2011 Sweet Spot

When UD brought back Sweet Spot last year I was excited for the college helmets because I collect LSU players. It was hit and miss, but overall a success - so they brought it back in 2011. The main pitfall last year was the supplemental jersey hits were dollar bin bound no matter the player almost. The main hits were generally great and the NCAA variation was the only card I did not like.

Price Paid: $98.95
Sale Value (on ebay): $55.00 (week after release)

Design: The base are excellent and resemble a less desirable 2011 Upper Deck. Of course, we all know what to expect from the helmet cards and they do live up to the hype. I happen to enjoy these cards and the two I got were cleanly designed and highly desirable for a college collector. The variations this year are a success as well. Last year, the lower prints were a generic NCAA helmet, but now we have two versions of the same team's helmet which makes the collector have more options. Also, the base cards have auto variations that replace last year's swatches. This is a major upgrade as they provide four hits people will generally want. Booklet cards are also included which are aesthetically pleasing as well. The only complaint I have is that the one insert is awful. I would avoid the Scouting Report cards...really, who wants to see Mortensen or McShay on their card? 4.5/5

Checklist: As I stated before the base auto list helped the product tremendously. After seeing multiple breaks last year it was very predictable and the same players were coming out over and over. 2011 brings unpredictability because the checklist is very deep. The veteran helmet list is enormous and has rare names included. It really delivers for just about anyone and everyone. 5/5

Fun: Similarly to last year we get four tins with four packs with at least one hit in each. You can open them all and have the Sweet Spots for last or just break them in order. At the price, the risk is not incredibly high so you shouldn't be panicking if you have no huge hits. However, the huge hits are in there and that makes it more fun. 4/5

What I got:

Daniel Thomas Base Auto
Ryan Whalen Base Auto
Jonathan Baldwin Sweet Spot Auto
Kelvin Sheppard Sweet Spot Auto

Overall/Value: Unfortunately, the value is standard unless you get a big hit. Minus 20-40 is probably the norm, but one big hit could put you over the top as well. Singles are probably the way to go, but I would not discourage anyone from trying it out, either. 3.5/5

My Break/Tilt: The players I got all have potential and I got a PC hit. I love the look of the cards and I would probably give it another shot if I had the money. 4.5/5

Overall: 21.5/25 B

So here we go - Score did a very good job this year with their release. Topps is the main competition and in the past I have leaned towards Score if I wanted a cheap break. I am not going to be breaking a jumbo version of Topps so I can make a fair comparison between the two.

Price Paid: $52.95
Sale Value (on ebay): $37.00 (week of release)

Design: There are so many variations and inserts and different types of hits it is hard to keep track of everything able to be pulled from this product. This seems to be the most serious set of Topps I have ever seen. The base set is very clean as usual with white borders, a team logo and stripe with the player name included at the bottom. The photography is excellent and the set should be easy to complete even with 440 cards. However, the rookies are still looking like male models in their shots which make the base rookie cards undesirable for me. The 1950 Bowman mini's do not do it for me either with the posed, poorly done art work. The ToppsTown inserts are nice looking metallic cards similar to 2002 pristine cards and provide rookie inserts I would rather have than the base. The Faces of the Franchise inserts are better than average providing two players from each team on a card with a little bit too much photoshopping done for me. Unfortunately, the worst cards are the most common base relics and gameday auto cards. If the Game Day cards had the team name at the top rather than a giant font stating GAMEDAY, they would be great. Also, wasting the bottom half of the card with white is pointless unless you have on card autographs...and these have oddly placed stickers. Finally, I am always a hater of rookie premier photo shoots and the red zone photos. Again, for the reason of male modeling photography. If I pull one it would go straight to ebay no matter who the player is. With all of that being said, the chase cards are sketch cards and Super Bowl Legend relics all of which look amazing including super bowl ring replicas, stamps, autographs, sticket stubs etc. So if you are lucky enough to hit one of those, they have the potential to be a centerpiece of any collection. 3.5/5

Checklist: The Super Bowl Legend cards alone make the checklist amazing for me. Topps certainly isn't just for kids anymore and seems to be more about chase cards. The checklist is loaded with potential that is unlikely, but not impossible to pull. I'd imagine every Jumbo case has 1-2 SB Legends card included. The potential for a huge hit is there even if you will most likely pull dollar bin jerseys and some cheap gameday auto cards. 5/5

