My first booklet cards

Last week I received another one of those phone calls from a local card store asking if I could swing by and that there were some cards that they wanted to show me. That is usually a good sign that some interesting cards are waiting for me. I wasn't disappointed.


There was a small stack of cards that was mostly inserts and parallels, but two large cardholders stuck out from under the pile. I was intrigued. When I looked, they were holders that were designed to hold open booklet cards, and there were two booklet cards there waiting for me to look at.

2010 Topps Triple Thread - Relic Double Combos Sepia #TTRDC-9  (#/27)

This is a really nice card that came displayed folded open like this in a magnetic card holder. I guess I didn't really even know they made holders like that.


When I saw the card, I was worried about what the cost was going to be to get a Montario Hardesty card, but luckily none of the players here are major stars. The price I was given was very reasonable.


Actually, when I heard the price for the two booklets, I pretty much counted the above card as being worth that amount and the following card as being a throw-in.

2015 Panini Playbook #83  (#/199)

Hey, another Vince Mayle card! I'm very happy to get this card, because, as I said, before this purchase I didn't own any booklet cards. It is something new and different. Besides, I'm trying to collect any Browns card that I don't have so I'll be collecting Mayle cards for a long time.


It's a busy day, so I won't show too many of the cards that I picked up, but here are a couple of other hits from the local card store.




2014 Panini Certified - New Generation Materials #NG-TW  (#/599)

Does it always seem to be the same old faces in these cards?


How about this guy, anyone remember him?

2015 Panini Prestige - Xtra Points Platinum #70  (#/25)

This card would have been way more expensive a year ago. I don't know why, but I really consider cards numbered 25 and under to be special. It is arbitrary to use that number, but it just always feels good to get one with that short a print run.


Oh, and if I think that I will be chasing Mayle cards forever, well there are a lot more Manziels to find.


Anyway, it will be interesting going out to trivia tonight with Game 1 on, and knowing that I will have Leaf fans wanting to have their game on more screens than the baseball. Although, I know that when the late Senators/Canucks game starts, the bar has to put most of the screens onto the Senators game. Ah, well, as long as the one near me still has the baseball game.


It isn't strange that most people that only know me a little know that I'm a Browns fan. I often wear a Browns coat when I need one, and I have a Browns license plate holder around the rear plate on my car. But those people that just know me as being that Browns fan just seem to assume that I like Cleveland in all sports. I really got a lot of that during last year's NBA Finals. And I really don't like the Cavs.


The Indians, however, I've often had a soft spot for, just as with the Cubs. And I have a few good friends that cheer for each team. I think I just want to see a good baseball series, and will have to be happy that one of the longest championship droughts in professional sports is going to end no matter who wins. Let's finish off the season with some good baseball! (Please, distract me from my Browns!)

Interesting additions to my collection

There have been a couple more Browns losses, and quarterback injuries since my last post. I guess those things are more consistent than my posting.


An interesting waiver claim today, the Browns claimed quarterback Joe Callahan. The interesting part is that Callahan is the name of the star quarterback in the Kevin Costner movie Draft Day. (It was Bo Callahan in the movie.) Sadly, the Browns have been stranger than fiction since the movie came out.


Anyway, I added some interesting cards to my collection since my last post.




1977 Topps Mexican #259

I always check out the Forum Postings at the Trading Card Database, including the sales threads, but usually I don't see anything there that I need for my collection. That changed with a post with a post from user C2Cigars where he listed the above cards as one of the items for sale on eBay (seller name: c2cigars). He asked TCDB members to let them know if they were purchasing anything from him.


Well, after sending him a message, he dropped his price on the card, and then when it showed up he had included another card that I needed with it. (I guess that is the good thing about having cards in my wantlist on the site when trading with another member.) To any other TCDB members, if you see his sales posts, take a look and send him a message! He's a great seller!


2009 Panini Rookies & Stars Longevity #24

Thanks for the needed bonus card!


That wasn't my only free card, but the next one came from a blog reader.




2000 Fleer Tradition - Feel the Game #38

A while back I received an email from the owner of the Collating Cards blog telling me that he had the above card to give me if I wanted it. Of course I did! He was kind enough to send it to my address in Canada and it was a nice surprise in the mail last week after a very long, tough day at work. Thanks a lot, it was greatly appreciated!


I also won an ebay auction that had one item for me, and a little bit of trade bait.

1972-73 Fleer Team Cloth Patch Stickers

Of course, I bought this for the Browns sticker, and knowing that I could give the Raiders one to a friend here in Ottawa if I don't find a taker for it, but it also came with the following sticker too.

