Tales From the Clearance Rack: A Blaster of 2014 Topps Football

A lot of months in between major card releases, for me, consist of scouring retail aisles for anything fresh or interesting even though I'll just be fueling my addiction anyway. I was in Wal-Mart, and in addition to nabbing another semi-successful rack pack of Archives (waitlist for that's in the sidebar, remind me again to talk about my anxieties about trading one of these days), I found...something kind of insane.

In the bargain bucket, a blaster full of Topps flagship Football...from SIX YEARS AGO.

2014 Topps Football, I believe, I must have nabbed like 1 or 2 packs of, as it was my first year of college and I was sort of fading out of football cards anyway. And yet there was a blaster at WalMart, just sitin there.

Since there is relevant football content this weekend, figured I'd bust it, regardless of my lack of attention to football cards. I'll award a point for each card that features someone who is not only still playing but I have heard of.

MANU-PATCH- LESEAN MCCOY OF THE EAGLES. 1 POINT RIGHT AWAY. This box is already off to a nice start, cause I adore Shady McCoy, even if he shat himself out of the league.

Pack 1-
174- PEYTON MANNING. Know him, but is a TV personality now.
7- Jordy Nelson. Definitely know him, but he retired this year.
67- JJ WATT. We're at 2 points. Had a hell of a night last week.
170- Mike Tolbert of the Panthers, GOLD #'D TO 2014. Heard of him, not still playing. I really wish Topps had done full stats on the back for these.
4000 Yard Club of TOM BRADY. 3 points. Ugh.
209- JASON PETERS. The immortal man himself. We're at 4 points, and I'm very impressed.
357- Cody Hoffman. Rookie that didn't make it.
366- Bradley Roby RC. 5 points. His Texans might sneak a bit further if they're lucky, but considering who they're up against, it's not certain.

Pack 2-
315- Ryan Kalil. 6 points, but I had no idea he was with the Jets.
244- Nick Perry
260- Mike Wallace. Heard of him, but he didn't play this year.
149- DeAndre Hopkins. 7 points. Man, this box has a lot of 2019 Texans so far
Greatness Unleashed of Knowshon Moreno of the Dolphins. Moreno's first season in Miami will be his last.
Power Players of Marvin Jones
415- Jalen Saunders. Didn't make it past 2014.
407- Josh Huff

Pack 3-
330- Justin Blackmon
52- Tom Brady. Well, at least we're at 8 points now.
129- Charles Clay
316- Kenbrell Thompkins
60s-minis insert of AJ McCarron. Well, he fulfills both categories, even if he's not good. 9 points.
Fantasy Strategies of...Tom Brady. Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. I appreciate the Shady, but...this is a lot of Brady, man. 10.
46- Domata Peko
389- Michael Sam RC. Okay, regardless of Sam's lack of NFL action, this is still a cool pull.

Pack 4-
148- Julian Edelman. I swear to god. 11.
277- Chris Johnson, who retired a few years ago.
21- NICK FOLES. BDN. THERE WE GO. 12 POINTS. Hell yeah.
228- Vernon Davis. 13 points, but I did have to check if he was still active.
1000 Yard Club of DeMarco Murray. Heehhh. Oh man.
14- ZACH ERTZ. 14. Good news is I'm pulling a lot of Eagles in addition to all the Pats.
375- Blake Bortles RC. 15. Tell Manny Jacinto.
397- Devin Street

Pack 5-
171- Sebastian Janikowski. Sadly retired last year.
45- Cam Newton. 16. Not bad.
104- Darrelle Revis. Another Patriot, even if it is a short-lived one like Revis.
60- Antonio Gates CAMO PARALLEL #'D TO 399. Sadly he retired last year, but this is pretty cool.
Fantasy Focus of NaVorro Bowman, which is a cool enough insert but, he's also inactive. A lot of inserts emphasizing fantasy football. Huh.
55- DARREN SPROLES. 17. I don't care how injury-prone he is, he's an Eagle and a favorite.
395- TIMMY JERNIGAN RC. 18. Man, the Eagles gods are smiling on me after last week.
428- Troy Niklas

Pack 6-
91- Anquan Boldin.
199- Janoris Jenkins. 19. Forgot the Saints nabbed him.
40- Calais Campbell. 20. Not only have I heard of him, but I met this man. Shared an elevator with him during Super Bowl weekend in ATL. Nice guy.
281- Cecil Shorts
Greatness Unleashed of Russell Wilson. Class act. 21.
60s Mini insert of...Johnny Manziel. Ahahahaha. Well, I've HEARD OF HIM..
334- Arthur Lynch RC
404- Scott Crichton RC

