What is a good first box?

WhiteyTheCelticsFan

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Hey Everyone,

I am very new to NFL collecting and don't know much about the sport itself but I would like to properly learn the game! :)

Just wondering would be a good first NFL box?

Looking to pay $70 - $110, I dont care if it has 24 packs or 1 pack. But I would prefer that it had atleast 3 hits! :)

Can somebody please help!

Cheers,
Whitey
 
There is so much choice it really depends what you are going to chase - building sets, collector a player or team, or looking for a big $$ hit.
Basically for that sort of price you have the following options from this year:

Topps Finest ($120ish) - 2 mini-boxes with 6 packs of 5 cards in each and an Auto per mini-box. Nice looking cards, but they are numbered quite high and I don't think you get much bang for your buck here.

Bowman Signatures ($120ish) - 5 packs of 5 cards with an Auto per pack (including 2 Rookie Chrome Refractor autos per box). Never tried a box of these but have seen mixed results. You seem to either strike it big or stink it up!

Topps Jumbo ($120ish) - 10 packs of 50 cards per pack with 2 Autos and 1 Rookie Patch per box. Nice beginer type set. Basic design, lots of cards, get a couple hits and lots of variation SP cards of both rookies and vets. Also have a few different insert sets. A good option to begin with.

Topps Chrome ($110ish) - 24 packs of 4 cards per pack but only 1 Auto per box. Personally I am not much of a fan of this set, but tends to be a pretty popular set. The one Auto hit is pretty low. Set does offer lots of refractors and parallels but I don't see the big deal about these much. If you do strike it lucky with a Luck or RG3 auto from this set though they tend to generate some very good re-sell value.

Panini Elite ($110ish) - 20 packs of 5 cards with 2 Autos and 2 Memorbilia per box. A good choice to begin with in my opinon. Mid-Range type product with good hits, nice looking cards and you average about 2-3 rookies per box (these are #d/999) and have some real cool looking inserts (I love the Acetate cards).

Topps Prime ($110ish) - 10 packs of 6 cards with 2 Autos and 2 Relics per box. Another nice simple design with a chance for booklet relic / autos which are always pretty cool. Another option I would recommend to begin with.

Topps Inception ($105ish) - 1 pack of 7 cards with 2 Autos per box. Cool design but these have been known to come out of packs with damage. Again unless you pull a top rookie you end up with a couple Autos that sell for maybe $5 each on ebay so I don't think it gives a lot of bang for your buck again.

Topps Platinum ($100ish) - 20 packs of 5 cards with 3 Autos per box. Very similar to Finest with different refractors and die-cut versions. Not to bad of a box and I reckon gives better value than both Finest and Chrome.

Upper Deck ($100ish) - 20 packs of 6 cards with 3 Autos per box. First off Upper Deck doesn't have an NFL license no more so everyone features in their college uniforms. They do a few random SP RC's also but personally not a big fan of base Upper Deck. Would prefer others for his cost.

Panini Gridiron ($95ish) - 18 packs of 8 cards per pack and 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box (minimum 2 Autos). Can also get "hot boxes" than have 9 Autos or Jerseys too (average 2 boxes per case I think it is). Personally I love this set. Base cards have some awesome action shots and the inserts look pretty cool too. You get 1 RC per pack also and a lot of the jersey cards seem to have some really nice multicolour patches. One of my favourites!

Panini Prestige ($85ish) - 24 packs of 8 cards per box with 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box (minimum 2 Autos) and 1 rookie per pack. Nice set that gives good value for money and a few different insert sets also.

Panini Certified ($80ish) - 10 packs of 5 cards with 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box, a couple mirror parallels and a New Generation rookie (#d/999). Alright set, not a huge fan overall and think you can get better deal buying Prestige or Gridiron or Rookies & Stars.

Panini Rookies and Stars ($80ish) - 24 packs of 8 cards with 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box (minimum 2 Autos), 1 rookie per pack and a stack of cool different inserts. Good value low-end type product with good bang for you buck. Another good choice to begin with.

