Group Break Ideas

Yes, I realize there’s been a general lack of activity on the blog. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about cards or working to better organize the card closet. What it does mean is that I’ve been super busy at work and home, particularly with recently completing the requirements to become a CPA and readying the house for a baby in about 6 more weeks.

One of the things in the back of my mind has been wanting to do another group break. I’m thinking this time I’d like to try a case break as I’ve never had the opportunity to buy and bust an entire case before, and my current resources mean it will be a while off yet if I try to go it alone. So the question for y’all is what interests you? With the NFL lockout officially over, it’s time to get the football card machine in full operation. Here are some options:

1) Go with something high end that neither you nor I would typically buy into. It took take the form of something like Topps Inception. Each person would get relatively few cards, but each card, even the base cards, should be pretty sweet. Price per team would probably be around $35.

2) Go with something mid-level like Topps Chrome or Finest. The quantity per person will certainly increase over a high-end product, but there also wouldn’t be a huge drop off in quality of the hits. These products generally seem to be a pretty good bet for group break success. Price per team would probably be right around $30 (the price most likely won’t change much between the options as the quality/quantity of cards is the main difference).

3) Go with something lower-end like Topps’ flagship product. Each person gets a load of cards from their team(s) and there is still a chance for some great hits. I’d probably work a concept where you get every card from your team that is pulled, but then duplicates are pooled and evenly distributed (but all hits, regardless of duplication, go to the assigned team/person). Price per team again would probably be around $30 but might be able to drop closer to $25.

4) Go super low-end with something like Score. This might be an option specifically geared towards set collectors. I would do the duplicate pooling with this option, and with so few hits, each person could probably walk away with a nearly, if not 100%, completed base set (and hopefully a lot of inserts as well). Price per team would likely be $25 or less.

Each option would be blind submission-based. Buy-in period would run for about 1-2 weeks with each person simply signing up for one or more slots, up to 32. About a week before the group break results are disclosed, teams will be randomly assigned to paid slots, allowing a week for people to trade for favorite teams. Once the results are posted, all team assignments will be locked and cards will shoot to be mailed within a few days.

So what do you guys think? Anyone interested? If possible, I’d love to get a few group breaks going, maybe a product from each category. Also, we can spread this out over time as some products (Topps Chrome) aren’t set to release until late October anyway while others are already out (Score) or will soon release (Topps flagship). I am open to any and all suggestions for how to tweak the policies stated above and certainly for the product suggestions.

Vote in the poll and use the comments section liberally…

HOF Spotlight: Tom Fears

Name: Tom Fears
Position: End
Pro Career: 1948 – 1956
Team Affiliation(s): Los Angeles Rams
College: Santa Clara; UCLA
Induction Class: 1970
HOF Profile: Click Here
 
 

Brief Bio: Originally a defensive back with ball-hawking skills, Rams coaches quickly switched Tom Fears to offensive end and the move paid in spades. Fears led the league in receptions each of his first three seasons and improved his statistics each year while setting new league records. In 1950, he broke his own record with 84 receptions on the season, caught a then-record 18 passes in a single game, and scored all three Rams touchdowns to beat the Chicago Bears for the Western Division crown. A year later, his memorable 73-yard sensation of a reception broke a 17-17 tie and won the NFL championship over the Cleveland Browns. Fears was never an especially swift runner but was an overly precise route-runner and, despite his last name, was utterly fearless when catching a pass in traffic. Fears was named to the All-NFL squad twice.

Career Stats: 87 games played; 400 receptions; 5,397 receiving yards; 38 receiving TDs; 1 FG; 12 PATs; 2 INTs; 1 INT TD

Featured Card: 1950 Bowman #51. By the time Tom Fears was featured on his own rookie card, he had already established himself as a dominate and premiere receiver in the NFL. Current eBay prices for this card generally fall just below $100, although there is a pretty clear grading preference. As always, there is a token high priced listing – a $1,750 PSA 9. Fears has also been featured in several other vintage sets, junk wax era HOF-focused sets, modern high-end insert sets, and even modern base sets as a Legends subject.

