---

I got a call from Steve asking me if I would be interested in helping him with an event. I had no idea what event, just that I would be in charge of the technical aspects and help with breaking product, sorting, and shipping.

I said yes before I really knew what was happening, then the details all worked themselves out and I was off to Dallas, Texas and AT&T stadium to help Steve rip 18 cases of 2020 Topps Series One Baseball // Jumbo HTA boxes.

The event overall was smooth. The day of, was a long day, but no complaints. We both took time to enjoy the event while the time allowed.

I know the breaks I did seemed slow but for just two guys, I think we did really well. I know Steve wanted to break more than ship but he was so fast at it. He had everything planned in his head, down to what shipping boxes were for what, so on and so forth. I tried to keep a pace that was consistent if nothing else. We were still ripping when Topps announced the Millionth card was being opened… I think it was really in one of the packs I had… keep that our little secret.

I want to thank Steve Wrate, of All Star Sports Cards / All Star Case Breaks, for the opportunity to help leading up to and at the event. To his customers for buying the product from Steve and I hope that everyone had a great time.

Mahalo,
Ryan

New Releases for the week of April 8 – 12, 2019

Here is the breakdown of releases this week.

4/10

2019 Panini Donruss Diamond Kings Baseball
2019 Topps WWE Raw
2018-19 Panini Donruss Soccer

4/12

2019 Leaf Metal Draft Football
2018 Panini Honors Football

---

My take

2019 Panini Donruss Diamond Kings Baseball

This product is always hot or cold with me. I love the tactile feel of the cardstock, canvas texture, and the smell of it, no joke. At least in previous years.

This year they are boosting the chase with a Babe Ruth cut auto.

This is a one or two box product for me. I don’t think I will hit the Babe, but I am a sucker for some of the other items like the DK 205 design, check out the sell sheet above and you will see what I mean.

This product is ringing in at $68/box which is low. So with little investment, it is worth a shot.

If it isn’t for you, because no logos and such, I say move on. There will be a lot of other products and everyone should feel free to collect what THEY LIKE.

---

2019 Topps WWE Raw

So I was into wrestling in the 80s and 90s and since then I moved on. Growing up with a Dad that loved boxing, I started watching more boxing and MMA and have stayed with it.

That said, it isn’t for me but don’t let me stop you from digging in on this product.

It hits the wallet at abut $53/box and promises 2 hits per box, one being a guaranteed auto.

I don’t know the WWE Raw roster, but I am sure they got all the stars, to grab a pen and a chair and get to work signing for their fans.

---

2018-19 Panini Donruss Soccer

Soccer is another one that is not my cup of tea, but this product is an entry into the world of soccer. It is coming in at $112/box or thereabout and promises 2 autos per box.

The designs are cool and you can check them out in the sell sheet linked above.

---

2019 Leaf Metal Draft Football

This is a hit or miss for me on the Leaf product line, I get the chase and trying to get in our wallets before Panini gets their NFL push going for the “prospects” for the NFL.

It is always nice and shiny and the cards are sleeved and top loaded already, it is a solid alternative to the licensed stuff, where you can own an auto of a player without breaking the bank.

Get at it and good luck, it is always shiny and I like to see what people hit.

In the end, have some fun!

There are two different versions of the product this year. Regular ($89) and Jumbo ($168).

Regular comes with 5 on-card autos.

Jumbo comes with 9 on-card autos plus 1 autographed slabbed 1/1 clear proof card (jumbo exclusive).

---

2018 Panini Honors Football

Panini slipped this one in on their First Off the Line offering but the price point scared me away, also the impending release of National Treasures Basketball.

Boxes are coming in at $315/box and promise 2 autos and 2 base cards and I don’t know how they are slipped in but you can hit buybacks some of them slabbed.

Looking at the sell sheet, this looks like a high end Classics Football.

I don’t think I will be touching this release but if you like it, go for it. I am gonna guess, buying a card you like right off ebay or getting into a break will be the most affordable.

That is it for this week, see you again next week!

Ryan

New Releases for the week of April 1 – 5, 2019

Here is the breakdown of releases this week.

4/03

2019 Topps Stranger Things Series 2 Hobby
2018-19 Panini Court Kings Basketball
2018-19 Upper Deck AHL Hockey

4/05

2017-18 Leaf Pearl Hockey

My take

2019 Topps Stranger Things Series 2 Hobby

More of the same here from the hit Netflix series. I am a fan because I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s and I can remember the clothes, music, and other goings ons that appear in the show and that is just cool.

