2011 Topps Football Complete Set Box Break and Review

A completed boxed set of cards seems counter intuitive in an era of collecting that covets the big hits and shuns base cards.  But 2011 Topps Football Complete Set NFL Trading Cards reminds you of the simplicity and beauty of card collecting.   Using great design as well as excellent photography, well-executed base cards can be as breathtaking as any mojotastic hit.  They also serve as a record of the year and are the cards you pull out of your collection, down the road, that allow you to reminisce about seasons past.

Clearly, this package gets classification as a boxed set for the purposes of this review. Inside you’ll find the complete 440 card base set, no alternate photo versions or inserts, and each boxes contains a pack of five Red-Bordered parallels.

For the most part, this review will mimic our previous review of 2011 Topps Football because the cards are the same.

Here is one of the base cards.

 Cam Newton - Front

 Back of the card

Here are the 5 red-bordered parallels.

 Deion Branch Red-Bordered Parallel - Front

Deion Branch Red-Bordered Parallel - Back

The red-bordered parallels are numbered to 77 in gold foil

Rookies -  Adrian Clayborn, Allen Bailey

 San Diego Chargers Team Card

Jason Campbell

Overall look

The design of the base set is attractive but it’s the photography that makes this set stand out.

Does the checklist of players feel complete?

The checklist is quite extensive, so unless there is an obscure lineman or kicker you crave, you should be happy.

Are there any bonus cards included?

Yes.  There are the 5 red-bordered parallels. They are all numbered to 77 and with 440 base cards it was easy to figure out that this complete set run is limited to 6,776 total boxes.  It could prove to be a difficult task to put together an entire red-bordered set, but there should be a few brave souls out there willing to take on the task.

Boxed Set vs. Set Building

No doubt, these cards are fun to collect pack by pack, but having the complete packaged set is convenient.

Rating

 

4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Topps Football Complete Set NFL Trading Cards is a great set housed in a well done package.

2011 Rittenhouse Archives The Complete Star Trek: The Next Generation, Series One 1987 – 1991 Box Break Recap and Review

When you are collecting non-sports cards based on one of your favorite shows, you are looking for three things, detailed episode cards, cool insert cards and big hit Auto and relic cards.  Rittenhouse Archives has packed all of this and more into The Complete Star Trek: The Next Generation, Series One 1987 – 1991.

This set falls under our classification of trading cards.  Hobby Boxes contain 24 – 5 card packs and feature four autograph cards.

Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled from our hobby box.

 Episode Cards

 The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2, Front and Back

Episode Card Parallels

 The Naked Now, Datalore, The Schizoid Man

 Contagion, The Emissary, The Vengeance Factor

 Allegience, Clues

Tribute Cards

 Frank Corsentino as Daimon Bok "The Battle, William Boyett as Lt. Dan Bell "The Big Goodbye"

 Walter Gotell as Kurt Mandl "Home Soil", Vincent Schiavelli as Minosian Peddler "The Arsenal of Freedom"

U.S.S. Enterprise NC-1701 – D cards

 E3, E6

Star Trek TNG Aliens Cards

These cards are two sided so there are three total cards, six sides, front and back.

 A1 - Acamarian, Aldean, Algolian, Android, Angosian, Antedean

 A9 - Mintakan, Mizarian, Nagilum, Napean, Ophidian, Ornaran

 A13 - Vorgon, Vulcan, Yridian, Zaldan, Zalkonian, Zibalian

Autograph Cards

The backs of these cards have a clear embossed text to ensure authenticity

 Normal Run - John Putch as Mordock in "Coming of Age", Sam Hennings as Ramsey in "Angel One"

 Limited Run - Rhonda Aldrich as Madeline in "Clues", Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law, Major League) as Q2 in "Deja Q"

Overall Look

The episode cards pack a lot of information.  5 photos and a complete episode synopsis.  With that much going on, these cards could become “busy” looking, but Rittenhouse has found a way to lay everything out in a clean fashion.  Insert cards are great and Autograph cards are designed well.  Glossy parallels of the episode cards are a nice touch too.

Quality and Variety of checklist.

There is plenty here to collect.  88 episode cards and parallels, 18 Tribute Cards, 13 Star Trek TNG Aliens cards, 9 U.S.S. Enterprise NC-1701 – D cards, 5 Star Trek Communicator Pin Cards, 49 Autograph Cards, and a Gene Roddenbery cut signature card limited to 30. There is a great mix of autographs.  Insert go deep into the actors who appeared on the show.

Do the hits hold up?

If you don’t recognize some of the names, you will recognize the faces, which helps to keep the extensive autograph list desirable.  Limited edition Communicator Pin Cards and the Roddenbery cut autos are the chase cards here.

Will you want to collect them all? 

You should be able to pull a complete episode base card set out of a box, as we did.  But you will want more.  Set builders will chase a complete Parallel base set.  You’ll also want all the insert cards, in particular, the Aliens cards.  For deeper pockets, there are large purchase incentives. An exclusive 5"x7" card featuring one of Gene Roddenbery’s authentic TNG business cards from when he worked on the show in the late 1980s is included with orders of 3 cases.  If you buy 6 cases, you get an exclusive autograph card signed by Patrick Stewart as Locutus of Borg.  If you can swing an 18 case purchase, you get an archive box from the Complete Star Trek: The Next Generation, Series One 1987 – 1991.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Rittenhouse Archives The Complete Star Trek: The Next Generation, Series One 1987 – 1991 is a must purchase for fans of the show.

