Box Break - 2010 Panini Threads Football

Quite a long time ago I was lucky enough to score a box of 2010 Panini Threads Football from the always too generous folks over at Card Corner Club Radio. Simply listening to their show and lazing back with the laptop got me a free box. How can that not make for a great Friday night spent? I promised them that I would post the break on my blog. I expected to be doing this much sooner than now, but, better late than never I suppose.

With the current state of my card collecting table it was an impossibility to do a video break. So, this will have to suffice. First things first though.


Soundtrack - The Sheepdogs - Learn and Burn


2010 Panini Threads Football

Box Breakdown - 24 packs per box
Pack Breakdown - 8 cards per pack

Right off the bat I like this product simply for the weight of the box, it "feels" like a healthy purchase. Lately boxes of cards have not been giving the impression that they are money well spent. Delivering 192 cards this product definitely changes that perception. As with a number of Panini releases this set is broken into 3 parts with varying degrees of difficulty to pull one. Cards 1 through 150 constitute the "base" set and are labelled "Commons" on the checklist. Cards 151 through 200 are the 'Rookie Class' autographed manu-patch cards and cards 201 to 300 are, I am assuming here, Rookies that did not warrant a manu-patch, they are simply called 'Rookies' on the checklist.

Base Set cards - 150/150 (100%) (Always a great thing!!!!)
Doubles - 21

The common theme that seems to permeate every conversation when it comes to critiquing a card design is that collectors want "something different". Well, Panini Threads definitely does that with its base cards. All 150 base cards feature a landscape layout for the photo with the player name and team running vertically up the left side of the card. The disappointment for me with this set is the lack of colour on the front of the card that would distinguish, at a quick glance, the team represented. Also missing on the front is a team logo.

I have never considered myself a fan of football cards or sets and after looking throughout this set I think I have discovered why. With Baseball and Hockey the action of the game seems to be captured in the photographs used on cards. Football, for some reason unknown to me, does not seem to be able to capture what makes it exciting and translate that to cardboard. Out of 150 cards there were really only 3 that even remotely looked like a "great shot" or captured the essence of the game, even with that said the Manning card looks like every other Manning card.


Far too many cards in this set featured photos from practices or scrimmages. The LaDanian Tomlinson card is especially weak featuring his own teammate trying to "tackle" him. Altogether I counted 10 cards featuring these types of photos. It may not seem much but photography should be the number one concern for ANY set.


Like I mentioned earlier there are plenty of Rookie cards in this set with varying degrees of difficulty to acquire. Base Rookies (read as non-autographed, non-manu-patch cards) appear to fall 1 every 4 packs and total 100 cards. These are Rookies beyond the much sought after names that appear in the autographed manu-patch collection of 50. This is where the set tends to bloat a little. Here are the six I pulled.

Card #206 - Anthony Dixon, card #222 - David Gettis, card #233 - Garrett Graham

Card #248 - Joique Bell, card #264 - Mike Neal, card #290 - Timothy Toone

Parallels as with any Panini issue are plentiful in this release, there are 6 in total for the Base Set,

Silver Century Proofs - #/250
Gold Century Proofs - #/100
Platinum Century Proofs - #/25
Autographed Parallels - #/499 and lower
Jersey Parallels - #/299 and lower
Prime Jersey Parallels - #/50 and lower

I pulled 3 Silver parallels and 1 Gold, sadly none were Bengals. However, one was from the SP Rookie cards and the other 3 were QBs. Not bad in the end.

Silver Parallel Serial #116/250 card #246 - Joe Webb

Silver Parallel Serial #161/250 card #45 - Kyle Orton

Silver Parallel Serial #037/250 card #76 - Chad Henne

Gold Parallel Serial #032/100 card #48 - Matthew Stafford

When it comes to insert cards there are plenty to choose from in Panini Threads and one especially that I really, REALLY like. There are 6 insert sets that have a non-relic or non-signature base along with plenty of parallels.