You can expect 2 hits per box with one guaranteed autograph or sketch card per box. David Harbour is on the auto list as are other fan favorites.

If you couldn’t get enough the first season, check this release out.

---

2018-19 Panini Court Kings Basketball

Well the hunt for Luka Doncic autos continues but now you can add Trae Young to the list of hot cards to get after.

The design of this product for me has always been a highlight, and I like the canvas texture of the cards. You can expect to see Rookie and Vet autos and surprising use of strong colors with a pop art and mixed media flare.

The price point per box is rather low considering all of the product thus far for this season, at $94/box. So check it out and expect 2 Autos, 2 Rookies, 2 Inserts, and One Parallel per box.

---

2018-19 Upper Deck AHL Hockey

I gotta be honest, I don’t know what to expect here. I see some big prospect names like Carter Hart on the checklist but I have never purchased or had the opportunity to purchase this product.

As with all other Upper Deck product, during the first month, their prices can’t be listed. But, on a per box basis, you can expect 2 Autos per box.

My two cents, I will stick with the flagship product from Upper Deck, series one and series two for me.

---

2017-18 Leaf Pearl Hockey

If you have been following @Leaf_Cards on Twitter, you will have seen some of the fantastic cards available in this product including non-hockey subjects, like Babe Ruth, and a cool set of stuff that brings sports names from a decade together.

The Bambino!! Bam! pic.twitter.com/NVtIM7tpLX

— Leaf Trading Cards (@Leaf_Cards) March 26, 2019

An ultra-highend set this isn’t for the faint of heart and if you can get your hands on this limited product, good luck. I can’t wait to see what everyone hits.

I am actually taking some time to visit my local card shop on release to see him open their own personal case of this product.

---

That’s it for this week, get out there and enjoy the hobby. Don’t like the list of new releases? Dig into what you like and see if you can make some trades, make some friends, or make some money on what you have.

New Releases for the week of March 18 – 22, 2019

Here is the breakdown of releases this week.

3/20

2019 Topps Inception Baseball
2018-19 Panini Cornerstones Basketball

3/22

2019 Topps Alliance of American Football
2018 Leaf Metal Sports Heroes

My take

2019 Topps Inception Basedball

Another year, another Topps Inception Baseball. Coming in with the expected consistency of rookies and vets, get ready for a stylized design to start off the season. Not as big of a secondary market for this set, so if you don’t buy boxes, you might be able to snag cards of your pc players. Wink wink nudge nudge. Yeah, I am suggesting that if you don’t want boxes of this stuff, get out there on the secondary a week or two after release and maybe you can pick up a card of your pc player for less than a box or two.

I like the stylized look of this set and always will, but I think this year, I am out and will watch the fun of others hitting! Good luck.

---

2018-19 Panini Cornerstones Basketball

Big fan of this product and the “cornerstone” of patches on the cards. I don’t know that it gets much hobby love but I am a fan. At $140/box, it could be a good option to chase Luka, Trae, or anyone of the other rookies in this class. Since it drops during the season, you just never know when one of them will break out!

Take a look at the sell sheet linked above and I think you will like what you will see. Chase them Downtown inserts and show everybody on social media what you hit!

---

2019 Topps Alliance of American Football

I guess if you can get a license and do some football, then have at it.

If I reading the right things here, this league is set to become a feeder league for the NFL filled with has beens, hopefuls, and practice squad kinda guys. That said, if these guys are willing to do the work and put in the time, I say let’s give them a shot, enjoy the games and have some fun collecting their cards.

This season is the inaugural set for the league and Topps. I am guessing that like previous football releases, we will see what we can consider flagship product this go round to see what kind of interest is there, and then it will branch out to other Topps products, like Chrome (this is a forgone conclusion if the set does well), Inception, all the other product variations we had grown accustom to seeing.

Hobby boxes will run about $50 – $60.

Not sure I wanna take a shot at this at the moment, gonna sit back and see what it looks like and how the hobby embraces it.

---

2018 Leaf Metal Sports Heroes

I don’t know what it is… I know Brian Gray can be abrasive and he plays that role well in the hobby industry, but the products I have purchased this year have been a blast. Why? Well, the price point.

This product comes in standard hobby boxes, with 1 pack and 1 hit numbered to 20 or less, or the jumbo variety with 1 pack and 3 hits, each numbered to 20 or less. Don’t like the price point, I think the names in the product might be why…

Leaf Metal Sports Heroes goes all over the sports world and delivers a similar value with big names like, Gordie Howe, Lance Armstrong, Lionel Messi, Chloe Kim, Larry Bird, etc. Check out the sell sheet linked above.

