Perfect Aim

And now, the box with the most packs gets busted as I show off the hobby box of 2016-17 Hoops.

And my first basketball card of 2016-17 is...

Serge Ibaka! And it is a traded card as well. I really like that the borders are done in the team colours, but the white frame seems to be overkill. At least they're not photoshopped into a new jersey, making this an improvement on the Topps treatment.

Players who didn't get the honour of posing with their new team just get the O-Pee-Chee-esque 'Now with' treatment.

Not much change for the rookies, with the logo moving to the upper left and RC being added to the lower right. If you pull a card of a guy named Diamond Stone, you pretty much have to highlight his card.

My first Raptors card of 2016 is Norman Powell!

But this is my favourite Raptors card of the box. I wonder if Ujiri does TTM?

There are quite a few photos taken from the backboard cam angle in this. In this box, Tyus flying past the wide-eyed Steven Adams wins this battle, mainly because of the expression on the face of his opponent as he is unable to stop the scoring play.

Alternate uniforms also show up. While I must show off the Raptors and their Drake-inspired alternates, the classic baby blue Kings uniforms also needed a spotlight.

Here are the card backs. Pretty standard for Hoops releases. And you can also see a larger version of the new Kings logo that was hiding in the corner of the Rudy Gay.

Inserts! Parallels!

A pair of green parallels. Good names to get as well.

And a pair of silver parallels. I guess someone wanted me to chase the Kawhi Leonard rainbow. Wait...97/99. Kawhi wears #2. 97+2=99! That's an ebay 1/1!

I also picked up a /25 Artist's Proof parallel. Perfectly, it is of a Raptor!

Here's one of a number of the Road to the Finals series. They decrease in print run the further you get into the playoffs. I hit 6 of the first round cards, and 1 from the second. Of course, I will highlight the one with the Raptors on it, commemorating the vanquishing of the Pacers.

A sampling of some of the other inserts. Birds-Eye View and Dreams are my favourites here.

And finally, the autographs.

It is Kerry from Cards on Cards that will be the big winner in this box break fest. Yesterday, it was the Marcus auto. Today, it is Festus. If you don't land a pull for your PC, it is always nice to land something for someone else.

But I did land something for my PC in the other autograph.

My first reaction when I saw the back of the card in the pack was "No way.".

It might not be a Raptor, but it is amazing that this was in a box that ended up in Kitchener, Ontario. That is the hometown of Jamal Murray. Ever since he started in the NCAA, I was waiting for him to debut in the NBA so I could chase one of his cards. Just 4 packs into the 2016-17 release year, I had already landed my chase card. Not only did I land an auto of his, it was the Red Hot parallel numbered to /25.

To the person that picked this specific box to send my way, your aim couldn't have been better if it was intentional. What a keeper!

And now, I can take a break from the boxes. Only a short one, though. I'll be digging into a jumbo box of 2016 Update shortly.