Case Break: 2016 Strata Baseball

 

So this was my big Black November purchase from Blowout. I'd never done a case of anything before, but this seemed like a really good deal so I bit the bullet and took a shot. Here's what I got

Box 1
Rob Refsnyder Auto
Sonny Gray Auto/Jersey


Box 2
Carl Edwards Jr Auto (#3/125)
Kevin Plawecki Auto Patch(#1/75) (Nice patch..horrible player)

Box 3
Billy Wagner Auto Black (#25/50)
Jacob DeGrom Jersey

Box 4
Tyson Ross Auto (#60/99)
Jacob DeGrom Auto Patch (#4/25) (Again awesome patch that has a nice chunk of the Mets logo)

Box 5
Tom Murphy Auto
Greg Bird Auto Jersey (#2/50)


Box 6
Anthony Rizzo Blue Parallel Auto Redemption
Manny Machado Jersey

Box 7
Ken Griffey Jr. Strata Signature Redemption
Madison Bumgarner Jersey (#84/99)

Box 8
Brian Johnson Auto
Steven Matz Auto/Jersey

Box 9
Francisco Lindor Auto
Luis Severino Patch (#16/50)

Box 10
Nolan Arenado Auto (#5/75)
Kevin Plawecki Auto/Jersey (Noooo why him again?!!?)

Box 11
Jorge Soler Auto
David Ortiz Jersey (#37/99)

Box 12
Jacob Degrom Auto/Jersey (45/99)
Luis Gonzalez Strata Signature (#16/25)

Overall Thoughts: Well...what a disaster. I was really looking forward to busting all this wax and to say it was a total bust overall (The Elite, Prizm and this) would be an understatement. So again, this a 2 card per box product so obviously it's hit or miss but man I've been on such a slump since September that it would've been nice to pull something super awesome. Don't get me wrong, I love Griffey, he's my favorite player, and honestly it's probably now my 4th biggest pull of the year, but a)it's a redemption so I have to pray Topps makes it and B)it still doesn't cover the rest of the break which was boring and bla to say the least. A ton of low end autos (Tom Murphy, Refsnyder, Bird, Brian Johnson types) the Shadowbox Signature sucked (Luis Gonzalez) and I got two Kevin Plawecki Auto Jerseys (ugh). The DeGrom Auto Patch is nice, but man it was a Mets overkill box as I got three DeGroms, Two Plawecki, and Steven Matz. There isn't even a card that's close to being anything good outside of the Griffey and DeGrom (I mean the Rizzo is OK, but nothing earth shattering and again it's a redemption). I was hoping for a pick me up as shit has been so awful lately on the personal side, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Unless I get boxes for my birthday or Christmas, I'm done busting wax this year. (I've said that before, but this time..it's the truth, I can't afford to lose my ass on this stuff break after break). It's just not really worth it period. I thought buying a case would ensure at least one earth shattering card. I get jealous looking at the breaks on Blowout and seeing one guy pull a David Wright Auto Logoman, Kris Bryant Redemption in his case or another getting a Tanaka Logoman, Rickey Henderson Patch Auto Redemption, Kris Bryant Auto Redemption, and Clayton Kershaw Auto Redemption in his case and here comes me with a pretty much bust of a case. Here's pics of the cards I got

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2016
#1- 2016 Topps Tribute Superfractor Autograph Alex Gordon (#1/1)
#2- 2015-16 Panini Prizms Rookie Signatures Silver Prizms Kristaps Porzingis (#25/25)

#3- 2016 Topps Tribute Milestone Relic Game Used Ball Kris Bryant (#5/10)

#4- 2016 Topps Strata Signatures Ken Griffey Jr. Redemption
#5-2016 Donruss Signature Marks Gold Terry Bradshaw (#1/5)

  

Box Breaks: 2 Boxes of 2016-17 Prizm Basketball

 

This wasn't part of my Black Friday Splurge, this was actually a preorder that finally came in this week. You know me and Prizm, had to get my fix of this year's edition. Thankfully I preordered this stuff because it went up to $150 a box which is ABSURD. So how'd it go? Here are the results

Box 1

Only Notable Base Rookie was Buddy Hield

Sky's The Limit
John Wall
Zach Lavine
Russell Westbrook Ruby Wave


All Day
Steph Curry

Go Hard or Go Home
Lebron James
Jimmy Butler
Gordon Hayward Purple Prizm (#10/75)

Explosion
Jimmy Butler
Damian Lillard Silver Prizm
Klay Thompson Blue Wave (#70/99)

First Step
James Harden

Silver Prizms
Kevin Durant
Russell Westbrook
Kyle Lowry
Eric Gordon
Nikola Pekovic
Enes Kanter
Jonathon Simmons
Cole Aldrich
Bradley Beal
Nene
Markieef Morris
Michael Gbinje RC

