Tuesday, March 17, 2009

2007-08 NBA SP Rookie Edition box break

Pierce

I really enjoyed the first box of 2007 MLB SP Rookie Edition that I opened and so I ripped open another box.  I also ordered a box of 2007-08 NBA SP Rookie Edition because it was a similar set that brought back old designs.  For similar sets, they couldn’t be more different.

The baseball set brought back 4 designs and each design had the same 50 rookies with a few exceptions.  Two of the designs were short printed and two were not, but you got a good number of them in a box.  It made for a very fun box to break.  I’d break a third at some point, but I’m down to just short prints that I need for my set and there are too many dud autographs in the set to go chasing those.

The basketball set is ridiculous.  It starts off the same way with a base set of established stars.  This is followed by a subset of the rookies.  After that is a Premier Prospects subset.  Everything is alright up to this point, but from here things get really stupid, really quickly.  There are three set designs that are brought back as short printed sections of the set, but you only get one card from each set per box.  You get most of the first 120 cards in your box, but you only get 3 cards from 121 – 210.  The average collector isn’t going to open more than one box because you just get more of the base cards and just 3 more SP cards to show for it.  The first two short printed subsets consist of rookies while the third is made up of veterans and legends.  Even with the low price that these boxes have dropped to, you’d have to drop a small fortune to put this set together.  It’s no wonder that this stuff continues to sit on shelves.  At the very least, I’ve got some Celtics cards that I didn’t have before including Paul Pierce and Glen Davis to go into my collections.  What did I get for hits?  Not too bad.

MorrisAlmond


Morris Almond Rookie Auto – I’m a basketball fan and I didn’t even know who this guy was.  I looked him up on NBA.com and now I wish I didn’t know who he was.

Hawes


Spencer Hawes – The 10th pick in the draft.

Horford


Al Horford – This is more like it.  The short printed Horford rookie is a good pull.

Dooling


Keyon Dooling – Really?  Seriously?  What is he even doing in this section of the set?  Instead of LeBron, Wade, Jordan or Bird I get this bum?  This is why buying wax for the hits is a fool’s quest.  Card companies continue to put shit hits like this in packs and make them one per box so that you pay five bucks for a common in order to finish your set.

TonyParkerAuto


Tony Parker Auto – This is a great looking card.  The only thing that could have improved it would have been an on-card auto.  Parker’s a star, but not a superstar outside of Spurs fans.

When it comes down to it, you’re paying $36 - $46 for 5 cards.  For that price, you might be better off plopping down your cash for 2007-08 Fleer Ultra SE.  I guess it depends on whether you want your hits to be short printed cards and a couple of autos or jersey cards and one auto.

I do love the look of these cards.  I didn’t collect any of the SP sets that are reprinted here so it’s all new to me.  The collation was good and I didn’t get any doubles.  I just wish that Upper Deck hadn’t made the decision to make the short printed cards in the set so ridiculously short printer.

All things considered, I would give this set a D-.  The only things saving it from getting an F are the Parker auto and Horford SP card.  If the set could be purchased in a factory set, I would give it an A.

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