Product Review: 2009 Topps Chrome

One of the most highly anticipated releases of the year, 2009 Topps Chrome promised to be a great set. When I saw some retail blasters at my local K-Mart recently, I HAD to pick up a box.

2009 Topps Chrome – Retail Box

I did a full preview of this set when it was released. Granted, my results will be much different since I bought a retail box, rather than a hobby box, but at least it is a good indiction of the possibilities. The retail box had 8 packs (7 packs plus 1 bonus pack) of 4 cards each. I paid $19.99 (plus 6% sales tax), which breaks into an average of $0.66 per card, which puts it into a lower mid-level range. Let’s see what I pulled:

Base Cards: 22
Rookie Cards: 7 (including 3 parallels)
Parallels: 7 (2 Refractors, 3 Xfractors, 1 Blue Refractor, and 1 Copper Refractor)
Inserts: 3 (1 Cheerleader and 2 National Chicles)
Hits: — (none)
Doubles: — (none)

Click each image for a full sized scan

FIRST AND GOAL’S FOUR DOWNS:
1st Down, Design: This year, Topps gave Upper Deck a run for their money. The flagship design was very crisp and clean and the photography was far better than most Topps sets. The Chrome set was obviously very similar in that fashion. The football feel of the name/team plate is very effective. This is a design that lends itself very easily to the chrome technology. Although the cards traditionally do not scan very well, they are beautiful in person and collectors absolutely love them. Topps did very well with this set.

2nd Down, Inserts: We all know about Chrome parallels and the great refractors. They may be rather numerous, but they are very good looking cards. The other inserts I pulled were not so great. The National Chicle insert was a good idea, but I wasn’t sold on the execution. First off, they did not stick with the original size of the legendary set. Also, the chrome technology on the very retro themed cards just feels off. Some may think it’s giving new life to an old classic, but it just seems awkward to me. It also hurt Topps that there were about 89 sets featuring National Chicle designs this year. The novelty of these cards wears off rather quickly in the light of that. The other insert card was also a bit of a bust for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing pictures of cheerleaders. They are beautiful and certainly add something to the whole football experience. But giving them their own cards? That is too close to having non sports cards mixed in with my sports cards, and that is not cool. At least there were no Obama cards in this box.

3rd Down, Collation: Like other retail boxes I have reviewed here, I can’t honestly critique the collation here because there were so few cards. I was obviously glad to not pull any doubles, though. I would be interested to see the base to parallel to insert ratio of a full hobby box. If you can pull a good portion of the the base set and still pull lots of inserts, parallels, and hits, without any (or at least very few) doubles, that would be cool.

4th Down, Overall Value: I am going to stray from the beaten path here for a moment. The retail box I opened did not give me a lot of value. Granted, it was a $20 retail box, so I was not expecting much. But my box aside, this looks like it is a great “value” product for collectors and prospectors alike. Chrome rookie cards are some of the most sought-after cards in the industry. When you start adding things like refractor parallels and autographs, you get a full out buying frenzy. I have seen some of these cards sell for top dollar in the secondary market. At the very least, they make for great trade bait amongst player or team collectors who are trying to track down those ever elusive parallel rainbows. With only 4 cards to a pack, you may not get lucky every time, but you should pull something very nice in every few packs, and certainly out of an entire hobby box.

RED ZONE RESULTS: FIRST DOWN I will admit, I am usually inclined to like Upper Deck products over most others. However, I loved this product. The cards are very well designed, the parallels are not (usually) over the top, there is no outlandish serial numbering, and there is bound to be plenty of value in any box. If it was such a great product, why didn’t it score any points? Simple. I opened a retail box. This box got a first down, allowing it another four downs to get on the board. I would love to bust a hobby box of this product, possibly when the price drops in the Christmas shopping season. Given a full hobby review, I do not doubt this product could punch it across the goal line and even tack on the PAT. So we’ll say due to a defensive penalty, it gets First and Goal from the 1. I like those odds.