You can dislike Brian Gray all you want, but I like the look of this stuff and it gives a great option at a solid price to pick up autos of some of sports’ biggest names.

I am definitely going to get into some breaks of this stuff or get a few personal boxes. If I could get a case, you better believe I would.

---

That’s it for this week, stop by again next week for more Fresh // Cut.

New Releases for the week of March 11 – 15, 2019

Here is the breakdown of releases this week.

3/12

2018 Leaf Valiant Baseball
2018 Panini National Treasures Football FOTL (Regular Sell Sheet)

3/13

2019 Topps Opening Day Baseball
2018-19 Upper Deck SPx Hockey
2019 Panini Stars & Stripes Baseball

3/15

2018 Panini National Treasures Football

My take

2018 Leaf Valiant Baseball

Leaf has a push to get a lot of prospects out to you ahead of Bowman dropping. I for one like that most if not all of the autos in the Leaf product are on card and although they don’t have logos, they do have some nice eye appeal. Take a look at the sell sheet above and you will see all the big names, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Wander Franco, Fernando Tatis Jr, and more.

Each box comes with 4 autographed cards PLUS one graded slabbed auto BGS 9.5, 10, or the highly sought after BGS BLACK LABEL!

• 

• 

I would take a shot at this if you can on release, those slabbed cards could be great. Good luck and I can’t wait to see what people hit.

---

2018 Panini National Treasures Football FOTL

Fan of it or not, First Off the Line is an amazing opportunity for collectors and flippers to get a hold of hot new releases with FOTL exclusive cards/parallels and gets the hobby lit up. I have a blast for the chase of getting a box or more when I have a chance to do it.

This set promises one RPA Stars & Stripes #/15 or less.

I am looking forward to seeing what this product looks like as it gets busted. I will be looking for breaks to get into and hope to hit something of note.

---

2019 Topps Opening Day Baseball

Celebrate the new season of baseball with this set that captures the fun of the upcoming season with images of mascots, the bobblehead museum, image variations, and dirt from the game…

A low end set, this one is targeted to the young fans and introduces them to the hobby of baseball card collecting. This may not be your style but give it a look, you will see it looks like Topps flagship product with some interesting hits (not guaranteed).

---

2018-19 Upper Deck SPx Hockey

An annual anticipated hockey release, here is another chance to get you Elias Petterson, Brady Tkachuk, Carter Hart, and more! You check out the link to the sell sheet above? The designs are always cool and the cards look sweet. I love the hockey patches as usual and the autos although cool, are hard to see at times with the silver ink on such busy designs.

That said, for the hockey fan, this is a fun box of cards.

---

2019 Panini Stars & Stripes Baseball

This product is always a blast to rip because the silhouettes can be sweet with the USA patches. I did a box of this and got a button card of a Japanese Collegiate All Star, Ryosuke Aizawa. I am looking at stats on the kid now because of the card.

You can expect players from 15U on up so you will get autos and relics from kids way early on in their baseball careers. Creepy maybe, that you have a kids card in your hand, but hold that card and they may just become the next kid called up to the big show.

Coming in at a relatively low entry cost, this product delivers hits in each pack so looking for some fun with some future booms (thanks for this saying Tony!), this could be the product for you.

---

This was the year that Jaxson and I were going to go to the National in style. I had plans for us to fly out, then because I had no obligations, we would pop in and out of the National and just do what we wanted, the hit the town and make Chicago our playground.

I had the tickets purchased, the hotel reservation, and working on a list of places to visit, eat, and other events to attend in the city.

Then…

Sad Dad moment. Due to a school function my son won’t be able to attend the @nsccshow I will be going solo. I am bummed. ? #SadDadMoment #schoolpriorities

— Ryan Ninete (@r9tee) February 27, 2019

So he has plans for a school group that he can’t miss as an incoming Freshman… BTW, he is going to be a Freshman in high school… kid grew up too fast.

I will be attending solo as I mentioned in the tweet. I do have a lot of friends that will be attending so of course, I am looking forward to seeing everyone and hope to hang out more with everyone since I won’t be doing any work and will solely be there because I want to be.

If you are reading this and are attending the National I hope to see you there.

New Releases for the week of March 4 – 8, 2019

Here is the breakdown of releases this week.

