Here I Go Again

No, Metal Heads, I’m not referring to Whitesnake’s power ballad. Well, okay, maybe I am, but only in a contorted pop culture reference sort of way. I think…

What I am really referring to is the fact that I once again have talked myself into starting a new collection. You are completely and utterly shocked, I can tell. I alluded to this yesterday and figured I’d eventually get around to writing a full post about it someday. Well, given my lack of any other topics I’d rather write about, and given my ridiculous excitement that always follows a new collection decision, “someday” happens to be today. Lucky you.

In jumping around the hobby world a few days ago, I was confronted with a few references to 2008 UD Masterpieces. Granted, I believe all of these confrontations were with the baseball set, but it still got me to thinking about the football side of things. Quite a while ago, I got a few free packs from DA Card World and was generally impressed, though I didn’t feel the need to build the set right then and there. I even sent the one short-printed rookie I pulled to another blogger who was looking for it. Then this past holiday shopping season, DA had boxes of Masterpieces ridiculously marked down, so I bought three boxes and chose the Masterpieces packs as my free gift to nearly get a fourth box (in essence, although obviously the per box breakdown wouldn’t hold true). Opening those boxes is when I first really fell in love with the set. I realize that all of the “paintings” may not be actual paintings, I am confused why Emmitt was not included in even the base checklist, and I am slightly annoyed that out of a rather small 110-card set, 5 of the cards were never actually issued while several athletes (Peterson, Favre, Brady, Dyson) got two cards all to themselves. But for some reason, despite these pitfalls, I like the set. I pulled the entire base set, save the short prints, and figured it would end there.

Skip forward to early this week. Those references I mentioned earlier got me to thinking how sweet it would be to have all of the framed parallel sets in one kick ass binder. I got all sorts of excited like a little school girl on the release date of the next Twilight movie (wait, wasn’t that yesterday?). That made me finally get around to putting the base set into a binder and I even created a huge spreadsheet to track my progress of all of the parallel sets (complete with automatically calculated stats). Why? Because I’m a big doofus, that’s why.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get the entire thing completed, but it will be something after which I can chase. Because I need one more thing, on top of new Emmitts, Curtis Conway (which has gone stale), and base Topps Pirates.

*SIGH*

Someday I’ll learn to complete what I’ve started before moving onto the next thing. I swear. Promise. Scout’s honor. Someday.

Oh, and just to bring this post completely full circle, here is a video for you Metal Heads out there. Hey, if I am going to have 80s hair goodness in my head the rest of the day, so should you. At the very least, I hope we can all enjoy some glimpses of the long-legged Tawny Kitaen…

Top 100 Current Players

Alright, I will admit it: I am totally phoning this one in. Some of you may yell and scream and some of you may cuss me out for being lazy, but it is what it is. What can I say? Maybe I am lazy.

It’s more like I’ve been trying to get more cards listed in my eBay store to make that darn monthly subscription actually worthwhile while at the same time trying to kickstart a new collection (I seem to do this every two months or so) and refocus on working to complete my new and improved Emmitt Smith Collection website. All of those are pretty much taking all of my hobby time right now. That doesn’t allow much time to write deep spiritual and meaningful posts about football cards. Sorry.

I had contemplated not writing anything today, but there was a story I saw on msn.com yesterday that caught my attention: the current Top 100 NFL Players. Intriguing, no? So without further ado, and because I really should be doing work at work, here is the link:

NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2010

The list is broken into groups of 20 and that link will (should) take you to the 100-81 group. On the last slide, you can either jump to the next group or if you’re really impatient, you can just jump to the 20-1 grouping to see who you should be drafting in your fantasy leagues this year.

Enjoy.

P.S. This is the first time in a while that I did not follow up a Heisman Highlight feature with a new product review. Odd.

HOF Spotlight: Chuck Bednarik

Name: Chuck Bednarik
Position: Center, Linebacker
Pro Career: 1949 – 1962
Team Affiliation(s): Philadelphia Eagles
College: Pennsylvania
Induction Class: 1967

Brief Bio: As one of the NFL’s last iron men, Chuck Bednarik was a star on both sides of the field, years after the two-way player had faded from the game. He was a standout center, being named to the All-NFL team in 1950 and heralded as the NFL’s all-time center in 1969. But even more than his bulldozer-esque blocking, Bednarik was a feared linebacker known for his bone-jarring hits. He was named to eight All-NFL teams as a defender and played in 8 Pro Bowls, being named the game’s MVP in 1954. In his entire 14-year career, Bednarik missed just 3 games.

Career Stats: 169 games played; 20 interceptions; 1 interception TD; 21 fumble recoveries; 40.25 yard punting average

Featured Card: 1948 Leaf #54. Chuck Bednarik’s two-time All-American college campaign may have played a factor in Leaf including him in their inaugural set before his professional career ever took off. Some confusion surrounds this card as it appears the 1948 Leaf #54 and the 1949 Leaf #134 both have the same card front. I am not a vintage card expert, but I believe only the 1948 Leaf is considered to be Bednarik’s true rookie card. Trivial Beckett value of this card is $500. There is just one copy of the 1948 card currently listed on eBay, a PSA 5 with a $849 price tag. If you are looking to purchase Bednarik’s RC, be sure to get all of the facts about the 1948/1949 differences so that you do not wind up paying a hefty premium for a sophomore year card.