'Century Legends' features 15 of the greatest players in NFL history and has 3 parallels;
Century Legends Proof - #/100
Century Legends Materials - #/299 and lower
Century Legends Prime Materials - #50/ and lower

'Century Stars' features 25 of today's current NFL stars and has 3 parallels;
Century Stars Proof - #/100
Century Stars Materials - #/299 and lower
Century Stars Prime Materials - #/ and lower

'Triple Threat' focuses on the best 1-2-3-punch of 10 NFL teams with 3 parallels;
Triple Threat Proof - #/100
Triple Threat Materials - #/299 and lower
Triple Threat Prime Materials - #50/ and lower

'Generations' is a 15-card set that takes a current player and matches him up with a player from the franchise's past. this set has 3 parallels as well;
Generations Proof - #/100
Generations Materials - #/299 and lower
Generations Prime Materials - #50/ and lower

'All Rookie Team' is a 5-card set showcasing the Top 5 rookies of 2009 with 4 parallels;
All Rookie Team Threads #/299 and lower
All Rookie Team Threads Prime #/50 and lower
All Rookie Team Threads Signatures #/50 and lower
All Rookie Team Threads Prime Signatures #/25 and lower

'Pro Gridiron Kings' covers 50 of the NFL's greatest players and features a total of 9 parallels. 4 are different coloured frame variations and 5 are a mixture of jerseys, patches and signatures;
Red Frame #/100
Blue Frame #/50
Green Frame #/25
Black Frame #/10
Jersey #/299 and lower
Prime Patch #/50 and lower
Autograph #/299 and lower
Autograph Jersey #/25 and lower
Autograph Prime Patch #/10 and lower

By far my favorite insert is the 'Pro Gridiron Kings', as it is printed on a canvas card stock best described as reminiscent to the Upper Deck Masterpieces collection set, except more glossy. Of course the one insert set I choose to like has the greatest number of parallels. I pulled one from this box and it was a base that features Daryle Lamonica.


I also pulled 4 cards from the 'Century Stars' set, 3 base and 1 Proof parallel. This is a set I could take or leave (probably leave) when it comes to design. My first impression is, too dark. I like the use of team colours in the bottom left corner and the banner. However, nothing really grabs me about this set. Even the 25 card checklist could have been parred down to 20 or 15. Disappointing that this is the insert set I pulled the most cards from.

'Century Stars' card #7 - Drew Brees

'Century Stars' card #8 - Eli Manning

'Century Stars' card #9 - Frank Gore

'Century Stars' Proof Parallel card #18 - Michael Turner (Serial #088/100)

The 'Generations' set reminds me too much of the Topps 'Legendary Lineage' cards. I get what manufacturers are trying to do here but the design and layout needs to be revisited by someone. I pulled 2 cards from this set that San Diego fans or Minnesota fans would be happy with.

'Generations' card #4 - Cris Carter/Sidney Rice

'Generations' card #5 - Junior Seau/Shawne Merriman

The other insert set I might try and build is 'Century Legends'. It is small enough at 15 cards and the checklist is worthy of a set. The design is much better than the 'Century Stars' card with the only thing missing being a team logo on the white space on the right side of the card. I managed to pull two big-time Quarterbacks from this box.

'Century Legends' card #14 - Terry Bradshaw

'Century Legends' card #15 - Dan Fouts

Lastly, I pulled 1 base insert of the 'Triple Threat' insert set. This card is one that did not need to happen. This set feels like Panini just needed to fill out the release roster by packing out a base card version. This set would be much more desirable as a Prime Patch release ONLY. The card appears designed for just that, which is not a problem, it makes an amazing looking patch card. Unfortunately it does not work as a base insert.


Now we come to the guaranteed hits in the box. According to the sell sheet you will pull 4 autographed or game-used cards per box. Looking at the checklist there are plenty of different cards to fit this bill. Some of the inserts and parallels have already been covered, here are the rest of the jersey/patch/autographed cards available to be hit in 2010 Panini Threads;

Game Day Jerseys 25-card set with 3 parallels;
Signatures #/50 and lower
Prime Patch #/50 and lower
Prime Patch Signatures #/25 and lower

Rookie Collection Materials is a 35-card set featuring, you guessed it, Rookies. This set also has 3 parallels;
Signatures #/50 and lower
Prime Patch #/25 and lower
Prime Patch Signatures #/25 and lower

Rookie Collection also comes in Combo versions, the Dual is a 15-card set with a parallel and the Quad is a 5-card set with a parallel;
Rookie Collection Dual Prime #/25 and lower
Rookie Collection Quad Prime #/25 and lower

Franchise Fabrics features mostly Quarterbacks but is essentially a 20-card set dedicated to some of the NFL's top tier players. This set has 5 parallels;
Franchise Fabrics Patch #/50 and lower
Franchise Fabrics Signatures #/25 and lower
Franchise Fabrics Patch Signatures #/10 and lower
Franchise Tags #/10 and lower
Franchise Tags Signatures #/5 and lower

The Rookie Signatures insert set comes in three tiers. The Combos feature dual signatures and is a 10-card set. The Triple Signatures set is also a 10-card set and the Rookie Signature Quads is a 5-card set.

