Coffee Break:2021 Optic Football Blaster Box (relic pull!)

*sits down on this sunny Sunday to get ready for a new post before a day of football begins*

*takes a sip, has box by his side and gets ready*

It's another football Sunday! Woooooooooooooo! I just hope it goes better than this past Monday Night's game.

With fall and football in the air, I decided it was time to finally post a box break I did awhile back that has been sitting in drafts waiting for me.

*takes a sip*

This year, Panini said, "hey-let's release all of the hot products at the end of the football card season all within weeks of each other" when it comes to Prizm, Optic and Select. I don't know what the strategy was to that, but it's been hard to find any of it on the shelf. I also wonder if they did it that way because of such a weak 2022 rookie class. That way they can still make some money.

I have been lucky so far to have been able to open a tiny bit of each product thanks to my father's timing in Walmart. He lives within minutes of it so in-between each job he does, he checks in to see if anything is on the shelf. Comes in really handy because otherwise, the "kid flipper" cleans off the shelf and I wouldn't have any.

Last month, my pops timed it right and grabbed me a blaster of Optic football. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but I knew I just wanted some.

*takes a sip before moving onto the box*

Each blaster box of 2021 Optic football comes with 6 packs of 4 cards each. There are no guarantees other than three purple shock parallels and each blaster box goes for $35. Once again, I miss the $20 box days.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

I won't bother boring you with the base cards but will show off my Rated Rookie finds. At the time, I was super stoked to pull the Lance. Now that he is out for the season, not so much. Kids, don't invest in cards....EVER.

There are 200 cards in the regular base set and 100 cards in the Rated Rookie base set.

There are also plenty of parallels to find for both.

Veteran Base,

Fire, Freedom, Holo, One Hundred, Red Stars, Rocket, Stars, White Sparkle, Aqua /299, Orange /199, Blue /179, Silver Circles /125, Red /99, Orange Scope /79, Pink Velocity /79, Purple /50, Lime Green /35, Black Pandora /25, Ice /15, Purple Stars /15, Gold /10, Green /5, and Gold Vinyl 1/1.
PREMIUM BOX SET PARALLELS: Base Wave /299, and Black 1/1.


Rated Rookie Base,
Blue Hyper, Blue Scope, Bronze, Fire, Freedom, Green Velocity, Holo, Holo Variation, One Hundred, Pink, Purple Shock, Red Hyper, Red Mojo, Red Stars, Rocket, Stars, Teal Velocity, White Sparkle, Aqua /299, Orange /199, Blue /179, Silver Circles /125, Red /99, Orange Scope /79, Pink Velocity /79, Purple /50, Lime Green /35, Black Pandora /25, Ice /15, Purple Stars /15, Gold /10, Green /5, Gold and Vinyl 1/1.

PREMIUM BOX SET PARALLELS: Base Wave /299 and Black 1/1.

Holo Silver Base

Holo Silver Rated Rookie

 

Purple Shocks. These look pretty cool!

*takes a sip before moving onto the inserts*

The inserts in Optic are kind of bland if they don't have some shine.

Like this, The Rookies. Bleh. Trey Lance, now bleh as well. There are 20 cards in the set.

Legendary Logos is pretty cool. There are 20 cards in the set and all of them are holo silver.

The final pack also had a surprise....

 

Blasters no longer have relic guarantees, so just to pull one is cool now. Nothing big but looks cool.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

Well, not too much to brag about in this break. I have set aside some of the cards I pulled in here for trading buddies I hope to send to them soon. For now, I will also tuck the Trey Lance cards away just in case.....unless I get a good trade offer for them.

Let me know your thoughts on the product and the break.

Best of luck to your teams today, Go Giants and have a Super Sunday!

*Coffee Card Blogger out*

Burrow Hunting

*the sun is out on this morning before the storm starts to creep its way in tonight. Coffee, cards and blogging is on the agenda for now. takes a sip and gets onto the post*

If 100 people were in a room just to simply guess who would be facing off in the Super Bowl this year, I would bet all 100 would be wrong. Not only be wrong, but not have a single one of them even breathe the word Bengals in the conversation. 

However, here we are. Rams vs Bengals.

With the NY Giants playing this year like the bad version of the Little Giants team if not worse, I had a pretty solid list of teams I didn't want to win in the playoff this year.

I had a reason for everyone of them.

• Cowboys-Division rival and can't stand their obnoxious fans
• Eagles-HATED division rival and once again, don't like their obnoxious fans
• Buccaneers- Who really wanted to see Tom Brady win again?? I mean really??
• Packers-Aaron Rodgers is a.........well..... you get the point. It was nice to see him struggle and lose
• Patriots-With or without Tom Brady, I just don't like them

I had a feeling I would have to deal with hating on one of these teams in the Super Bowl, but to my surprise and everyone elses, none of them even made it to the Divisional Championships. So then became the question of....who do I root on?