Omnipotent

Back in the mid-to-late 90s, I was in the midst of my first affair with sports cards. At the time, I was really into basketball cards and, as I’ve said before on this blog, would often buy retail boxes or packs at my local K-Mart. In 1997, I picked up my brother’s lawn mowing job when he went off to college. Suddenly, I was earning $6 every week or so, however often the man’s lawn needed to be mowed. As a kid, I didn’t have any living expenses, so pretty much all of my money went towards buying cards. I remember buying a lot of 1997/98 basketball cards. As I ripped through pack after pack, looking for Michael Jordan insert cards and Tim Duncan rookies, I noticed one odd fellow with one heck of an interesting name. Below are two of this guy’s rookie cards I pulled that year:

Click image for a full sized scan

Holy crap! I didn’t know God played in the NBA! The young man from Providence College certainly has a divine name, but considering he only played one season in the NBA, he obviously did not have one hell of a jumpshot. If you’re curious about this enigmatic being, you can read his “official biography” on Wikipedia here (anyone in the world can edit it, so you know it’s true). Apparently this professional vegabond taught Kobe a thing or two about crossover dribbles.

Saldy, one poignant fact remains for Washington fans: even God could not help the Wizards win.

Product Review: 2009 Donruss Threads

Of the three retail boxes I recently purchased, this was the one I was least excited about. I had seen card scans on other sites when the product went live and wasn’t real wild about them. I guess the allure of buying fresh wax was too much for me to turn away.

2009 Donruss Threads – Retail Box

2009 Donruss Threads is available in retail boxes of 8 packs of 5 cards. I paid $19.99 (plus 6% sales tax) for my box from K-Mart, which calculates into around $0.53 per card. Not the cheapest per card rate out there, but by no means high-end either. Let’s jump to the breakdown:

Base Cards: 38
Rookie Cards: 1 (#150 Jason Phillips)
Inserts: 2 (College Greats Shonn Greene and Gridiron Kings Darrius Heyward-Bey)
Hits: — (none)
Duplicates: — (none)

Click image for full sized scan

FIRST AND GOAL’S FOUR DOWNS:
1st Down, Design: How would be the best way to put this? Awful? Dreadful? Just down right bad? This certainly is not the worst base card design, but it will never win awards to beauty, either. The very bold diagonal lines really draw attention away from the point of the card, the pictured football player. The player name plate cutting straight across the picture is also distracting and adds needless barriers. The one nice part? I like how the player pops out of the top of the design and then fades into and behind the design on the bottom. That nice subtle touch is lost, however, by the overall needlessly loud design elements. One last thought, I know serial numbers are all the rage now, but do we really need to number every rookie card produced? It’s great that I pulled one of 999 copies of Jason Phillips’ Donruss Threads rookie card, but honestly, who cares? If it’s more than 250 or so, don’t bother serial numbering these things.

2nd Down, Inserts: The College Greats insert is interesting. The design ties in nicely to the base card, although in this case that is actually a bad thing. I know that a lot of football collectors hate seeing college uniforms and logos in their NFL sets, but I do not mind it as much. What I do mind is having a set called “College Greats” and showing rookies. Granted, some of the rookie class of any year could be considered to have had great college careers. But why not show old time players? When the early football sets are released, collectors are excited to see the rookie class in their new uniforms and numbers. If you absolutely need to have a college themed insert, don’t use the rookie class. Period. In a nice contrast is the Gridiron Kings set. I have aways really liked these inserts, and this year’s effort is actually well designed. I like the painted image, the silver accents, and the overall clean appearance. Again, I don’t know that rookies should be included in sets like this (case in point Hey-Bey who has done absolutely nothing to be considered a king, even in lowly Oakland). At least he is in his new Oakland uni.

3rd Down, Collation: It’s tough to gauge a product line’s collation when you are only getting 40 cards. The biggest indication of a problem would be duplicates, which I did not have in my box. I only got two inserts, which is a little disappointing, but again, there were so few cards that it’s just too hard to say if the collation was good or poor.

4th Down, Overall Value: Retail boxes will never deliver great “value” as it is usually defined in the Hobby. The lack of good inserts and very rare “hit” pulls (that are not rare at all in hobby boxes and are therefore not valuable in and of themselves) makes resale value tough. Donruss Threads did add Brett Favre’s very first Vikings card as a retail exclusive. Those base cards sold for as much as a lot of good autographs, so certainly that adds a level of value. However, overall, you are almost always going to get what you pay for in the retail portion of the Hobby. At $20 for a box, that’s just not very much.