Fun: Topps is always a fun product to break. You get 36 packs and 360 cards to sort through and a plethora of gem mint condition top rookies. Jumbo is probably even more fun as you have a better chance at a big pull. It's not perfect because there's no suspense, but it also has lasting value. 4.5/5

What I got:

Gameday Jersey Tony Gonzalez

Gold Parallel /2011 x4 (vets)

Black Parallel /55 Brandon Merriweather

10 minis

Dalton toppstown

Ponder toppstown

30 or so more inserts

Overall/Value: With one hit per box Topps had to make the set collectible and the base desirable. Based on the market it seems as if they have succeeded so far. There is enough going to here to keep collectors interested. I believe the box is about $10 overpriced and will hopefully come down after it's out for a while. The value at $52.95 will not last with this product. 3.5/5

My Break/Tilt: I had an average break and still didn't come out badly. I only pulled 5-6 cards I wanted to keep which is about average for this product. I'm not blown away, but it was fun and the price tag is about right for now. 4/5

Overall: 20.5/25 C+

2011 Panini Rookies and Stars

This product is about as consistent as it gets. Everyone knows just about what to expect and it came out right as the lockout ended making it hotter than normal. It's got much more hype than any other year I can remember.

Price Paid: $84.95
Sale Value (on ebay): $80.00 (week of release)

Design: The base is clean and white and resembles SP Authentic. Not collectible as a set, but decent enough to keep your team's players. The rookies beat the heck out of the Prestige design, but they generally use the same photographs from the combine. Weak photography makes the base rookies much less appealing. Everyone knows R&S is famous for the manufactured NFL team patch autographs. I personally like these cards and they are the same old thing with new players. They also brought back the same old jumbo jersey cards which I'm not a huge fan of because of the "event worn" deal. The Studio Rookies and Dress For Success and Freshman Orientation took a dive this year as the posed smiling pictures make it seem like they are male models and not athletes. The Rookie Revolution cards are somewhere in the middle, not great, but not poor. Finally, the veteran options are the Prime Cuts and Statistical Standouts both of which are very well put together and desirable for any collector. There's some hit and miss in here, but there's more hits. 3.5/5

Checklist: They boast a 130 rookies base list which is always fun for most collectors. There are also four different parallel levels which are fun to hunt for (no 1/1 base, woohoo!). You have a good shot at pulling at least two or three good rookie cards with the Dress For Success being the only dollar-bin type hit. The manufactured autographs are the feature here, so if you do not like them, AVOID this product. There are 50 different players to pull which gives a wide variety of nice hits there. It's always tough to break a box of this and not get at least one good hit. 4.5/5

Fun: About half of the packs will have an insert or hit making it a good ratio. The break will go by in about 5-10 minutes and will probably leave most feeling satisfied. There's very little suspense, but a decent shot at a one-card box savior. In the end, it's the standard 24 packs with 4 hits. 3/5

What I got:

24 base rookies

2 longevity parallel /249 (Jahvid Best, Aaron Rodgers)

1 longevity parallel /99 (DeSean Jackson)

1 longevity parallel /49 (Sidney Rice)

2 studio rookie /500 (Rudolph, Green)

2 rookie revolution /500 (Titus Young, Von Miller)

auto /300 (Cameron Jordan)

patch /50 (Donald Driver)

freshman orientation jersey /299 (Andy Dalton)

Freshman Orientation auto jersey /50 (jonathan baldwin)

Overall/Value: I think my break is a great example of this product. It had excellent value, but I must mention my other buys were weeks after the initial release and this one was on time (except Score). The values of these cards traditionally drop almost in half depending on the player after a month or so. There is really big hit potential though and it's hard to see not making at least half of your money back on a break (at least right now). 4.5/5

My Break/Tilt: The best looking card I got was the Driver and it is the least valuable. It is just a base card with a 2 color patch inserted. I missed hitting the manufactured patch auto and still came out pretty well. Anyone hitting those early on are making good cash off of this. 4/5

Overall: 19.5/25 C

New Products this week

Will be getting in Rookies and Stars and Topps this week. At least one will be reviewed this weekend. R&S should be the standard stuff and it will be fun to compare Topps and Score as usual. Can't wait!

2011 Upper Deck

Finally caught up with all of the 2011 released products. So far, a little underwhelming. There are only 2-3 products I would buy again in 2011 with 11 of the low/mid-end products released. I wanted to open Upper Deck when it came out, but I knew I was getting a box as a gift - so let's see what they have to offer up this year!

