February Box Buster Club Break

This break had some sweet cards. In my humble opinion the subsets this year are the best designed of all the years. Kudos to DLP for a great looking product (minus those manufactured patch auto cards that should stay in Rookie and Stars, etc.)!



Highlights







Other Not Pictured:

Malcolm Kelly Rookie Signature Jumbo Prime Materials Silver Redemption

Randomization Video:

Monthly Box Break Club: February (1 Box 2008 National Treasures)

***Special Update: Got the info today in my email that DA Cardworld has shipped the SP Authentic. It should arrive by Wednesday and I will be busting and videotaping it late Wednesday Night. If things fill up on the February Break I will be possibly busting it the same night or Thursday night and shipping them all out on Friday....let's hope***

Normally (when product isn't super delayed) this post would be up after the break of the month before, but due to the SP Authentic delayed release this is going up before the break. Payments are due before February 1st. On the 1st, any spot not paid for will be opened up for others to purchase. As mentioned before those who participated in last months break have dibs on their spot. However, if you know that you do not want a spot in the February break then you can just comment on this post and say I pass. ***Do note that reservations for the next month are based on the month before, so if you pass this month and there is something you would really like to participate in the next month you will have to hope someone gives up their spot.*** I will mark each slot as payment is received. Here is the procedure:

1) Only people on the list should send payments before the 1st, then released spots will be up and others can send in payment to get spot.
2) $15 per slot for one random team
3) Send paypal to: justin.halbersma@gmail.com
4) Please note it as payment for February Box Breaker Club

***I will be heading out of town (to Washington D.C.) February 6th-11th and so that could delay the break if it hasn't happened before the 6th***

1. Holy Hitter (paid)
2. wheeler (paid)
3. hupaskin (paid)
4. Gellman (paid)
5. Wheeler (paid)
6. Hawaiian Lion (paid)
7. Hawaiian Lion (paid)
8. I Am Joe Collector (paid)
9. I Am Joe Collector (paid)
10. scubasteve (paid)
11. scubasteve (paid)
12. Psad21 (paid)
13. Psad21 (paid)
14. Penguin101 (paid)
15. Penguin101 (paid)
16. Groat (paid)
17. Groat (paid)
18. HoustonCardCollector (paid)
19. arfmax (paid)
20. arfmax (paid)
21. fatcat4262 (paid)
22. fatcat4262 (paid)
23. darkship (paid)
24. darkship (paid)
25. whitesoxcat (paid)
26. whitesoxcat (paid)
27. sonic (paid)
28. sonic (paid)
29. voluntarheel (paid)
30. voluntarheel (paid)
31. mattlange (paid)
32. hupaskin (paid)

Product Review: 2008 National Treasures

When National Treasures' sell sheet was released, I was pumped, and then subsequently disappointed with the way cards looked. To me it seemed like it was basically the same set as it was last year, the RC patches looked the same, the base cards were generally the same, and to be honest, I thought the sticker autos were still ridiculously out of place. I wont say this is my favorite set of the year, but so far, it is one of the only ones I would buy singles of.

The Good

I love the painted look of the player portraits and full size player pics. They have a masterpieces like look, and I think it’s a great Idea to stray from the "lets slap a pic on these cards" ideas of how to produce cards. What it creates, is a great way to include pictures of players who played before the invent of color television and photography, and it gives a more worn and worthy aura to the cards.

I also like the new sets they have included into the product, mainly the heisman cuts, the college materials, and also the different RC subsets I have seen. There are some I hate, but we will get to those later.

A few days ago, I showcased the Emmitt Smith card that I saw previewed, and I was shocked at its awesome beauty. The card looked amazing. They had full pics of the players, awesome placement of stickers and patches, and it had actually improved on a previous year's release. That RARELY happens in this hobby. I think that most of the card from that set are amazing in appearance, and if I were to collect one set in this whole release, it would be that. Just well done in general. Too bad they couldn’t get their shit together for on card autos.