Ruby Wave Prizm
Serge Ibaka
J.J. Barea
Alonze Gee

Blue Wave Prizm
Dion Waiters (#82/99)
Boban Marjanovic (#02/99)
Thaddeus Young (#73/99)

Purple Prizm
James Harden (#56/75)
Doug McDermott (#15/75)

Orange Prizm
Georgios Papagiannis RC (#40/49) (Ugh)

Mojo Prizm
Aaron Harrison (#8/25) (of course it has to be one of the worst players in the set)

Autographs
Caris LeVert
Jake Layman



Box 2

A duplicate rookie of Buddy Hield and that is seriously the best rookie card i got...no Simmons, Ingram, Brown, Dunn, Murray in either boxes

Go Hard or Go Home
Kyrie Irving
Giannis Antetokounmpo


First Step
Andrew Wiggins
Reggie Jackson Silver Prizm

All Day
John Wall

Explosion
Kawhi Leonard


Sky's The Limit
Mason Plumlee
Andrew Wiggins
Lebron James Ruby Wave
Zach Lavine Purple (#70/75)
Zach Lavine Orange (#38/49)

Silver Prizms
JJ Redick
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
J.R. Smith
Nicolas Batum
Deyonta Davis RC
Khris Middleton
Brandan Wright
Jahlil Okafor
Dwyane Wade
Hassan Whiteside
Channing Frye
Jordan Mickey

Ruby Wave Prizms
Kristaps Porzingis
Paul George
Jose Calderon

Blue Wave Prizms
Kristaps Porzingis
Damian Lillard
Jamal Crawford

Purple Prizms
Rashad Vaughn (#33/75)
Courtney Lee (#18/75)

Orange Prizms
Dirk Nowitzki (#20/49)

Mojo Prizms
Mo Williams (#2/25) (Jeez I mean I guess it's a step up from Aaron Harrison...)

Autographs
Mario Hezonja
Joel Bolomboy

Overall Thoughts: I'm not going to do a pros and cons on this because honestly the only pro is I like the cards themselves both inserts and bases. My problem with this is my problem with MOST Panini products. The VALUE SUCKS. This is such a gross, disgusting, pathetic break that it pissed me off beyond belief. The purpose of ripping boxes is the excitement of what you can hit. It's really hard to get excited when it's just crap after crap. And again COLLATION sucks..I only bought two boxes and doubled up on a bunch of crappy rookies and I only pulled one decent rookie, Buddy Hield, out of two boxes (pulled him twice). That's simply inexcusable. The Mojo Parallels were jokes (c'mon throw a BONE with these..give me at least a DAMN ALL STAR...Andrew Harrison and Mo Williams...I understand it's a 300 card base set, HOWEVER, it's like I said..there HAS TO BE BALANCE...if the auto's are going to suck...make the parallels worth while...it STILL won't cover the price of this shit, but man, why does there have to be 40 shithole boxes for every 1 great one? Why is there never any balance with these? You either do great, or you completely lose your ass and literally get $5 dollars worth of cards. It's frustrating and it's no wonder people stay away from opening stuff unless it's in group breaks. I know the common sense thing is to just buy singles, but that can get boring sometimes (plus on a side note, the amount of auctions has significantly dwindled since I last collected, seems most people are too scared to sell to low and go the buy it now or best offer route and then ask for ridiculous prices.) it's much more fun to pull a great card. The problem is, these boxes are completely one way or the other, there is NO MIDDLE....EVER and of course 8 times out of 10...the boxes will SUCK. I feel ripped off paying $110 for this...there's NO WAY I'd ever pay $150! This isn't a $150 product and dumping some shitty ass sticker autos doesn't make it that way. The autographs are an absolute JOKE. Two guys that'll probably be in the D-League most of their career a rookie who probably won't get minutes, and a 2nd year "veteran" who's been uninspiring so far. And they aren't even parallels...it's just plain ass base autos with stickers. Just aggravating. One of the reasons Prizm is expensive is the inclusion of two auto's a box, but the checklist is so shit that these cards make a $75-80 product AT THE MOST a $110-150 for a couple of autographs that you can't even sell for A DOLLAR. This is supposed to be a hobby for fun and sometimes...it really doesn't feel like it when opening this stuff. At it's current price point I will NEVER recommend this stuff. If it gets down to around 85 than MAYBE but $100 and up? NOPE. Here's a sample of the cards I got. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Box Breaks: 5 Boxes of 13/14 Elite Basketball

 

So Blowout has been having Black November sales all month long and this one for 13/14 Elite Basketball caught my eye. At a little under $30 a box, I figured it would be a fun little rip. Here's what I got

Box 1

Legends
Artis Gilmore (#434/999)
Shawn Kemp (#129/999)