 

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

Heisman Highlight: Archie Griffin

Name: Archie Griffin
Position: Running Back
College: Ohio State Buckeyes
Class: Senior
Winning Year: 1975 – 41st Award
Official Heisman Profile: Click Here
 
 
 

Interesting Notes: Griffin was named to every All-American team as a junior and destroyed the all-time rushing yards record in the Big Ten…was labeled “the greatest football player I’ve ever coached” by legendary Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes…amassed 31 consecutive 100+ yard games and 5,176 career rushing yards by the time he graduated early…was and is still the only player to ever win two Heisman Trophies…remained modest and an epitome of hard work and dedication on and off the field despite all of his personal accolades…played professional football for the Cincinnati Bengals…was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1986.

Featured Card: 1977 Topps #269. Despite his absolute dominance of the college game, Archie Griffin never really found his footing in the NFL, playing just 7 seasons with mediocre results. He will always be remembered, however, as the only two-time Heisman winner, a feat that has been challenged but never again repeated in the past 35 years. His rookie card remains fairly popular in terms of activity, but generally carries a sticker price of less than $5.

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

Product Review: 2011 Topps Rising Rookies

Ever notice how I do a string of product reviews in a short time frame and then go MIA for weeks on end? Yeah, I don’t know what causes that either. The only solution I’ve found is to enjoy the peaks and trudge through the valleys. Hopefully someday I’ll find a comfortable plateau on which to stroll for a while. But until then, here’s a review of Topps’ 2011 debut, Rising Rookies:

The Box – Click for Detail

Hobby boxes come with 24 10-card packs for a total of 240 cards. I got this box from Dave and Adam’s Card World for $77, which translates into a fairly low $0.32/card ratio. That price range puts Rising Rookies as a lower-end set than most pre-season releases, but not quite Score low. In the past, Topps waited until their flagship release to jump into the football market (save last year’s Topps Attax), so there’s not really a similar product with which to compare this set. So without further ado, let’s jump to the break:

My all-in-one machine hates scanning shiny objects…

The Breakdown:
Base Cards
   Veterans: 96 (9 duplicates)
   Rookies: 96 (0 duplicates)
Parallels
   Gold Rookies: 19
   Blue Rookies (#/1339): 4
Inserts
   NFL Draft Shield: 8
   Combine Competition: 6
   Draft Selections: 3
   Playmakers: 4
Hits
   Sophomore Fabrics Patch (#/25): 1
   Sophomore Autographs: 1
   NFL Shield Auto (#/100): 1
   NFL Draft Shield Patch Auto (#/65): 1
   Printing Plate (1/1): 1

Click each image for a full-sized scan

FIRST AND GOAL’S FOUR DOWNS:
1st Down, Design: In a word: good. I actually really like the base cards. Well, I really like the veteran base cards. The design is clean and simple. It features crisp photography with a narrow depth-of-focus to allow you to easily concentrate on the player. The card backs could use a little help. Perhaps a photo (especially if it is different than the photo on the front) and more statistics would help to spruce it up. The main focus of the set, however, is the rookies. And unfortunately, that’s where the set lags the most. I’m just not digging the heavy team logo box (a.k.a. where the cards are autographed), espcially since the simple team logos are just below in the left corner. Also, the photography is definitely lacking and the NFL Draft Shield background just doesn’t work for me. Granted, Topps is limited in what they can do with pre-season rookie cards. Stupid Upper Deck and their NCAA exlusive. I do like that the rookie card back are essentially the same as the veteran card backs. These kids are in the same league now, so its nice that every single aspect doesn’t have to be different in their cards.

2nd Down, Inserts: In a word: decent. The Draft Selections and Combine Competition inserts don’t do anything for me, but they obviously fit the product theme nicely. The NFL Draft Shield cards actually have a nice look to them and lend themselves well to the basic and auto/logo patch versions. I’m probably just a sucker for faux-marble design elements. The sophomore cards aren’t bad, but the jersey/patch cards look much better than the autographs. It is obvious, however that all of the rookie autograph and patch cards were done pre-draft as there are no team names or logos anywhere, just NFL shields. And you know what? That’s fine. Why? They got ON-CARD AUTOGRAPHS OF ROOKIES. HUGE bonus there. There is just too much open space for the auto labels, especially when someone signs small like Eric Decker did. These are sophomore cards, get them hard-signed. There you have a much better chance of all that blank space being used effectively. The Playmaker cards were actually my favorite. I like the subtle fade of the lettering and the very simplistic design.