As for the RC patch autos, I am going to file most of them under good. They have done their best to include amazing patches, and the on card autos are always a plus. I love the tapered windows this year, as that was a vast improvement over the big ass block patches from last year. Even the non-on card autoed RC patches with the two windows look 10 times better than last year. For some reason, I just didn’t like the oval windows with a stickers, and I really like the squares with the designs around it. Very cool. Even as far as the 1/1 logo patch autos for all the rookies, they got them all on card, which is AWESOME. The forte is up right now, and you can expect that every high end collector is keeping an eye on it.

Mainly, when it comes to this set, you know why DLP saves it to the end every single year. Its just a well put together product.

The Bad

I mentioned earlier when I reviewed Playoff Prestige way back at the beginning of the card year that DLP had major fucking issues with weirdly placed jersey windows. This set has them too, and they are really fucking annoying. If a base card parallel has a jersey window but no auto, it looks lopsided. If a "Champions" subset card has a jersey window but no auto, some of the time, it is placed WAAAAAAAAAAY over to the right. That is completely inexcusable. I have said numerous times that a card needs to be designed separately for the autos and the jerseys, or designed to focus more on the jersey window placement rather than keeping that space for the auto window.

Secondly, the triple relic cards are ridiculous. The patch diecuts are horizontal and the pics are vertical? Who had that stupid ass idea? Its almost like on a grade school test when you had a column of vocab words and a column of their definitions next to each other, and you had to draw a line to connect the word with the correct definition. Total crap. Put the players next to their swatch.

The Ugly

If it werent at all aparent that they were using event used gross ass jerseys that were worn for 3 seconds at the RC premiere, they have like 8 different logo patch cards for each RC, and 25 brand name patches. Considering how many other logo patches they have used this year, I am done with RC logo cards. At this point in the year, AFTER the NFL season is over, we should have at least 1 GUed jersey to use for this product. I say the same thing for Exquisite, but for some reason, it cant happen. Now, when you have an updated pic in Leaf Limited from week one, you can have a game used jersey in NT.

I think it is ridiculous to have the Leaf Rookies and Stars Patches in every box. I know you needed to use them up, but save it for a product I don’t care about. It is fucking ridiculous to see such a crappy excuse for a card in National Treasures, when they have already been in Playoff Fucking Prestige at like 2 dollars a pack. This is completely bat shit crazy to think that we would support this inclusion in a SUPER high end product, let alone at 1 per pack. Its like having another scrub auto to go through every single box.

Lastly, the upside down auto stickers are the dumbest fucking mistake I have ever fucking seen. Get some QC people on the fucking ball and FIX IT. I swear to god, a little part of me dies every single time I see one, not only on this product but on others too. The biggest deal here is that all these cards are hand fucking packed.

Overall, this product makes the grade for me, despite its short falls. I think it is still the most fun product to break, but with Exquisite revamping itself this year, we may have a new competitor in this category. Although the cards arent worth as much as UD's super high end offering, they definitely arent crap. I love national treasures, and I look forward to seeing some of the awesome cards that are inevitably going to be discovered in the coming weeks.

National Treasures Is Looking Better By The Day

I hate small pics, I fucking hate them. Why even make a card if there is no picture on it. I dont care about logos, but I DO care about pictures of the players. That is what makes or breaks a card for me some times.

The problem with National Treasures in the past has been that the pictures have never been that big. It was usually a face shot or a little tiny pic by the auto or jersey on some of the subsets.

This year, along with their painted picture styles, the sets look to have huge fucking pics on them. I love it.

February Will Be A Big Month

Man, I am excited for February in the hobby world. It is usually a pretty big mother of a product release time, mainly because NT, SPA, Ultimate and a few others should all be full blown market-wise, and because we should get some first looks at Exquisite.

SPA has always been one of my favorite sets of the year, and over the last few years, this has become even more evident. With the continuance of the horizontal SPA Patch Autos with white backgrounds, this year's cards should be among the best ever. Add in a few other cool new additions to the brand, and you have a great set to look forward to.

National Treasures, on the other hand, caters to a very different crowd. It is purely for the gamblers and whales out there, as the ridonkulous price tag is not for the faint of heart. Of course, the cards you get are very reflective of what you pay for, so that is a big plus as well.

Last year, Ultimate plain sucked. It was probably the most worthless break other than Triple Threads, and I pray that this year will be much better. The problem is, with all the craziness that has arisen from the incredibly bland baseball brand of Ultimate, I am very, very worried. Lets hope that the addition of the 1997 legends, the new RC autos, and a few other new goodies will be enough to carry this product that is quickly becoming more irrelevant by the minute.

