School's Out for Summer! Break #2

In my last post, I mentioned that I have begun a personal tradition of breaking some kind of cards on the last day of school.  This year I picked up a blaster of 2018 Heritage, which I already posted, and a blaster of 2018 Score football.  Let's have a gander at my first taste of football cards this year.

Since Topps lost its football license, I've found myself collecting more baseball and less football.  I don't altogether dislike Panini, but I have noticed that I tend to get fewer cards for the same money with Panini products than Topps, so tend to collect where my money goes farthest.  Score is a good option for collecting on the cheap, however.  There is a wide checklist (which we shall see) and decently designed cards (which we shall see), but it has its drawbacks, too (which we shall see).

So, shall we see what my first football card box of 2018 brought me?

A wide-ranging checklist includes defenders who rarely get any love from card companies.  And we have a center and a kicker spotting!  Nowhere but Score can you find any of these players nowadays, except for Khalil Mack.

Of course, the downside to such an inclusive checklist is having cards of players like these.  I know both are skill position starters in the NFL, but let's be honest, a skills position starter for a team like the Colts doesn't necessarily mean a good player.  I like seeing offensive linemen in my box, but players like these don't get me too excited.

In fact, this entire box was missing some star power.  These are seriously the biggest names from the box.  The design is what I expect from Score--white border, a splash of team color, and nothing flashy.

Only two Packer base cards in the box, which is a tad disappointing, but Jamaal Williams is currently my favorite player, so I'm good.

Despite the lack of superstar vets in the box, I did manage to pull most of the top rookies.  No #1 overall Baker Mayfield, but #2 overall Saquon Barkley and the other three top QBs all made appearance.  Guice and Michel were beasts in college and Leighton Vander Esch is phenomenal.  I don't know how much national exposure he got, but I saw a few Boise State games last year and his name is constantly being mentioned by the announcers as he flies around the field.  The rookies are one of the drawbacks to Score, though.  I love that Panini has a license for NCAA, and they use it well.  Full college uniforms look great on cards.  But I don't like the fact that Score releases before the Draft and the pro teams are still unknown and therefore unnoted on the cards.

Lots of colorful inserts is another Score staple.  Another kicker sighting here, and an insert no less!  My wife can't stand cards, but I may just have to give her the Tucker, since she's had a celebrity crush on him since she saw the video of him singing.  Rodgers is the last Packer from the box.

These captains cards are kind of cool, but the gold parallel, modeled here by Julius Peppers, is way better looking than the originals.

Some horizontal inserts.  None of these sets really draw me in.  The Scoreboard card is a good concept, but I don't like the look of it.  This is the second Adam Thielen appearance in this post, as I pulled two of his inserts in the box.  Don't expect to see two Thielens on the blog again.  Finally, the Le'Veon Bell Celebration card is too busy.  My eyes can't figure out what is going on that they're supposed to focus on.

I pulled two each of two parallels--Gold and Scorecard--with Zeke being the obvious winner here.

These are my favorite inserts of the product, however.  College cards done right: players in full, uncensored college unis.  Since the insert is marked as NFL Draft, I don't have a problem with the lack of a pro team mentioned.  The colors are great.  I didn't think much of them until I put them together for this scan, and now I want to chase the set just to have a binder page full of these cards together.

If you were paying attention to the box, you noticed that it promises a hit.  One autograph or memorabilia card per box.  I fully expected a relic card, since that usually how blasters go.

In my third pack, I pulled a Rico Gathers autograph and thought, cool, I just beat the odds to get an auto as my hit.  But the very next pack had a thick card right in the middle.  Jameis Winston jersey card.  Boom!  I beat the odds and got two hits from the box!  Gathers will probably end up on ebay, but I think I keep Winston for my Heisman winner collection.

In all, the box was what I expected.  Lots of white, basic design, lots of cards, including some inserts.  I may not have found a lot of star power, but I pulled some good rookies for my first cards of 2018 and beat the hit odds.  It's a good way to end the school year.