Category Archives: Football Reviews

Review: Keepr Media Johnny Unitas Keepr

  By Sports Card Blog | December 27, 2012 - 6:03 pm |
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Video cards are part of the future of the trading card industry. Whether you are a purist or not, they have made many strides throughout the years. From Upper Deck’s card that was a mini CD-Rom to the videos built right into the card, they have evolved quite a bit. However, here is something new that hasn’t been produced yet and it comes from Keepr Media.

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I received an email from Tom Matte, former halfback of the Baltimore Colts for the opportunity to review such a product. I jumped at the chance. Tom described the product to me like this, “This is a special collectible that aids former NFL pro football players via the Player Care Foundation (PCF). Not only does a portion of the proceeds go to former NFL players, but all NFL licensing fees go to the PCF as well. This product, called the Keepr, is a unique collectible that pays tribute to legends of the NFL. The Keepr offers a special experience on the owner’s computer featuring rare footage from the NFL Films’ vault, along with iconic photos from the associated press and career stats of the player.”

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The product works as if it were a USB drive built into the card. It has a little chip that slides out and you put it into the USB port. From there, it opens and features a number of videos, photographs, and stats from the player. There are pictures and videos from Super Bowls and some of the greatest games that Unitas ever played, as well as some rare interview footage. Everything is licensed by the NFL and NFL Films, so you know you are getting some quality images and footage.

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The technology works fantastically. The only improvement I would really like to see would be to have the videos pop up directly inside the flash based program instead of a separate window. That would make the experience that much better. Other than that, it is a fantastic archive of photos, videos, and stats of your favorite legend of the game.

You can find Unitas, amongst other legends, currently for sale on the Keepr Media website. The product currently retails for $60. While I think it is a great collectible for card collectors and fans of the game, I think the price tag is a little high. I understand the benefit for the Player Care Foundation and the price of creating the card, I think it would be more marketable at a lower price. It also doesn’t work on Macs unless you have boot camp installed, which I don’t.

You can find more about Johnny Unitas and his upcoming documentary movie about his life at Unitas We Stand.

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Review: 2012 Topps Chrome Football

  By Sports Card Blog | December 23, 2012 - 12:56 pm | ,
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Yeah, it’s a little late to be reviewing this product. Especially since I bought it on Black Friday. But late is better than never. I’ve had to catch up on all of the other (sponsored) breaks and those definitely get first priority. But now we can check out Topps Chrome football, one of the hottest products of the year from Topps. With their Chrome technology, on-card autographs, and sweet refractors, it is always a hit season after season. Want to see how this season fares? Check out the review:

Design:4 and half stars blue

The design this year is clean, organized, and has a great look to it. One of the best parts about most Topps products is that the designs always have great order to them. They may not be crazy fancy, but everything is neat, in order, and appealing to the eyes. This is one of those sets that looks great even without the Chrome finish. And of course, the Chrome finish itself is always the same. Good part though is the less bend in the cards this year. The inserts are very nice too and Topps has taken hold of the die-cut resurgence with more great offerings. Overall, a very well designed product for one of their biggest products of the season.

Checklist:4 and half stars blue

Flagship Topps has always been about two things. Current players and rookies. That’s what it does well and that’s what everyone expects. That is exactly what it does as well. It features all of your favorite players of the game and the rookies from the incoming draft. The checklist also features a couple of insert sets that are pretty sweet as well including the rookies like the Tall Boys and the 1957 replica cards. Very well put together set by Topps. (Don’t forget the refractors as well, but were there too many colors?)

Value:4 stars blue

I was able to grab my box for $80 during a Black Friday special at DA Card World, but you can now find it there for $113. The price keep continuing to rise with the hot play of the rookie in the product and the value of those different rookies autographs and paralleled cards. It really is a product that is full of value with the autographs and refractors. If it wasn’t for the refractor parallels, I would be going off on how high the price is for essentially one autograph, but these cards always hold value. These are really the best rookie cards to have on the season. I just give the product 4 stars in value as the autograph hit and refractors may not line up to be too good, sort of like my box, and especially at a price as high as the current price. And the inclusion of memorabilia cards, are they just an added hit? If so, that’s fine, but the autographs are what makes this product. At $80, it’s a great break. $113? Not so much. But that’s the market for you.