Price Paid: $83.95
Sale Value (on ebay): $70.00

Design: Right off the bat I loved the photography used in this product. Upper Deck has the NCAA license and used it to it's full potential with awesome action shots and logos. The basic autographed cards are basically the same as the base with a sticker included. The letterman autos are significantly better than most as well due to the clean design and clear picture of the player. The Ultimate Collection autos look just like the Ultimate rookie base autos from last year and leave a good amount of space for the auto with a simple design that focuses on the college logo and uniform. The inserts are not highly collectible, but I loved the Saturday in Action, Historical Programs and Class Of cards. The Saturday in action have the best photography I have ever seen on a card and the other two just have original designs. The ones I did not like are Conference Clashes and Dream Tandems - it's just hard to pull off a nice card featuring two players. A big part of the marketing was about the UD Evolution cards. I did not pull one so it is hard to comment, but based on what I saw the design is very impressive as well if you like mid 90's inserts. 5/5

Checklist: The base checklist goes on and on and on with basically every rookie you will want for colleges or pros. They make the SP list very clear as almost any card #51-132 are SP rookies minus about 15. The old Wild Card stripe makes another appearance as well and makes for an interesting parallel. Also impressive was the fact that #51-200 all have auto variations as well. While some of them are less desirable, a specific team collector will be all over some of these guys because they will not appear in other products. The letterman cards are nice, but the numbering on them was a bit high and they are overproduced. Overall, one has to be happy looking at the checklist full of SPs, collectible parallels, and a plethora of rookies. 5/5

Fun: You will get 20 packs with 6 cards per pack and two base autographs and one letterman. Additionally, you should get a couple of SP cards, striped parallels, and rookie variations of the early 90's UD sets. That gives the customer a LOT to look forward to other than the hits. This is truly a set I would like to put together (and I generally just collect autographs). 5/5

What I got:

Lawrence Wilson Auto

Troy Aikman Printing Plate 1/1

Chykie Brown Auto

Austin Pettis Letterman Auto

7 1992 Variations

1 SP Rookie

Overall/Value: Even though I did not quite break even, anything that comes close is not a bad value because it can easily be a little bit less or a little bit more. That just means they got the pricing about right on the product. $80 seems steep for base Upper Deck, but they delivered this year and it is the most collectible set so far this year. 4.5/5

My Break/Tilt: I'm happy with my break. I could easily get my money back and try it again, but with the extra 1/1 I think I got a little bit lucky. There will be some breaks that get you about $50 worth and some that will get you $100. That just means the price tag is just about right. I highly recommend this product and if you want base cards to grade of the next great rookie - this is the set to get them from. 4.5/5

Overall: 24/25 A+

2011 Press Pass Legends

It looks like Sage and Press Pass are taking a dive after losing their licensing. Legends in the past has been an above average product. I am skeptical this year for obvious reasons if you look at my previous reviews.

Price Paid: $120.99
Sale Value (on ebay): $43.00

Design: The base design is off. It's hard to say what went wrong here. The photoshopped picture has a high brightness and the photograph is in a weird shape with the football field yard marks on the sides. This is pure throwaway base. Really, all of the autographed cards look about the same. They cut off directly halfway through the card and have a giant space for a signature. If the player has a nice autograph these aren't so bad, but if the player has a small autograph or a boring one - these cards look terrible. There's very little to distinguish from All Americans to Saturday Signatures to Legends of the Fall to Past and Present to the base. The Saturday Swatches are a set I always enjoy and they continue to be decent in this set. 2/5

Checklist: Extremely weak for something called "legends". The legends chosen are simply a weak list. There's numbers of guys who rarely sign cards that could make legends products amazing. We get a list of a few guys many people have not heard of and about 8 desirable names of real legends. So basically, we have another rookie product. About 70% of the checklist is made up of a rookies in a product calling itself Legends. WHAT!? 1/5

Fun: I've always liked the mini box format. You get 3 mini boxes with 6 packs each and two hits per mini box. There's also a slew of parallels, but the six hits are the main attraction. At the price you are paying $20 per hit in a Press Pass product full of mostly rookies. I just can't get over that, but this was still a decently fun break. 3/5

What I got:
Paul Krause Auto /99
Greg Salas base auto
Ryan Williams base auto
Terrence Toliver Jersey

Willie Brown base auto

Mikel LeShoure base auto

Overall/Value: I am rarely at a loss. The longer this product sits on the shelf, the more the value will decrease unless the rookie class is great. Even then you will need two HUGE hits to get your money back. I rarely feel robbed because I know collecting is a gamble, but I truly feel like this product is a joke. 1/5

