Box Breaks: 3 Boxes of 2017-18 Encased Basketball

 

Sigh..well my luck has been absolute dogshit so far. It's funny how things work out. I go on the run of my life and now I follow it up with the WORST run of my life. Not even going to do a teaser, it keeps getting WORSE with this break. The draw of this product is a slabbed BGS card in every box. Here's my shitty luck continuing.

Box 1
Base Card
Kemba Walker (#17/99)

Rookie Dual Jerseys
Davon Reed (#74/149)

Rookie Triple Jersey Patch
Tony Bradley (#4/10) (WRONG JAZZ ROOKIE)


Scripted Signatures
Vin Baker (#92/99)

Graded Card
Rookie Notable Signatures Zach Collins BGS 9.5 (#74/99)

Box 2

Base Card
Marc Gasol (#39/99)

Substantial Swatches Rookie
Markelle Fultz (#94/99)

Dual Jerseys
Andre Drummond (#2/99)


Endorsements Auto
Joel Embiid Redemption (Numbered to 49)

Graded Card
Rookie Endorsements Bogdan Bogdanovic BGS 9 (#48/99)

Box 3

Base Card
Andre Drummond (#66/99)


Dual Jerseys
Paul Milsap (#50/99)
Karl Anthony Towns (#92/99)


Endorsements
Shareef Abdur-Rahim (#03/99)

Graded Card
Frank Mason Jr. Rookie Scripted Signatures BGS 9 (#19/99)

Overall Thoughts: AWFUL..just flat out AWFUL. So bad that even the BASE CARDS SUCK. These card companies really know how to stick it to you. It's one thing to bust on product like Inception where it's $75 a box, but I've completely whiffed on a nearly $1,000.00 case of Finest and now this, which was around $210 a box. The only decent hit was the Embiid but of course that was a redemption so no telling when or even if that gets fulfilled. And even THEN, it's not THAT big of a card. Everything else was awful. Player selection wise, it's cool getting on card autos of guys like Shareef Abdur Rahim and Vin Baker (90's stars that I grew up with) and the Shareef is actually numbered to his jersey number, but you're looking at $5 cards at BEST, plus $1 jersey cards and 3 graded cards that combined probably won't even net me $100. At this point, I'm definitely holding on buying more wax (I bought a lot on presale which is why I have multiple things coming in) because it's to the point where I'm literally throwing away a LOT of money. I'm definitely paying for my good fortune in SPADES now. I have one more break this weekend and my expectations are so low and luck so bad, I'm honestly just hoping for at the very least a mediocre break and not these bottom of the barrel worst case scenario breaks that I've had. Here's pics of the cards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018

#1 2017-18 National Treasures FOTL RPA Exclusive Lonzo Ball (#13/15)

#2 2017-18 National Treasures FOTL RPA Exclusive De'Aaron Fox (#3/15)

#3 2018 Topps Tier One Triple Patch Autographs Ichiro (#1/1)

#4 2018 Bowman Chrome Prospects Red Refractor Autograph Jeren Kendall (#2/5)

#5 2018 Topps Tier One Tier One Signatures Derek Jeter (#7/15)

Box Breaks: 2 Boxes of 2018 Topps Inception

 

I have a lot of stuff coming in the next 3-4 weeks. We'll start off with this but off the bat this was an instant regret purchase. I found out that I basically overpaid about $15 per box with this stuff (I've seen it online for $59.99 a box, I paid $74) so that already put me in a bad mood before the break. It's my fault for not researching. I don't even know why I bought this to begin with, I guess I just wanted something to rip. Anyways, the breaks of this have been brutal so I knew this was more than likely going to be a bloodbath. Here's what I got

Box 1

Base Cards
Jacob Faria
Paul Blackburn
Jose Altuve
Noah Syndergaard


Green Parallel
George Springer

Red Parallel
Gary Sanchez (#24/75)


Autographs
Zack Granite (#170/230)

Box 2

Base Cards
Luis Severino
Matt Olson
Willie Calhoun
Kenley Jansen

Green Parallel
Brandon Woodruff


Red Parallel
Brett Phillips (#12/75)


Autograph Patch
Nicky Delmonico (#256/299)

Overall Thoughts: Yep....GROSS. Nothing really to even say. The best card was probably the Gary Sanchez Red Parallel. I do not recommend buying this even at $60 a box. Lesson Learned. My luck is correcting back to normal after that amazing run I had. Hope my two other weekend breaks go better than this.

