Review: Panini Golden Age Baseball 2012

If I was a movie reviewer and this was a movie I would give this product two thumbs waaaaaayy up!! From the outside in this product was a ton of fun to open. Just check out this review and you will see why.

Box Break Down:

• 24 Packs Per Box, 6 Cards Per Pack
• (1) Autograph and (1) Memorabilia Card Per Box!
• Box Toppers!
• (24) Mini Parallels Per Box!
• Boxes will run between $60-$70

BASE CARDS: Classic appeal. They are not very glossed and brings you back in time to way cards used to feel. The base set consists of pretty much everything. From baseball to football to jockeys to movie stars and even the Three Stooges. This would be one fun set to put together. And this blogger rather enjoyed looking at each base card front and back.

INSERTS: As with rest of the set, the inserts have classic touch to them and also range from different sports and movies and more. Each base card has a mini parallel. And even the minis have back parallels with what appears the blue ones is the hardest to pull only getting one in our box. We were also lucky enough to pull a black parallel of the base cards which are tough finds at 1/1 each made. This product also includes pop up cards..whens the last time we had one of those in a pack? You can find two of these per box. Overall, fun.

AUTOGRAPHS: One autograph and one memorabilia are per box. Our autograph is on card, but not someone we personally know but we Googled who he is and he had an impressive career with 455 stolen bases. But this product as a ton of big names to find. The signatures can be of personalities covering all fields of the Golden Age of America, including baseball and other sports, entertainment and the political arena.

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: Really digging the design and the mix of celebrities and sports. As the card is called, Museum Age, it feels like something you would discover in a history museum hanging on a wall or other display. There is supposed to be one of these per box but we lucked out with two hits! One of the more unique pieces that could be pulled are pieces of pine wreckwood believed to be from the deck of the Titanic.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Buy it!! You won't regret it. For under $70, you get nice looking base cards, 24 minis, 1 auto, 1 memorabilia and a shot at a ton of stuff. This was probably the most fun I had with a bust in 2012. Panini did a great job with this product and hopefully they bring it back in 2013. If you are fans of Ginter or Goodwin Champions, this is Panini's version and a product for you.

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 3
                Base Design: 4
                Insert Design: 4
                Memorablila/Autographs: 5
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 5

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Review: Donruss Elite Extra Edition Baseball 2012

This is a product I have always wanted to try. I am an Elite fan, I like baseball cards and I like rookies and autographs. So it seems this is the product for me. So gave it a run and we were lucky and got a hot box.

• 20 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack
• Look for (6) Autographs Per Box!
• Find HOT BOXES containing (10) Autos!!
• Find short-printed Green and Red Ink Autos!
• $100 per box

BASE CARDS: Just look below (we forgot to take a picture of base card) at the autographs and picture them without the auto to see what the base cards look like. Not a bad design as it sticks the the Elite theme of silver cardboard. But since this is a rookie laden product adding the red to the base cards make the silver cardboard a thing of the past.

INSERTS: The inserts look good but not as eye catchy as the Aspirations die cuts. Each one is numbered and depending on the color to a different number. Pictures sometimes cannot do these justice but I tried my best to capture the shine. My other favorite insert in the product is the Diamond Kings. I like the combo of baseball future star and a King from a deck of playing cards.

# to 25

AUTOGRAPHS:We would say this is what you would call a "Hot Box" from the product. Overall you are supposed to get 6 autos per box. We got 8 and technically 9 if you consider the dual autographs separate autos.The Building Blocks combines the autographs of two players linked by school, team, position or some other common denominator. We were lucky to hit one of these numbered to 25. There are also ink variations as well to the base autos. The autos also look great because of all the glimmer and shine.

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: N/A

OVERALL THOUGHTS: If you are looking to get the baseball rookies autographs before they hit the playing field this is the product for you. What other product offers this type of rookie loaded, 6+ autos per box all for under $100. Bet you can't find one. There is plenty to take a chance on in this product as the future of MLB and the next big stars auto could be hidden within a box of this.

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 5
                Base Design: 4
                Insert Design: 3
                Memorablila/Autographs: 5
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 4

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Review Part 2 HOT BOX: Panini Classics Hockey 2012-2013

I really enjoyed this product the first time around..why not the second? I did and even more so with a HOT BOX with 8 autos instead of 6. Without rookies in 12-13 hockey products, Panini did a great job bringing back some not every day names autos and included them into a classic feel product. Here is how we did:

Box Break Down:

• 6 Packs Per Box, 5 Cards Per Pack
• Find (6) Autograph Cards per Box!
• ONE AUTO PER PACK!
• Boxes will run ya $180

Back of Base card

More base

BASE CARDS: This is a product for the old-school-hockey collectors,  as the name suggests its a Classic with Classic players and players autos. As for the base card, its a simple throwback design. Making it have a very Classic appeal. A base set would take you awhile with only 30 cards in a box with 6 of those being autos and 6 of those being the insert cards. But that would be a fun one to chase and you have the chance to bust it a few times.