I chose the Chiefs. Despite how annoying Patrick Mahomes brother can be, Patrick is not. He is a humble Super Star who is fun to watch. He may also be a side PC, but we will talk about that another day. Sadly, the Chiefs didn't pull off the win and the Bengals did. That didn't really affect me too much though, as it's fun to see a team you wouldn't expect in a million lifetimes make it to the big game.

So, for the Super Bowl, I am a Bengals fan. It would be nice to see them finally take home the big one.

*takes a sip before continuing on with today's post*

I have been holding onto a couple of 2020 football boxes for the right moment and figured what moment is better than Super Bowl time that features rookie cards of the Bengals amazing Quarterback Joe Burrow.

  

The two boxes I had to open was a 2020 Chronicles NFL blaster box and a 2020 Prizm hanger box. I also wanted to point out the new background for these newer photos I will be doing on here. Needs a little tweaking, but they should look cool when I get it right.

The box that had my attention the most was the Prizm hanger, since everyone wants a Prizm rookie of top players. It's THE rookie card to have.

It was a good thought anyways as these were my two best and only rookie finds in the box,

 

Not that either of these guys are bad players, but the last thing you want to find in a "high end" box is two defensive guys.

With luck down on that break, I turned to the Chronicles where a very nice card was found in the first pack,

A Dynagon silver parallel of Joe Burrow.

Rest of the box wasn't to bad either, I found a couple Jalen Hurts, a couple Tua's, and then the other Top QB from 2020,

Justin Herbert.

The Chronicles break went pretty well I would say, and my Burrow hunt actually landed me one. That doesn't happen too often in a post like this.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

I think this year's NFL postseason games were the best I have ever seen and here's hoping the biggest game of them all will be just as exciting. Say what you want about other sports and Game 7's etc, the NFL has the best playoff system. You only get one chance to win so you give it your all.

I also apologize to the fans of the teams above I hoped to lose if you are reading this, nothing against you...unless your an Eagles or Cowboys fan...even still....I had my reasons and I am sure you have yours as well for teams you despise.

In comments, let me know which team you are rooting on for the Super Bowl and what your favorite Joe Burrow card is? While you are at it, let me know which teams you didn't want to see win.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Coffee Break:2020 Absolute Football Value Pack

*takes a sip, well after scooping out some sneaky coffee grounds out first that were floating. Hopefully today's pack break goes better than my first cup of coffee is so far*

It's another sunny day and it appears we will be heading towards really warm weather again. For us, really warm weather is in the 80's. The higher the 80's it gets, the more we really start to feel the heat here. Unlike Phoenix, where I see temperatures can reach 117 degrees. Not sure how anyone can live there. If you do and are reading this, tell me how you survive.

Speaking of heat, I haven't had a lot of that recently for these coffee breaks. I am hoping today's pack will turn things around.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

Each Value pack of 2020 Absolute football comes with 20 cards and usually a few parallels. Packs run $5.98. So it's a cheap pack risk.

The base set built up of 200 cards split evenly between rookies and veterans.

The base set offers up the following parallels, 

PARALLEL CARDS: Printing Plates 1/1.
SPECTRUM PARALLELS: Base Spectrum, Red /100, Orange /75, Blue /50, Green /25, Gold /10, Purple /5,and Black 1/1.
RETAIL PARALLELS: Blue, Green, Yellow, Red Squares /199, Orange Mosaic /149, Blue Diamonds /75, Green Waves /35, Gold Stars /10, Purple Rain /5, and Black Galaxy 1/1.

I have seen some of those Spectrum parallels and they shine like a new coffee mug. I wonder if they make any refractor looking mugs...hmmm....

Absolute offers a variety of foil inserts for rookies-veterans-legends. There 6 different inserts to chase overall. Of course none bigger than the rare Kabooms that I feel I will never pull. 

Inserts have the following parallels, Red /100, Orange /75, Blue /50, Green /25, Gold /10, Purple /5, and Black 1/1.

When it comes to hits, Absolute has and always been packed. There is always a nice variety of what kind of hits you can find from rookies to legends to swatches of jerseys to swatches of helmets. Absolute has always been a fan favorite of mine.

Let's see how lucky I got with today's break:

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

 

*takes a sip before closing up today's post*

I couldn't really have asked for more with today's break. Found a Burrow, Claypool and a few solid names in base and inserts. Would I call this break as hot as Phoenix? No, not by any means. It was warm though, probably similar to today's temps heading to the 80's.