2011 Rittenhouse Archives Warehouse 13 Season 2 Premium Pack Break Recap and Review

2011 Rittenhouse Archives Warehouse 13 Season 2 in Premium Pack is as cool a find as any artifact secretly stashed in South Dakota.  Rittenhouse Archives has completely captured the feel of the show and put it in card form.

2011 Rittenhouse Archives Warehouse 13 Season 2 falls under our premium cards category.  Each Premium Pack contains 2 Episode Cards, 1 Relic Card, 1 Artifact Card and 2 Autograph Cards.  Each pack is individually numbered to 3000.  These can be purchased by individual packs or a 15 pack box. 

Here are the cards we pulled from our Premium Pack.

Episode Cards #/250

 Around the Bend - Front

 Around the Bend - Back

Age Before Beauty

“Snag It, Bag It, Tag It” Card #/350

 The card before it is opened

The opened card - Pearl of Wisdom Artifact

Relic Card #/350

 Joanne Kelly as Myka Bering Shirt Swatch - Two Color with Stitching

Autograph Cards - Not Numbered

 Dillon Casey

Leading Actor - Saul Rubinek

Overall Look

These are some smart looking cards with great photography and design.  Autograph cards come in two different designs to separate the main cast from episode guests.  The relic and artifact cards are great looking too.

Quality and Variety of the checklist

This is a small, limited edition set that covers on season.  In all there are 26 episode cards, 9 “Snag It, Bag It, Tag It” Cards, 9 Prop and Costume Cards and 18 Autograph cards.  Every main character is represented in the autograph cards.  Some of the hit cards are based on events form the season 1, which is a little weird for a product for season 2, but the quality of hits easily makes up for it.

Do the Hits satisfy?

Completely.  On-card autos are beautiful with the standard Rittenhouse Archives embossed text for authenticity.  Costume cards are outstanding with a picture of the actor wearing the piece and a picture of the actual costumes, after the production, makeup stains and all, with an exact description of who worn it and in which episode.  All relic cards should be like this, non-sport and sports!  The “Snag It, Bag It, Tag It” cards are right in line with the show and perfectly done.

Will you keep coming back for more?

This is an easy multiple purchase and if you are a true fan of the show, going for the sealed 15 pack box is a must.  You might as well get the custom-designed album and 9 card sheets while you are at it.

Rating

 5 out of 5

This is 2011 Rittenhouse Archives Warehouse Season 2 is a prime example of how good cards can be when a concept is carried through all the way.

2011 Rittenhouse Archives Eureka Seasons 1 & 2 Premium Pack Break Recap and Review

The Premium Package is a concept familiar to Sports Card Collectors for quite a while but is new to collectors of non-sports cards.  By reducing all the cards in a given release to low serial numbered base cards, interesting insert cards, autograph, and relic cards, the best of everything is included in a concentrated package.  Rittenhouse Archives has done that with their release of 2011 Rittenhouse Archives Eureka Seasons 1 & 2 in Premium Pack form.

2011 Rittenhouse Archives Eureka Seasons 1 & 2 falls under our premium cards category.  Each Premium Pack contains 2 Episode Cards, 1 Casting Call Card, 1 Artifact Card and 2 Autograph Cards.  Each pack is individually numbered to 3000.  These can be purchased by individual packs or a 15 pack box. 

Here are the cards we pulled from our Premium Pack.

Episode cards #/250

 Noches de Suenos from Season 2

 The back of the card.

Blink from Season 1

Casting Call #350

The lead - Colin Ferguson as Sheriff Jack Carter

Artifact #/350

Area 51 Bowling Team T-Shirt Costume Swatch

Autographs - Not Numbered

Tamlyn Tomita

Matt Frewer (you older collectors will remember him as Max Headroom)

Overall Look

There is some really nice design here with full bleed photography for the episode and autograph cards.  Episode cards offer well-written synopses in clear typeface and contrasting colors making them easy to read.  They are also unusual in their layout with the back printed seemingly upside down compared to the fronts, but I gather this was smartly done for 9 pocket sheet display purposes.  This way you can view all the cards in the same direction as you flip from sheet to sheet without having to turn the binder. The casting call cards are glossy refractors.

Quality and Variety of the checklist

This is a small, limited edition set.  25 episode cards, 11 Casting Call cards, 9 Artifact cards, in this case made with costume swatches and 14 Autograph cards.  This is about as complete as you can get for the first 25 episodes of the series.  The only possible exception is the absence of Salli Richardson-Whitfield from the autograph cards.

Do the Hits satisfy?

The autographs really excel in this product.  They are placed wonderfully on-card in a white bleed area so the signature actually compliments the card design.  The back of the card gets the standard treatment of a clear, embossed Rittenhouse Archives text to mark authenticity.  The artifact cards are a little generic, but it is cool to have a piece of the show.

Will you keep coming back for more?

You will want to open multiple packs.   With the limited number of cards available, it is easy to see trying to obtain them all.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize that 2011 Rittenhouse Archives Eureka Seasons 1 & 2 Premium Packs are a great buy for fans of the show.