11 % of Base card set complete (2014 Topps Chrome Blake Bortles RC AU Challenge)

Today's card is 2014 Topps Chrome # 55 Josh Gordon of the Browns. This brings me another card closer to the base card set completion date and another card for the master set.

As I've researched the elusive Bortles card I'm seeing just how short printed it really is. So far I've watched a total of 30 boxes broken on YouTube and have not seen a single one pulled; I'll continue to keep track of this as I have time to watch the videos. I see how over produced the cases really must be because there are very few color autographs that are being pulled, even just the refractors that are numbered to 150. I usually see about 1 sepia card per case so by this math we see that 99 * 220 (the total number of base cards) = 21780 we can probably surmise that there were close to 22,000 cases of this product made, or around 250,000 boxes. Seems crazy but this would explain the difficulty the average collector has in pulling anything good from these packs.

2014 Topps Chrome # 55 Josh Gordon

Group Break January 2015

Base set 11% complete

Card for the day (2014 Topps Chrome #187 RC AU Blake Bortles Challenge)

Today's card is another base card but by the same token another card closer in the master set and another .5% complete in the base set. If you're a Colts fan this one oughta shake you up as it's just one the best WR to put on the horseshoe. This comes from the 3 team break I did in January. I can't get that excited about a base card anymore (I'm sure many of my readers feel the same way) except for the relevance that it holds to completing a set. I do also enjoy pulling any Broncos even if they are base cards, ESPECIALLY Peyton Manning. Base rookies are pretty cool to because those sometimes hold their value. Just look at the 2005 Aaron Rodgers Topps Chrome base RC which often fetches 50.00 or more now. And to think, when the product first came out it was a 3.00 card. I've got 25 more of these cards from my group break, some base and some refractors to show off and add before the first box gets underway.

2014 Topps Chrome Reggie Wayne #14

10.5 % of base set complete

Another base card down, now at 10% of the base set! (Blake Bortles RC Auto Challenge)

Today's card is 2014 Topps Chrome # 2 Cecil Shorts who now sports a new uniform for the Houston Texans. Reports out of camp say he's a legitimate #2 receiver (but we knew that right?) along DeAndre Hopkins. I'd say the Jaguars were crazy to let this talent go but their front office has never exactly been on top of things. This is one of the guys who could have helped Bortles' stat line this season and perhaps made my chase card more valuable. In any case I'm already up to 10% of the base set just from some throwaway base cards from the group break. Many more to follow. I've made up a couple of rules and thoughts for this challenge as well.

1) No group breaks. I feel like getting into some Jaguars group breaks may be much easier but at the same time it wouldn't be as challenging and I am sure I will see many MANY sets completed for my Topps Chrome master set before this feat is complete.

2) If I pull a double (which will happen quite a bit with base cards as time goes along, maybe even some inserts) I will pull another card from the box. If that card is a double as well I'll add a different card to this blog that's been stored away in my "vault" of cards which includes box breaks, sets and team breaks over the years.

3) I know this can go on for quite some time. Could literally be years. It cheers me up to see box breaks posted online that are 15 + years because it means I will probably be able to find boxes many years down the line for this project.

2014 Topps Chrome # 2 Cecil Shorts

From Group Break January 2015

Base set 10% complete

Today's base card from 2014 Topps Chrome

Today's card is a beauty, I love the photography on this particular card. This is the 21st card that I have, the base set totals 220 cards. Last year I purchased the 2013 Topps Chrome set outright and usually this would be the way to do it. I will most certainly end up with many sets over and will sell some to buy more boxes as this challenge goes along. Heck I may have several refractor sets complete; I have no illusions to how hard this challenge is going to be. I certainly don't mind opening box after box of Topps because after this year it will be gone for who knows how long.

2nd card of Challenge (From Group Break Jan. 2015)

2014 Topps Chrome #87 Luke Kuechly 

9.5 % of base set completed

New Challenge Card!

Randomly choosing an autographed card, I landed on one that will get me excited to find it and a method that will get me much closer to the thrill of opening packs. The card in question is 2014 Topps Chrome #187 Blake Bortles Autograph as pictured here.

The method I've chosen is to try to pack pull it. I know this could be quite a difficult endeavor but this will make for a real challenge. Once I've pulled it I will move on to a different autographed football card. I will only post new cards that I don't have to the blog and as I list them I'll post the percentage of the total complete set that the new card brings me to. I purchased a box today from Ebay for around $44.00 so that's a good start. I did a group break earlier this year in which I got the Cowboys, Bills and Patriots as well as about 30 base cards. I've added some of those to my collection already but still have some to add. I think this will be fun and perhaps frustrating at times since this particular card is considered a short print in a bloated autographed checklist.

First card of the challenge (2014 Topps Chrome #1 Frank Gore)

Base set completion (9.09 %)

From group break January 2015

Back to the Challenge!

It's been quite a while since I've chosen a random card to get and actually pulled the trigger. This was first up in lists of all cards about to be sold when I pulled up Ebay. I actually want to expand my search to other sports so I thought it sort of odd that the first card that popped up was a football card from 2014 since I've purchased several boxes and singles of 2014 football.

I will review this card having it in hand and I must say it's the nicest base card I've ever seen and that includes all the high end that's been released so far. Scans truly don't show how cool this card is. The black background, the gold foil and the acetate background is super cool. Additionally there is a printed shadow that looks really awesome and gives the card some depth. The card is extremely thick and was obviously produced in layers. I have to give Panini an A+ for the base card design, I'm not so sure about the other cards in the set though. The large NFL logo and team logo cards don't make much sense to me. If the price point were better I'd probably go and pick up a box but as it stands right now I think singles are the better way to go.

The newest card for my 1998 Topps Chrome Refractor set

Here's the newest addition to my growing set of 1998 Topps Chrome Refractors. Kanell never really had what you'd call a stellar career in the NFL but he did have some moments. As the back of the card notes, he did have a good 1997 season where he led the Giants to a 7-2-1 finish after the team had started off poorly with Dave Brown as their starting QB.

This is the 12 card in the 165 card set that I've purchased. I've been getting the cheapest cards available on Ebay but so far I have not come across any lots of these whatsoever. They've all been one-by-one purchases which is what one should expect for such rare cards and the fact that they are from 1998; not too much demand for 1998 cards with a few exceptions. One nice thing about collecting a set like this is there isn't too much demand. These cards aren't new and they aren't vintage yet so they are kind of in a grey area in terms of demand. Off to find the next!