Pack 7-
18- Antoine Bethea.
169- Jermaine Gresham
150- Jairus Byrd
120- Marvin Jones. A few of these aren't big enough for me to have heard of them, sadly
215- Brandon LaFell. Another Patriot..
4000 Yard Club of Peyton Manning. Again, not bad
79- BJ Raji. Lovable kind of character.
349- Trent Murphy. If I was a Bills fan I'd probably know this guy

Pack 8-
270- Kiko Alonso, pre-Eagles. 22.
51- ADRIAN PETERSON. OKAY. 23.
175- Carson Palmer. Love him, but Kyler Murray's now QB in Phoenix.
1000 Yard Club of Jamaal Charles. Another great  one who's now inactive
Play60 of Matt Bosher
300- Keenan Allen in a great shot. 24.
396- Shaquelle Evans
362- Marcus Roberson

Pack 9-
41- Tyrann Mathieu. 25, and he's playing tomorrow.
166- Bears TC
29- Sheldon Richardson. 26. Had no idea he was on the Browns
182- Broncos TC
60s Mini- Frank Gore. 27.
Fantasy Strategies of Vernon Davis. 28. Lots of Niners today, as they're about to play Minnesota.
268- Browns TC
382- Xavier Grimble

Pack 10-
246- Ndamukong Suh. 29. Forgot he was with Tampa
282- Brian Cushing. Inactive, but Texans hero
65- Mike Glennon. Well...I know him, and he's active, but...he's Mike Glennon. Point still applies. 30.
195- Robert Mathis
113- Garrett Graham
Greatness Unleashed of Clay Matthews. Painful to see him on the Rams. 31.
337- Davante Adams. That helps. 32.
375- Allen Robinson RC. 33. Not a bad card to end on.

Lots of good stuff here- lots of feel-good Eagles and star cards, a few interesting parallels, and 33 cards of active players I've heard of, which is more than I was thinking. Not a bad way to spend the card offseason.

Box Break: 2019 Panini Prizm Football

This is a little bit more like it.

As much as I appreciated the awesome break of 2019 Panini Phoenix, my mystery football supplier figured that I could use something a bit more casual. So, he brought in Panini Prism, a set that's been going strong for most of the decade, and is just a chromier, more impressive version of a regular base set.

12 packs, 12 cards per, meaning we're getting 144 cards about if this, which isn't a bad bang-for-your-buck, though I'm not exactly sure if I would have said that had this been a purchase and not a mysterious handoff.

Anyway, there's 3 guaranteed autos. I'm not an auto collector, or a hit guy, but...I'm still opening this box, so let's go

Also, I'm only gonna show the highlights here, so every pack might not be exactly 12 cards:

 Pack 1-
Already I like the mix of legends, as we get cards of Terry Bradshaw and Clinton Portis in here. More importantly for me, we get Packers/Eagles content with Williams and Agholor, and a pack-maker with Cam Newton.

Base design is sharp. Not out of the ordinary for Prism.

 Two Bills rookies. Ed Oliver's a rookie lineman who's been getting starts for the surging Bills. Tyree Jackson was an early cut. And the Fireworks insert is of Amari Cooper, whose Dallas success has made my Raider-fan father weep.

However, I WAS THE ONE WEEPING HERE.

This is a camo parallel of a man whose number I've proudly adorned regularly, LeSean 'Shady' McCoy. This card is numbered to TWENTY-FIVE COPIES. THAT IS INSANE. And the fact that it's a player I collect, and adore, helps.

 Pack 2- Aaron Donald is probably the biggest star in this pack, though it's cool seeing Joe Flacco, hometown hero, in a Broncos uniform.

Devin Singletary's a Bills rookie who had a decent Week 9 against Philly. Travis Fulgham has yet to make his 2019 debut.
And our first hit, a sticker auto of Raiders safety Johnathan Abram...ain't bad. Guy was on par for a great start before an injury took him out.

 Pack 3- Base highlights include Joe Mixon and Latavius Murray, and legend cards from STEVE LARGENT...And Michael Vick.

Another parallel success, a blue parallel of Cards hero Patrick Peterson, #'d to 99.

 Pack 4- Tiki, Juju, and Tyler Lockett were the names that stood out to me here.

The Emergent insert, which is cool but basic, is of Saquon Barkley. And that's a Will Fuller turquoise parallel #'d to 175. There are a lot of parallels in this set. Just...just throwing that out there.

 Pack 5- Lot of really nice base gets here- Aaron Jones, Desean Jackson, AJ Green, Jerome Bettis. It's just nice to see Desean back in an Eagles uniform, even if he's hurt right now.