So, without any further stalling, here are the 4 guaranteed hits from the box I broke.

Autographed Parallel #299/499 Bryan Bulaga 'Rookie'

Rookie Collection Jersey #270/299 Card#21 Jonathan Dwyer

Rookie Collection Quad-Jersey #022/299 Card#3
Demaryus Thomas/Dez Bryant/Dexter McCluster/Arrelious Benn

Rookie Class Autographed/Manu-patch #180/280 C.J.Spiller

There are a few too many non-essential rookies making up this set and the checklist could probably have been trimmed to 250 cards, either that or the Base Set could have included more current players. The inclusion of all the rookies with a healthy dose of current players makes it difficult to give this set an identity. Is it for everyday collectors or is it for speculators?

Overall I enjoyed 2010 Panini Threads but it did nothing to peak my interest in Football releases. There seems to be something lacking in this Football card release that keeps it from capturing the excitement of Hockey or Baseball. While the box more than delivered on expectations with a complete base set and some well designed inserts and I would definitely recommend it to Football card collectors.

Thanks to the kind and generous folks at Card Corner Club Radio for the prize and make sure to tune in every Friday night for one of the most entertaining and informative shows concerning our Hobby.

Thanks for taking the time to check out this latest Box Break and keep checking back for more. We end it here as usual with the "music-to-rip-by" for this edition, good ol' Canadian boys The Sheepdogs.




Cheers,

In Honor of NFL Training Camps

This past weekend I decided that since my wife was away that I would travel to Niagara Falls, New York and visit a friend and get in a round of golf. I also decided that I wanted to take in a baseball game.

That subject I will save for a later post.

What was also foremost in my plans was I would now be able to venture into the world of Wal-Mart and Target and see all these wonderful, bountiful shelves of blaster boxes I can only read about and be oh, so jealous of. Having the GPS with me made it all the more simpler too.

The best selection I found ended up being at a Target around the corner from another planned stop on my weekend trip, 'Dave and Adams Card World'. They had blasters of Ginter but I wanted to save my money for another Hobby box entry into Gint-A-Cuffs. They had blasters of Heritage, Series 2 Topps, Upper Deck Signature Series (a bit expensive for me) and lots of others. The one's that caught my eye also happened to be on sale.


These were the last two on the shelf. Normally I can pass on Football cards. 1991 Score Football scared me straight, so to speak. I did venture a little bit into it last year with the Topps Mayo set, but it was mostly out of boredom than a true love of football cards.

The same goes for this set. I have no interest in building the set and beyond the Cincinnati Bengals cards it holds little value for me. However, there is one insert in this set that I am dead set on acquiring. There are mini 1935-style chicle cards with 10 that feature Military Aircraft. My uncle was a recreational pilot but loved war planes, he passed on that fascination to me. I figure for a little over $20 I could take a shot and maybe pull a few of them, if I was lucky enough.

Secondly, I liked the idea of pulling a relic card hit per blaster. Maybe I could get someone half decent and end up breaking even on my purchase. Fingers crossed.

I won't bore you with the base cards, I will just show off the relics and any hits or interesting cards.

First we start off with the main hit, a 'Game Day Gear' swatch of Matt Ryan. I think there might be a Falcons fan I know who may have interest in this card.


There are a few subset cards that focus on events of The Sixties. Two examples I pulled are part of a ten card set that chronicles the Vietnam War and a 5 card set that celebrates Woodstock.


I managed two of the Chicle mini cards out of this blaster. Card #NC76 belongs to Matthew Stafford dressed in his Georgia Bulldogs uniform.

The second card made me VERY happy!!!


Exactly what I was chasing. 1 down, 9 to go. Card #NC36 features the B-17 Flying Fortress. There were nearly 13,000 of these monsters built.

How lucky is that?? I hope it carries over into blaster #2.

I know earlier I said that I would not bore you with the base cards. However, when the blaster yeilds a whole bunch of cards I am searching for I MUST share them with you. Especially when the cards provided are of the Bengal-goodness kind. I pulled.........