My Break/Tilt: No tilt this time because my break was very poor. I looked at other people's breaks and they generally weren't a whole lot better. This is a shame because I have many Press Pass products in my PC and love the mid/late 2000 cards they were releasing. Heck, I even liked the Bowl Edition from 2008 many people hate. They are going in the wrong direction. 1/5

Overall: 8/25 F- (one of the worst modern products I have opened)

2011 Sage Autographed

After opening Sage high/low 2011 I am not looking forward to this break. Honestly, I considered not reviewing it at all. That would defeat the purpose of this blog, though. I am trying to go into this break with an open mind hoping this is superior to what Sage released earlier.

Price Paid: $120.99
Sale Value (on ebay): $78

Design: There's not a lot to discuss here because you get base cards and 5 levels of autographed cards. The base have posed photography and a busy background that I don't hate, but don't like either. In fact, I got rid of all of the base immediately after the break. No one buys this product for base cards, though. With 3 cards per pack you just go straight to the autographed card anyways. They definitely look a little bit better than the Sage product from earlier this year, but are still just a smidge over terrible due to the photography choices. 2.5/5

Checklist: Since Sage combined their two products from earlier and made this one, there are fewer commons and a better chance to hit a good player. Other than the five levels of auto cards - there is nothing to the checklist. One great thing about Sage is that they never EVER have redemptions. 3/5

Fun: Whether they are ugly or not, getting 14 autographs out of a break is fun. The price is scary when you're paying about $8 a hit. Each one that comes out poorly is a bit gut-wrenching. Overall, the busting experience is fun, but there just isn't much to this product. 4/5

What I got:
Curtis Brown Red
Jerrel Jernigan Red
Adam Weber Silver
TJ Yates Silver
Taiwan Jones Gold /200
Stephen Paea Gold /200
Casey Matthews Gold /200
Ryan Kerrigan Gold /200
Mikel LeShoure Gold /200
Jacquizz Rodgers Gold /200
Allen Bradford Gold /200
Nate Solder Gold /200
Curtis Brown Platinum /50
Christian Ponder Platinum /50



Overall/Value: 10 of the 14 cards I got were numbered to 200 or less, so that's a good sign right away. I hit a lot of guys who have potential, but don't sell well right now (and that's ok with me). It's virtually impossible to open this stuff and not get one of the top players. I was lucky and hit a decent QB with my platinum auto. The value is there - it would be easier to recommend at an even $100 price tag. For $120 you can't just get much higher quality products. 3.5/5

My Break/Tilt: I am happy with my break. I don't feel nearly as empty as I did after the other Sage products. They took a step back overall this year, but they at least ended up with a decent product here. I can;t fully recommend it because of the price tag and I can't totally bash it because I got decent stuff. 3.5/5

Overall: 16.5/25 F

2011 Sage High and Low Series

Press Pass and Sage are two products many collectors ignore. I collect LSU players and these products are usually a must for me even if I just decide to buy singles. Losing the NCAA license hurt Press Pass dramatically this year - how will Sage fare?

Price Paid: $55.99 for low $79.95 for high
Sale Value (on ebay): Low: $21 High: $45

Design: The base cards in Sage are normally very forgettable, but easy to collect since there are just 40. The same rings true this year. The last time I remember liking the base for Sage was 2006 and this year's isn't bad per se, but it's very vanilla. There is giant position text, giant name text, and a giant weird looking football player logo in the background. All anyone cares about in this product are the auto cards anyways. If you are familiar with Sage, you are used to the giant stickers. They don't bother me - what bothers me is how busy the cards are and how poor some of the photography is. The design is a bit too much for my taste with the big steaks on the side with a caged looking design. Furthermore, two of the three main inserts are awful. The write stuff looks like a bunch of yellow vomit with a portrait of the player on the right and the Big Time cards are embarrassing. Big Heads are not cool. Period. Score may be able to pass something like that because it is kid-friendly - Sage should not be doing this. Also, the Make Ready inserts are so god-awful is makes my head hurt. They are printing plates /50 that just look like a giant piss stain on cardboard. All of that being said, I've seen worse and the Artistry set is very nice looking with professional design and nice action shots. 2.5/5

