Sports Cards and Memories: Box Breaks: 10 Boxes of 2017-18 Crown Royale Basketball

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Box Breaks: 10 Boxes of 2017-18 Crown Royale Basketball

So I actually broke this Monday night and am just getting aroud to posting it now. When I bought this at presale as I was SUPER excited about this product. On card autos, no redemptions, and I got it at about $25 less per box than what it is going for (thanks to Ebay's 15% off code). I thought to myself it was a can't lose product..than I remember who made it....PANINI. If ANYONE can find a way to ruin a good thing it's them. And sure enough the product came out and the breaks were.....TERRIBLE. I mean absolute garbage for the most part and a sure money loser. I went into this break basically knowing this is where my luck would end. But I sucked it up and ripped anyway. So here's what i got

Box 1

Crystal Parallel
Jordan Clarkson (#61/99)

Panini's Choice Award Blue
Bogdan Bogdanovic (#14/25)

Jerseys
Kevin Garnett (#204/249)

Autographs
Trevor Ariza (#61/99)

Box 2

Crystal Parallel
Victor Oladipo (#63/99)

Panini's Choice Award
Luke Kennard (#03/99)

Rookie Jerseys
Markelle Fultz (#238/249)

Rookie Jersey Auto
Caleb Swanigan (#118/199)

Box 3

Crystal Parallel
Dirk Nowitzki (#99/99)

Panini's Choice Award
James Harden (#26/99)

Jerseys
Serge Ibaka (#197/249)

Autographs
Ricky Rubio (#10/49)

Box 4

Crystal Parallel
Anthony Davis (#35/99)

Roundball Royalty
Gary Payton (#89/99)

Rookie Jerseys
Caleb Swanigan (#149/249)

Rookie Silhouettes
Kyle Kuzma (#67/199)

Box 5

Crystal Parallel
Kareem Abdul Jabbar (#45/99)

Power In The Paint
Dirk Nowitzki

Rookie Jerseys
Sindarius Thornwell (#17/249)

Rookie Silhouettes
Dennis Smith Jr. (#77/199)

Box 6

Crystal Parallel
Bogdan Bogdanovic RC (#34/99)

Mamba's Choice
Kawhi Leonard (#50/99)

Jerseys
Shaquille O'Neal (#190/249)

Rookie Silhouettes
T.J. Leaf (#100/199)

Box 7

Crystal Parallel
Chris Paul (#9/99)

Panini's Choice Award Red
Karl Anthony Towns (#39/75)

Jerseys
Karl Anthony Towns (#187/249)

Autographs
Kyle Korver (#22/99)

Box 8

Crystal Parallel
Rajon Rondo (#20/99)

Panini's Choice Award
Lauri Markkanen (#01/99) (Top tip is damaged though)

Jerseys
Kenneth Faried (#163/249)

Autographs Blue Parallel
Alonzo Mourning (#4/25)

Box 9

Purple Crystal Parallel
Paul Millsap (#23/25)

Gold Crystal Parallel
Devin Booker (#9/10)

Jerseys
David Robinson (#177/249)

Rookie Jersey Auto
Semi Ojeleye (#132/199)

Box 10

Crystal Base
Ryan Anderson (#43/99)

Roundball Royalty Red Parallel
Stephon Marbury (#18/75)

Jerseys
Rodney Hood (#21/249)

Autographs
Josh Hart (#13/199)

Overall Thoughts: Yup..no reverse psychology here..it was pretty much as brutal as I expected and just like that, all that luck I had throughout the weekend was flushed down the toilet. Let's start with the cards themselves. I LOVE the die cut base set and parallels. I also LOVE the inserts..they are very 90's like and this product would've been such a better product if it was priced in the $60 or so range like Revolution (yeah right, like Panini would ever do that)..but at $100 (some places have it at $112 or as high as $125!!) it's 1000% not worth it. You only get two hits and one of them is a damn jersey card (which of course pisses me off because jersey cards shouldn't be considered "hits" anymore..nobody wants them...ESPECIALLY when they constantly put crap players like Rodney Hood, and Ibaka in these sets. I really don't get this..SUPERSTAR jersey cards sell for 2-3 bucks..why would ANYONE want a Rodney Hood Jersey? I reallllly wish jersey cards would go away) and odds are the auto is gonna suck. I THOUGHT I was hitting a turn when I pulled the Kuzma and Dennis Smith Jr. Rookie Silhouettes (along with a nice Dirk insert that was a case hit) but nope..it went right back to crap with the only other good auto being a Zo numbered to 25. One of my better cards was a Lauri Markkanen Panini's Choice insert, but of course it came damaged at the top. The main draw is the Silhouette Patch cards, pull a Tatum/Mitchell and you're looking at a 2,000.00 card. At it's current price point..there's just no WAY I could recommend opening this product. It's not worth it whatsoever.

Success/Failure: I don't have enough of a market to gauge the ROI..but I can just tell you off the bat it's a massive failure. Even the Kuzma/Smith don't for as much as I thought (I guess plain swatch Silhouettes autos aren't that great after all). There's no way I'd get half of my investment back if I sold everything and that's BECAUSE I GOT IT AT AN OUTSTANDING PRICE. This will be 10 times worse at current prices. My Basketball luck has been pretty crappy recently and it continues with Crown Royale. Pics of the cards