There are also have Press Pass, Sage and Leaf but all don't have NFL licence so feature college uniforms. Press Pass make real nice looking cards but tend to go unnoticed without having a licence.

I think this sums it all up!
 
There is so much choice it really depends what you are going to chase - building sets, collector a player or team, or looking for a big $$ hit.
Basically for that sort of price you have the following options from this year:

Topps Finest ($120ish) - 2 mini-boxes with 6 packs of 5 cards in each and an Auto per mini-box. Nice looking cards, but they are numbered quite high and I don't think you get much bang for your buck here.

Bowman Signatures ($120ish) - 5 packs of 5 cards with an Auto per pack (including 2 Rookie Chrome Refractor autos per box). Never tried a box of these but have seen mixed results. You seem to either strike it big or stink it up!

Topps Jumbo ($120ish) - 10 packs of 50 cards per pack with 2 Autos and 1 Rookie Patch per box. Nice beginer type set. Basic design, lots of cards, get a couple hits and lots of variation SP cards of both rookies and vets. Also have a few different insert sets. A good option to begin with.

Topps Chrome ($110ish) - 24 packs of 4 cards per pack but only 1 Auto per box. Personally I am not much of a fan of this set, but tends to be a pretty popular set. The one Auto hit is pretty low. Set does offer lots of refractors and parallels but I don't see the big deal about these much. If you do strike it lucky with a Luck or RG3 auto from this set though they tend to generate some very good re-sell value.

Panini Elite ($110ish) - 20 packs of 5 cards with 2 Autos and 2 Memorbilia per box. A good choice to begin with in my opinon. Mid-Range type product with good hits, nice looking cards and you average about 2-3 rookies per box (these are #d/999) and have some real cool looking inserts (I love the Acetate cards).

Topps Prime ($110ish) - 10 packs of 6 cards with 2 Autos and 2 Relics per box. Another nice simple design with a chance for booklet relic / autos which are always pretty cool. Another option I would recommend to begin with.

Topps Inception ($105ish) - 1 pack of 7 cards with 2 Autos per box. Cool design but these have been known to come out of packs with damage. Again unless you pull a top rookie you end up with a couple Autos that sell for maybe $5 each on ebay so I don't think it gives a lot of bang for your buck again.

Topps Platinum ($100ish) - 20 packs of 5 cards with 3 Autos per box. Very similar to Finest with different refractors and die-cut versions. Not to bad of a box and I reckon gives better value than both Finest and Chrome.

Upper Deck ($100ish) - 20 packs of 6 cards with 3 Autos per box. First off Upper Deck doesn't have an NFL license no more so everyone features in their college uniforms. They do a few random SP RC's also but personally not a big fan of base Upper Deck. Would prefer others for his cost.

Panini Gridiron ($95ish) - 18 packs of 8 cards per pack and 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box (minimum 2 Autos). Can also get "hot boxes" than have 9 Autos or Jerseys too (average 2 boxes per case I think it is). Personally I love this set. Base cards have some awesome action shots and the inserts look pretty cool too. You get 1 RC per pack also and a lot of the jersey cards seem to have some really nice multicolour patches. One of my favourites!

Panini Prestige ($85ish) - 24 packs of 8 cards per box with 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box (minimum 2 Autos) and 1 rookie per pack. Nice set that gives good value for money and a few different insert sets also.

Panini Certified ($80ish) - 10 packs of 5 cards with 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box, a couple mirror parallels and a New Generation rookie (#d/999). Alright set, not a huge fan overall and think you can get better deal buying Prestige or Gridiron or Rookies & Stars.

Panini Rookies and Stars ($80ish) - 24 packs of 8 cards with 4 Autos or Jersey cards per box (minimum 2 Autos), 1 rookie per pack and a stack of cool different inserts. Good value low-end type product with good bang for you buck. Another good choice to begin with.

There are also have Press Pass, Sage and Leaf but all don't have NFL licence so feature college uniforms. Press Pass make real nice looking cards but tend to go unnoticed without having a licence.