1960 Topps - Metallic Stickers

There was something odd about this sticker though, something that I'll have to compare with the Browns one that I own from the set. It feels as though the backing is off the sticker, and that it is just the sticker itself. It looks a little like it should be tacky, but it isn't. The back is all there, no paper loss like it had been torn out of a book, but the top edge is a little dirty. Strange.


From another lot purchase on eBay, I wound up with some needed cards. I'll show the memorabilia and autographed card that were actually listed in the description so I knew that I needed them. There were also some needed base cards but I'll save them for another post.

2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars - Masks #M-31  (#/325)

I have a lot of memorabilia cards, but this card adds the first pieces of a facemask to my collection. According to the back of a card it was from a facemask that was worn by Luke McCown at the 2004 NFL Players Rookie Premiere. Even though a lot of the memorabilia pieces come from the Rookie Premieres and other staged events, I still think it cool to get a piece of a facemask.

2007 SP Rookie Threads - Rookie Threads Silver #RT-BQ

I've said it before, I was a fan of Brady Quinn at Notre Dame and was happy to see him drafted by the Browns. I imagine that this card would have been hot when it came out since he was a first-round draft pick. I like when they shape the card to show something like the player's jersey number.

A card that probably would not have been as welcome to the person that opened it is this one.

2011 Topps Five Star #159  (#/65)

I know that Browns aren't always the most sought after hits, and when you buy a product like Five Star you're probably hoping for a bigger name, and a different team. I get that. I usually don't pull Browns cards, and there are sorts of players and teams that make me go, "Really?" But, hey, I'll take those Browns cards that people don't want, even if it is years after the fact. The autograph is on-card, which is nice, although it seems to be a little faded. (I won't make the argument that all the letters after L in Little were somehow wiped off. I have enough Greg Little autographs to know that is what you get.)

2014 Panini Crown Royale - Rookie Silhouettes #211  (#/199)

I enjoyed West's 2014 rookie season paired with Isaiah Crowell, but the Browns traded him to the Titans early last season. He's playing with the Ravens now, driving me nuts after I picked him up as a spare running back in my fantasy league. He had a nice game a couple of weeks ago while he was riding on my bench. Sigh.


And of course, can I really finish a post without having one of these?

2015 Topps Inception - Rookie Patches Red #RP-VM  (#/50)

Another Vince Mayle card! At least it's a nice one.


I hope to post a bit more this week before heading out to the Phoenix area on Thursday for my mom's birthday.


I mailed some envelopes out to a few people over the weekend, but am still so far behind on people that I want to send things to. I think I've seen other people post zip codes so here is where those envelopes went: 02919, 45067, 70130, 97207, 89436 and 60586. Enjoy!

Long overdue Pack War trade post

When I was typing up my meeting with Night Owl at a Syracuse card show last month, I realized that I never posted anything about my other meeting with a blogger in the Spring. I remember starting posts a couple of times but discarded them when I didn't like how they looked.


I really want to apologize to Corky over at Pack War for not posting anything sooner.


The meet-up and visit to a card store in Phoenix in March was the second trade that Corky and I had made, the first being before I had this blog while I was a reader of his. One thing that blew me away with the first trade was a sketch card that he included.

I will confess that I was stunned when I first saw it and took a while to see the blog address at the bottom of the back of the card. What an amazing thing to throw into the trade package!


I didn't expect another sketch card when we met in person, but once again he surprised me with a sketch that I absolutely love and that if I ever sit down to design a banner for my blog will probably wind up in there somewhere.

If that is all that he would have had for me, I would have been fine with that, but he had looked at my profile and saw the sports teams that I cheered for and put together a package with representation from all those teams.


Now this is where I have to apologize again. I'm pretty sure that I remembered some of the Browns that he gave me and I will show them below, but I filed the Mets that he gave me away and can't pick out what they were. Sorry to not give you the credit for them. But I will show the Celtics and a couple of Senators that he gave me too. (If these aren't Browns that he gave me, then he's getting credit for them anyways! They were still with the sketch card even though they should have been in the binders of my collection.)

2015 Panini Contenders - Rookie Ink #RI-DS

Shelton had an inconsistent rookie season with a lot expected out of him as a first-round pick, but he's being playing quite well so far this year.