Overall:4 and half stars blue

Overall, 2012 Topps Chrome football is one of the best product of the football season once again, and possibly the best product for rookies and autographs that is easily available to the masses. The design once again is top notch, although the “camo” refractor would look alot nicer if it was a camoflauge like x-fractor. That’s just nit-picking though. I mean, the product is what we thought it was. IT IS WHAT WE THOUGHT IT WAS! That’s a good thing as the product has enough legs to keep the set up the same year after year. The value holds up, although the market has really played with it alot with everyone purchasing it. Topps, please don’t release more cases next year.

Check out the full checklist over at Cardboard Connection.

Check out the video, I recorded it awhile back when camera was down…

 

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Review: 2012 Panini Prime Signatures Football

  By Sports Card Blog | December 1, 2012 - 7:23 am | ,
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Panini Prime Signatures football is back for another season in the football realm, with noticeable improvements over last year’s installation. With the addition of patch autographs and what looks like an increase in veteran content, the product becomes much less of a gamble than it may have been last season. With only three cards per box, it is going to be a gamble no matter what, but at least this year the odds are slightly more in your favor. And we as collectors always appreciate that when purchasing products. Let’s see what we pulled…

Design:

The design more or less hasn’t changed since last season. This is both good and bad, but I am going to err towards the good this time around. It’s a clean and solid design with the white background with the accents behind the players. The thick card stock adds a premium feel to the product. The different color foil returns to differentiate the paralleled cards in the product and the addition of rookie memorabilia cards looks fantastic as well. Only issue is that the changes are so insignificant, it doesn’t have a differential factor. I can say that it does look more pleasing to the eye though this year.

Checklist:

The checklist this year is slightly improved with both veteran content, the strong rookie class, and the addition of different types of hit cards that you can pull. There seems to be a stronger amount of veteran content this year, which definitely improves the checklist. The strong rookie class will always help as well, but even a decent class last year made this product a difficult choice on whether to buy or not. Finally, the additional types of hit cards really adds another dimension to the product. You know you’re going to get an autograph…will it be veteran, rookie, rookie memorabilia? What type of memorabilia? More options will equal a better checklist and a better…

Value:

…value in a product like this. Value in a product with these standards is always a correlation between checklist and hits compared to selling price. The selling price of the product hasn’t really changed, $60 a box over at DA Card World, so it really depends on what you find inside. Again, it’s back to those additional styles of hits that really make this product more valuable. Collectors love the autographed memorabilia and patch cards, and this product finally provides them after a kind of boring product last season. As you can see, we pulled one of those cards which is a great example to the great additions made by the Panini football team.

Overall:

Overall, this product has a great improvement over last year’s version. While the design hasn’t changed much, it has kept the core components that made it a great looking card to the eyes. A type of card that you would consider building a set of if it wasn’t for the price and difficulty. The checklist is a little improved as well with some of the veteran content as well as the stronger rookie class. And finally, the price of the product hasn’t changed, but the hits have changed for the better with different style autographs from the regular, to patch autograph hits. Good work with the improvements this year Panini.

As always, thanks to Panini for providing this product for review. You can find them online at their official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

You can find the full checklist over at the Cardboard Connection.

I’ve almost resolved the picture issue, so this might be the last one where I am practically forcing you to see my face. Sorry.

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Review: 2012 Panini Gridiron Football

  By Sports Card Blog | November 24, 2012 - 2:21 pm | ,
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It’s no longer the “Gear” it is just “Gridiron”. 2012 Gridiron football made its…sorta debut with the same things you loved about Gridiron Gear but just under a different moniker. Don’t get confused, your favorite cards are still there with some added new surprises from the people at Panini. With 2/3 autographs per box and some memorabilia action too, it’s a fun break. Add in the dynamic photography and inserts and you will see what you can get below in the review…check it out:

Design:

There is a lot to like about 2012 Gridiron from Panini in terms of design. The first is obviously the beautiful photography that you can find in the product. With action shots from just about every possible angle and full bleed photos, the NFL action is really the first thing you notice about the product. The second is I really like the insert designs this year, I’m not digging the foil so much, but the concepts behind them are solid. The only issues I seem to have are the X’s and O’s designs. They make the autographs look a little better, but I just feel like it’s missing something to complete it. Maybe it would have looked better die-cut, but the background is kinda bland to me. But as always, design is always according to the eyes of the beholder.

Checklist:

Of my three autographs, all three of them were rookies. Two of them I had never heard from. We understand that not every player can be a first rounder but when you are pulling defensive ends and safeties you’ve never heard of, it’s probably gonna be a bad day. At least I heard of Alshon Jeffrey. I understand the price of getting these rookie autographs and getting them into sets, but there has got to be some veterans out there that you’ve heard of that play those positions that would make better replacements. Is Logan Mankins cheap? Probably. Do more than Patriots fans know who he is? Probably. Wilfork? Of course. Better names, cheaper veterans, better options.