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

Product Review: 2010 Donruss Elite

When Panini bought out the struggling Donruss/Playoff company last year, certain product offerings changed names (i.e. Panini Prestige and Panini Classics). However, they decided to allow a few longer tenured products to keep their namesake, such as the recently released Donruss Elite. While this is the second product from Panini on the 2010 release calendar, this is the first to feature photos of rookies in their new pro uniforms, something for which collectors always look forward.

The Box – Click for Detail

Hobby boxes come with 20 5-card packs for a total of 100 cards. I purchased this box from Dave and Adam’s Card World for $111 (I added some supplies to get free shipping), which translates into a $1.11/card ratio. That is a little high for my usual liking, but it matches the style of this product with its rookie focus and mid-shelf feel. It’s not low end like Score and it’s not high end like Exquisite, but you also get a lot more in a box than you will with Score and (most likely) a lot less than you would from Exquisite, so it’s appropriate.

Tim Tebow was on the side of the box, too (not Sam Bradford?)

The Breakdown:
Base Cards
   Veterans (#1-100): 85 (84.0% with 1 duplicate)
   Rookies (#101-201): 4 (all #/999)
Inserts
   Super Bowl XLIV: 1 (#/999)
   Elite Series: 1 (#/999)
   Chain Reaction: 1 (#/999)
   Zoning Commission: 1 (#/999)
   Stars: 1 (#/999)
   Prime Targets: 1 (#/999)
   NFL Shield/Team Logo Rookies: 2 (#/999)
   Aspirations Die Cut: 1 (#/90)
Relics
   Prime Targets: 1 (#/299)
   Down & Distance Prime: 1 (#/50)
Autos
   Turn of the Century Rookies: 2 (#/399)

Click images for full-sized scans

FIRST AND GOAL’S FOUR DOWNS:
1st Down, Design: The base design is not bad. There is a fair amount of stuff going on in the design, but it doesn’t come across as busy or crowded, which is something Panini/Donruss has struggled with in the past. I like that there is some color to the front of the card (Prestige, you might remember, was all ultra neutral with a grey/silver design). I would prefer to see a team color scheme, but as you can see with the Aspirations Die Cut and autograph cards, the design color helps to distinguish parallels. In the past, Donruss forced collectors to figure out which color foil stamp was used and the serial numbering to determine parallels, which was awfully annoying. The back of the card is decent, although I’d like to see more stats and a photo, as long as it’s not just a cropped version of the photo on the front. Lastly, the base cards (as well as most of the inserts) are on ultra shiny foil board. Normally I’m all for shiny, but these are REALLY shiny. And when almost every card in the entire box is ultra shiny, it loses some of its lure.

2nd Down, Inserts: Where to start? It seems like Panini took every good insert from the past and threw them all into this product. When I buy an entire box and there are so many inserts that I’m only pulling one of each, you may want to reconsider how many inserts sets you’ve created. And that does not include the plethora of parallels of each set that were produced, something for which Panini is infamous. Also, you can once again easily tell where the jersey swatch and/or autograph sticker would be placed if you had received the relic/auto parallel. Granted, they filled in those empty spaces better than in the past, but it is still there. Individually, no particular insert is oustanding or awful, but overall, there are just too many. I’d rather get a few more rookie cards than yet another worthless insert. One small change Panini has made this year might be minor, but I really like it. On their jersey cards, they are indicating directly on the card front whether or not the jersey swatch is prime. Before, you had to hope you got dual colors or stitches because otherwise you had to rely on the serial numbering to tell what you got. On a side note, this is probably the first time I’ve pulled a jersey card that I could definitely tell what part of the jersey it came from. If you tilt the card a little, you can see more white beyond the small red stripe, so it’s obviously the very far left portion of the Patriots logo. Pretty cool stuff.

3rd Down, Collation: The collation was pretty good. Out of 85 base cards, I only pulled 1 duplicate, which really isn’t too bad of a ratio. I also feel like I pulled a good sampling of the various inserts, rookies, and hits (you are “guaranteed” 4 hits per box with at least one being an auto). My only issue with collation is more related to my comment above about inserts. I would have been much happier if Panini had cut several insert sets from this product, if only to allow more room for rookies in each box. When half of your base set is rookie cards, I should be able to pull more than 4 from a single box. If you really want to limit each base rookie to just 999 copies, produce a few fewer cases to get more rookies in each box. I know this sort of product doesn’t really appeal to set collectors anyway, but even from a singles-focused collector, it would be much nicer to get more rookies from each box.