Top (l-r): 2010 Score - Glossy #323; 2013 Topps Magic - Mini #16
2013 Topps Chrome - Orange Refractor #53; 2012 Panini Prestige #242

Three needed parallels and a Trent Richardson rookie card that were new to my collection. There are still so many Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson cards that I need. The joy of having two first-round picks in a year that played skill positions.


There were a couple of Ottawa Senators cards in the package.

It may get me exiled from Canada but I really don't collect hockey cards anymore, and if I had to rank my sports watching then out of the four major North American sports, hockey would be third behind football and baseball. I still watch and read enough of it to be able to converse with my Senators fan friends that seem to go a little overboard on it. (Although, to be fair, they probably aren't as far gone in their fandom as I am with the Browns.)


Anyway, these cards put a smile on my face. When Alexander Daigle was drafted first overall in 1993 he uttered a comment saying that nobody remembers who was drafted number two.


Okay, let's have a show of hands...who remembers Daigle? And who remembers the second pick, Chris Pronger. Yeah, that's what I thought.


To me, a funnier thing about Daigle is that I remember one of my friends telling me a story about how she was out one night and Daigle was trying to pick her up. Yes, she knew who he was, she just had no interest at all.


Daigle didn't exactly have the career that the Senators drafted him for.


Jason Spezza, on the other hand, had a great Senators career while being treated as a whipping boy for all that went wrong by some of the local media and fan base. He was drafted number two (there's that number again) in the 2001 draft with a pick that the Senators acquired from the Islanders along with Zdeno Chara in the Alexei Yashin trade. He is definitely one of the most talented players to ever play for the team. He asked for a trade after the 2013-14 season, and was traded to the Dallas Stars where I wish him continued success.


A large part of what I was given was Boston Celtics cards that brought a smile to my face.

A team set of the 1985-86 Star cards. This team is the one that I remember watching in my teens. I loved watching the Big Three with Walton coming off the bench.

Of course I am a Bird fan. The only Wheaties box I own is one that I managed to find after he retired.

The McHale cards bring a smile to my face, but sadness comes looking at the other two cards. Both Dennis Johnson and Reggie Lewis died too soon. At least there are memories of watching them play.

I love retro style sets in any sport. It is always great to read about past stars and seeing modern players on vintage style cards. (Although it might just be me as a Browns fan that lives by recalling Browns teams past that I never got to see play.)

It was great to be given a Rondo rookie card, Shaq in a Celtics uniform and a card of Canadian Kelly Olynyk.


Once again, a very belated thanks to Corky and his very entertaining blog that seems like it could just talk about anything card related on any given day.  Too bad he's moved away from Phoenix and I'm not likely to see him there on my next visit.


Speaking of which, some comments have been left on a couple of my past posts, one letting me know that there are other Phoenix area bloggers out there, and one wanting to trade for Steelers cards. Checking your profiles in the comment didn't seem to lead me to e-mail addresses to contact you, so if you're reading please send me an e-mail at the address in my profile at the top right of my blog. Thanks!

Trying out a Football Loot Locker

After seeing other people buy and share their purchases from The Loot Locker, I figured that I might as well give it a try.


I didn't know too much about it other than the basics that I read on other blogs, and frankly not being on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, I didn't really follow to see exactly what I would get for my $20.00, or when it would ship.


I decided to purchase a locker on September 9th since I really had an urge to see and open some current football packs. However, on the site, for shipping, all it says is that they will only ship to Canada and the US. So, first thing first, I had to decide where I wanted the cards sent. I chose my home in Ottawa, and entered in the information. Finally, at that point I saw what the shipping would be - $10.00 to Canada, which sounds about right, but I don't know what the shipping inside the US is if I ever want to order again. I wish that information was posted on their website.


Then came the waiting. Now, not knowing when they ship things out, whether or not they ship out new orders as they come in, or whether they wait to ship out new orders with the subscriptions that they have on file, I think that I would have liked to have an estimated shipping date on the confirmation e-mail that they sent me with the purchase. I knew that I hadn't seen anyone posting anything about receiving a new locker so I eventually guessed that they would all be sent together.


In any event, as I travelled to British Columbia for a funeral, I found a good deal on the box of 2016 Panini Classic that I opened yesterday, and that satisfied an urge to open something. So that might have lessened my enthusiasm a bit for waiting for my locker.


However, yesterday I got home to a box waiting for me.

Yay!

I opened it up to see inside.

Contents

So, inside, I find:


1 pack of 2015 Panini Contenders Football
1 pack of 2016 Panini Certified Football
1 pack of 2016 Donruss Elite Football
1 coupon card for Sportsboxbreaks.com
1 baggie of card supplies


Awww, no candy like I've seen other people open. Ah, that's probably for the best.