I think this sums it all up!

WOW! That is such a huge help mate, I will have to look further into Panini Gridion and Rookies & Stars! :D


Cheers,
Whitey
 
Yep, that was a great rundown Shannan. I've been checking out reviews of most of these sets but this is all I ever wanted to know.

I'm a new NFL collector too and I've started off with Panini Prestige & Rookies n Stars. I'm used to collecting sets so just concentrating on these 2 atm. Like Shannan said, these are nice sets with heaps of variety. I'd rather go for more cards than big hits but the hits can still be jagged from these mid-range sets. You'll find plenty of good stuff on US ebay to top up your sets as well.

Anyway, have fun checking 'em all out.
 
I normally get mine from DA. Good prices, shipping is pretty good and very quick coming from America (normally around 4 days). I know some people have used Blowout Cards before, but I have personally never used them so can't talk from personal experience. There is always ebay, but be very careful with dodgy sellers (happened to me, thankfully got a refund but still) and also be wary buying boxes of ebay so some sellers will "case search" - buy a case and bust the boxes until they pull the big card from the case then sell the rest of the boxes.
 
Also if you plan on collecting a certain team(s) box breaks are very popular too. A few of us on this site have used a guy named Al at www.boxbreakings.com (recently we done a 4 box group break) which can be a great way to just get cards of your favorite team for a fraction of the cost of a box. There is also plenty of sellers on ebay that do these too - just make sure you read all the details. Some will send base, some will send only the hits etc.
 
I normally get mine from DA. Good prices, shipping is pretty good and very quick coming from America (normally around 4 days). I know some people have used Blowout Cards before, but I have personally never used them so can't talk from personal experience. There is always ebay, but be very careful with dodgy sellers (happened to me, thankfully got a refund but still) and also be wary buying boxes of ebay so some sellers will "case search" - buy a case and bust the boxes until they pull the big card from the case then sell the rest of the boxes.

What happened?
 
Have to agree that Dacardworld provides an excellent service. At around $30 for postage it does pay to buy multiple units, but I know that's not easy on a budget. I'm gunna try to space my purchases and buy 2 to 3 boxes at a time.
 
What happened?

I have had two bad experiences buying boxes of ebay. First time I never received the box at all. As he didn't send with delivery confirmation at all I got a refund pretty quickly once I disputed the order from Paypal. He then tried to blame me for stealing the box :mad:

Second time, I ordered a box which was claimed to have been "factory sealed". Before I opened the box I noticed the seal didn't look very "factory" at all and more like it had been resealed so I took a photo of the box before I opened it just incase and then filmed the whole break as I had a real bad gut feeling about that box. Turns out I was right, the box had ZERO of the four "guaranteed" hits. Basically they had pack searched the box, feeling for the hits and refilled with packs from another box. I disputed this with ebay, sent the picture and video in and had a refund within 24 hours.

After that I have not purchased another box of ebay since! What made it even more concerning is both sellers had over 2000 feedback with a rating of over 99% for both.
 
D&A are the way to go. It does pay to get a few boxes at a time though to economise the shipping, but their service is top notch...Order Tuesday and it usually arrives Friday (bit slower atm due to the workload....strangely it's the local Aussie end that's taking an extra day!) Be warned it is so easy and convenient that you can get carried away. High aussie dollar delivers a small bonus too. (Hear that sound ? That's my credit card crying - it been hammered these past few weeks - there'll be massive breakage over Christmas !!! :) )

I'd really like to see the local guys be competitive, but I think they're hamstrung by the local distributors and probably don't get the advantage of the current climbing Aussie dollar either, so they're up against it a bit. Not sure what they carry NFL wise either. Still, probably a good option to consider for a single box though.

Boxbreaks are fun too, especially if you're a team collector on a budget, either through boxbreakings or crazy8. Can vouch for both, just waiting on my first parcel from boxbreakings though. Always a gamble and not for everyone though, always that possibility of getting a bit pile of "not much at all"!
 
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