Value:

At $100 bucks a pop, again my ongoing issue with Panini is their starting price for everything. I still feel like everything they put out is overpriced during their MAPP program. People still buy it, but it never feels like the value is equal to where it should be. When your hits consist of those types of rookies I described above, as stated, it’s not a good time. Although I do have to admit, there are some amazing patches on that Nick Toon patch card, it still doesn’t equate to what I would find to be a box worth the $100. How about a product where you are guaranteed one/two rookie autos, one veteran auto, and a mem card?

Overall:

Overall, Panini Gridiron looks good on the eyes, but the product itself may be a bit deceiving. The product is a little weak when it comes to the autograph checklist and when you are getting 2/3 of those in a box, you want to at least hope you know of one or two of them. I knew Alshon Jeffrey but the others are just your typical later round defensive players that half of the collectors don’t know anything about. They make great filler, but it shouldn’t be 50% of your total hits. Just your typical 3+ rounder defensive players. That really takes away some of the value when you’re paying $100 a box, a price that I feel is a bit too much for the product. I know it’s weird to say this, but I find the base and inserts more appealing than the hits…and you don’t spend $100 a box on just base cards.

Thanks to Panini America for supplying this box for review. You can find them online on their official site, Twitter, Facebook, and blog.

Check out the full checklist of the product over at Cardboard Connection.

Now here are photos of some of the beauties and the beasts…after Photobucket starts working. Working on the image issue. Until then, check out the video!

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Review: 2012 Panini Certified Football

  By Sports Card Blog | November 10, 2012 - 5:06 pm | ,
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2012 Panini Certified football is out and ready for release. One of the most popular early season products arrives as it is often filled with on-card signatures from the hottest rookies and some sweet memorabilia as well. With it coming out right in the middle of the football season, it’s perfect timing for football fans as well. We got our box in for review, so let’s check it out.

Design:

I really enjoyed the design of this product. It sort of reminds me of the old Flair designs with the use of foil board and the cursive lettering. The only wish with that was that the letters were a slightly different color as they really blend into the background of the card. Maybe a different background? Speaking of the background, the parallels are pretty nice looking with the color fading into the background. It sort of reminds me of 2005 Reflections baseball, one of my favorite products of all time. The jersey swatches are nice and large on the cards which is nice as well. Overall, I think it is a well designed product.

Checklist:

The checklist for Certified football over the years has always included the top rookies veterans, and legends of the game and this hasn’t changed. Once again, all of these are included in this product. From your top rookies like Andrew Luck to your veterans like Arian Foster and legends like…Andre Rison…the product continues to start and keep legacies alive. The product isn’t over done with rookies and contains a limited amount of parallels as well. There are a ton of rookie jersey cards, which I pulled a couple, and a nice list of veteran autos, which I pulled one of as well.

Value:

The one thing I am disappointed with is the continuation of 1 autograph and 3 jersey cards in a $100+ box. The jersey cards are more or less useless nowadays and they will continue to find themselves in the $1-$2 bins. I do like that the veteran jersey card was limited to just 99 copies, however, I still find it to be an issue. I still believe it should be 2 or 3 autographs with the rest being memorabilia. I see Panini has done that in its basketball products, why are we still lagging behind in football? Besides that, I was happy to have pulled a veteran autograph which have been seemingly difficult to pull. Not to mention it is my favorite team, can’t complain about that. But the 3 plain jerseys are just disappointing.

Overall:

Overall, it is a solid product from Panini. With the improved design of the base cards and the solid checklist, it looks and feels great. The only part of the product that may not look and feel great may be when you reach into your wallet and get three plain jersey cards and possibly a scrub rookie. That wouldn’t make you feel too good about the product. At least another autograph and one less jersey would make you feel better or even 3 and 1 respectively. The product is one of Panini’s best, but it definitely needs a new set up in order to find value. The current set up isn’t beneficial for collectors who are looking for value in their purchase. For regular collectors like me, I like it as the money part is just a necessary part of collecting. But others may not be so happy, especially resellers.

Thanks again to Panini America for providing this product for review. You can find them online on their official site, blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

You can find out the full checklist of this product at Cardboard Connection.

Or you can buy this product over at Dave & Adam’s Card World.

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