First impressions on looking at the packs was that I'm getting 15 cards for the US$30 (which was just over CDN$40 with exchange) that I spent when you include shipping. Frankly, I have a lot of card supplies so they are pretty irrelevant to the package, and I have no idea if I'll use the coupon or not so it is all about the cards. Sadly, I've already opened some of last year's Contenders and a pack of this year's Donruss Elite so they were not completely new to me, but I was looking forward to the Certified.


I started with last year's pack.

2015 Panini Contenders

17 Anquan Boldin - 49ers
48 Joe Flacco - Ravens
52 Jeremy Hill - Bengals
7 Derek Carr - Raiders
97 Jordan Matthews - Eagles


Pretty boring pack. At least there is a Raiders card in there that I can give to my friend that gets all of my Raiders cards.


Well, I opened a pack of Donruss Elite earlier this summer so I figured that I might as well stay with the cards that I have seen already. And here they are...

2016 Donruss Elite

55 Sammy Watkins - Bills
53 Matt Ryan - Falcons
Green Parallel 17 Jordan Matthews - Eagles (#/99)
40 Bo Jackson - Raiders
33 Greg Olsen - Panthers


Well, the cards scan nicely, and there is a cool Bo card to give to my friend, but nothing really grabbed me from this pack either.


On to the last pack.

2016 Panini Contenders

57 Eli Manning - Giants
Gold Team 19 Jared Goff - Rams
Skills 16 Richard Sherman - Seahawks
151 Kevin Dodd - Titans (#/999)
9 Amari Cooper - Raiders


At least I got a couple of insert cards, a rookie card, and another Raider to give to my friend, but there is nothing in there that excited me, especially when it says on the back of the pack in the small print that on average each pack will have approximately two non-base cards per pack so it isn't as though it was anything special.


For fun, I thought I would count the supplies.


The bag contained 5 team bags, 9 plastic card sleeves, and a sixth team bag that contained 10 penny sleeves. As I said before, it is pretty irrelevant to the package but they'll get used as I ship things out to friends.


So, obviously my opinion might be better if there was a hit in the package, but I've bought plenty of packs before at stores without getting hits and usually still enjoyed the purchase. This? Well, I don't know if the waiting took away the pleasure of the impulsive buy in a store or at a show. It really didn't do anything for me.


Will I buy again? Perhaps. Maybe. I would have to actually search out to see what packs are coming before placing an order. And I would definitely want to know ahead of time what the US shipping would be compared to shipping to Canada. Although it was nice to have something delivered right to me, and I know shipping to Canada is expensive, I don't think that adding 50% to the cost of the package really helped.


I hope that others did better on their lockers.

Box break - 2016 Panini Classics Football

Knowing that I had some birthday money coming, and seeing a decent deal, I decided to buy myself a box of this year's Panini Classics football. I had already shown a few of the Browns cards that I had purchased from a local card store, but I do like opening a box now and since I liked the cards I figured it would be a fun box to open.


On the box it said that it contained 14 packs of 10 cards, with one autograph in each box.


Let's take a look at some of what I got. The packs got mixed up a bit so they won't be in the order that I pulled them from the box, but the cards are correct from each pack.


Pack 1:


99 Latavius Murray - Raiders
90 Le'Veon Bell - Steelers
82 Jordy Nelson - Packers
75 Marcus Mariota - Titans
69 Jamaal Charles - Chiefs
Monday Night Heroes 16 Matthew Stafford - Lions
274 Jacoby Brissett - NC State University (Rookie - drafted by Patriots)
164 Sonny Jurgensen - Redskins (Legends)
160 Cris Collinsworth - Bengals (Legends)
157 John Elway - Broncos (Legends)

The Brisset card back is the regular back. As you'll see later there are different back parallels.


Pack 2:


18 Jarvis Landry - Dolphins
8 Lamar Miller - Dolphins
98 Dez Bryant - Cowboys
89 Derek Carr - Raiders
Timeless Tributes Silver 13 Todd Gurley - Rams (06/25)
Next Level 18 Antonio Brown - Central Michigan on front of card / Steelers on back
263 Wendell Smallwood - West Virginia (Rookie - drafted by Eagles)
198 Bruce Smith - Bills (Legends)
189 Marshall Faulk - Rams (Legends)
181 Robert Brooks - Packers (Legends)

The back of the Next Level Antonio Brown card

Pack 3:


64 Ameer Abdullah - Lions
60 Jeremy Hill - Bengals
57 Mike Evans - Buccaneers
27 Greg Olsen - Panthers
Classic Moments 7 Malcolm Butler - Patriots
Record Breakers 1 Thurman Thomas - Bills
268 Carson Wentz - North Dakota State (Rookie - drafted by Eagles)
127 Joe Montana - 49ers (Legends)
118 Andre Reed - Bills (Legends)
108 Aeneas Williams - Rams (Legends)

With these cards, I'm not sure that I like the Record Breakers being team record holders, and I tend to think of Aeneas Williams as a Cardinal.



