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