Cardfest Day 10 Breaks!

Day #10 for Cardfest! So yesterday's break of 15-16 Prizm Basketball, ended the retail portion of Cardfest and I've got to say that overall I'd say it wasn't that bad. The two products I was most excited in (15-16 Prizm and Optic Basketball) delivered some great hits. I'd say the only stuff I was SUPER disappointed in was the Optic Football Collector's Boxes. That was a basically a waste of money and with the resealed boxes fiasco, Panini Points, and pulling 3 of the same auto out of the 12 boxes, it just really left a bad taste in my mouth. So now we get to the meat of the break. Even though we have opened a few boxes of hobby in between, it's now Hobby boxes from this point on. So here's what I'll start today's break with

1998-99 Bowman's Best Basketball

 

So we haven't gone old school since the beginning of Cardfest with 1998 Topps Gallery Basketball. I'm going to open this next for a couple of reasons. It's a fun trip down memory lane, especially during Christmas season, and also since this is basically just a nostalgic break (albeit a tad expensive one), I'm really not expecting a major monster pull here or anything. There are monsters to be found (atomic refractor rookies of Dirk, Pierce, Vince and autographs of Kobe and Tim Duncan) but those cards are super impossible to pull out of one box. It'd be nice if I did pull one though! Here's what I got

Rookies (1:4) Raef LaFrentz
Jason Williams
Vince Carter
Mike Bibby
Keon Clark
Brian Skinner



Best Performers (1:12)
Tim Duncan
Paul Pierce

Mirror Image (1:12)
Steve Smith/Ron Mercer
Detlef Schrempf/Shareef Abdur Rahim

Franchise Best (1:23)
Keith Van Horn

Refractors (1:25)
Alan Henderson (#280/400)

Overall Thoughts: This is definitely one of those "better at the time" breaks. Today, this break looks pretty boring, but back in 1999, there's no doubt in my mind this box would've been a solid winner. First of all Jason Williams and Vince Carter were two of the hottest players in the league at the time so pulling both of their SP'd rookie cards in the same box would've been amazing. I'm sure if you look back at Beckett during their peak, the Vince was probably a $60-$80 card with the Jason Williams not too far behind. Also Mike Bibby wasn't a bad 3rd rookie hit as well. Considering you only get 6 rookies per box, I think I did really well there. Then you add a 1 per box insert of Keith Van Horn, who was still a hobby favorite only in his 2nd year, plus a 2nd year Tim Duncan Insert, AND a rookie Paul Pierce insert, and 1999 me would've been BEYOND THRILLED with this box. The refractor pull unfortunately was lame and the Mirror Image inserts (which look so cool) could've been better but overall this was a great break back then that unfortunately didn't stand the test of time nearly 20 years later. Here's pics of the cards

Alright, so the next break might take a while..a lonnnnng while.

16-17 Aficionado Basketball

 

Alright, so here's the first product I have some expectations for. Boxes were $30 a pop and I bought 7 of them. I'm hoping for a least one nice hit out of 7 boxes of this. You get 1 auto and 1 memorabilia card a box. This will probably take the rest of the day to open.

Box 1
Notable Rookies
Ben Simmons
Jaylen Brown
Brandon Ingram


Artist Proof
Justice Winslow
Diamond Stone RC
Ben Simmons RC
Bradley Beal
Damian Lillard
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Marquese Chriss

Artist Proof Red
Klay Thompson (#76/99)

Global Reach Artist Proof
Joel Embiid


Slick Picks
Henry Ellenson
Juan Hernangomez

Power Surge
Spud Webb
Kevin Durant

Craftwork
Zach Lavine
Terrence Ross

Magic Numbers
Stephen Curry

Dual Authentics
Eric Bledsoe/T.J. Warren (#40/299)

International Ink
Boban Marjanovic (#19/99)

Box 2

Notable Rookies
Jamal Murray
Brandon Ingram
Ben Simmons
Buddy Hield

Artist Proofs
Domantas Sabonis RC
Pascal Siakam RC
Devin Booker
Kyrie Irving
Chandler Parsons
Jimmy Butler
Allen Crabbe
D'Angelo Russell
Jahlil Okafor
Al Horford

Global Reach Artist Proof Red
Jonas Valanciunas (#33/99)


Inducted Artist Proofs
Scottie Pippen

Slick Picks
Brandon Ingram
Dragan Bender

Power Surge
Kobe Bryant
Russell Westbrook

Meteor
Myles Turner

Craftwork
Rudy Gay
Karl Anthony Towns

Magic Numbers
Damian Lillard


International Ink
Ivica Zubac (#18/249)

Authentics Prime
John Wall (#7/25)