I do like the backs for the inserts. Good write-ups for the cards.


Pack 4:


7 Cam Newton - Panthers
97 Drew Brees - Saints
88 Tony Romo - Cowboys
80 Ben Roethlisberger - Steelers
Team Tributes 11 - 2015 Green Bay Packers
Red Back 23 Kenny Britt - Rams
226 Adolphus Washington - Ohio State (Rookie drafted by Bills)
117 Dermontti Dawson - Steelers (Legends)
107 Jim Plunkett - Raiders (Legends)
197 Kellen Winslow - Chargers (Legends)

I'm sure the Buckeye fans love that the card actually says "The Ohio State University".

As much as I complain about parallels, at least the different color back is easy to identify. I like that.


Pack 5:


59 Alex Smith - Chiefs
34 Matt Forte - Bears
26 Julian Edelman - Patriots
17 Jonathan Stewart - Panthers
Glossy 116 Herman Edwards - Eagles (Legends)
Glossy 64 Ameer Abdullah - Lions
234 Jeremy Cash - Duke (Rookie, UFA signed by Panthers)
159 Lenny Moore - Colts (Legends)
134 Forrest Gregg - Packers (Legends)
126 Ickey Woods - Bengals (Legends)

Again, happy to see the "Glossy" marked on the front of the parallel.


Pack 6:


81 Marshawn Lynch - Seahawks
74 Calvin Johnson - Lions
68 Rashad Jennings - Giants
63 Richard Sherman - Seahawks
Instant Classics Ink IC-JH Jack Ham - Steelers (03/25)
Glossy 219 Nate Sudfeld - Indiana (Rookie drafted by Redskins)
259 Paxton Lynch - Memphis (Rookie drafted by Broncos)
174 Fred Biletnikoff - Raiders (Legends)
168 Bob Lilly - Cowboys (Legends)
163 Steve Largent - Seahawks (Legends)


A Seahawks hot-pack, with a Steelers Hall of Famer.

As a Browns fan, I hate the Steelers, but I have to respect Jack Ham's career. He has a nice signature, too bad it is a sticker auto. A pretty good pull.

Pack 7:


11 Philip Rivers - Chargers
10 Jason Witten - Cowboys
100 Antonio Brown - Steelers
91 Jimmy Graham - Seahawks
83 J.J. Watt - Texans
Glossy 60 Jeremy Hill - Bengals
298 Connor Cook - Michigan State (Rookie drafted by Raiders)
158 Bob Griese - Dolphins (Legends)
156 James Lofton - Bills (Legends)
119 LaDainian Tomlinson - Chargers (Legends)

Pack 8:


41 Carson Palmer - Cardinals
35 DeAndre Hopkins - Texans
28 Kirk Cousins - Redskins
20 Sam Bradford - Eagles
Classic Clashes 8 Russell Wilson / Peyton Manning - Seahawks / Broncos
Glossy 209 Myles Jack - California (Rookie drafted by Jaguars)
208 Brandon Allen - Arkansas (Rookie drafted by Jaguars)
170 Curtis Martin - Patriots (Legends)
165 Warren Moon - Oilers (Legends)
161 Raymond Berry - Colts (Legends)

I wish that the Legends backs had more than career totals. I also wish that they mentioned all the teams that the player played for with the years.


Pack 9:


55 Allen Robinson - Jaguars
53 Anquan Boldin - 49ers
50 Andy Dalton - Bengals
46 Chris Ivory - Jets
Timeless Tributes Bronze 254 Karl Joseph - West Virginia (Rookie drafted by Raiders) (1/99)
Next Level 15 Bo Jackson - Auburn on front of card / Raiders on back
218 Brandon Doughty - Western Kentucky (Rookie drafted by Dolphins)
191 Rod Smith - Broncos (Legends)
183 Ted Hendricks - Raiders (Legends)
176 Jerry Rice - 49ers (Legends)

Pack 10:


21 Melvin Gordon - Chargers
12 Justin Forsett - Ravens
2 Joe Flacco - Ravens
92 Teddy Bridgewater - Vikings
Glossy 106 Harold Carmichael - Eagles
Record Breakers 4 Peyton Manning - Broncos
227 Kolby Listenbee - TCU (Rookie drafted by Bills)
101 Michael Strahan - Giants (Legends)
110 Carl Eller - Vikings (Legends)
200 Darrell Green - Redskins (Legends)

This Record Breaker is a career one. Much better than the team record.