Until next time, have a great day everyone.

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*

Hangin' With Donruss

*takes a sip of coffee on this brisk 38 degree morning. Yesterday's highs got into the 50's and today will be about that as well. Another sip to keep warm and realizing that the season is changing fast is needed*

It's game day Sunday for the Giants. This used to be a time of excitement for me but as this season has progressed the Giants have looked worse by the week and today face the LA Rams who have played well thus far. If the Giants can keep it within 10 points I would call that a win especially after losing last week by 20 to a practice squad 49er team.

Enough with the sadness, we get enough of that this year already, I am just glad I actually get to watch football.

Yesterday marked my year end BBQ where I use the grill for the last time before the weather gets any colder. It will be put away today for next year as it would be hard to grill on my deck full of snow.

With it being game day, I thought it would be fun to show off my break of 2020 Donruss football.

My father was able to grab two hangers for me and two for himself before it sold out. My first blaster, which I opened was embarrassingly bad so I won't show that. However, the one I gave my wife to open was pretty solid so we will do that one. Not that I mind showing off bad breaks, but I think today I want to focus on the positive.

*takes a sip, begins to rip*

Every Hanger Box of 2020 Donruss football comes with 50 cards. Each box also promises 4 Press Proof parallels and shots at autographs and relics.

The Donruss base card design has kinda stayed par for Donruss for some time now. Nothing new about it.

Other than players in new places. It is weird seeing Rivers in a Colts uni.

The base set has 350 cards with 50 rookie base and 50 Rated Rookies as well. I didn't find any Rated Rookies in my pack and the best rookie I found was the Giants first round pick offensive lineman.

Up next we find the 4 promised Press Proof parallels which are red.

 

Can't complain about any of these guys with Watson and Kelly leading the way.

 

Other parallels include, Aqueous Test, Season Stat Line /500, and Jersey Number /99

 

Press Proof Parallels Of Red, Silver /100, Silver Die-Cut /75, Gold /50, Gold Die-Cut /25, Black /10, and Black Die-Cut 1/1.

 

*takes a sip*

 

For me though, it's not about the base or the parallels or even the hits, I come to Donruss for the inserts/nostalgia and their shiny appeal.

 

Nostalgia Factor kicks it off here with the Donruss 90 design. I think this would have made a better base card design. Panini should had chosen a different Donruss design from the 90's to use for their base designs instead of using them for inserts.

 

40 cards with this design is what you would be chasing. I won't be as they left off the Giants from the checklist for it. How could you not at least make a Saquon one?!

Gridiron Kings with one of the NFL's best young players. There are 15 of these to collect.

I found it interesting that Panini added a Optic preview set to this. It feels un-needed but I always do enjoy a chromed card find. This one is a blue /99 parallel. Not the greatest player to pull but hey, it's still a rookie QB. Other parallels of these to find are Holo, Pink, Red & Green, Red #/99, Gold #/10.

 

There are 100 of these to chase with Rated Rookies and rookies included.

 

How can you have Donruss without Elite Series? YOU CAN'T!! There are 60 of them to collect split by rookies and veterans.

 

 Best card of the pack found here!

And second best card.

Not that Nick Chubb is that shabby either.

24 Highlights to collect

17 cards in the Retro Series to collect. This has a 90s appeal.

42 of The Rookies to Chase

Dominators another Donruss fan favorite is still in here with 40 cards to chase

And to finish my break off, what appears to be a 80s looking insert ends it with Action All Pros. There are 18 cards to collect.

 

*takes a sip before closing up this post. Honestly, that's a lie. I just finished up this cup and am brewing a second one. I have to use the Keurig today because this guy forgot again to grab a can of coffee from the grocery store the other day thinking that he already had one at home. You should never ever do that*

Donruss once again was an entertaining break. It gave me all the feels with the nostalgia and the shiny goodness. I do wished I could have pulled some better rookies-at least I got that Burrow insert-or some more PC cards, but I will take what I get and can always search for the other stuff another time. It's all apart of the hobby fun.

Coffee Break:2020 Chronicles Draft Picks Football

*Sits down to type up this break that reminded him of The Soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld and creates The Card Nazi from it. Grabs a cup of coffee and begins to grind out this post*

2020 football card releases have been flowing out of Panini since some of the Covid restrictions have been lifted and it's been hard to keep up with whats out...or even able to find any....or even able to afford any as most hobby box prices have been insane this year so far.

I was finally able to land a box of a product I really wanted to break in 2020 Chronicles draft football. It features many of Panini's standalone products all packed into one offering. Though I am not a huge college football guy or one at all, it's what all of the early releases are so I have to deal with it knowing I need those rookie cards.