Checklist: It is pretty weak for the low series. I counted 9 players I would be happy to pull out of the 40 listed. I would also immediately sell any autograph from Big Time or the Write Stuff. What is sad is there are only 7 players I would be happy pulling from the High series. The price is simply high due to the fact that Cam Newton is included (the 10 autographs is cool too, but the checklist has tons of commons). 2/5

Fun: Sage is always a fun break because it contains 30 packs and lots of autographs. One out of every three high series pack will have an auto and one out of every five low series will contain an auto. Other than that, there are tacky silver/gold parallels and some odd looking inserts. The fun solely relies on the autographed cards which about 80% are commons. 3/5

What I got:
Low:
Two make ready inserts
Scotty McKnight Silver auto
Torrey Smith silver Auto
Stephen Skelton Silver Auto
Jeremy Kerley Red Auto
Rahim Moore Silver Auto
Jerrel Jernigan Red Auto

High:
Two make ready inserts
Austin Pettis Auto /250
Ricky Stanzi Big Time Auto /100
Taiwan Jones Silver Auto
Aldon Smith Red Auto
Marcus Gilchrist Silver Auto
James Cleveland Red Auto
TJ Yates Gold Auto /250
Curtis Brown Silver auto
Jamie Harper Gold auto /250
Drake Nevis Silver auto


Overall/Value: These are about average as far as value. There is potential for some nice autographs; however, the majority of the break will always be commons. These prices won't last as more products are coming out and the value will only increase if one of the UDFA guys included performs well. The price tages are still about $15 too high for this to be worth your time. 2.5/5

My Break/Tilt: The low series was complete garbage and the high series was tolerable. I do not want to keep any cards I pulled except the Newton artistry card. These products are forgettable and Sage needs to step it up for anyone to take them seriously anymore. 2/5

Overall: 12/25 F-

2011 Leaf Draft Ultimate

So far 2011 has been mostly disappointing for football products. Of the early releases Leaf Metal is my favorite so far. Releasing a second product made me a bit suspicious - especially since it is the same format. These are limited to 375 cases and each card is numbered /49 or below. Again, each card is encased and comes in pristine condition.

Price Paid: $84.95
Sale Value (on ebay): $97.00

Design: For the first time in a long time I got to see some real old school die-cut cards. I used to love them when I was younger, so I am still a bit partial. There are four designs: Ultimate Base, Ultimate Metal, Ultimate Helmet, and Ultimate Football. The base and metal are just colorful versions of the previous product. They look great. Leaf added a little touch that makes these cards stand out in person. The helmet cards would be simply amazing if they had the NCAA logo. However, the teams that do not have a logo on the helmet are look perfect. As a LSU fan I have to say I am not a huge fan of a big yellow blank helmet. The football die-cuts are the weakest of the four kits, but still have an amount of originality that makes me like them. It just doesn't leave enough space for the players to sign a full autograph. 4.5/5

Checklist: This has already been explained. They focus on offensive players and keep the commons to a minimum. You should be able to pull an a lister in every other pack. Everything is low numbered and the checklist is the most simplistic and easy to understand, ever. 4.5/5

Fun: This can't be perfect since there are just 4 cards per pack. It is slightly more fun than the base Leaf Metal because everything is numbered so low and you can still use the 'sliding' method. Big names are common in this product, so the fun gets a boost there too. 4.5/5

What I got:
Von Miller Helmet Auto /49
Austin Pettis Football Auto /20
Wes Bynum Base Auto /5
Mark Ingram Metal Auto /49





Overall/Value: When you make a profit on your break, you have to be happy. I got two great players, one good one, and a kicker. I dislike the kicker in this product - especially since he isn't very good. Anyways, the value for the product is amazing and I highly recommend it for anyone and every kind of collector. 5/5

My Break/Tilt: Really like three of the four players I got. All are collectible and all sell well. 5/5

Overall: 23.5/25 A

2011 Panini Prestige

Prestige is one of the early sets that I usually don't get overly excited about. Elite and Rising Rookies both disappointed me, so this would be a great year for Prestige to excel. I will be comparing this to Rising Rookies as they seem to be direct rivals.

