Still Can't Quit Ya!

 The only thing better than one box of RA is two of 'em!

A Rookie Selection that's still in the league! He has returned to Dallas after a short stint in Pittsburgh, both times being exchanged for a 4th rounder. The same fourth rounder. Yeah, that's a strange f'ing trade.

Here's a gold parallel that I actually needed. Not that I'm trying to build this parallel set. Nope. Not me!

It wouldn't be a break of RA without an appearance of the Score Signatures Colten Teubert card.

A fairly standard grouping of Prizm cards, but both rookies were needs for my "I swear! I'm not building the Update set set!"

Here's your Prizm autograph. Looks like Daniel didn't get the "ultra fine" memo. This version of the Prizms is the Prizm parallel to the regular autograph, and is /25.

Not really the most interesting pair of Select cards.

But there's some shininess here. He didn't get many cards over his 7-game NHL career, so this will probably be the brightest of the group.

I guess when I've busted as much as I have, I shouldn't be surprised when even the /99 inserts start turning into dupes.

Another dupe among the hits, but this one can be nicely shifted to the Rangers collection from the Master Collection. Or vice-versa. I doubt I could tell you where the first card is until I hit the binders.

I wrote yesterday that I got a big PC card from this, and here it is. If you remember when I landed the Kucherov, it is the jersey # versions are considered the true rookies, and generally fall one per case. So not only do I land one of a relevant player, but one of a Kitchener Rangers alum. I'd probably recover most of the cost of the boxes with this, but PC cards are nice, especially when you can pack pull a nice one!

Last pack mojo is real!

Oh, Rookie Anthology, I Can't Quit You

I may have put together the base set of this, but that doesn't mean I still can't bust a box of this now and then, right?

I won't break this box down by packs, but I'll just hit the highlights from the non-Score base cards. As I often did when I did case breaks, I'd either lead with the Rookie Selection, or a base /100 parallel. I got one of those in this box, so here it is!

I guess I technically did not get a base Rookie Selection in this, as instead I got this prime parallel. Unfortunately, it is a dupe from my overall collection. Despite Hartzell's career being limited to backup duty in the NHL, this is still a hit for the mask collection.

While I won't show the Score base cards, I'll show the parallels and autos. It is of a guy still in the league (Flyers), so that's always a bonus.

Even though they're all dupes, all of these Prizm cards will eventually find themselves a happy home. 

Shininess! And this wasn't a dupe!

Pretty bland pair of Select cards, no matter how much fun it is to say Nino's name.

Josh Leivo does seem to be a frequent appearer in this set, but since he's a Kitchener Rangers alum, even it was only a half-season, I don't care since his cards can also make their way to that collection along with my mega-RA collection. This shiny beauty is /99.

And if you want your Select /99 autos to have a relic with them, here you are! 

Let's wrap things up with some swatches, unaccompanied by ink. Here's a nice thick seam from Valeri Nichushkin.

But if variety in swatches is your thing, here's some! L-R, there's a patch, a fight strap, a seam and a jersey piece. While I would normally be putting this aside to send to Ann Arbor, I may just hold onto this as it is the only one of these Complete Rookies that I pack-pulled from this. Even /25, that seems odd for as much as I've busted. I did add a Sens one recently, but it is always nicer to open them yourself.

There you have it! And since I can't just bust one box, box #2 (of 2) is next I actually hit a really nice PC card in that post.

Hitting The Ice

 

This will be the last of the LCS anniversary busts from earlier in the month.

There's 3 regular base cards per pack. I'm just highlighting the Bergeron as the first one out.

Each pack also contained a green base parallel. With only 50 cards in the unnumbered base set, they are not exactly the rarest, but you can't go wrong with a McDavid.

The Ice Permieres are technically base cards, with the numbering being higher depending on how much is expected out of the specific rookie. Batherson is a Level 2, with Suomela and Hicketts being Level 4. That's back-to-back post with /999 cards of Hicketts. That Batherson is a pretty nice addition to the Sens binder as well. 

SubZero inserts return. The rookies portion of this gets the serial # treatment this season.

No relic in this, instead I got this Exquisite rookie card. Yay?

And the auto. While it isn't the biggest name, the Rinkside Signings always have a nice design with the on-acetate signature. So at least there's that.

Not the best box for the book value, but still a couple nice cards with the Dadonov and Batherson to take the regret partially away.

There you have it!

Ice Time

19-20 Ice dropped a little over a week ago. I would have tried a box. However, for a second year in a row, the base cards aren't acetate. That is reason enough for me to go a couple years back with some 17-18 instead.

For some reason, I'm still unofficially working on the 1-100 base set for this. These, along with most of the others in this box, were needs for me. I'm still about 15 cards short, and those might be added to my set wantlist sooner rather than later.

While Ice Premieres are considered part of the base, I really don't plan to add those to the set. But these were the two I got here. Generally, the higher the expectations of the rookies, the lower the print run. Both these guys saw action last season, but it was Amadio who spent the whole season with the big club.

Sens content in the Sub-Zero inserts, but that White was a dupe. The Legend portion of this insert set is 1:60 packs, or 1 per case, so I did really well not only landing one, but landing a Gretzky.

Not the most impressive relic hit, as JFK is already back in Sweden. His Ice Premieres was numbered /499.

But the other rookie hit in the box - that's much nicer. Keller doesn't have the greatest penmanship out there, but the silver pen on a black background always looks nice on a card. And it is of one of the better young players in the league. It is a little hard to tell looking at the scan, but this is /25.

Definitely a winning box with the Keller and Gretzky!

2020 Score Football Box Break - Pack #1

2 and half days after the supposed delivery date, this arrived. So, let's start the football season with the first pack. I'll go through this one pack per post per day.

A solid start to the season with the first card out, even if it is a normal enough 2-handed catch with minimal acrobatics from Odell.

The back of the card. The photo is re-used, but the 'Fun Fact', which was on all the base cards, more than make up for it. So much so, while I originally planned to recap multiple packs per post, I changed my mind to instead recap just one to highlight some of my favourite facts.

Very little change in the base design, with logos and names just being switched to the other side of the card.

I guess they couldn't find too fun a fact about Van, since they more or less copied it over from the biography.

My first Bills card of the year also includes an amazing photo to go with it.

But it pales in comparison to this even more impressive dive on Deshaun Watson's card.

Kicker card!

And a throwback uniform as well.

Let's see a bit of the weather as well, from the frozen tundra of Lambeau.

Returning to the backs and the fun facts contained upon them, Tre Flowers and his first job wins the first pack's competition easily.

But collation does lead to a pair of Eddie Murphy factoids.

Are there parallels in this? Of course there are!

The Draft insert set also returns, as an excuse to add more rookie content. Laviska went to the Jaguars in the second round.

As has been the usual for the past few seasons, the Fantasy themed inserts are easily the the least interesting for me.

But the All-Hands team also returns with nice photography to make up for it.

First pack! First auto! Cheyenne O'Grady was undrafted, and remains unsigned at this point. There are 110 cards in the rookie portion of the set, most with autos, and he is one of 2 players that don't have a team yet. That's a pretty good ratio on the whole for Panini, even if I ended up on the bad side of the percentages.

There you have it!