Rookies
Dennis Schroder (#210/999)
Victor Oladipo (#312/999)

Elite Series
Tim Duncan
Dwight Howard
Damian Lillard
Kevin Durant
Anfernee Hardaway
Kyrie Irving
Vince Carter


Passing The Torch
Carmelo Anthony/Walt Frazier
Kyrie Irving/John Stockton
Blake Griffin/Bob McAdoo

Franchise Future
Chandler Parsons
Harrison Barnes

Face 2 Face
Marc Gasol/Serge Ibaka
Chris Bosh/Tim Duncan


Aspirations Die Cut Blue
Andre Roberson RC (#18/79)
Joe Johnson (#35/93)

Throwback Threads Jersey
Shaq Lakers

Dominators Jersey
Paul Pierce

New Breed Auto/Jersey
Nate Wolters (#277/499)

Rookie Essentials Auto/Jersey
Mason Plumlee (#7/299)

Box 2

Legends
James Worthy (#525/999)
Dolph Schayes (#156/999)

Rookies
Shane Larkin (#652/999)
Ricky Ledo (#456/999)

Elite Series
Julius Erving
Derrick Rose
LeBron James
Blake Griffin
George Gervin
Amare Stoudemire
Kevin Garnett

Passing The Torch
Steve Nash/Goran Dragic
Rajon Rondo/Oscar Robertson
DeMarcus Cousins/Vlade Divac

Face 2 Face
Dwyane Wade/Tony Parker
Kenneth Faried/LaMarcus Aldridge
Andre Drummond/Tristan Thompson

Franchise Future
Kyrie Irving
Kelly Olynyk


Status Die Cut Red
Gerald Wallace (#11/45)

Dominators Jersey
Deron Williams

Throwback Threads Jersey
Jalen Rose

Rookie Essentials Auto Jersey
Ryan Kelly (#240/599)

Turn Of The Century Auto
Joe Johnson (#15/25)

Box 3

Legends
Rick Barry (#681/999)
Isiah Thomas (#677/999)

Rookies
Pero Antic (#185/999)
Jamaal Franklin (#664/999)

Elite Series
Amare Stoudemire
George Gervin
Blake Griffin
LeBron James
Kevin Garnett
Kobe Bryant
Chris Bosh

Franchise Futures
Kawhi Leonard
Victor Olidipo
Terrence Ross


Passing The Torch
Manu Ginobli/Kawhi Leonard
Damian Lillard/Clyde Drexler

Face 2 Face
Blake Griffin/Zach Randolph
James Harden/Kevin Durant


Status Die Cut Gold
Robert Parish (#16/24)
Paul George (#15/24)

Rookie Essentials Auto Jersey
Ricky Ledo (#242/599)

Back To The Future Jersey
Chris Andersen

Throwback Threads Jersey
Earl Monroe

Elite Signatures
Isaiah Thomas (Celtics) (#90/199)

Box 4


Veterans
Isiah Thomas (#617/999)
Dominique Wilkins (#646/999)

Rookies
C.J. McCollum (#579/999)
Jeff Withey (#399/999)

Elite Series
Dwight Howard
Anfernee Hardaway
Kyrie Irving
Kevin Durant
Damian Lillard
Tim Duncan
Alonzo Mourning

Face 2 Face
George Hill/Jeff Teague
Ricky Rubio/Russell Westbrook
Chris Paul/Deron Williams

Franchise Future
Michael Carter-Williams
Bradley Beal

Passing The Torch
Damian Lillard/Clyde Drexler
Kenneth Faried/Dennis Rodman

Aspirations Die Cut Blue
Mike Miller (#22/87)


Status Die Cut Gold
Carmelo Anthony (#13/24)


Rookie Essentials Jersey Auto
Steven Adams (#23/199)

Rookie Essentials Jersey Patch Auto
Glen Rice Jr (#6/25)

Back To The Future Jersey
Andre Iguodala


Dominators Jersey
Kobe Bryant


Box 5

Legends
Hakeem Olajuwon (#399/999)
Bob Pettit (#63/999)
Rick Barry (#240/999)

Rookies
Tony Snell (#910/999)
Phil Pressey (#915/999)

Elite Series
Magic Johnson
Manu Ginobili
Ray Allen
Paul Pierce
Tony Parker
Wilt Chamberlain

Face 2 Face
Dwyane Wade/Tony Parker
Bradley Beal/Jimmer Fredette

Franchise Future
Michael Carter-Williams
Larry Sanders

Passing The Torch
Roy Hibbert/Hakeem Olajuwon
Deron Williams/Jason Kidd
Manu Ginobili/Kawhi Leonard

Aspirations Die Cut Blue
Danny Granger (#40/67)

Status Die Cut Red
Larry Bird (#16/33)

Throwback Threads Jersey
Shaq Heat

Dominators Jersey
Ray Allen

New Breed Auto/Jersey
Archie Goodwin (#212/599)

Pros

Base and Insert Card Design: I absolutely love the look of the base cards. I've always loved Elite, even back in the late 90's-early 2000's. They look like a premium card despite the price point. Also the inserts are nicely done. Even if they are easy pulls, I'm a fan of all the inserts and you do get a ton of them.

