Football season is just underway and I think I have found my favorite set of 2017 already.  Each year, I try all of the football products but only focus on one or two to try and build.  I usually build Panini Classics each year because it’s a really small set and one of the more inexpensive buys on the market.  In previous years, I have taken an interest in Donruss, Origins, and Prest1138ige, to name a few.  This year, I have fallen in love with Certified.  The box breakdown is perfect, the price is very reasonable and the cards are really well designed.

Whats Inside?

I recently broke a box of 2017 Certified and hit some pretty amazing cards that should convince you to give it a try if you like football.  To start with, the box is around $80, which is one of the cheaper full hobby box options you’ll find this year.  And I think it is the best value for your money in that range.  Each box has 10 packs and a guarantee of 4 autographs or memorabilia cards.  I have opened a couple of boxes so far and each box has been one autograph, one auto/mem and two memorabilia cards with one being a rookie and the other being a non-rookie.

Each pack has 5 cards, which makes building the set through packs difficult but there are only 200 cards in the checklist, with the first 100 being veterans.  The next 35 cards are “Immortals” and the final 65 are rookies.  There are also several numbered parallels to the base cards if you are a fan of those.  The red parallels are numbered to 99, orange is numbered to 299, silver to 499 and all of the immortals and rookies are numbered to 999 and below.  Finally, the inserts are very well put together and don’t seem to just be pack fillers like some other sets.

Let’s go through my box break and then I’ll show off some of the hits in the other box and packs I bought.

The base card is on white card stock with a decorative border around the picture.  The photo has a glossy (almost holographic) look.  The team name is at the top and the player name at the bottom.  Everything is centered well and gives the card a very nice look.  The back of the card has a color background that matched the team color.  There is another inset photo that matches the front.  There is also a small text area for highlights positioned above the stat line.  The stat line is only one year and the career, which is really one of the only drawbacks for me.  I enjoy a full stat card back to read.

This is a Red Parallel numbered to 99 of Aaron Rodgers.  The color parallels really pop with the white bottom border!

This is an Orange Parallel numbered to 299 of “Famous” Jameis Winston.

This is a Silver Parallel numbered to 499 of Todd Gurley II.  The silver is a little more subtle but still easy to spot when compared to the base card.

Immortals are exactly what they say they are; players that will live forever in our football minds.  Each card in the Immortals set is numbered 999 or lower.  I pulled a Deion Sanders (#499), a Randy Moss (#999) and a Red Parallel Moss (#99).

The base rookies are numbered to 999 or below.  The cards numbered to 999 have the basic border while those numbered to 299 are silver, 199 are orange and 99 are red.

Certified Accomplishments is one of the insert sets that highlight a major achievement in the player’s career.  This JJ Watt focuses on the 2015 Defensive Player of the Year Award.  There are other cards that highlight MVP awards, Offensive/Defensive POY and even Hall of Fame Inductions.

Certified Champions is the next insert and it commemorates Super Bowl winners.  I’ll never get tired of Steve Young cards!

Certified Shutdown highlights a defensive player that is a prolific tackler, sack artist or cover man.  This Brent Grimes I pulled was a green parallel numbered to 5!

Gold Team is one of my favorite inserts in the set.  These are really good looking cards with a rustic gold look but a color team logo in the bottom corner.  You can find both rookies and veterans in this checklist.

The rookie autograph included is a “Rookie Roll Call” and my pull was Wayne Gallman (#99).  It may take a little time for Gallman to get up to speed in the NFL but the Giants backfield is a mess so we may see him sooner rather than later.


The ‘Fabric of the Game’ includes a patch or swatch of a player jersey that is almost the length of the card.  This particular patch is that of Tyreek Hill and numbered to 99.

 

New Generation is a rookie version of the Fabric of the Game.  This pull was Patrick Mahomes II and was numbered to 299.  Mahomes will wait for his chance behind Alex Smith but I think he will get a chance in the next year to lead the Chiefs.

Freshman Fabrics are the autograph/memorabilia cards that are featured one per box.  I have pulled 3 of these so far in my breaks and 2 of them had MAJOR patches on them.  This Samaje Perine is one I pulled in my first box and has three colors.  This particular card was numbered to 299.

The best autograph I have pulled so far in my Certified binge was this unbelievable Red Parallel Rookie Roll Call of Dalvin Cook numbered to 25!  I am not a huge fan of the signature he is using but still pleased to pull this beauty.

For my final card, this has to be my favorite so far.  If you are an Eagles fan, you should be blown away.  This Mack Hollins has a beautiful patch with a portion of the Eagle on the jersey.  This was numbered to 25 and the autograph was just a plus as the patch was truly amazing.  Again, I am not really impressed with the way the rookie class is signing, or in this case printing, their autographs.

I will be opening these throughout the season as I have been very pleased with the product thus far.  The veteran portion of the checklist will be fairly easy to complete but the immortals and rookies don’t fall at a very high rate in each box.  But based on the patches I have seen so far, I can’t wait to see what else I can find!  What do you think about 2017 Certified Football?  Comment with your thoughts below for a chance to win the Tyreek Hill Patch Card!  Winner will be announced before the next newsletter.

J-Dub

LEAVE A REPLY