INSERTS: You get one of these die cuts per pack. I have always been a fan of die cuts. I do wished a player picture was involved instead. But still not bad in terms of design. And some of them are Sp. Our first box we got one and this box Howe is one.

AUTOGRAPHS: Some of the autos are Sp'd in this product and very rare finds. We also ended up getting a HOT BOX this time around. Really like the fact that ALL of the cards are signed on card and you find autos of players you may not find all of the time. We actually got one of the Sp cards of Darryl Sittler.

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: N/A

OVERALL THOUGHTS:This product has appeal. Classic autographs you may not see everyday and a classic overall feel. I love the old photography on the base cards reminding us of great moments on the ice and taking the boredom that some of us might have waiting for the NHL to get over its lockout and move onto the season. I also hope Panini turns this to a football product as well. On card autos, a deep checklist, nice look and a chance at a hot box of 8 autos though the price may be steep for some and the average collector, but for those who can afford it, this is a good hockey product.

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 5
                Base Design: 4
                Insert Design: 3
                Memorablila/Autographs: 5
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 4

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Review Topps Baseball 2013 (2 Rack Packs)

The first product that says 2013 on it from Topps. I do collect baseball on and off and this is a product that I get every year to get things going for baseball. We all dabble into other sports time to time. By they way, my first 2013 baseball card was a C.C. Sabathia Base card.

I have been disappointed in the past few years as Topps has killed it a little with the overload of inserts that look lame. But this year...they turned the corner on the product and I am very impressed.

Rack Pack Break Down:

• Packs will run you around $5
• Comes with 3 blue border parallels per pack (Walmart version)

BASE CARDS: Topps has always stuck with basically the same design on the base cards. There is not too much different about them year in and year out. My one complaint about this every year is how much the border takes up the card. I wished they could minimize it some and give us the full baseball photography more. Since they like having a white border on their base product, maybe minimize the bottom a little and just put the name in silver right onto the card itself centered.

INSERTS: FINALLY!!! The Topps officials must have sat down and said..how do we impress Sport Card Collectors this year with our inserts??? Lets take time on them and improve them and that they did. After busting into the first pack and seeing the glimmer and shine and inserts that jumped out to me..I actually looked forward to busting the second one and possibly more now. Kudos to Topps for going back in time and taking some of their best classic inserts and bringing them back. I can actually feel the collectability in these and would put sets together. And finding 4 or 5 per pack doesn't bother me as much anymore. Hope they keep this trend up!

AUTOGRAPHS: N/A (it would be rare to find in a retail, but you never know)

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: Was surprised to find this in my second of the two rack packs. Brought even more value. I also like the design.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I hope all Topps products are like this, this year and I hope they bring to football Topps like they brought to this one. If they do it will be epic. I am finally very happy to buy baseball cards again and hope the effort they put into this product carries onto their other 2012 products.

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 5
                Base Design: 3
                Insert Design: 5
                Memorablila/Autographs: 4
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 4

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Review Panini Contenders Basketball 12-13

Love the football version of this product and wanted to give the basketball a go. Here are the results!

Box Break Down:

• 20 Packs Per Box,
• Find 4 Autograph Cards per Box!
• Boxes will run ya $100

 BASE CARDS: I like the simplicity to the Contenders base cards. Though most of the base card is white, the splash of color is great on the eyes. The white background is kinda scratchy while the player and the color parts are in full gloss. Really helps the card standout. Something you can't see from a picture and only in person.

  

INSERTS: As you can tell from the pictures, most of the inserts are opposite of the base cards, most are very dark. I think a little bit of color may have helped these and separate them from each other since most of them look the same. I also wouldn't mind seeing some numbering to these either. I am a fan though of the Rookie of The Year Contenders die cuts. They look nice, they are die cut and who doesn't like those and they just have a different feel.

AUTOGRAPHS: With four autographs per box, the possibilities are endless when you could possibly hit that top rookie. We didn't, but the one reason this product is always so popular is for these rookie autos some of which are rarer than others and some you may not see everyday. But someday, those are the players to watch out for. Example..Jeremy Lin.

JERSEY/PATCH CARDS: I really like the addition of memorabilia cards to this product and wished they did the same for football. Some are extremely sick pieces and some are even autographed. I don't believe you get one of these in every box but they look nice and are numbered to 49 when you do stumble upon one like we did. In this case, this one is numbered to 49.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Once again, if you are a fan of rookie autographs, this is the product for you. This product is not for everyone though. You can have those great boxes with some top rookie autos or you could have those ones that you never heard of. But for the price it might be worth the risk since the top rookies would go for the big bucks.And now with the inclusion of memorabilia this product might be more appealing to all. Other than some needed work on the inserts, I would recommend this product.

RATINGS:  Bloggers Note: Our ratings are based specifically on the blaster, box or packs we opened and do not express what the overall product could bring. Ratings based on a 1-5. 1 Being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
                Packaging: 3
                Base Design: 3
                Insert Design: 2
                Memorablila/Autographs: 5
                Blaster, Hobby Box, or Pack Value: 4

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