add to that PC, it's a day made. Especially when they are new additions.

Let's kick it off first with some NY Giants from 1989 in Topps Traded. The fun thing about cards from the 80's is the photography. It's really cheesy and fun.

I really like this add, my first Meggett rookie!

And my first Topps Traded rookie of my boy Rodney!

Some Giant insert goodness including Randle and a cool numbered duo of Eli and Cruz

ODELL!! I one-handed these out of the box.

I have already stated in past posts about my growing Andre Williams PC, well, here is a few more to it

Including a jersey card!

Overall, great adds! Some new rookies, some Odell and some Andre amongst many others.

Well, there is one more mail day left. THE FINALE IS TOMORROW and just wait til you see it!

The 2013 Yard Sale Find Of The Year

Every summer I search the local papers for yard sales that contain the words..sports...cards and they have been lacking so far. The few that I found didn't have much there and one was sold out before my arrival. Two weekends ago, I finally stumbled upon an add that said, TONS OF BASEBALL CARDS. And you know I had to jump on that.

Upon my arrival I had no clue what to expect. Was it going to be like the yard sale I call "THE YARD SALE" or will it be just a couple of baseball card boxes. When I got there I immediately bolted for the table that had the cards on it. And there was no shortage of them. Boxes were marked with years and brands. There were singles. There were magazines. There were packs that were opened and just placed there. There was mainly baseball cards but a few football, WNBA and basketball sprinkled in. And there was a lot of hope in the pile of cards. Now if there was only enough money in the wallet to take it all.

When finding out my interest in the baseball cards (she must had seen me drooling over all of them), a lady approached me and said this wasn't all she had. She had a basement full. I was in shock. She said she once collected but had lost interest in the hobby around 2003 and at this point just wanted them out of the house. This was sad to me. Despite cards that I really wanted sitting in front of me, a lost collector meant more. We need to keep the hobby alive and collectors collecting. I didn't get into anymore specifics on why she got done as the yard sale started to fill with cars and she had to tend to other things. I asked how much things were since they weren't marked. She said to make a pile and she would throw a number at me because she really needed the room in her house and the more I took, the better the deal. I honestly wanted to say I will take both of the full tables and your basement stash but knew my cash flow wasn't high enough most likely.

So I rummaged through trying to find important years and brands. I took the three boxes of singles (these are always a fun search through), a box packed with assorted year white boxes (not all full), and few other odds and end boxes. $30 later (all I had sadly and luckily all she asked for) and I took this home to go through. But before I left, the lady told me that she would be having another sale in the spring if I was interested in coming back for more since I was the only one who bought any (another sad thing about this story as it shows a decline in others interest as well) and I told her as Arnold Schwarzenegger would have, "I'll Be Back." She responded with a smile.

 

I will be however sharing our results from the dig through as we will break down each box to show you the best cards. It may take a few weeks to go through it all, if not more, will post each box separately along the way.  Thought it would be a fun post to do. I haven't searched through very much yet but the parts I have I did stumble upon some rookie cards, inserts from the 90's and a few autos and jersey cards. So it should be a very fun journey that I will be taking you on as well.

Let me know your thoughts on this find and what great finds you have ever had at a Yard Sale.

Top 5 NFL Rookies I Am Collecting in 2013

Here are the Top 5 rookies that I am collecting in 2013. Now, as you will see, I don't collect defensive guys, offensive lineman, or people from the Tight End position. Those kind of players don't really seem to make much of a hobby impact to me unless they are on my team. Or much of a hobby impact in general.

1. EJ Manuel will be the Bills starter and showed that he can lead the team after a strong performance in the first preseason game (yes I know it's preseason but you can sometimes just tell). Especially on the two minute drive before the half. That was impressive. I think he will have a good season in Buffalo. He has some young weapons around him as well with rookie WR's Robert Woods and speedster Marquis Goodwin. And who can forget threat Stevie Johnson. CJ Spiller will also be a huge help taking pressure off from Manuel as well as teams will have to aware of where he is on the field.

2.    Watching Mark Sanchez throw a pick on the fourth play of the game in the preseason game against Detroit first thing only told me it will only be time before Geno Smith will be the Jets starter. I do think Sanchez will start the season, but by Week 6 if not earlier if he's struggling the Jets will turn to their future. And Smith not only has a strong arm, but he can make plays with his legs as well. Maybe bringing some excitement to a lacking Jets offense.

3. This guy is a weapon. And the number one option that the Rams have. Sam Bradford looked strong in his first preseason game despite Austin lacking to show up. I think as time goes on and they grow on each other you better watch out for this guy. He can run out of the backfield with trickery plays, can burn you down the field, and has great return skills as well. All around weapon.

4.   This guy is going to be huge in Houston's offense. Matt Schaub must have been drooling after the Texans drafted him. I think teams will as usual double up Andre Johnson leaving the open field to Hopkins who showed in the first preseason game he can be a beast.

5.  Something tells me the Jags are going to use this guy a lot in their offense. Especially when you list him as OW (offensive weapon) on your depth chart. With Jones-Drew dealing with so many injuries and being unable to play all of the time the Jags needed a lift in their offense and I think this guy provides it both as a runner and wide-out.

I believe these rookies will have the biggest impact on the hobby in terms of values. If I was you, like myself, pick up rookies of these guys early on.

Some honorable mentions on here would have been Lacy from Green Bay (with him splitting time with Jonathan Franklin numbers won't be as high) and Giovanni Bernard from Bengals (probably sharing carries as well with Green-Ellis).

I know some of you may question why Cordarrelle Patterson from the Vikings didn't make this list, well, that's because of the Vikings QB. Can Ponder help Patterson put up the numbers needed to make a hobby impact. Time can only tell. I also didn't put Matt Barkley down either cause I don't expect to see him play this year. That's Vick's team.

Despite this years draft being rough for rookie card collectors, I do believe the Top 5 we have chosen will be good ones to collect. The other belief for this years rookie class is that there could be plenty of diamonds in the rough. You just never know. So picking up lesser known offensive guys won't hurt.

Let us also know your thoughts on our Top 5 list and what you would change about it if you disagree with it.