Case Breaks: 1 Case of 2018 FOTL Optic Baseball..OH My!!!

 

So Panini's latest FOTL product was 2018 Optic. I had planned on opening up a case of regular hobby of this, but when I was able to snag a case's worth of FOTL I decided this would suffice. So the big draw here? The FOTL exclusive content. You get a Rated Rookie or Prospect Black Auto numbered to 25 as one your hits and a Cracked Ice Parallel numbered to 7. Sure did seem like a no lose situation and if anyone is in need of a no lose situation it's ME. So..how did it go? Here's what I got

Box 1

All Stars
Yadier Molina
Carlos Correa

All Stars Silver Holo
Jose Ramirez


Variations
Willie Calhoun (June)
Miguel Andjuar (The Bronx)
Clint Frazier (Red Thunder)
Victor Robles (Photo Variation)
Miguel Cabrera (Miggy)
Andrew McCutchen (Cutch)
Adrian Beltre (3,000 Hit Club)

Rated Prospects
Leody Taveras


Looking Back
Javier Baez/Ryne Sandberg


Out of This World
J.D. Martinez

Long Ball Leaders
Joey Gallo


Rated Rookie Retro
Dominic Smith

Year In Review
Giancarlo Stanton


Silver Holo
Buster Posey
Adrian Beltre
Reggie Jackson
Walker Buehler
Ryan Zimmerman
Orlando Arcia

Aqua Holo
Jose Abreu (#54/299)

Orange Holo
Corey Seager (#154/199)


Cracked Ice
Anthony Rizzo Diamond King (#2/7)

Rated Rookie Autographs Black Parallel
Tomas Nido (#14/25)

Rated Rookie Autographs Gold Parallel
Max Fried (#6/10)

Box 2
Mound Marvels
Corey Kluber

Rated Rookie Retro
Francisco Mejia

Out Of This World
Nelson Cruz


Long Ball Leaders
Logan Morrison
Aaron Judge

Looking Back
Jose Altuve/Craig Biggio

All Stars
Yadier Molina


All Stars Silver Holo
Gary Sanchez

Variations
Andrew Benintendi (Photo)
Amed Rosario (Queens)
Rhys Hoskins (Rhys Lightning)
Adrian Beltre (3000 Hit Club)
Ozzie Albies (The Atl)
Shohei Ohtani (Running)

Silver Holo
Kirby Puckett
Ronald Guzman
Justin Verlander
Kyle Seager
Joey Gallo

Silver Holo Diamond Kings
Corey Kluber


Aqua Holo
Aaron Judge (#100/299)
Nomar Mazara (#21/299)
George Brett (#241/299)
Shohei Ohtani (#157/299)

Aqua Holo Variations
Mickey Mantle (The Mick) (#235/299)

Diamond Kings Aqua
Mike Trout (#43/299)

Orange Holo
Nolan Ryan (#184/199)
Gleyber Torres (#43/199)

All Stars Orange Holo
Aaron Judge (#191/199)

Blue Holo
Ozzie Albies (#105/149)
Bryce Harper (#47/149)

Standouts Blue Holo
Aaron Judge (#5/149)

Year In Review Blue Holo
Rhys Hoskins (#104/149)


Diamond Kings Blue Holo
Mike Trout (#24/149)

Looking Back Red Holo
Aaron Judge/Reggie Jackson (#64/99)

Red Holo
Mickey Mantle (#14/99)
Salvador Perez (#64/99)
Mike Trout (#1/99)

Carolina Blue Holo
Mickey Mantle (#12/50)

Cracked Ice Holo
Mitch Garver (#5/7)

Rated Rookies Autograph Black Holo
Dillon Peters (#10/25)

Signature Series Gold Holo
Kyle Wright (#8/10)

Box 3

Variations
Ryan McMahon (Photo)
Cody Bellinger (Photo)
Gleyber Torres (#GleyberGood)
Nick Williams (Nicky Dubs)
Shohei Ohtani (Pitching)
Mickey Mantle (The Mick)

Variations Silver Holo
Nick Williams (Nicky Dubs)

Rated Rookie Retro
Francisco Mejia

Mound Marvels
Max Scherzer
Noah Syndergaard

All Stars
Nolan Arenado
Aaron Judge
Joey Votto

Out Of This World
Ken Griffey Jr.