RED ZONE RESULTS: KEY PLAYER EJECTED, LEADS TO A TURNOVER ON DOWNS I thought of this red zone result right after I decided to add this element to my product reviews. I wanted to save it for a “deserving” product. To me, 2009 Donruss Threads is that product. The base card design is just unforgivable with today’s highly advanced graphic design technology. Maybe I was close minded, but I was unable to get past the use of rookies in college themed inserts and the overall lack of value . Sorry Donruss/Panini, you struck out with this one. Enjoy the early shower.

Fantasy Focus: Week 8

As you gear up for this weekend’s upcoming games by realigning your fantasy rosters to optimize matchups, let’s take a quick look back at last week’s studs. (Note: Points listed are directly from the First and Goal Fantasy League and may not represent point totals in your individual leagues)

QB: Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings — Going against the team that had been his own for 16 seasons, Favre played like he had something to prove. Completing 17 of 28 passes for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns, Favre is reminding many of his former glory days when it seemed he could do no wrong. His 28 fantasy points may have tied him with protegé-turned-rival Aaron Rodgers, but he gets our nod as top fantasy QB of Week 8 because he was not getting sacked all game, he didn’t put up nearly all of his production in one quarter, and oh yeah, he won the game.

*Fantasy Stud of the Week*
RB: Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans — For the second time this season, Johnson was not only the top fantasy RB, he was the top fantasy performer overall. With a franchise record 228 rushing yards and two touchdowns, Johnson had the most rushing yards since Adrian Peterson’s 296 back in 2007 and now has the most yards so far this season with 824. While the Titans are having an awful year, Johnson is having a great year and should continue to be a solid play the rest of the season. His 35 fantasy points were tops in the league in Week 8, earning him Fantasy Stud of the Week honors.

WR: Ted Ginn Jr., Miami Dolphins — Perhaps losing his starting position was the best thing for Ginn Jr. His stock as a true receiver is all but worthless, but he is showing flashes of being the great returner he was coming out of college. Ginn Jr. had 2 return touchdowns in one quarter, the first time this feat had been accomplished since 1967, on returns of 100 and 101 yards each. In total, Ginn racked up 299 return yards, giving him 26 fantasy points on the day. He may not have had any actual receiving points, but he is technically slotted as a WR and was therefore last week’s best fantasy receiver.

TE: Dustin Keller, New York Jets — In a slow week for tight ends, Keller turned in the best performance. Catching 8 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown, he amassed 13 fantasy points. While technically in a tie with Kevin Boss, we gave the nod to Keller for having 6 more yards than Boss, as well as the fact that he has also been more consistently involved in his offense over the course of the season.

K: Rob Bironas, Tennessee Titans — Connecting on three field goals, two of which were from 40+ yards out, Bironas was the top fantasy kicker in Week 8. Tacking on 3 PATs, Bironas put up 14 fantasy points and finally gave his owners a reason to sing MY BIRONAS!

D/ST: Chicago Bears — What should you do if you are a struggling but traditionally strong defensive team? Play the Browns! After several weak performances, the Bears defensive squad showed up in full force in Week 8. Giving up just 6 points while tallying 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 touchdown, and 1 blocked kick, the unit scored 26 fantasy points. With performances like that, it becomes quite clear that good defenses can win championships.

ROOKIE: Mark Sanchez, New York Jets — Showing another flash of why he was so highly touted going into his rookie season, Sanchez was the top fantasy performer in Week 8. Completing 20 of 35 passes for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with another touchdown on the ground, he not only had a great rookie performance, but was also the 8th best performer overall with 23 fantasy points. This is the first time this season a QB has been the top fantasy performer, which is not an easy feat to accomplish.

Check back next week for another edition of Fantasy Focus as we recognize the week’s best fantasy performers. Best of luck to you in your respective fantasy football leagues!

Note: To quickly view all of my Fantasy Focus posts, simply click the Fantasy Focus banner at the top of any such post!

HOF Spotlight: Dan Fortmann

Name: Dan Fortmann
Position: Guard
Pro Career: 1936 – 1943
Team Affiliation(s): Chicago Bears
College: Colgate
Induction Class: 1965

Brief Bio: From young whipper-snapper to all-time great, Dan Fortmann was determination personified. Selected by the Chicago Bears in the very first NFL draft in 1936, Fortmann became the youngest starter in professional football at just 20 years old. Also considered too small for the NFL, many wrote him off as a bad pick from legendary owner George Halas. Fortmann proved them wrong. He helped to anchor a dominant Bears line that won three league championships and two other divisional titles during Fortmann’s 8 year career. An outstanding blocker on offense and tenacious tackler on defense, Fortmann was selected first- or second-team All NFL in every year of his career.