Price Paid: $77.90
Sale Value (on ebay): $47.00

Design: Like every other product this year besides Press Pass, the base design is simple and easy on the eyes. Again, they are not really collectible and I will just be keeping my favorite team set. The designs that I did not like are the Stars of the NFL, NFL Draft, NFL Passport, and base rookies. Minus the Stars inserts, there is a trend there. All of the rookie cards were too busy or too boring or the photography was oddly close to the subject. It seems as if laziness took over and they threw in the towel because they had no NCAA license. However, they HAVE AN NFL LICENSE AND SHOULD HAVE USED IT. The team name is there, but they needed to use some creativity to make the cards more collectible. Again, I don't want the Cam Newton base rookie and that is a problem. 3/5

Checklist: I always enjoy the extra points parallels as they make the base cards more fun to collect. The sp rookie cards would be fun to go after too if they weren't so ugly. On first glance it is what I expected with most of the rookies I am interested in represented, but on a closer look I saw one auto I wanted was numbered to /1499 and he is an undrafted free agent! How horrible it must be to pull that card because we all know it is relatively worthless. Fortunately, I got further down the list and was pleased with the veteran cards and I really actually like the way most of these cards look. My favorites are the Collegiate Letterman, Patch Autographs and the Preferred sets. 4/5

Fun: With the standard 24 packs/8 cards with 4 hits it is always fun and risky at the same time. We know two of the hits will be dollar bin material. What could have set this apart is having rookie cards that I didn't treat like base. The extra points are fun and overall it was an average break on the fun scale. 3.5/5

What I got:
Akeem Ayers Red /100
Nick Fairley Blue /999
Jimmy Smith Red /100
Julio Jones Blue /999
Terrence Toliver Gold /250
Robert Quinn Blue /999
Aldon Smith Rc Sp
Sam Bradford Rookie Review Jersey
Dion Lewis Auto /599
Kendall Hunter NFL Draft Auto
CJ Spiller Rookie Review Jersey






Overall/Value: I really can't complain about my break. I may be in the minority here on the look of the rookies because many of them are still selling well and the SP's are being collected by others. Being minus 30 in a mid-end break really isn't bad. The veteran auto checklist makes this product worth the risk and better than elite and rising rookies. 4/5

My Break/Tilt: When all was said and done I was happy with my cards. I didn't get big name hits and still didn't lose too much. The big negative is the rookie design and I will probably end up selling off almost every card I got here. 3/5

Overall: 17.5/25 D

2011 Press Pass

I generally collect a few Press Pass cards every year and occasionally open a box every now and then and am rarely let down. Knowing that a pre-rookie college based product lost their NCAA license is quite inauspicious. At the price, it may be worth the risk either way - let's see.

Price Paid: $65.95
Sale Value (on ebay): $45.00

Design: After thinking about their base design, I still don't know if I like it. It is a portrait of the player on a scoreboard with their name and stats. It's a good idea and makes losing the NCAA license passable. It really just looks more like an insert than a base card. Along with the base I also liked the classic Banner Season inserts, Power Picks, and Gridiron Gamers jersey cards. Unfortunately, the most important cards to like the design of are the autographed cards - and they are just plain boring. Also, the Class of 2011 look odd as if they only had one photo to choose from for each player. I understand they needed to eliminate helmets, but it just reminds me of the old Studio baseball cards that were very fruity. 3/5

Checklist: They had most of the guys collectors were looking for. Some of the inserts are collectible while some are not. I could go either way on this - there just wasn't much depth other than the typical bronze, silver, gold, blue. 3/5

Fun: Press Pass is always pretty fun to break because we get to see the 2011 class for the first time. Leaf Metal beat them to it and really blew Press Pass out of the water this year. Neither of them had a license and only one made nice looking hits. I had Metal in the back of my mind during this break wishing I had been able to buy two of their products instead of one Press Pass and one Metal. 3/5

What I got:
Greg Little bronze auto
Derrick Locke bronze auto
Tandon Doss /199 silver auto
Mark Ingram  Class of 2011 auto /199
Stephen Paea Gold /99 auto
Andy Dalton /225 jersey



Overall/Value: With 28 packs per box and 4 cards per pack with 6 hits I feel the value is probably about right for the price. The most disturbing fact is that I only liked the design of one of my hits - and it was the jersey card. I did get a big hit and I have seen a lot of Ingram, Jones, and Newton pulled - so it is possible to get some nice hits from this product. However, knowing that I got a good break and coming out $20 short is ridiculous and it is obvious that I was not the only one who did not like the look of this product. 3/5






My Break/Tilt: With everything said, I was happy with my break. I got what I expected and a little bit more. Any product I pull and Ingram from will get a good tilt here. 4/5

Overall: 16/25 F

2011 Elite

Traditionally Donruss Elite is one of my favorite sets. The base designs are consistent and the rookies and autographs hold their value over time. Like any other product of this caliber, they have some meaningless inserts which usually do not hold much value and look cheesy. Lets see what early 2011 holds after Leaf Metal made a strong showing early in the season.