4th Down, Overall Value: It is what it is. Any time a product’s per card ratio exceeds $1, I start to get really leery. With a rookie class that has quite a few big names like Bradford, Spiller, and Tebow, there is certainly the potential to pull way more value than any individual box or case may have cost, but that tends to come down to luck of the draw (as is the case with any box break). One definite positive point here is that this is the first 2010 product to feature rookies in their new pro unis. One thing that really concerns me though is how quickly the box prices are falling. I bought my box for $111, but if I had waited less than a week, I could have paid $107. That’s not a huge dropoff, but for a brand new product that is less than a week from its release date, that seems rather significant to me. If I had gone the eBay route, I could have gotten a sealed box for about $85, although then you are at the mercy of disreputable sellers who open product to find the case hits and sell anything they didn’t open. As always, it boils down to knowing what you want. If you want a big base set to hand collate and a low per card price, wait for something like Score or Topps’ flagship. If you want super valuable and low numbered autographed patch cards, wait for something like Exquisite (oh wait…). But if you’re looking for something in the middle, Donruss Elite can be a good way to go.

RED ZONE RESULTS: Defensive penalty resulting in a FIRST DOWN Overall, this box break didn’t necessarily “wow” me, but it also did not disappoint or bore me. I didn’t pull any spectatular rookies or hits, including any of the case hits, but that is to be expected as not every box can be the best from the pack out. Given more time and a much larger budget, I definitely would not mind busting a case of this product. I think the base set would look really sharp in a binder and the new pro unis and various chase cards can be a great find. One slight personal bias that may come out is that I am all for any product that includes Emmitt Smith, and Panini did include him in their higher end autograph insert sets for Donruss Elite. So while I’m not ready to give this product any offensive points just yet, it definitely deserves another shot and further consideration, hence the defensive penalty and a fresh set of downs from inside the 10 yard line.

NEXT UP (tentatively): 2010 Upper Deck NCAA Sweet Spot

Heisman Highlight: Paul Hornung

Name: Paul Hornung
Position: Back
College: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Class: Senior
Winning Year: 1956 – 22nd Award
Official Heisman Profile: Click Here
 
 
 

Interesting Notes: Hornung was a truly versatile player who excelled in rushing, passing, blocking, and tackling…was the only Heisman Trophy winner who played for a losing team…won one of the tightest Heisman races ever (he was second in first place votes and all five regions had a different winner)…went on to have a stellar professional career with the Green Bay Packers…is a member of the National High School, College Football, and Pro Football Halls of Fame…was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1985.

Featured Card: 1957 Topps #151. Paul Hornung didn’t have to wait long for his rookie card. As one of the greatest athletes in Notre Dame history, Topps made sure to include his first card in their 1957 set. As a hall of fame player in all three levels of football (high school, college, and professional), it is no wonder Hornung’s rookie card draws a premium price on the vintage market. Current Buy It Now prices on eBay range from $2.50 to $2,600 with quite a few falling into a $250-$350 range. With such a high profile player, you obviously want to cover yourself when looking to purchase this card. I would be highly leery of a $2.50 price tag (what aren’t they telling you?) and I would be just as leery of paying $2,600 just to get an SGC 88. Like I always say, look for reputable dealers only, know what is most important to you and your collection (graded vs. raw), and always follow your gut. If it doesn’t feel right, walk away. If you don’t get any alarm bells in your head, pull the trigger and enjoy adding such a great vintage rookie card to your collection.

NOTE: You can find all of my Heisman Highlight Features by clicking the post banner above.

Blogosphere Kindness, Pt. 5

For a guy who doesn’t trade all that often, I sure seem to have a lot of trade posts backed up in the “to be written” queue in my head. Here is another one.

A little while ago (okay, maybe it’s been a long while by now), I sent out a few emails to fellow bloggers in an attempt to kick start my Buccos base Topps collection. One email I sent out was to Big D of Hey, That’s Mine! and Big D Custom Cards fame. He said he probably had some cards that would match my criteria and would send them off.

Not long afterward, I received a package straight outta Texas. Big D said it turned out he didn’t have a lot of base Topps Buccos, but he sent me what he had. I could piss and moan and cry that he should have sent more, but hey, there are now 10 fewer Buccos I need to track down, and that is cool by me.

And because Big D obviously has a Big H(eart), he threw in some Emmitts to boot, most of which I did not previously own. Let’s just say I would never turn down or complain about having more Emmitts. At this point I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to completing the massive overhaul to my Emmitt Smith card site, but at least I now have a few more to look at in person.

In return, I sent him some old Elways I had laying around. There aren’t a lot of trades I can complete with a smattering of old football cards, so I was really excited. I also like when I can use one of the many 1997 Donruss Preferred Tins as “packaging material.” Fortunately, Big D appreciated my offerings. It’s great guys like Big D that make me wish I had more trade bait and more time to complete trades. It certainly is a fun way to get some new cards for your collection while at the same time cleaning out some room in your storage boxes.

THANKS, BIG D!