Pack 11:


47 Doug Martin - Buccaneers
42 Gary Barnidge - Browns
36 Ryan Fitzpatrick - Jets
29 Peyton Manning - Broncos
Classic Moments 5 Franco Harris - Steelers
Monday Night Heroes 14 Jay Cutler - Bears
257 Leonard Floyd - Georgia (Rookie drafted by Bears)
128 Antonio Freeman - Packers (Legends)
120 Champ Bailey - Broncos (Legends)
111 Mike Ditka - Bears (Legends)


I finally pulled a Brown, but I've shown it already in a previous post.

I believe Raiders fans will refer to that classic moment as the Immaculate Deception.


Pack 12:


73 Josh Norman - Panthers
67 Matt Ryan - Falcons
62 Aaron Rodgers - Packers
40 Jordan Matthews - Eagles
Team Tributes 4 - 1992 Dallas Cowboys
Red Back 244 Joey Bosa - Ohio State (Rookie drafted by Chargers)
217 Kevin Hogan - Stanford (Rookie drafted by Chiefs)
188 Brian Urlacher - Bears (Legends)
180 Dan Hampton - Bears (Legends)
173 Steve Young - 49ers (Legends)

Okay, Hogan was released by the Chiefs after training camp and signed by the Browns to their practice squad. Today he was just activated by the Browns to their main roster. I figure he probably has a good chance of seeing the field at some point this season. Usually I only collect college uniform cards of players drafted by the Browns or signed as UFAs. Should I include this Hogan card in my Browns collection? (I'm leaning to yes.)


Pack 13:


58 Eli Manning - Giants
56 Brandon Marshall - Jets
19 Brandin Cooks - Saints
9 Mark Ingram - Saints
Blank Backs NNO Charles Hailey - Cowboys (Legends)
Red Backs 142 Don Majkowski - Packers (Legends)
281 Malcolm Mitchell - Georgia (Rookie drafted by Patriots)
182 Dwight Clark - 49ers (Legends)
175 Warren Sapp - Buccaneers (Legends)
169 Marcus Allen - Raiders (Legends)

Not really a blank back, but I like the simple logo on the card.


Pack 14:


76 LeSean McCoy - Bills
70 A.J. Green - Bengals
65 Allen Hurns - Jaguars
61 Larry Fitzgerald - Cardinals
Future Legends 8 Stefon Diggs - Vikings
Variation 78 Odell Beckham Jr. - Giants
289 Reggie Ragland - Alabama (Rookie drafted by Bills)
109 Kurt Warner - Rams (Legends)
199 Michael Irvin - Cowboys (Legends)
190 Dan Marino - Dolphins (Legends)

The easy way to tell the variations of the base set is to look at the back of the cards. The black on the banner up top is not faded like you see in the rest of the set, it is more solidly black. Or you could look at online checklists and variation guides.


Looking at the box, only one Brown is a disappointment to me. I was hoping for one of the Browns parallels, or the missing base card Brown that I needed (Crowell) which I'm sure will be pretty easy to get. But let's look at the numbers:


Base cards (1-200 which includes Legends): 100/200
Rookie cards (201-300, one per pack): 14/100


Base variations: 1/40


Parallels:
Glossy: 6/300 (2 were rookies)
Blank Backs: 1/300
Red Backs: 3/300 (1 rookie)
Timeless Tributes Bronze: 1/300 rookie)
Timeless Tributes Silver: 1/300


Inserts:
Classic Clashes: 1/20
Classic Moments: 2/20
Future Legends: 1/20
Monday Night Heroes: 2/25
Next Level: 2/30
Record Breakers: 2/30
Team Tributes: 2/15
Instant Classics Ink: 1/30


And a bunch of other inserts and parallels: 0 of whatever


All in all, I am happy with my box. I've seen that Dave and Adam's have boxes on sale for $36.95. It is tempting to buy another box but with the rookies falling one per pack that still wouldn't allow me to come close to completing the set so I probably won't pick one up. I do like the cards though.