Price Paid: $95.90
Sale Value (on ebay): $34.00

Design: As always, I really like the base cards. The metallic background has always worked for this set and they were smart enough to make minor changes to keep them looking fresh. Like many other base sets, there is no real value, but just like Rising Rookies I would pick out the team set I wanted and keep it in my collection. Again, the Aspirations and Status parallels DO hold some value and I always enjoy getting a couple of those in this product. Unfortunately, they did not keep the same design for the rookies. The rookie cards are horizontal close up photography from the combine. While some players are in their NFL jerseys, most are in training gear with awkward looks on their faces. It looks like most collectors agree as some of these autographed rookie cards float through Ebay without a bid. 3/5 (for base and parallels)

Checklist: The checklist itself is impressive. There is a Passing the torch guaranteed auto per case and those cards are usually really nice. However, I did not like the look of the Down and Distance, Hit List, or Power Formulas inserts. Also, products like this have made pulling booklet cards much less spacial as you can pull single color booklet dual jersey cards. It is impressive because there's still some big names like Manning, Elway and Bradford, but odds are you will be getting someone less notable. 4/5

Fun: The Aspirations and Status cards make this a fun product along with the chance of hitting something big. Elite has always given us the opportunity to have a great pull from a mid-end product. The inserts were rather meaningless and the rookie cards were hideous which takes away from the fun. 3.5/5

What I got:
Beanie Wells Aspirations /74
Cam Newton Rookie
Blaine Gabbert Rookie
4 Less notable Rookies
Da'Quan Bowers Auto /49
Jimmy Smith Rookie Auto /499
Darren Sproles Jersey /299
Beanie Wells Jersey  /299






Overall/Value: The price tag is pretty hefty for this product. My expectations may have been too high and that's my own fault. If the rookie designs were better we would be talking a world of difference. However, I collect Panthers and I do not want the Cam Newton rookie because of how it looks - that's saying something. I came out of this product minus $60 on an average looking break - that is unacceptable.2/5

My Break/Tilt: I thought my break was pretty average with the dollar bin jersey cards, a lower tier auto, and a good sp auto. An average break should not leave you $60 in the hole. In fact, all of my breaks I have posted so far have been average and the other losses are acceptable/expected. 2.5/5


Overall: 15/25 F

2011 Topps Rising Rookies

Topps Rising Rookies is the first Topps product I've gotten to this year and I knew what to expect. This is the product that will rival Panini Prestige. I will review Prestige a little bit later; these reviews are in the order that I opened the products so far this year. Obviously, this product is based on the rookie class and should give us a good idea how hard the people at Topps have been working.

Price Paid: $73.90
Sale Value (on ebay): $37.00

Design: The base cards are simple action photos with a football swoop at the bottom with the player's name and a dash of the team colors. If you like good action shots and simple base cards like I do then these are nice. Nothing amazing, but nice. They are not very collectible;however, they are at least easy on the eyes and worth having stashed in my collection (I would keep my favorite team's set). On the other hand, I did not care for the rookie card design. I know it was hard for them without the NCAA approval, but it is still not my cup of tea. I really do not like close ups of player's faces on my cards. The team logo at the bottom is a decent touch, though. Furthermore, the inserts were mostly very lame other than the Playmakers which were the only ones to stand out. 3.5/5

Checklist: It is a relatively deep checklist with more to it than just rookies. The base rookie autographs leave a little bit to be desired. Additionally, the diamond-shaped patch autograph cards are very nice and the Playmakers hits look great as well. The Draft Selections jersey cards are the ones you will want to avoid. They are to be expected in a mid/lower end product like this, though. 4/5

Fun: With 5 rookies per pack and a parallel in every pack, you will stay entertained. That's 24 packs of rookie and parallel goodness with a dash of two autographs and four total hits. I had a lot of fun opening this and younger collectors should flock to a product like this. 4.5/5

What I got:
Tons of rookies
20 Gold Rookies (Locker)
4 Blue Rookies /1399 (Mallett)
Mardy Gilyard Jersey /10
Austin Pettis auto /260
Ray Lewis Playmakers Jersey
Tandon Doss auto






Overall/Value: To me, this one looks like a big hit or miss. At the price, it won't kill someone to buy a box of this stuff and not get much. For what it's worth, you get a lot of rookies, parallels and at least four hits. I would not buy this product again and at the same time I wouldn't knock it either. 3/5

My Break/Tilt: What I got is probably around average for this product. There are probably some a little worse off and some a little better. Getting a huge hit out of this is unlikely and it may not be likely to make 100% of your money back. There are 1/1, inserts, and some veteran auto cards that will make or break you here. 3/5

Overall: 18/25 D/D+

2011 Score

As usual Score and Topps are the two entry-level product for collectors. Score came out first this year and I usually buy a box of this product (or select) every year. I laid off last year because the designs looked tacky - will this year be better? We still get the standard 36 packs with 7 cards per pack with a glossy insert and a decent chance at a big name autograph.