As for Exquisite, I am VERY excited for more information after Gregg took the time to explain everything that will make the set better than last year. Lets hope we get that preview pretty quickly here.

Too bad baseball season doesnt start for a few months because I am already feeling the wasteland that remains when Football is gone and only Basketball and Hockey remain.

National Treasures: Dreams and Nightmares

Sometimes when a set comes out, you just know its going to be awesome. I have that premonition right now about National Treasures. Personally, I dont even mind that most of the set is on stickers, and I even like the vertical orientation of the base set - something I was worried about. Now, after seeing more of the cards, I have an even better feeling due to the Masterpieces style player art, and the 1/1s definitely reflect that.

Check this out:



However, that doesnt mean that everything is coming up Millhouse for this set. After going through the 1/1 slideshow on Donruss digital, I did find a troubling instance of stupidty that reared its ugly head in the form of a huge, HUGE, mistake. This is one of those things that just shouldnt happen, especially on a 1/1. I feel bad for the Greg Jennings fans.



I really hope this is a VERY isolated incident.

2008 National Treasures: The Great, The Annoying, & The Rejects

National Treasures to me is one of the most exciting products for football. It is a product that offers a chance at some really great looking cards and some really great pieces of history. The 2008 Edition is due to release on January 28th and many football collectors are excited I am sure (even at the IMHO gouging price of $400-$500). As the collecting world waits, Donruss has started to release some more images that look great, but also point to something really annoying that should not be happening in the high end products of sports cards. Let me break down my opinion

THE GREAT









I always love the chance of getting a cut auto. This year the Historical Cuts are amazing once again and the aesthetics of the cards is unbelievable. Mother Teresa would be an amazing pull. This year the addition of the Heisman Cuts is great. It is a chance for football fans to pull some cuts from some of the greatest "yearly" college football players.

THE ANNOYING







What's that you say? All those cards look awesome. You are correct. They are beautiful cards and I commend DLP for once again having some amazingly sweet looking cards. However, on to the annoying aspect. Each one of those Tony Romo cards is a 1/1!!! That is right each one of them is a 1/1. I know Gellman has written on this before, but when this crap starts dropping into National Treasures, then I start to get really annoyed. At least in the past runs of NT they have changed the foil embossment for the different print runs. And with "laundry tag" and other such "premium" patch cards they usually have been in a run of #/10. Not here though. We have three 1/1 auto cards and the only difference is what piece of the jersey they plopped in the "material" window. Not even a change of picture or embossment foil color change. This is annoying to me. If the only thing you are going to change is the piece of material, then for the love of everything sane and logical would you please number the above cards #/3!!! Don't play us like idiots. (Side question: Does anyone else feel like this is just a manufacture equivalent of the Ebay 1/1 sellers? There the sellers say the numbering or the "patch" make it a 1/1 because there is nothing like it. To me it seems like that is just what DLP is doing here except they legitimize it by "stamping" 1/1 on the back. I ain't buying it!) Annoying, but that doesn't even compare to the following "horrible" reject product that should cause box busters everywhere to puke.... Ladies and Gentleman I give you the following:

THE REJECTS









That is right folks. Manufactured Patch Autos! Never should DLP reuse a concept from a mid-end to low-end product in their "premium" set. Manufactured Patches are horrible in my opinion. As you can see some of the autos look alright, but as you can also see above some of them look horrible. Nobody likes sticker autos, but this can end up even worse then those annoying sticker autos because the autograph looks horrible. DLP has taken a pretty cool concept in "nickname" autos and paired them with one of the most pointless manufacturer moves in creating manufactured patches. These do not belong anywhere near the National Treasures set. As a side note, is it just me or does it seem that "manufactured patches and/or letters" are becoming the new "sticker" auto? This allows them to get the autograph before production like stickers but it seems that the vast majority of collectors think these are somehow better than sticker autographs and I don't know why. At least on the stickers the autographs can look bold. HORRIBLE!

All this being said, I am still excited for National Treasures because it has some really great looking cards as always, but DLP somewhat has disappointed with some questionable manufacturing production.