Out Of This World Blue Holo
J.D. Martinez (#48/149)


Looking Back
Ichiro/Pete Rose

Long Ball Leaders
Nolan Arenado

Silver Holo
Miguel Sano
George Springer
Bryce Harper
Cody Bellinger
Paul Blackburn

Diamond Kings Silver Holo
Freddie Freeman

Orange Holo
Ryan Braun (#195/199)

Cracked Ice Holo
Chris Archer Diamond Kings (#6/7)

Optic Autographs Red Holo
Dan Vogelbach (#13/25)


Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
Austin Hays (#7/25)

Box 4
Variations
Willie Calhoun (June Calhoun)
Andrew McCutchen (Cutch)
Miguel Cabrera (Miggy)
Clint Frazier (Red Thunder)
Adrian Beltre (3,000 Hit Club)
Miguel Andujar (The Bronx)

Silver Holo Variations
Shohei Ohtani (Running)


All Stars
Carlos Correa

Mound Marvels
Corey Kluber

Out Of This World
Nolan Arenado

Long Ball Leaders
Nelson Cruz

Looking Back
Clayton Kershaw/Nolan Ryan

Rated Rookie Retro
Rafael Devers

Rated Prospect
Eloy Jimenez

Silver Holo
Manny Machado
Clint Frazier
Tyler Wade
Felix Hernandez
George Brett


Diamond Kings Silver Holo
Adam Jones

Aqua Holo
Christian Yelich (#219/299)

Red Holo
Marcell Ozuna (#6/99)

Cracked Ice Holo Variation
Miguel Cabrera (Miggy) (#4/7)

Rated Rookies Autograph Black HoloLuiz Gohara (#20/25)


Optic Signatures Red Holo
Bobby Bradley (#24/25)

Variations Ryan McMahon (Photo)
Rhys Hoskins (Rhys Lightning)
Mike Trout (Photo)
Gleyber Torres (#GleyberGood)
Shohei Ohtani (Running)
Aaron Judge (Photo)
Francisco Lindor (2X All Star)

Variation Silver Holo
Francisco Lindor (2X All Star)


Looking Back
Roger Clemens/Chris Sale

Out Of This World
Nelson Cruz


Long Ball Leaders
Logan Morrison

Rated Prospect
Kyle Tucker

Rated Rookie Retro
Walker Buehler

Year In Review
Jose Ramirez

Silver Holo
Shohei Ohtani
Edwin Encarnacion
Cal Ripken
Carlos Correa
Josh Bell Diamond Kings
Mike Trout Diamond Kings

Aqua Holo
Willie Calhoun (#40/299)

Orange Holo
Willie Calhoun (#40/199)

Cracked Ice Holo
Jack Flaherty (#2/7)

Rated Rookie Autographs Black Holo
Richard Urena (#15/25)
Thyago Viera (#13/25)

Box 6
Variations
Shohei Ohtani (Running)
Ozzie Albies (The ATL)
Cody Bellinger (Photo)
Mickey Mantle (The Mick)
Victor Robles (Photo)
Amed Rosario (Queens)

Silver Holo Variations
Andrew Benintendi

Out Of This World
Jose Altuve

Year In Review
Chris Sale

Looking Back
Manny Machado/Brooks Robinson

Rated Rookies Retro
Ryan McMahon
Nick Williams

Rated Prospects
Brendan Rodgers

Silver Holo
Andrew Miller
Jacob DeGrom
Adam Jones
Alex Bregman
Yoshihisa Hirano
Bryce Harper Diamond Kings

Orange Holo
Jean Segura (#29/199)

Carolina Blue Holo
Dominic Smith (#6/50)

Cracked Ice Holo
Jose Ramirez (#4/7)

Optic Signatures Red Holo
Michael Chavis (#22/25)


Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
Felix Jorge (#15/25)

Box 7
Variations
Mickey Mantle (The Mick)
Nick Williams (Nicky Dubs)
Aaron Judge (Photo)
Shohei Ohtani (Pitching)
Cody Bellinger (Photo)

Variations Silver Holo
Walker Buehler

Long Ball Leaders
Cody Bellinger

Mound Marvels
Chris Sale

Year In Review
Adrian Beltre

Rated Prospect
Bo Bichette

Out Of The World
Cody Bellinger

Rated Rookie Retro
Clint Frazier

Silver Holo
Salvador Perez
Justin Turner
Luis Severino
Harrison Bader
Ken Griffey Jr.
Nolan Arenado

Aqua Holo
Greg Allen (#8/299)

Orange Holo
Nolan Arenado (#99/199)

Cracked Ice Holo
Freddie Freeman (#7/7)


Rated Rookie Autographs
Richard Urena

Rated Rookie Autographs Holo
Victor Caratini

Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
Amed Rosario (#20/25)

Optic Autographs Red Holo
Michael Chavis (Again lol) (#09/25)

Signature Series Gold Holo
Albert Abreu (#7/10)

Box 8
Variations
Chance Sisco (Charm City)
Giancarlo Stanton (2017 MVP)
Walker Buehler (Photo)
Andrew Benintendi (Photo)
Nick Williams (Nicky Dubs)
Rafael Devers (Raffy Big Stick)

Variations Silver Holo
Amed Rosario (Queens)

Long Ball Leaders
Giancarlo Stanton

Year In Review
Jose Altuve

Out Of This World
Joey Votto

Rated Rookie Retro
Dominic Smith

Rated Prospects
Fernando Tatis Jr.

Looking Back
Frank Thomas/Jose Abreu

Silver Holo
Josh Donaldson
Marcus Stroman
Jose Ramirez
Michael Conforto
Alex Verdugo
Jose Bautista Diamond Kings

Aqua Holo
Alex Bregman (#78/299)

Blue Holo
Jean Segura (#115/149)


Cracked Ice Holo
Trevor Story (#4/7)

Optic Autographs Red
Dan Vogelbach (#9/25) (OF COURSE AGAIN)

Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
Chris Flexen (#1/25)

Box 9

Variations Francisco Lindor (2X All Star)
Clint Frazier (Red Thunder)
Mike Trout (Photo)
Willie Calhoun (June Calhoun)
Chance Sisco (Charm City)
Aaron Judge (Photo)
Miguel Andujar (The Bronx)

Variations Holo
Victor Robles (Photo)

Out Of This World
Giancarlo Stanton


Rated Rookies Retro
Victor Robles
Walker Buehler

Rated Prospect
Nick Senzel

Year In Review
Cody Bellinger

Looking Back
Clayton Kershaw/Nolan Ryan


Silver Holo
Thyago Vieria
Anthony Rizzo
Joe Morgan
Freddie Freeman
Ryan Braun
Josh Bell


Aqua Holo
Kyle Seager (#106/299)

Red Holo
Adrian Beltre Diamond Kings (#14/99)


Cracked Ice Holo
Walker Buehler Variation (#3/7)

Optic Autographs Red Holo
Bobby Bradley (#1/25) (man cmonnnn realllllly, the 3rd crappy player where I've gotten 2 of the same Red Holos of? Is there no one else in this damn set I can pull?!?!)


Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
Ryan McMahon (#23/25)

Box 10

Variations
Shohei Ohtani (Pitching)
Walker Buehler (Back Text)
Rafael Devers (Raffy Big Stick)
Mickey Mantle (The Mick)
Cody Bellinger (Photo)
Nick Williams (Nicky Dubs)


Variations Silver Holo
Ozzie Alibes (The ATL)

Mound Marvels
Justin Verlander


Rated Prospects
Fernando Tatis Jr.

