Saturday, October 23, 2010

2010 Topps Chrome Football Value Packs x5

Sports card lemming that I am, I had to see what was so cool about these 2010 Topps Chrome football value packs, so I grabbed a few today:

Purchased from/price:  Meijer, $4.99 (x5)
Packs/cards:   Three packs / 4 cards each, plus three Orange Refractors (x5)
Set size:  220 cards
Key features:  CHROMIUM TECHNOLOGY, Refractors, 2010 Rookie Class, Refractors, Orange Refractors, Refractors, other colors of Refractors
Key cards:  Too many RCs to list, as usual...

Sample front
Sample back

Pack-by-pack:


Value pack 1:
     Pack 1:  Eric Decker RC, Aaron Hernandez RC, Michael Turner, Jared Allen Refractor
     Pack 2:  Brian Urlacher, Earl Thomas RC, Ray Lewis Reprint, DeAngelo Williams XFractor
     Pack 3:  WAT (see below)
     Orange Refractors:  Joe Flacco, Ndamukong Suh, RC, Rennie Curran RC
 
Value pack 2:
     Pack 1:  Myron Rolle RC, Joey Porter, Mike Iupati RC, Adrian Peterson/Percy Harvin Gridiron Lineage
     Pack 2:  Randy Moss, Everson Griffen RC, Joseph Addai, Marcus Easley RC Refractor
     Pack 3:  Jonathan Crompton RC, Chris Johnson, Ray Lewis, Major Wright RC Refractor
     Orange Refractors:  Chad Ochocinco, Jared Allen, David Reed RC

Value pack 3:
     Pack 1:  Darren Sproles, Nathaniel Allen RC, Peyton Manning Reprint, Pat Angerer RC XFractor
     Pack 2:  Mike Kafka RC, Joe McKnight RC, Ryan Mathews RC Purple Refractor (#279/555), Andre Roberts RC XFractor
     Pack 3:  Chris Cooley, Riley Cooper RC, Damian Williams RC, John Conner RC XFractor
     Orange Refractors:  Jeremy Maclin, Everson Griffen RC, Joseph Addai

Value pack 4:
     Pack 1:  Ray Rice, Golden Tate RC, Dan Marino Reprint, Riley Cooper XFractor RC
     Pack 2:  Frank Gore, Golden Tate RC, Rodger Saffold RC, Jordan Shipley Bowman Chrome Preview
     Pack 3:  Russell Okung, Tom Brady, Vernon Davis, Walter McFadden RC Refractor
     Orange Refractors:  Darryl Sharpton RC, Donald Driver, Ray Lewis

Value pack 5:
     Pack 1:  Dan Williams RC, Jared Allen, David Reed RC, Damian Williams Bowman Chrome Preview
     Pack 2:  Kevin Thomas RC, Dan LeFevour RC, Thomas Jones, Antonio Gates/Jermaine Gresham Gridiron Lineage
     Pack 3:  Kareem Jackson RC, DeSean Jackson, Shonn Greene, Patrick Willis/Rolando McClain Gridiron Lineage
     Orange Refractors:  Matt Ryan, Troy Polamalu


Set completion:  37/220 (17%)
Extras:  1  (Golden Tate RC)
 
Regular inserts
Refractors and XFractors
Orange Refractor highlights and a Purple

Inserts:  
     Refractors:  4:  Walter McFadden RC, Marcus Easley RC, Jared Allen, Major Wright RC (1:3, 5 expected)
     XFractors:  5:  Pat Angerer RC, DeAngelo Williams, Riley Cooper RC, John Conner RC, Andre Roberts RC (1:3, 5 expected)
     Bowman Chrome Previews:  2:  Jordan Shipley, Damian Williams (1:12, 1 expected)
     Reprints:  3:  Dan Marino, Ray Lewis, Peyton Manning (1:6, 2 expected)
     Gridiron Lineage:  3:  Adrian Peterson/Percy Harvin, Antonio Gates/Jermaine Gresham, Patrick Willis/Rolando McClain (1:4, 3-4 expected)
     Purple Refractors:  1:  Ryan Mathews #279/555 (1:10, 1 expected)
     Orange Refractors:  15, all different (see above) (3:pack, 15 expected)
Autographs:  None (none expected)
Relics:  None (none expected)
Best pack:  Value pack 3, pack 2:  Mike Kafka RC, Joe McKnight RC, Ryan Mathews RC Purple Refractor (#279/555), Andre Roberts RC XFractor.  That's two base RCs, a RC XFractor, and what's tied for 2nd best (with Jahvid Best) in the Purple set, a $25 hit.  W00t!
Best card:  The Mathews Purple XFractor
 
Quality control:  4/10  A major failing great for leaving a whole freaking pack out of the Value Pack.  I'm actually working on contacting Topps to get a replacement, but don't hold your breath.  Other than that, no damaged cards, not even the usual Topps Chrome signature bending.
Collation:  9/10  Not gonna give anybody a perfect 10 if I get ANY doubles, but in the grand scheme of things, one doesn't kill me (though oddly enough it came in consecutive packs of one Value Pack).  All inserts came accordingly, except for a Refractor, which I would think would have been in my third pack of the first Value Pack.
Value:  10/10  Screw blasters, these things are great!  I got a ton of base RCs (though I didn't get Best or Suh, as I was hoping, or the big guys like Tebow), some nice inserts, and two pretty big hits in the Orange Suh and Purple Mathews.  Plus you get three Orange Refractors per pack.  They look great, they're actually worth something and the price is reasonable.  What's not to like?
Set design and player selection:  9/10  Where's my Wolverines?!  Seriously, though, I love the base set look, the inserts are reasonable, and the Refractors are as awesome as usual.
Inserts and extras:  9/10  The only insert I didn't like was the Gridiron Lineage as they don't do anything for me.  Everything else looks excellent, and the Orange Refractors are an especially popular part this year.  Way to make the "Value Pack" somewhat valuable, Topps!  Now GIMME MY MISSING PACK!

Overall score:  41/50
Recommendation:  buy
Like many of my reviews, this one falls in the B- range.  However, that's due to me being really pissed off about the missing pack; short of that, I really, really recommend these.  They don't seem to be too difficult to find (I'm looking at YOU, Bowman baseball) and you're sure to pull some fun stuff.  
I'm holding on to the base for now while I figure out if I want to work on the set.  The Tate double, plus all the inserts except for the Mathews and Suh are available at this point (though I may decide to work on the Rookie Reprints as well) so give me a shout if you're interested in anything.

Well, if it could only be one of them why not...
Tom Brady, with an invisible stupid haircut
 

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