And this Tyler Lockett blue parallel is #'d to 199. Told you there were a lot of parallels.

 Pack 6- Namath and Mahomes side by side. I hope this isn't cursing Pat.

And we've hit our second hit, a Bears WR named Riley Ridley. On one hand, Ridley hasn't seen any playing time this season. On the other hand, this card is well-designed and #'d to 99.

 Pack 7- Another set Gronk and Luck get cards in. I mean, Shaun Anderson's here too, so maybe they count as legends? AP still looks kinda cool as a Redskin. And Andy Dalton has since been benched, which is kinda sad.

ANOTHER NAMATH. I'm not exactly a Jets fan, but I'm perfectly fine with Broadway Joe love, on this Legendary Talents insert.
This Byron Murphy RC is an orange parallel, #'d to 249. Murphy's a rookie cornerback who's been fitting in nicely with the Cards.

 Pack 8- Witten, Trubisky, Sherman, Rodgers...yeah, star-wise, we did pretty well. Mixon's is a bit refractor-y, though non-numbered. And Archie's just another excuse to boost the Manning total to 3.

Brett Rypien (not sure if he's related to Mark), was drafted as a potential backup to Flacco. This hasn't panned out, as Rypien was a training camp cut, I believe. Good news is, this pink parallel is numbered to 49.

 Pack 9- Mannning and Brady in the same pack, yada yada. Carr and Staubach are in here as well, too. Great QB pack.

Of course the Eagles fan has to pull at least one cool Cowboys card. This Ezekiel Elliott red parallel is #'d to 149.

 Pack 10- A Kelce brother, George Kittle, and Pats legend Troy Brown. Not bad.

My fireworks insert is of Broncos defensive hero Von Miller, and that turquoise Larry Fitzgerald is #'d to 175.

 Pack 11- Brees, Ebron, an ill-timed Antonio Brown, and a legends base of Eddie George. His wife was on Survivor, and she dragged him along for the family visit, which was cool.

And here's another parallel, a Juwonnn Winfree blue parallel #'d to 199. Juwann has seen some playing time at WR, but is mostly a bench guy.

 Pack 12-Derek Barnett, Amari Cooper and Warren Sapp are the highlights for me, at least.

And our final hit is a base auto of Chargers backup quarterback Easton Stick. Quite obviously, Easton hasn't gotten any playing time yet this year. Not sure when/if that will happen if Rivers is still elite.

That was a box of Prism. It's...fine. I kinda like Phoenix better, because it throws more punches. Prism is a very basic, boilerplate sort of more-than-flagship set. Hits were fine. Parallels were plentiful. Definitely got a nice base selection. Just...not exactly a set that wows me.

This football detour was pretty nice, even if I don't keep up with collecting as much anymore. As always, if you want anything you've seen in this box or the Phoenix box, let me know. I'm wading back into trading, and I've already complied stuff for the few people who've said they wanted things thus far.

Box Break: 2019 Panini Phoenix Football

That's right. We're doing this.

My anonymous contact doesn't really gauge whether or not I'm a premium collector. Because, I'm really not. Game-used cards and autographs are nice and all, but I love a good base design, and I'm fine with good, low-seeded inserts and numbered cards. I'm not gonna go wild if I pull a relic/auto that isn't up to par.

Phoenix is definitely a more premium set. I don't recall having seen much Phoenix at my local Wal-Mart, though I haven't exactly been looking at the football displays. This is definitely a wilder, sleeker set, and...I mean, I'm not NOT gonna open it. Come on.

12 packs, 5 cards per. Average 3 hits (2 autos, 1 game-used), but this is only an average. Let's see what the deal is:

 Pack 1- This is the base set. Pretty swanky. This is kinda similar to Topps Finest, I think? I don't know how the Panini breakdown compares to Topps'
As you can see, the parallels are easy to get in this product, as I pulled a gold one of the Colts' Darius Leonard, #'d to 75. In terms of age, we're dealing with Alvin Kamara and DeAndre Hopkins, as well as the Bengals' Trayveon Williams, who hasn't gotten a great deal of playing time yet.

The first pack also held my first hit, and, uh...yeah. That's not a subtle hit. TWO swatches of purple jersey, and a (sticker) autograph of Vikings RB Alexander Mattison, a 3rd round pick. This isn't a BAD hit, as he's played in all 9 games for the Vikings this year despite not starting, but he's beginning to get some playing time, and is making some nice appearances even as a rookie backup. So...not a GREAT hit, but could have been worse.

 Pack 2-Matt Ryan and Equanimeous St. Brown are the veteran base, even though St. Brown has been  injured all year. Ryan's card is slightly refractor-y. Damien Harris is the RC, and he has appeared in all of 2 games so far for New England.