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018

#1 2017-18 National Treasures FOTL RPA Exclusive Lonzo Ball (#13/15)

#2 2017-18 National Treasures FOTL RPA Exclusive De'Aaron Fox (#3/15)

#3 2018 Topps Tier One Triple Patch Autographs Ichiro (#1/1)

#4 2018 Bowman Chrome Prospects Red Refractor Autograph Jeren Kendall (#2/5)

#5 2018 Topps Tier One Tier One Signatures Derek Jeter (#7/15)

Case Breaks: 2018 Topps Finest Baseball...IT ALLLL COMES CRASHING DOWN

 

Well..it was bound to happen. Luck doesn't last forever. You hope it does, but it's only matter of time before everything corrects itself. I was hoping it would be slowly..but nope..when it comes crashing it crashes hard. Here's my brutal 2018 Topps Finest Case Break...fair warning..it's UGLY

Box 1
Refractors
Kenley Jansen
Jose Abreu
Andrew Benintendi
Edwin Encarnacion


Purple Refractors
Andrelton Simmons (#123/250)

Orange Refractors
Robbie Ray (#23/25)

Cornerstones
Yadier Molina
Miguel Sano
Paul Goldschmidt
Bryce Harper

Sitting Red
Joey Gallo
Gary Sanchez

Finest Firsts
Alex Verdugo

Finest Autographs Refractor
Ryan McMahon


Finest Firsts Orange Wave Autograph
Alex Verdugo (#16/25)

Box 2
Refractors
Jack Flaherty RC
Austin Hays RC
Albert Pujols
Aaron Judge


Purple Refractors
Yoenis Cespedes (#214/250)

Blue Refractors
Bryce Harper (#11/150)


Cornerstones
Aaron Judge
Josh Bell
Jose Abreu
Andrew Benintendi

Sitting Red
Manny Machado
Joey Votto


Finest Firsts
Rhys Hoskins


Base SP
Michael Conforto


Finest Refractors Autographs
Jack Flaherty

Finest Refractors Autographs Orange Refractor
Austin Hays (#21/25)

Box 3
Ohtani Base RC

Refractors
Manny Machado
Brett Gardner
Dominic Smith
Eric Thames

Purple Refractors
Adam Jones (#91/150)

Green Refractors
Rougned Odor (#26/99)

Cornerstones
Robinson Cano
Justin Bour
Mike Trout
Rhys Hoskins

Sitting Red
Rhys Hoskins
Nelson Cruz

Finest Firsts
Nick Williams

Finest Autographs Refractors
Harrison Bader


Finest Firsts Autographs Refractors
Ozzie Albies

Box 4
Base SP
Jake Lamb

Refractors
Brian Dozier
Dallas Keuchel
Nolan Arenado
Rougned Odor

Blue Refractors
Joey Gallo (#22/150)


Purple Refractors
Craig Kimbrel

Cornerstones
Nomar Mazara
Nolan Arenado
Carlos Correa
Freddie Freeman

Sitting Red
Kris Bryant
Nolan Arenado


Finest Firsts
Ohtani

Finest Autographs Refractors
Greg Allen

Finest Autographs Gold Refractors
Matt Olson (#9/50)

Box 5
Base SP
Joey Votto

Refractors
Nick Williams
Carlos Carrasco
Mookie Betts
George Springer


Purple Refractors
Corey Knebel (#182/250)

Blue Refractors
Justin Turner (#54/150)

Cornerstones
Wil Myers
Miguel Cabrera
Francisco Lindor
Buster Posey

Sitting Red
Edwin Encarnacion
Bryce Harper

Finest Firsts
Victor Robles


Finest Autographs Refractors
Walker Buehler


Finest Autographs Green Wave Refractors
Travis Shaw (#28/99)