Not 1......


NOT 2.....


NOT 3.....


BUT 4!!!!!!!

Cincinnati Bengal base cards from this blaster.

T.J Houshmandzadeh (#43), Carson Palmer (#41), Ken Anderson (#299) and Chad Ocho Cinco (#44). I am ecstatic. I am thrilled. I am over-joyed. In my eyes this makes the purchase worth it.

However, THIS pull sends it OVER THE TOP!!!!!


'Game Day Gear' swatch of Andre Caldwell, and it is ORANGE!!!!

Sadly, neither of the two Chicle cards I pulled were from the Millitary Airplane subset, of course, I think that would be too much to ask. I did get #NC9, William Miller (R) from the political subset, and #NC85, Brandon Pettigrew in his Oklahoma State uniform.


All was not lost as I pulled another Vietnam War subset card featuring the Lockheed AC-130, another monster aircraft.


Lastly I pulled a card that I am going to try the ultimate TTM request with. I know it will more than likely be a fail, but, it can only be a success if I try, right? If any of you TTM professionals would care to share your "success maximization" pointers I would be an eager student.

So, there you have it. A chance taken on some football cards pays of fairly decently. Hitting the Caldwell relic was superb and now I only have nine more of the Airplane Chicles left to find. If you are one who is actually building this set then send me your wantlists and if I can help out I will.

Cheers,

Impulse Buy #7

Every so often I find myself unable to control my impulsive side. Usually it winds up with me doing something that I later look back on and think, "Was that TRULY necessary?" Indulgence is something that some people triumph while others see it as a momentary weakness. I'm not exactly sure where I stand on the subject but, suffice to say, it does provide me with subject matter to share so it cannot be all that bad. I can usually curb these impulses to a few packs here and there but this time I went a little further and have daunted myself with the task of building an entire set.


I have not been interested in purchasing, let alone collecting, football cards since these two were driving their sector of the hobby.


That all changed when I purchased a couple of packs of some of this years releases. I was intrigued with Topps Magic release because they had a card featuring Jackie Robinson. Also, featuring current NFL players in their NCAA uniforms is a unique idea. I am well aware of the opinions that some of the purists have but I guess my stake in preserving the "purity of the game" when it comes to football is nil. I get it, believe me. If Topps pulled this with baseball it would be an entirely different story. Just look at the backlash already being created by the Chicle Fiasco.

Upper Deck had a couple releases that I tried out too. Philadelphia was their answer to Magic as I see it and SP Threads appears to cater to the hit chasers. The release that caught and held my attention was Topps Mayo.


As far as football sets go, as I stated before, I would hardly classify myself as a "fan" and would definitely not call myself a collector. However, from the minute I opened my first pack of this stuff to the point I bought a box (Yep, this impulse buy went boxin'), I enjoyed every little bit of the product. The size of the base set is something completely manageable, 330 cards. The prolonged interest in building a set is fulfilled by the short-printed element of the base set consisting of the last 55 cards. As well, if you so desire, the "chase factor" for a complete set is fueled by 30 mini-exclusive cards. These cards, just like Allen & Ginter, are only found in rip-cards.

Each box comes with a cabinet card topper. There are varying levels of these cards which include standard photo, relics and autographed relic cards. I pulled Tony Romo.


As far as card design goes I found it to be the best I from the small sample pool I had purchased. YES, it looks similar to A&G but what exactly is the problem with that? If something works, and people respond favorably to it then should it not be something that is repeated? The rookie selection, as far as I can tell, is comprehensive and complete. The veterans are obviously covered as well as they should be and the player roster used as "filler cards" hardly feel as such.


What would any set nowadays be without some kind of parallel? Is it even possible to release a set without some kind of parallel? I wonder if somewhere in one of the bloated bills passed by U.S. Senators there was not some kind of law passed that each and every card produced must have some kind of parallel. Actually, that idea may not be too far fetched....I will explain later. Anyhow, if you like parallels then Topps Mayo has what you are looking for. We have your one-per-pack-full-size-parallel distinguished by its silver border and silver back. These cards are also almost 3 times the thickness of the base set cards. This I like. Dummy cards, while useful in separating my singles in shoe boxes, cutting down on the success of the dreaded pack-searcher and offering me some kind of savings or promotion of memorabilia I will never be able to afford, are in the end annoying as hell. Making the necessary evil collectible is what every company should do and pay attention to. You would be surprised how happy your customers will be when they have nothing from your product, other than the wrapper, to throw away after spending their hard earned cash.