Career Stats: 86 games played; 8 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery TD

Featured Card: 1975 Fleer Hall of Fame #20. As a lineman, Fortmann did not receive much attention in the collectibles world, despite his brilliant career. Like many early football stars, he has been included in many HOF themed sets, like this 1975 offering from Fleer. Most similar cards will run in the $1-$2 range while autographs will fall into a $75-$100 range on eBay. Certain people are willing to make a quick dollar at any sacrifice of character possible, so always be aware of forged autographs. If the seller looks reputable, has great feedback ratings, and the autograph does not look “off”, you should feel safe to pull the trigger.

NOTE: You can find all of my Hall Of Fame Spotlight Features by clicking the HOF Spotlight banner above.

Product Review: 2009 Donruss Classics

First and foremost, I must begin this review with a disclaimer. The cards I purchased to review this product were from a retail box. Insert rates, value of cards pulled, and overall impressions may be different for you if you purchase a hobby box. 2009 Donruss Classics is available in retail boxes of 8 packs of 5 cards each. I paid $19.99 (plus 6% tax) and somehow got 41 cards, which turns out to about $0.52 per card. I actually really liked this set last year, so I was excited to see what 2009 had in store.

2009 Donruss Classics – Retail Box

For some product details, you can see my early product preview post. Granted, this is a retail box so the card count and collation is much different, but at least I had an idea of what I was getting into. Now for the product breakdown:

Base Cards: 37
Rookie Cards: — (none)
Doubles: 1 (#70 JaMarcus Russell)
Inserts: 3 (Team Colors Hakeem Nicks, Classic Singles Merlin Olsen, Monday Night Heroes Randy Moss)
Hits: 1 (Monday Night Heroes Jonathan Stewart)

Click image for full sized scan

FIRST AND GOAL’S FOUR DOWNS:
1st Down, Design: When I was returning to the hobby last year, 2008 Donruss Classics was the first box I bought because it was one of the first releases of the year. I instantly fell in love with it. This year, Donruss gave us a lackluster base card design. The overall design is not bad, I even like the graphic elements near the bottom of the card where it says “Donruss Classics 2009″. What I do not like is the brown/copper background. The design is gaudy and it is just not a good color. Maybe the same pattern in a ghosted gray would have been better, but I would much rather see a completely different element, like the faded football field of 2008’s base cards.

2nd Down, Inserts: I do not have much to go on here, so take this with a grain of salt. I actually like the Team Colors insert I pulled. The card is colorful and vibrant and looks nice. Simple, but nice. I like the concept of the Classic Singles insert set (along with Classic Doubles, Classic Triples, and Classic Quads). As a fan of a lot of retired players, I love a product that offers a chance to pull some older football greats. That said, I am undecided on the design. Something seems missing as it just looks a bit empty. The Monday Night Heroes insert isn’t bad, but it also has that empty feel. I hate when you can tell exactly where the swatch window is supposed to be for the jersey parallel of a card. That means the window is well placed and doesn’t cut out a good part of the card (and the jersey card I pulled is good), but the non-hit like I pulled just winds up looking odd.

3rd Down, Collation: In such a small retail package, the biggest indication of collation is duplicates. In just 41 cards, I pulled a double. Not cool. I was happy to pull a “hit” in a retail box, and somehow I got an extra card, but I’m still not pleased with the double. It at least could have been of a better player than JaMarcus Russel.

4th Down, Overall Value: For a retail box, this is hard to gauge. I only paid $20 for the box, but that just means you get what you pay for. If you are looking for a cheap way to build a base set (without including the RCs) or would like an affordable gift for a loved one who enjoys football and/or collecting, this is a pretty good box to buy. If you’re looking for resale value or VERY cheap per card prices (perhaps those are polar opposites), you should stay away.

RED ZONE RESULTS: MISSED FIELD GOAL I sorta knew what I was getting when I bought this box from reading other online reviews and seeing card scans. I also knew not to expect much from a retail box. The jersey card was certainly a perk, but not pulling any rookie cards, having a duplicate, and the overall poor design of the base product were just too much to overcome. For a product that had a good outing last year, perhaps this was just an off performance. Hopefully if Donruss keeps this line going in 2010, it won’t push the ball left and will be able to get some points on the board when they are needed most.