Box 3


Notable Rookies
Buddy Hield
Ben Simmons
Jaylen Brown


Artist Proofs
Damian Lillard
Tobias Harris
Marquese Chriss RC
Andre Drummond
Hassan Whiteside
Rodney Hood
Ben Simmons RC
Justice Winslow
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Avery Bradley

Tip Off
A.J. Hammons RC


Global Reach Artist Proof
Manu Ginobili

Slick Picks
Thon Maker
Taurean Prince


Power Surge
Dominique Wilkins
Shawn Kemp

Craftwork
Dennis Schroder
Brook Lopez

Magic Numbers
Carmelo Anthony

Authentics
Derrick Favors (#164/175)

First Impressions Autograph Artist Proof
Brandon Ingram (#27/49)

Box 4

Notable Rookies
Jaylen Brown

Artist Proofs
Chris Paul
Nerlens Noel
Buddy Hield RC
Trevor Ariza
Tony Parker
Kenneth Faried
Henry Ellenson RC
Brandon Knight
Dirk Nowitzki

Artist Proofs Red
Kyrie Irving (#85/99)


Power Surge
Shawn Kemp
Dominique Wilkins

Power Surge Red Artist Proof
Kobe Bryant (#36/99)


Craftwork
Sergio Rodriguez
Reggie Jackson


Slick Picks
Buddy Hield
Marquese Chriss

Magic Numbers
Stephen Curry

Dual Authentics
Anthony Davis/Russell Westbrook (#269/299)

Endorsements
Will Barton (#173/175)


Box 5

Notable Rookies
Jaylen Brown

Artist Proofs
Jahlil Okafor
Domantas Sabonis
Kyrie Irving
Dragon Bender RC
Al Horford
Allen Crabbe
D'Angelo Russell
Pascal Siakam RC
Kevin Durant
Blake Griffin


Power Surge
Dominique Wilkins


Magic Numbers
Reggie Jackson
Shawn Kemp

Global Reach Red Press Proof
Jusuf Nurkic (#62/99)

Slick Picks
Denzel Valentine
Wade Baldwin IV

Craftwork
Isaiah Thomas
Enes Kanter

Dual Authentics Prime
Carmelo Anthony/Kristaps Porzingis (#21/25)

Endorsements
Elvin Hayes (#26/149)

Box 6

Notable Rookies
Jaylen Brown
Buddy Hield
Jamal Murray

Artist Proof
Nicolas Batum
Eric Bledsoe
Malachi Richardson
John Wall
Russell Westbrook
Kristaps Porzingis
Gordon Hayward
Dwight Howard
Jabari Parker
Myles Turner


Global Reach Red Press Proof
Nicolas Batum (#46/99)


Magic Numbers
John Wall

Magic Numbers Artist Proof
Carmelo Anthony

Craftwork
Dwyane Wade
Russell Westbrook

Power Surge
Spud Webb
Kevin Durant

Slick Picks
Gergios Papagiannis
Domantas Sabonis

Authentics
Terrence Ross (#83/175)

Endorsements
Karl Malone (#39/60)


Box 7

Notable Rookies
Jamal Murray
Buddy Hield
Ben Simmons

Press Proofs
Malachi Richardson RC
Russell Westbrook
Chris Paul
John Wall
Myles Turner
Eric Bledsoe
Gordon Heyward
Nicolas Batum
Dwight Howard
Jabari Parker

Meteor
John Wall

Slick Picks
Jakob Poeltl
Jamal Murray

Power Surge
Tracy McGrady
Jimmy Butler



Magic Numbers
Dirk Nowitzki

Craftwork
Mike Conley
Stephen Curry


Authentics
Rudy Gay (#114/175)


Endorsements
Justise Winslow (#132/199)

Overall Thoughts: Very pleased with this break. Multiple Simmons Rookies, a sweet Wall Patch, sweet Dual Melo/Zinger Patch, a Mailman Auto, and a Brandon Ingram Rookie Auto. The Ingram and Malone are my 3rd and 4th best pulls of Cardfest respectively. This break definitely delivered in my opinion! Think I did very well! Also I love the inserts in this product. They aren't worth much as modern inserts don't command much interest but they are still really cool especially the Power Surge cards, which remind me of 93 Ultra Scoring Kings, one of my all time favorite insert sets. Pics of the cards

 

 

Overall Day 10 Thoughts: Well, the Bowman's Best was as expected, just an expensive trip down memory lane but the 7 Box Aficionado Break definitely was a great break overall. Still no jaw dropping monster cards, but at least it didn't disappoint. Tomorrow's Christmas Eve, so I might be able to open a box or two time permitting.