After breaking this, I was left surprised by the results to say the least. I don't remember complaining about the hobby or even bread for that matter before breaking this, but it appears The Card Nazi saw something. This box wasn't as expected.

*takes a sip of delicious coffee, drips butter from his freshly made bagel on the keyboard, wipes it up and continues on*

Every hobby box 2020 Chronicles Draft football comes with 6 packs of 8 cards each. There should be three autographs and one relic card per box and boxes are currently sitting at just under $230. It is completely a rookie laden product with no veteran content.

The basis of the product is 20+ products all into one from low end finds to high end products such as Spectra. I am reminded of the song 32 Flavors by Ani DiFranco and would put this product into perspective as, It is 20+ products and then some, seeing surprises as they come....it is 20+ products and then some, it's become real for some....

There is no correlation though with the products. Meaning, it's not all one base set. Each product has it's own base set which to me is lame. I would prefer a multi layered product. Make it a 400 card base set and the higher end products Sp's towards the the end of the product.

Instead, I bring to you the following breakdown of how many base are in each set along with corresponding parallels for each.

There are 25 cards to the Chronicles base set.
Parallels include, Blue, Green, Red, Black /5, Platinum 1/1,and Printing Plates 1/1.

There are 25 cards in the Donruss Rated Rookie set
Parallels include, Blue, Green, Red, Black /5, Platinum 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

25 to put together for Playoff
Parallels include, Goal Line, Kickoff, Red Zone, Touchdown /5, Platinum 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Elite which usually has it's own draft product has 20 cards to find
Parallels include,  Aspirations, Status Blue, Blue, Red, Purple /25, Orange /20, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

20 in XR
Parallels include, Blue, Red, Purple /25, Orange /20, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Absolute has 20 cards in it's base set
Parallels include, Blue, Red, Purple /25, Orange /20, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Prestige has 25 cards
Parallels include,  Blue, Green, Red, Black /5, Platinum 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

25 in Spectra
Parallels include, Blue, Red, White Sparkle, Purple /99, Hyper /49, Mojo /25, Ice /15, Gold /10, Black /7, Green /5, and Gold Vinyl 1/1.

Donruss Optic has 25 cards to chase
Parallels include, Blue, Red, White Sparkle, Purple /99, Hyper /49, Mojo /25, Ice /15, Gold /10, Black /7, Green /5, and Gold Vinyl 1/1.

Limited has 20 cards as well
Parallels include, Blue, Red, Purple /25, Orange /20, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Phoenix has 25 cards to collect
Parallels include, Blue, Red, White Sparkle, Purple /99, Hyper /49, Mojo /25, Ice /15, Gold /10, Black /7, Green /5, and Gold Vinyl 1/1.

25 in Select.
Parallels include, Blue, Red, White Sparkle, Purple /99, Hyper /49, Mojo /25, Ice /15, Gold /10, Black /7, Green /5, and Gold Vinyl 1/1.

Certified has 20 cards in its base set
Parallels include, Blue, Red, Purple /25, Orange /20, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

Crown Royale is the biggest set in the product, yes I know what you are thinking that the Chronicles should be and I think that to, but I love the look of these. By far my favorite of the product. There are 100 cards to collect.

Parallels include, Blue, Red, Holo /149, Purple /25, Orange /20, Gold /10, Green /5, and Platinum 1/1.

*finishes up bagel, takes a chug of coffee, moves on to the next part*

My box came with one parallel, when most are supposed to come with two. Mine was a purple from Spectra of Zack Moss numbered to 99.

*takes a deep breath, steps into the hobby shop in his mind which is run by The Card Nazi*

"Hey, I like Panini Chronicles Draft Picks so far! The combination of different products really makes it pop," I said as I got closer to the counter.

"Good for you," The Card Nazi replies.

"I just wished this was an NFL version and not college football."

I could see him begin glare at me, shake his head in disapproval as he pointed his finger directing me out the door.

NO

HITS

FOR 

YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He yelled as I exited.

*gets back to reality to finish up this post*

You read that right. Not a single hit in this box. What should have been three autographs and one relic turned out none. I have never had this happen before. One hit missing sure. Relic card from a retail box yes. But, the entire box without a hit and shorted a parallel, yikes.

So in my mind I just picture a Joe Burrow autograph being hit out of this.

Overall, this is a fun product to open and to see all of the fun variety of products. It was just tough being left wondering what hits may had been in here. So it's hard to rate and judge this product overall without that piece.


Ratings (ratings based on 1-5 🍵)

Design 🍵🍵🍵
Photography 🍵🍵🍵
Inserts (not applicable)
Hits (not applicable)
Price 🍵🍵
Value (not applicable without the hits)