Box 6
Refractors
Cody Bellinger
Freddie Freeman
Odubel Herrera
David Robertson


Purple Refractors
Willson Contreras (#98/250)


Blue Refractors
Kevin Pillar (#138/150)


Cornerstones
Manny Machado
Joey Votto
Jose Abreu
Andrew Benintendi


Sitting Red
Aaron Judge
Matt Olson

Finest Firsts
Clint Frazier

Finest Autographs Refractor
Garrett Cooper


Finest Firsts Autographs Refractor
Francisco Mejia

Box 7
Ohtani Base RC

Refractors
Justin Verlander
Alex Verdugo
Billy Hamilton
Francisco Mejia

Purple Refractors
Brandon Woodruff (#139/250)

Gold Refractors
Andrew McCutchen (#06/50)


Cornerstones
Noah Syndergaard
Matt Olson
Josh Donaldson
Salvador Perez

Cornerstones Gold Refractors
Yadier Molina (#36/50)

Sitting Red
Yoenis Cespedes
Paul Goldschmidt


Finest Firsts
Rafael Devers


Finest Careers Die Cut
Cal Ripken Jr (#FC-CR3)

Finest Autographs Refractors
Dustin Fowler

Finest Autographs Blue Refractor
Sandy Alcantara (#89/150)

Finest Hour Autograph Refractor
Andy Pettitte

Box 8
Ohtani Base RC

Base SP
Clint Frazier

Refractors
Mike Trout
Alex Wood
Willson Contreras
Salvador Perez


Green Refractors
Avisail Garcia (#97/99)

Cornerstones
Kris Bryant
Ryan Braun
Cody Bellinger
Chris Archer


Sitting Red
Cody Bellinger
Giancarlo Stanton


Finest Firsts
Amed Rosario

Finest Careers Die Cut
Cal Ripken Jr (#FC-CR9)

Finest Autographs Refractors
Brandon Woodruff
Chris Taylor

Overall Thoughts: From the highest of highs..to the LOWEST OF LOWS..this was a super depressing case break and is hands down the worst case of anything I've ever opened. Even my piss poor Optic Case Break had a Donovan Mitchell on card auto redemption in it. This has NOTHING to redeem itself. This was bad..very very bad. There's maybe two cards worth $50 or more (maybe) in this break and maybe 3 others worth 20 bucks or more. The non auto color was pathetic. Only one of note really was Bryce Harper. Just complete crap. The irony? I pulled some of these autos in my Topps Tier break and they were considered just gravy on top of what I had already pulled (Buehler, Albies, Pettitte). Here? Those are 3 of my top 5 pulls. Unbelievably bad. Outside of Pettitte not one good vet auto. Yep..after being on cloud 9 for a good month, I came crashing back down to reality. I'm not bitter, them's the breaks. I know what I got into breaking this, but it does suck to have a harsh reminder that when it's bad...IT'S VERY BAD. Here's some pics but after this..let us never speak of Finest AGAIN lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup..that's it. 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018

#1 2017-18 National Treasures FOTL RPA Exclusive Lonzo Ball (#13/15)

#2 2017-18 National Treasures FOTL RPA Exclusive De'Aaron Fox (#3/15)

#3 2018 Topps Tier One Triple Patch Autographs Ichiro (#1/1)

#4 2018 Bowman Chrome Prospects Red Refractor Autograph Jeren Kendall (#2/5)

#5 2018 Topps Tier One Tier One Signatures Derek Jeter (#7/15)

May Maildays

Thanks to some unbelievable luck with my breaking, I was able to turn that profit into some pretty solid cards last month! Here's all the goods I got!

2018 Topps Tribute Tandems Dual Auto Book Dave Winfield/Miguel Sano (#5/25)

 

This was a redemption I pulled from my terrible Tribute two box break. It was the top card I pulled and I was very pleased at the quick turnaround. This card has also grown on me big time! I really love the look of it! I'm basically keeping it in the PC bc of Winfield (1st auto of him)

2017-18 Optic Jayson Tatum Purple Holo Auto RC

 

This was a must have for me. I LOVE Optic on card autos and this being the retail exclusive purple parallel made me make sure I got it. Great looking card of a star in the making!