3rd Down, Collation: In a word: tolerable. In a box with 240 cards, duplicates are going to happen. It doesn’t mean I have to like them, but I should expect them. Interestingly enough, I got 96 veterans with 9 dupes and 96 rookies with no dupes. Whatever that means. I did get all four auto/memorabilia cards I was guaranteed, so that’s a plus. As an added bonus, I also pulled a 1/1 printing plate. I still have mixed feelings about these things, but I have to admit I still get a bit giddy about pulling a 1/1, even if there are technically four printing plates for each card.

4th Down, Overall Value: In a word: great. With 240 cards for just $77 (and the price has come down even further since I purchased), the box would have to be a complete miss to not deliver any value. The on-card rookie autographs are a huge plus. That is something Upper Deck always seemed to nail, Topps has been making strides to do, and Panini is completely incompetant of doing. I’ve never been a huge fan of manu-patches, but they do look pretty cool in person. The same goes for the printing plates. Obviously not every box will have a printing plate, but Topps did make an effort to add some value to an early, rookie-focused set, which is appreciated.

RED ZONE RESULTS: FIELD GOAL The base cards are decent, especially the veterans, the inserts are acceptable, and the hits were much nicer than I anticipated. The collation could have used a bit of tweaking, but as I mentioned above, a less than 4% duplicate rate isn’t terrible, especially for a lower-end set. The nice thing about these mildly cheaper sets is there is very little chance of being disappointed or feeling buyer’s remorse. On the other hand, there is a potential to be pleasantly surprised by what you pull. It was a very small sample size, but I was pleasantly surprised with my box.

NEXT UP: 2011 Donruss Elite

HOF Spotlight: Jack Christiansen

Name: Jack Christiansen
Position: Defensive Back
Pro Career: 1951 – 1958
Team Affiliation(s): Detroit Lions
College: Colorado State
Induction Class: 1970
HOF Profile: Click Here
 
 

Brief Bio: A small but crafty specialist, Jack Christiansen almost didn’t even play college football due to his size. Fortunately, he was coaxed onto the squad and was an instant star for Colorado State. His size also caused many NFL teams to doubt his value, but the Lions were quickly rewarded for drafting him. Twice in his rookie season, he returned two punts for touchdowns in the same game. Opposing teams quickly switched to the spread punt formation when facing the Lions and developed a don’t punt to Jack mantra. For as good of a returner as Christiansen was, his forte was as a defensive back where he wrecked havoc on passing schemes. Twice he led or co-led the league in interceptions and was name to six consecutive All-NFL teams and played in five consecutive Pro Bowls. With Christiansen in the defensive backfield, the Lions dominated the 1950s, winning four divisional and three world championships.

Career Stats: 89 games played; 1,084 punt return yards; 8 punt return TDs; 1,329 kickoff return yards; 46 INTs; 3 INT TDs; 7 fumble recoveries; 2 rushing TDs

Featured Card: 1952 Bowman #129. With such a strong rookie campaign, there is little doubt why Bowman opted to include Jack Christiansen in their 1952 football set. Fans still love this legendary set, which came in large and small variations. Current eBay auctions are fairly evenly spread from a low of $125 to a second highest $579, with a slight grading preference. There is the token excessively priced $5,000 listing – a small PSA 8.5. Christiansen also has several other vintage football cards as the hobby was finally starting to catch on in the 1950s. He has also been featured in more modern HOF-focused sets.

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

America

Emmitt says: Happy birthday, America! You’re celebrating your 235^th year of indendence and I was a celebrated part of America’s Team. Coincidence? I think not!

Hope you’re all having a good holiday weekend, everyone. Even you, Canadians…although your holiday was on the other side of the weekend.