3/16

2019 Panini Donruss Baseball
2018-19 Panini Select Basketball
2018 Panini Encased Football

My take

2019 Panini Donruss Baseball

If you scoped out the sell sheet you will see the push to share that the checklist is deep and it includes… you guessed it, Vladimir Guerrero…

With the 2019 Rookie Class shaping up to be the deepest in recent memory, there will be plenty of sought-after Rated Rookies with a talent level to match their demand.

2019 Panini Donruss Baseball Sell Sheet

I am digging some of the inserts, like the Retro 1985, and Dominators. Will I be digging into it, maybe a box. I will definitely be waiting for the Optic version and man I hope my wallet can take it.

---

2018-19 Panini Select Basketball

I got three of the First Off the Line (Product Review) flavor of this and it was Select, always impressive with the shiny finish, confused by the three tiers, but overall, love the color parallels as much as the next guy.

Collect the top rookies from the 2018 NBA Draft Class!
Look for the following tiers: Base (#’d/199), Purple (#’d/99),
Tie-Dye (#’d/25), Gold (#’d/10), and Black (one-of-one).
Tie-Dye, Gold, and Black all feature prime swatches of jersey!

2018-19 Panini Select Basketball Sell Sheet

If you are a big fan of this rookie class with or without Luka Doncic, get in now and take your shot here and I hope you hit big or at the very least, you enjoy the rip.

---

2018 Panini Encased Football

This set is intriguing to me with the slabbed graded cards.

From a curiosity standpoint, I wonder …

1. How much are we paying for the grading service as the consumer?
2. Is this impacting the turnaround on grading of consumer cards?

Encased returns for 2018 and is loaded with all the best rookies and
legends the NFL has to offer, find 2 autographs (one graded) and
two memorabilia cards per box on average.

2018 Panini Encased Football Sell Sheet

Then after wondering all this I think… I am not the target audience for this one. I do enjoy watching the breaks and watching the grades coming out of this stuff, hoping to see that rare black label 10/10. I hope that they all come with subgrades, but I am sure they won’t.

Even though it isn’t for me, I hope that if you take a shot at it in a break or personal box, you get that big rookie from this years’ rookie crop, Baker Mayfield, Saquon Barkley, and others of course.

Manufacturer: Panini

Product: 2018-19 Revolution Basketball Chinese New Year

CHINESE NEW YEAR PARALLELS: Base, Emerald #/88, Holo Gold #/8.

I got a smokin’ deal on this 8 box case, so I couldn’t say no. I got home with the case and jumped into the review video as soon as I could.

The breakdown of the packs were two base, one Chinese New Year parallel, then two base. I started to notice trends of certain player cards coming together like Donovan Mitchell and James Hardin, you will see the pairings when you watch the video above.

I would caution you to make sure if you get in an 8 box case break of this stuff, and they don’t ship everything, you are highly likely not to get any cards.

We didn’t hit any big autos, not guaranteed in any of the Revolution product, which is all about parallels, but this stuff is really just limited to the Chinese New Year parallels, the Emerald /88, and the Holo Gold /8. Of course if you do hit an auto it is numbered to the players’ jersey number so those are the HUGE chase in this stuff.

Good luck to you if you decide to open it and at the price point I got the case for, I may just have to dig in again.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know your thoughts by commenting below.

MY EBAY LISTINGS

— Ryan

OVERALL RATING (Like, Love, Hate)

LIKE

[rns_reactions]

Manufacturer: Panini

Product: 2018-19 Select Basketball First Off the Line

Tiers: Concourse, Premier Level, and Courtside

FOTL Guarantee: One Neon Orange Pulsar Parallel /13 per box

This basketball season from the hobby side has been riding on Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and I am buying into the hype.

There are quite a few other rookies I was hoping to see in this case, Deandre Ayton, Lonnie Walker, Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Collin Sexton…

If you watch the break, I was using a different machine and it felt a bit awkward, I was also on a google hangout and reading text messages… ha.

The distractions were real, but I got the box ripped and hit that Neon Orange Pulsar Lonnie Walker /13. A sick card but that was about it for the BOOM from the product for me. Off camera, I opened the two other boxes I snagged and they were, okay.

Select is always goofy to me with the three different levels of cards/designs, but I always get drawn in by the shine. I can’t lie, I don’t need another shiny product and of the three, this is number two for me for Panini product. Optic and Select are great opens for me, even though I know Prizm is where the value can be found with the Silvers.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know your thoughts by commenting below.

MY EBAY LISTINGS

— Ryan

OVERALL RATING (Like, Love, Hate)

LIKE

[rns_reactions]