25 August 2008

Pack Break: 2008 Topps Stadium Club Football (Hobby)

I took the plunge...

I headed into the local shop today to pick up some supplies, but in the back of my head I knew that I'd be leaving with more than penny sleeves and and a couple of packs of '08 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes. For weeks it's been tormenting me... do I drop a Jackson for a pack of six cards?
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[Begin internal monologue]

It's not worth it. You've seen the retail stock, and it is modest at best.

But there's a guaranteed autograph or relic per pack!

So what, you'll probably pull a John David Booty game-used or Bernard Yvenson auto.

Yeah, but I might get a Chris Cooley auto!

There aren't any Cooley autos in this set, jackass.

Yeah, but there's a chance, right?

No, no chance. Save your money. Buy 40 cards for the same price. Don't be a Joe Collector.

Whatever... I'm doing it.

Joe Collector...

What??

Nothing...

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Fifteen minutes and $60 later, I was the proud owner of a pack of 2008 Topps Stadium Club Football, five packs of Upper Deck Baseball Heroes (yeah, 5... leave me alone), two packs of penny sleeves and a couple of Ultra-Pro magnetic cases. All street cred went out the door with me in a small, brown paper bag. But, you're here for the break, so let's get to it.

Product Details*:

(More per pack odds listed than I'd like to type)

Configuration: 10 packs per box. 6 cards per pack.

Stadium Club Football celebrates its return for the 2008 NFL season, delivering 5 autographs and 5 relics per box! It also features the ever-popular Super Team Cards, which give fans a chance to win a special edition Stadium Club Football Set!

EVERY BOX CONTAINS:
- 5 Autographed Cards, including 4 Rookie Autos…1 of which will be a top ten pick!
- 5 Relic Cards!
- 10 numbered rookie cards!
- 10 numbered parallel cards!

EVERY 6-BOX CASE CONTAINS:
- 1 Super Team Card!

CONTENT BREAKDOWN
BASE CARDS - 20 pt. stock
- Veterans(100)
- Rookies(100) - 1 per pack! Seq. #'d to 1499 or less(includes parallel versions).

PARALLEL CARDS - 10 PER BOX!
- Platinum Photographer's Proofs(200) - All one of one! Hobby Exclusive!
- Gold Photographer's Proofs(200) - Seq. #'d to 50.
- Photographer's Proof(200) - Seq. #'d to 199.
- First Day Issue(200) - Seq. #'d to 1499.

AUTOGRAPHED CARDS - 5 PER BOX!
- Rookie Autographs(Up to 75) - At least 4 per box!
- Beam Team Autographs(30)
- Brett Favre Buybacks(1 subject)

All autos available in these parallels:
- Platinum - All one of one! Hobby Exclusive!
- Gold - Seq. #'d to 25.
- Foilboard - Seq. #'d to 50.

FRAMED PRINTING PLATES - HOBBY EXCLUSIVE!
- Autographed Rookie(75) - All one of one!
- Rookies(25) - All one of one!
- Veteran(100) - All one of one!

NEW! SUPER TEAM CARDS(32 teams) - 1 PER 6-BOX CASE!

RELIC CARDS - 5 PER BOX!
Beam Team Relics(25)
- Gold Parallel - Seq. #"d to 99.

Stadium Club Impact Triple Relics(50) - Seq. #'d to 99.
- Gold Parallel - Seq. #'d to 10.

Stadium Club Impact Dual Relics(50) - Seq. #'d to 199.
- Gold Parallel - Seq. #'d to 25.

Stadium Club Impact Relics(50) - Seq. #'d to 799.
- Gold Parallel - Seq. #'d to 50.

*Thanks to hagansp from the Sports Card Forum

And here we go...


82 Albert Haynesworth


69 Joey Galloway (Photographer's Proof, #60/199)


163 Jaymar Johnson (RC, #1065/1799)


IR-VY Vince Young (Impact Relic, #1257/1349)... this card is also known as 'The Dagger'


23 Anquan Boldin


5 Ben Roethlisberger

Ok, so a VY relic... I could have done a lot worse. All in all, I still feel the same about purchasing this pack. It's a little over-hyped and clearly aimed at the Joe Collectors of the world, but I think I paid close to the value of the individual cards included. I never think like that... that's how Joe thinks... but it's the only redemption I have for losing the aforementioned street cred.

What do you guys think? Good set or a disgrace to the Stadium Club name? I'm not sure if I'll buy another pack, let alone a box, but perhaps when another twenty-bones are burning a hole in my pocket I just might. I personally feel that the photography in this series cheapens the Stadium Club reputation as it has always been known for some great edge-to-edge shots. The action shots aren't that thrilling and the overall quality is lackluster. I'll leave that debate open.

Again, all cards are up for dibs (except for Johnson), but I'll reserve the VY for a trade... it's all I got!

- J.C.F.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really like the photo on the Roethlisberger. I hate the photographers proof, am I missing something. The Young Relic has way to much dead area and what is up with all that green?

As for me, I would pass on this hobby configuration.

I have had similar conversations in my head walking into a card shop.

Anonymous said...

You're exactly right and Big Ben's photo is one of the best ones I've pulled so far. The 'Proof' parallels are just strange... they make no sense and less photo is shown on the card. The Impact Relic was kinda weird for sure, but I'd like to see some others for comparison. Oh well... I'll probably get suckered into one more pack. Thanks for the comment.