Out Of This World
Paul Goldschmidt

Long Ball Leaders
Aaron Judge

Rated Rookie Retro
Amed Rosario

Looking Back
Roger Clemens/Chris Sale

Silver Holo
Nolan Ryan
Miguel Andujar
Dustin Fowler
Noah Syndergaard
Manuel Margot


Aqua Holo
Adam Wainwright Diamond Kings (#278/299)

Blue Holo
Greg Allen (#51/149)


Cracked Ice HoloBuster Posey (#7/7)


Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
OHTANI!!! (#10/12)

Optic Autographs Gold Vinyl
Christopher Seise (#1/1)

Box 11
Variations
Mickey Mantle (The Mick)
Nick Williams (Nicky Dubs)
Chance Sisco (Charm City)
Rafael Devers (Raffy Big Stick)
Cody Bellinger (Photo)
Walker Buehler (Text on Back)

Variations Silver Holo
Clint Frazier (Red Thunder)

Rated Rookie Retro
Ryan McMahon

Long Ball Leaders
Aaron Judge

Looking Back
Javier Baez/Ryne Sandberg


Mound Marvels
Chris Sale

Out Of This World
Marcell Ozuna

Silver Holo
Andrew McCutchen
Chris Sale
Kris Bryant
Gleyber Torres
Andrew McCutchen Diamond Kings
Eric Hosmer Diamond Kings

Aqua Holo
Barry Larkin (#107/299)

Orange Holo
Brian Dozier Diamond Kings (#29/199)

Cracked Ice Holo
Eddie Mathews (#7/7)

Optic Autographs Red Holo
Derek Law (#23/25)

Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
J.D. Davis (#18/25)

Box 12
Variations
Amed Rosario (Queens)
Ozzie Albies (The ATL)
Andrew Benintendi (Photo)
Victor Robles (Photo)
Giancarlo Stanton (2017 MVP)
Shohei Ohtani (Running)

Variations Silver Holo
Andrew McCutchen (Cutch)

Mound Marvels
Nolan Ryan

Out Of This World
Ken Griffey Jr.

Rated Rookie Retro
Rafael Devers

Year In Review
Cody Bellinger
Adrian Beltre


Long Ball Leaders
Justin Smoak

Silver Holo
J.D. Martinez
Miguel Cabrera
Jose Abreu
Paul Blackburn
Anthony Rizzo Diamond Kings
Mookie Betts Diamond Kings

Orange Holo
Gerrit Cole (#139/199)


Blue Holo
Miguel Sano (#29/149)

Cracked Ice Holo
Max Scherzer (#1/7)

Optic Autographs Green Holo
Johan Oviedo (#3/5)

Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo
Dillon Peters (#12/25)

Overall Thoughts: Ohhhh do I have a LOT to say about this break that has me fuming and that's because I literally pulled the BEST CARD YOU COULD POSSIBLY PULL OUT OF FOTL OPTIC.  That Ohtani auto is gorgeous and don't get me wrong it's a GREAT card. Numbered to only 12 copies. But hot damn where those first 9 boxes the absolute WORST boxes I've ever opened PERIOD (outside of the parallel hot box which was box 2). Don't let the low numbering fool you.. those autos SUCK..numbered to 25, 10, 5 or not. This was BAD and the fact that not even (and i'm not exaggerating, in this particular product that Ohtani to 12 is the BEST card you can pull out of THESE specific boxes) the BEST card of FOTL might just BARELY get me at breaking even (I'm sure if I priced everything out, I would be in the black, but honestly not by MUCH, which just shows you as a whole how BAD the entire case was). For 9 boxes it was in contention for the worst break of my life. The Ohtani and Ohtani alone saved it. I'm just going to copy my final thoughts from my Blowout Post to show you what I mean when I say this product is such a sham. Pics of the  cards will follow

So overall thoughts..I've made known throughout this break but I'll reiterate it again

On it's face Optic FOTL looks like a heck of a deal. Two autos with one of them a guaranteed on card Black Parallel Auto of a Rookie/Prospect numbered to 25 PLUS a Cracked Ice Parallel numbered to 7. How can I lose?