Also, what self-respecting retro-themed set would be complete without the one-per-pack-parallel-mini? Topps Mayo has that as well. Not only a base mini, we have "gold" minis as well as Mayo-backed minis and the not-to-be-forgotten serial-numbered Harvard-backed minis. These are numbered out of 25, a pretty nice pull. My only complaint with these, as with any mini-parallel set, is that to truly distinguish them from the base set they should include a different photograph of the subject.

The other minor issue I have with Topps over these mini inserts is that they measure 1 9/16" x 2 7/8". Not that big a deal, you say? The standard Tobacco pocket pages are 1 1/2" x 2 1/2", these do not fit and thus storage is an issue. Thankfully the top loaders are over sized just enough that the cards fit into them without poking out over the top. I understand the original Mayo cards were this size, and once again I bow to the purists, but it makes it nonetheless annoying.

The Mayo-back card I pulled from the box was rookie Brian Orakpo of the Washington Redskins and the Harvard-back card I pulled, numbered 7/25, was Justin Fargas of the Oakland Raiders. Being a child of the 70's I was incredibly happy with this card and it immediately goes into my collection. Nothing like having one of the coolest dads EVER!!!


Next in line are the box hits. According to the odds boxes average 1 relic and 1 autograph per box. Not a bad ratio and looking at the list of subjects it is hard to decide whether Topps Mayo can rightly be labeled as a hit-driven product or not. I would lean towards the "probably not" side of things, much like I would classify A&G as not being a hit-driven product either. The relics and autographs are framed just like A&G but the autographs are stickers. I like the looks of these cards and for player collectors they will be an excellent addition to any collection. I pulled an autograph of Pat White from the Miami Dolphins and a nice shiny jersey swatch of Jason Smith from the St. Louis Rams.


The last hit from the box was a framed Mayo cloth card which are seeded 1:192 packs and serial-numbered out of 5. On the upside I pulled a rookie, on the downside he will not be making an impact for his current team anytime soon due to a guy in front of him that is fairly decent, so I have heard. Numbered 2/5 is Stephen McGee, QB, from the Dallas Cowboys.


Lastly, we have the insert chase sets. These are all minis and 2 out of the 4 I am going to build. One is a good concept but unfortunately is limited in its inclusion and the other is an interesting idea for a set but being from north of the border it really holds no interest for me. There is a 14-card set commemorating the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. I have already managed to gather nearly half the set with a few more on their way to me.

The second insert set that sparked my interest is called Celebrated Citizens and focuses on 15 historical figures who hail from current NFL cities. The checklist for this set includes Samuel Adams, Henry Ford, William Tecumseh Sherman, David Crockett, George Washington and one of my Top 5 writers, Edgar Allan Poe. Unless I have the incredible luck to hit this years A&G DNA relic of him, this will be the next best thing for me. I have 5 cards in this set with, once again, a few more on their way.

Earlier I had mentioned the possibility of a governmental influence on the card industry. This theory is further solidified with the inclusion of a 50-card set featuring current State Senators. An excellent idea to include non-sports/historical/political figures in any retro-themed set, I really like the trend. This incarnation is just not something that holds my interest. The last set is called NFL Namesakes and are depictions of team names. The card store I frequent happened to have my teams card so into the collection it went.


As was the case with Allen & Ginter for baseball fans, there is enough offered in Topps Mayo for the non-football fans to find it worth looking at and finding something to collect. Even scattered throughout the base set are non-sports figures that collectors enjoy.

I was drawn to Topps Mayo, not only because I was looking for something to fill the void while waiting for Topps T-206, but as someone who's appreciation for the Allen & Ginter line is growing. This has pretty much solidified that I will be buying A&G this year and will be searching for boxes from the last couple years. Retro-themed cards are definitely here for the foreseeable future and as long as the manufacturers keep designing them to look this good they will continue to satisfy collectors from every sport.

As a conclusion I will leave you with some of the non-sport cards from the base set that found their way into my collection binder. I will also be posting a want list and a doubles list for anyone else who has ventured into 2009 Topps Mayo territory.


And, of course, how could any set be complete without some tie-in to The Love Boat??!!?

GOPHER RULES!

Cheers,