2017-18 Select Donovan Mitchell Rookie Signatures Neon Green Auto (#10/65)

 

Mitchell and Tatum were definitely targets of mine and this card is GORGEOUS. I'm still waiting on my Optic Redemption of Mitchell, so this "will do" for now lol. I pulled a Kuzma from this set (later sold) and I really love the slick design of it. Great card to own!

2017-18 Panini Prizm Red Pulsar Prizm RC Donovan Mitchell BGS 9 (#4/25)

 

Another high end Mitchell to add to the collection. Numbered to only 25, these retail only parallels are stunning. Everything Prizm is always popular and it's a safe bet that keep it's value, and even rise, if Mitchell continues on the path he's on to stardom.

2011 Topps Update Mike Trout RC BGS 9.5

 

Another target of mine was to pickup this Mike Trout rookie card. It's crazy how expensive this low end Topps rookie has become, but it's definitely THE Trout rookie to own outside of the super expensive ones. Just a classic design that you can't go wrong with. The best player in the game today hands down. (Spoiler alert..it's not the only Trout rookie I added)

2017-18 Panini Prizm Jayson Tatum Cracked Ice Prizm RC (#96/99)

 

I've been wanting one of these cards for a LONG TIME and even though there's more copies than the Red Pulsar I got of Mitchell, this parallel is to me, the best looking one out of the entire set. Pics don't do it justice. This card is absolutely amazing. I have a Westbrook like this as well, but this is a bit of an "upgrade" if I don't say so myself. My favorite Tatum in my collection.

2017 Topps Inception Gold Signings Aaron Judge (#11/25)

 

Man O man did I get some good stuff! Look at the nice bold gold signature of Judge. This card is unbelievably awesome and the black background definitely works. It's in contention for best Judge auto in my collection looks wise at least.

2016 Bowman's Best Best of 16 Autographs Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

 

Yep...I bought into the Vlad hype and picked up an auto of him. It's not his Bowman Chrome rookie (which is insanely nuts) but it's a "affordable" (as affordable as a Topps Auto of him can be) alternative. It's also the only Topps auto I've seen where he has added his jersey number to the signature.

2017 Bowman Chrome Prospects Green Refractor Autograph Gleyber Torres BGS 9.5 (51/99)

 

Another guy I wanted to get a nice card of. It's not considered his first prospect card, but I believe it's his first Bowman Chrome Yankee Auto card. I pulled two Torres autos last year out of Platinum but those were stickers. This is on card and it being a green refractor numbered to 99 makes it all that much better. The Yankees are STACKED with offensive talent and this guy will be a cornerstone of that for years to come.

2017 Finest Refractors Autographs Aaron Judge BGS 9.5

 

Yet ANOTHER Auto Judge rookie to add to the collection! You can't go wrong with an on card Finest Refractor! ALL RISE!!

2012-13 Immaculate Collection Jumbo Patch Autographs Red Klay Thompson RC (#16/25)

 

I am NOT fan of this version of the Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant because I think he pulled one of the weakest moves an elite superstar has ever pulled. I refuse to even buy cards of his because of the lack of respect I have for him. Klay is the one guy I actually like on the team. He quietly does his job (and on occasions bails them out in big situations) and though I wouldn't say he doesn't get any credit, it's still smaller that what Curry and Durant got. Felt like this would be an awesome high end rookie card to add to my collection.

2017-18 Optic The Rookies Lime Green Parallel Jayson Tatum (#174/175)

 

It's not too rare, but damn do Green parallels of Tatum really stand out. I love the way they work with the Celtics green. A sweet looking parallel!

And now the best for last. I wanted to make one HUGE purchase. A purchase that would be the cornerstone (at least for now) of my collection. I decided to go with this

2011 Finest Rookie Autographs Refractors Mike Trout BGS 9.5 (#324/499)

 

Yep...this MONSTER. Such a beautiful beautiful card. I absolutely love it. On card greatness. Hands down without a shadow of a doubt the best card in my collection now. Sky's the limit with Trout and this could be a reallllllly good card to hold on to down the road.

And that'll do it for my May Pickups!!