Some QB mojo, though. Aaron Rodgers is my QB vision insert, which look very cool, and Philip Rivers is a red Comeback parallel #'d to 299.

 Pack 3- Tom Brady and Travis Kelce are my base stars. Germaine Pratt, a Bengals 3rd-rounder LB who has made appearances in 8 games, is my rookie.

And my specialty cards- Mike Evans is my Catching Fire insert, and man do those look cool. LJ Collier, a Seahawks rookie who's been sporadically appearing in games, is a pink parallel #'d to 199.

 Pack 4- Sam Darnold is my only non-rookie here, as we have base cards of Ben Banogu, defensive end bench guy for Indianapolis, and Kelvin Harmon, a Washington receiver who's been getting more and more starts solely because he's playing for the Redskins.

My Rookie Rising insert is of DJ Metcalf, which in hindsight is a pretty nice pull, and my Adrenaline parallel is of David Johnson on Arizona, #'d to 99.

 Pack 5- A pretty big rookie to get in Nick Bosa, the 49ers' 1st round pick who's been having some big-game moments for them. So that's nice. James Conner and Darius Slay are the other base cards.

As for the first auto, I think I did really well here. Josh Jacobs, according to my Raider fan dad, might be rookie of the year. He's definitely looking at a 1500 yard season, and he's already had three 2-TD games. So he's definitely off to a nice start. Glad I pulled an auto of him.
And Matt Stafford's red parallel is numbered to 299.

 Pack 6- My halfway point yielded a base card of Drew Brees, Von Miller, and undeniably fun rookie Gardner Minshew.

My Seahawks streak in this box continues with a QB Vision of #12's hero, Russell Wilson. And Alexander Mattison returns yet again for a purple base parallel, fittingly enough, numbered to 149.

 Pack 7- JJ Watt and Davante Adams are great base gets, but considering that he has no Bills stats, and was cut after losing the QB gig to Josh Allen, Tyree Jackson isn't a great inclusion in this set.

The Panthers got some love in this pack, with a Catching Fire insert of DJ Moore, and a Gold QB Vision parallel of Cam Newton, numbered to 75.

 Pack 8- Chris Jones, Jameis Winston, and slowly rising rookie running back Darrell Henderson, of the Rams, are my base cards.

Despite Gronk's retirement, Panini kept making cards of him, including this COMEBACK insert, which isn't as misguided as another Comeback we'll get to in a it. And Jamal Adams is my red parallel, #'d to 299.

 Pack 9- DeSean "No, it's not still hurting, I swear" Jackson and Julian Edelman are my star base, while Trayvon Mullen, who's getting more and more starts at CB in Oakland, is my rookie.

 This is my second game used, which I'll gladly take in lieu of another sticker auto. Cardinals WR Hakeem Butler, who's been injured all year, has this SWEET JERSEY SWATCH here. Not THE greatest player selection for a hit, but that swatch is awesome.AND the card's numbered to 35. But that's not the weirdest takeaway from this pack.

This is.

Antonio Brown as a Raider. A team he would never play for. Orange parallel, numbered to 99. This is such an odd mojo card to pull, because it's technically a zero-year card, and it's of a much-maligned NFL figure like Brown. It's just...odd.

 Pack 10- A base card of Cameron Jordan, a rookie base of Raiders backup WR Hunter Renfroe, and a QB Vision of hometown hero Carson Wentz.

That Pat Mahomes QB Vision is a pink, #'d to 199, parallel, while Chandler Jones' is an unnumbered, flame parallel.

 Pack 11- Base cards of Jared Goff and former card-blogger Chris Harris (heh...heh...not really), as well as a rookie of Steelers backup TE Zach Gentry.

My Catching Fire insert is of Mecole Hardman, and Melvin Ingram is my purple parallel, #'d to 149.

 Pack 12- Saquon Barkley and Mark Ingram are my base, along with up-and-coming Ravens DE Jaylon Ferguson.

And my final standouts are an Adrenaline Rush insert of Todd Gurley, and a red parallel, #'d to 299, of star rookie Giants cornerback Deandre Baker.

Not a bad box of this. My hits were decent, the parallels are cool, and there's a lot of cool, fun ideas in this set, even though it's not exactly something I'd get with my own money. I enjoyed breaking it.

Again, if anybody wants any specific cards from these football breaks, as I don't really collect this sport thoroughly, let me know. I'm trying to do more trading, even if it makes me kinda anxious. This is a good start, though.

Tomorrow, or at least soon, you'll seen Part 1 of the second box, Panini Prism. It's...alright.