Happy packs aplenty Friday

Trade package #whatever:

If your blog's name is My Cardboard Mistress and you have the following image on said blog,

WE'RE HERE, WE'RE YOINKING YOUR IMAGES, GET USED TO IT!

well then you're in luck, good sir, because you have a sweet trade package coming your way as of today (which is good since you promised me stuff too).

A reminder to the rest of you:  if you want to trade, hit me up with the player/team/theme(s) of your choice.  I'll generally ask you for Tigers/Michigan players, but I'm flexible.  I've done a lot of trading in my time, but I think some of the best deals I've made have been with other bloggers since I've started my own, so if you're on the fence about it, go for it (obey the above picture.  NOW).

New eBay swag:

As promised, here are the 2010 Sweet Spot Signatures Variations cards I scored from eBay the other day:

Do not taunt Happy Fun Graham

MINOR RAGE

Next time I'll just do this instead of trying to beat ridiculous odds by pulling either from a box.  I had no shot of getting either of these anyway:  you figure you get two SSS cards per box (unless you get screwed on that front, and I've heard that's happened to people); if you're like most people, you get two of the "regular" signatures numbered to 400.  The fact that these are rarer doesn't make me like them more--I just much prefer the helmet designs.  The regular version has a kind of basic M, which my Graham up there has something more like the "official" school logo.  And though it's actually more common, I'm a bigger fan of Minor's card, because Our Helmet's Got Wings:


(If you've somehow never seen this before, 1.  Shame on you and 2.  Everything JoePa says is comedy gold;  "WEEAH LINEBACKER U!" and "COME TO PENN SHHHTAAAAAATE!" come to mind)

Anyway, I'm thrilled to have these, and they now reside in the UM personal collection.

Um, I believe I was promised packs?

Yessir--look for a review later today (probably) or tomorrow:  I grabbed 20 retail racks of 2009 Bowman at Meijer today because they were on sale and I still love me some Bowman.

And before I forget...GROUP BREAK!

Get your asses down to GA Mindset's group break (2010 Topps Triple Threads and Chrome).  Teams are still available and the price is right.  Or don't do it, whatever, just don't come crying to me when he pulls a Joe Mauer booklet auto/patch/baby teeth/high school ring/diploma card and you were too cheap to spring for the Twins.

2010 NCAA Sweet Spot Football Box

Today's new box comes to us from the card show I attended Sunday afternoon.  I've been highly anticipating this set (college football!) and if I hadn't found this box at the show I would have grabbed one online (and had to pay shipping and wait for the thing; can you imagine?).  I've seen mixed results over on the BlowoutCards forums but there's enough stuff that interests me that I think it'll be worth it.  How did I do?  Read on to find out.

The box contains six mini boxes (left), each of which contains one pack (right)

Purchased from/price:  card show, $89
Packs/cards:   6 packs / 8 cards
Set size:  100 (70 base cards, 30 rookies) plus 60 autograph RCs
Key features:  One hit per pack, including rookie autographed helmets;  players in their college uniforms
Key cards:  Perhaps you've heard of this year's rookie class?  Not to mention lots of Hall of Famers
Wolverines:  Tom Brady, Chad Henne, Mario Manningham, Brandon Minor auto/RC, Brandon Graham auto/RC

Sample front

Sample back

Pack 1:
Sean Lee RC
Percy Harvin
Marcus Easley RC
Rashard Mendenhall
Antonio Brown RC
Matt Ryan
Jeremy Maclin

Jermain Gresham Sweet Spot Signatures #007/300

Pack 2:
Devin Hester
Tom Brady
Taylor Price RC
James Starks RC
Aaron Rodgers
Rob Gronkowski RC
Taylor Mays RC
Javarris James Sweet Spot Signatures #134/300

Pack 3:
Jason Campbell
Anquan Boldin
Joshua Cribbs
Ray Rice
Levi Brown (Troy QB) RC
John Skelton RC
DeSean Jackson
DeSean Jackson Sweet Swatches dual jersey (white)

Pack 4:
Ryan Grant
Jimmy Graham RC
Jason Pierre-Paul RC
Matt Moore
Eli Manning
Jevan Snead RC
Sidney Rice
Kenny Britt Sweet Swatches (blueish)

Pack 5:
Calvin Johnson
Brett Favre
Armanti Edwards RC
DeAngelo Williams
Carlton Mitchell RC
Kevin Kolb
Jonathan Crompton RC
Sweet Swatches Knowshon Moreno (white)

Pack 6:
Chris Johnson
Jonathan Stewart
Jerry Hughes RC
Ben Roethlisberger
Bryan Bulaga RC
LaDainian Tomlinson
Earl Thomas RC
Mohamed Massaquoi Sweet Swatches (white)

Set completion:  42/100 (42%), including 18 rookies
Extras:  0

Autographs:  2 (see above), 2/box
Relics:  4 (see above), 4/box
Best pack:  Pack 1, which had the best "hit", plus Percy Harvin and Matt Ryan
Worst pack:  Pack 4, as I'm no Kenny Britt fan, and hate Eli Manning, plus the rookies were meh

Quality control:  9/10  These are packaged very well on purpose, though the composition of the helmet cards leaves them open to some peeling/chipping 
Collation:  10/10  I got all my guaranteed hits and no doubles.  A+ 
Value:  6/10  This is about the only place I'll really ding this box.  Six hits for your $90 is pretty cool, and I really like the autographs, but the players I got weren't that exciting, and honestly, who wants this many relics nowadays, much less plain white jerseys?  I'd have traded those four for one more stab at an autograph
Set design and player selection:  9/10  I like the fronts, especially thanks to the players in their college unis.  The backs include their college stats, which is also cool.  Simple, but high quality.  11/10 for the helmet autographs, but minus a couple of points for the boring relics and meh players.
Inserts and extras:  9/10  As stated several times now, big points for the helmet autos, less for the jerseys (event-used?  Oh boy!)   

Overall score:  43/50
This box only included six packs so it didn't take long to rip into, but was still kind of fun because of the anticipation of pulling a good autograph, plus plenty of excellent NFLers on their college teams.  I'm not as happy with my autographs but I'm betting I'll be able to trade them for the ones I want or sell them.  The jerseys are also all available (I'm guessing GA Mindset has his eye on the Moreno and Massaquoi).  In the end I'm glad I tried the box, but I won't be buying another to finish the set or go for more hits.  I'll put those aside for now, especially since I'm betting a lot of case busters will be dumping their doubles before long.  Overall recommendation:  get your favorite players as singles unless you find a steal of a price on the box

Wolverine?  Just one?  Well damn.