Die Cut Aspirations/Status Parallels: I think my Gold Parallels of Melo and Paul George were actually better than all of my game used and autographed hits. These cards are really nice, especially the gold ones. Big fan 

Fun Factor: 20 packs a box, an insert a pack, 4 hits a box, it's definitely a lot of fun to open.

*I thought about a pro being price point, but this was a limited special and boxes are back up to $42

Cons

Weak Rookie Class: Obviously the reason these are blown out so cheap was the rookie class is pretty awful. Really you're buying these at a shot at Superstar autos or Giannis Antetokounmpo rookies. There are some solid NBA players like Victor Olidipo, Steven Adams, C.J. McCollum, and Dennis Schroeder but it's not exactly a deep class.

Value: If ROI is your thing, forget it. Even at $30 a box I doubt I could even get half my money back with the hits. One of your autographs is guaranteed to be a sticker auto of the aforementioned weak class and we all know that jersey cards are nothing more than filler in today's age, so despite pulling two different Shaq gamers and a Kobe, those are $3-5 cards at best. This is strictly a product to rip for fun with the slight possibility you pull something awesome.

Shorted A Hit: There's a first for everything I guess...and this was the first product I've opened that I've been shorted a hit. I honestly wouldn't have been too upset if the shorted hit was the memorabilia card, but it was an autograph and although odds are, it would've been a mediocre card, I'd still rather have THE card than nothing at all.

Insert Tiers: This is always going to be a gripe of mine when it  comes to Panini Products. Why does every pack in every Panini Product HAVE TO HAVE AN INSERT CARD? It's cool to see variety, but it really cheapens the cards in my opinion, because you just get one per pack. And though it's obvious you get more than others, you ALWAYS get at least 2 of every insert a box, white The Elite Series getting 6 or 7. I really wish there harder to find non-parallel insert sets that could add value to the product.

Overall Thoughts: If you're a budget collector, beginner, or just need to satisfy the urge to rip packs, I would recommend this product ONLY if it were to go on sale again to around $30 a box. At that price, it's worth the value and entertainment. Here's a gallery of the cards I pulled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2016
#1- 2016 Topps Tribute Superfractor Autograph Alex Gordon (#1/1)
#2- 2015-16 Panini Prizms Rookie Signatures Silver Prizms Kristaps Porzingis (#25/25)

#3- 2016 Topps Tribute Milestone Relic Game Used Ball Kris Bryant (#5/10)

#4-2016 Donruss Signature Marks Gold Terry Bradshaw (#1/5)

   #5-15-16 Limited Gold Spotlight Dual Signatures Kristaps  Porzingis/Jerian  Grant (#8/10) 

 

Box Breaks: 15-16 Revolution Basketball

 

So I ordered a TON of product to bust this Week (Blowout has been having their Black November sales throughout the month and there were a couple deals I couldn't resist) and this was one I ordered just to take advantage of free shipping. It's a low end, affordable product that I had fun opening the first time around (pulled a Tracy McGrady Auto) so I decided to try another box. Here are the results

New Wave
Kawhi Leonard
Harrison Barnes

Rookie Revolution
Kristaps Porzingis

Infinite
Justise Winslow RC
Justin Anderson RC
Kawhi Leonoard

Nova
Josh Richardson RC
Robin Lopez

Angular
Jeremy Lamb
Cameron Payne RC

Cosmic
Nikola Mirotic (#51/100)

Futura
James Harden (#16/25)  

Overall Thoughts: Another fun break! Like I said, love the idea of multiple parallels, a couple inserts and hard to find autographs. No autograph this time, but pulled a sweet Futura Parallel card of MVP Candidate James Harden and a cool Porzingis insert! Not every break has to have a super valuable card to be considered a success! Here's some of the cards from my break

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2016
#1- 2016 Topps Tribute Superfractor Autograph Alex Gordon (#1/1)
#2- 2015-16 Panini Prizms Rookie Signatures Silver Prizms Kristaps Porzingis (#25/25)

#3- 2016 Topps Tribute Milestone Relic Game Used Ball Kris Bryant (#5/10)

#4-2016 Donruss Signature Marks Gold Terry Bradshaw (#1/5)

   #5-15-16 Limited Gold Spotlight Dual Signatures Kristaps  Porzingis/Jerian  Grant (#8/10)