Price Paid: $27.99
Sale Value (on ebay): Roughly $15.00

Design: After opening the first pack I had a bit of relief. Finally we get a new design that looks a lot like some of the early 90's score products I grew up with. However, the photography has improved and therefore the cards have improved as well. At .99 cent packs you get a clean design and an almost guaranteed big rookie name in every few packs. The only problem with the design is that the actual photograph looks like it could be larger leaving the borders a bit large. 4/5

Checklist: This is the backbone for this product. There are some rookies here that are not in any other products and make it a bit more desirable. I have never liked the hot rookies or any of the other inserts included in Score, but they are not so bad this year as the design stays consistent throughout. One auto card falls per five boxes and gives the buyer a legitimate shot at pulling a good hit. One decent veteran auto or one good rookie will pay for the box. Topps has their work cut out for them because at best they can just match what is done here. 5/5

Fun: 36 packs of just about any decent product will be fun. This is loaded with rookies and sp variations that will keep you busy for half an hour or so. Score is great for kids/beginners, but also reached a new level this year making is appropriate for other collectors who need filler for this time of year. 4.5/5

What I got:
Loads of top rookies (Ingram, Newton, Green, etc.)
Best card Mark Ingram Gold Zone



Overall/Value: Looking over the product as a whole I am very pleased. They could have been lazy and produced more big headed, boring stuff. Instead, we get a re-vamped, new product that is a nice breath of fresh air in this industry. It will likely be overlooked after December, but it is a great cheap present to get someone for Christmas/Birthday with a small budget. 5/5

My Break/Tilt: I got an average box of the product. Nothing too special, but tons of rookies is what I was looking for and that is what I got. The initial sell value of these cards is decent, but will dwindle over the next couple of weeks for sure. 3.5/5

Overall: 22/25 Solid B

2011 Leaf Metal Draft

This is Leaf's venture into the realm of football cards. They generally have a good reputation and I went into this break knowing very little about the product. All I knew was that I get four cards and each one would be autographed.

Price Paid: $68.99
Sale Value (on ebay): $49.00

Design: Right away when I opened this product I saw metallic-looking cards in a small box already in sleeves/cases. Even though this seems like a gimmick - it works for me. I always cringe when I pull a big hit and have to slide it carefully into a protector. This has proven to be worthwhile as many graded versions of these cards pop up on ebay as BGS 10 or 9.5. I give the design an easy 4.5/5

Checklist: The checklist in this product is minimal and straight to the point. There are few undrafted rookies included and the big names are all there. There's also two subsets and many parallels to get. Basically, you are hunted for 5-10 players in this product and if you do not get one of them you may be disappointed. You will get three base autographs along with one numbered parallel. 4/5

Fun: This break literally took one minute. The anticipation is there, but lasts no time at all. However, sliding cards slowly builds suspense when you know you just spend $18 or so per card on four unknown cards. Pulling meaningless base and inserts can get old and this a good change of pace for a relatively inexpensive product. 4/5

What I got:
Dion Lewis - RB
Daniel Thomas - RB
Blaine Gabbert - QB
TJ Yates /50 - QB





Overall/Value: For $70 I would say this product is worth the risk. At the absolute worst you will be minus $40 in the sale value. Odds are you will have a break similar to mine and you will pull one of the bigger named rookies. Especially if you get a parallel big name you can break even pretty easily. 5/5

My break/Tilt: 4.5/5

Total Score: 23/25 B+/A-

Welcome

I will be reviewing each product of the remainder of the 2011 year. During this time I will update how much I have spent this year on hobby boxes while grading them on base/design, checklist, fun, and overall value/re-buy. Additionally, I will estimate the sell value versus the money spent on the box to calculate the risk/reward. Please contact me at cardreviews2011@gmail.com if you have any questions! Enjoy!