Well..what if I told you that the numbered to 25 was sort of misleading? See MOST of the Black Parallels are numbered to 25..but most of the big guns (Ohtani, Vlad Jr., Acuna) are numbered to 15 or less

What if I guaranteed you the 2nd auto is a near lock to 100% suck player wise. Yes you WILL pull Red, Gold, Green, and Superfractor autos but they will mostly ALL be from the weak Optic Autographs set and you will more than likely get nobody of note. It doesn't matter how many (Every single auto but 2 of mine were numbered to 25 or less..that's 26 autographs all numbered to 25 or less yet I'd guess that at the very least 18-19 of those aren't worth more than 5 bucks) low numbered autos you get, if they all are going to be from a WEAK pool of players, the value isn't there period. Yes there are exceptions to decent hits like Kyle Tucker and Leody Taveras, but those aren't the norm. I'm 100% convinced you can't pull vet autos in FOTL (unless you count Shelby Miller and Dan Vogelbach). I'm sure you can't pull any Rookie Retro autos or Significent Signatures. You also can't pull any colored Rated Rookie Autos unless it's possibly in a hot box (the only Rated Rookies autos I got outside of the black parallels was one base auto and one silver holo). "But you get a # to 25 auto" Yeah..sure you do...but seriously look at my break..Amed Rosario and Austin Hays were literally my only decent (and I say decent loosely) autos out of 12 boxes outside of the Big Ohtani. Since you can't count on anything decent on Auto #2, you better hope for a big auto of the bigger rookies or a balanced break of good autos (like autos of 2 or more of guys like Devers, Hoskins, Albies, Buehler etc.) otherwise you'll get blasted value wise.

Parallels..the ONLY fun thing was the Parallel hot box. You get one a case in FOTL and in my case 19 of the 20 parallels were of superstars, it was AMAZING..but it all evens out in the end because in your next 11 boxes..you're looking at a max of 2 colored parallels and NONE of them will be of top tier players. My best? An aqua Bregman and aqua Barry Larkin, the easiest numbered parallel to get, numbered to 299. You also won't be able to pull any non auto parallel numbered less than 50, assuming that's the trade off for the cracked ice parallel. But that leads to a SUPER boring and dry break. When you already know off the bat with each box you open 1)Your 2nd auto will more than likely suck and 2)Your two colored parallels will suck you're basically breaking 20 packs a box for two cards, the Cracked Ice and the FOTL Black Auto. Sure that's not bad if breaking 2-4 boxes, but breaking 11 of the 12 boxes like that? Total snoozefest.

Cracked Ice are cool, but unless you're going to pull a HOF'er that sells well Ripken, Brett, along those lines) Judge/Trout, or the big rookies, even the bigger names won't sell for too much b/c of the unlicensed aspect of it.

All in all, this was one of the most boring breaks I've ever had (and frustrating) Ohtani or not. FOTL are always hard to tell because sometimes it seems like Panini compensates for the FOTL exclusive content by taking away opportunities from other parts of the set. I'm not saying these should 1000% loaded with all the bells and whistles, but there should be some CHANCE at something else good. I don't mind the FOTL auto replacing an auto hit, but why does the 2nd auto hit have to suck? Can't there once in a while just be like a base auto of Carlos Correa or even Daryl Strawberry? Those aren't monsters, but it's better than pulling duplicate numbered to 25 autos of the likes of Bobby Bradley, and Dan Vogelbach? Some products Panini includeds everything and some they don't and it's hard to tell until you start seeing breaks or ripping yourself. Select FOTL Basketball for instance had 1/1's pulled and golds, and greens ALONG with the exclusive FOTL Parallel numbered to 9. You had a SHOT at everything. I don't feel like you have a SHOT with everything here. And that takes away from the Fun of the product. Sure if you hit an Ohtani out of a box you're on cloud 9 and it feels like the best break ever, but taking the overall experience of the case break I had..it was far from it. Just strictly my opinion of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

#5 (Tie) 2018 Donruss Optic Rated Rookies Autographs Black Holo FOTL Exclusive Shohei Ohtani (#10/12)