2016 Score Football

I picked up my first blaster pack of 2016 Score Football in mid-May.  I thought it was way too early for football cards but maybe Panini was trying to capitalize on the buzz of the NFL Draft.  In some respects the set is too early as certain players are on the wrong teams, or even retired.  For example, Matt Forte is in a Bears uniform and Marshawn Lynch is included in the base set even though he retired (but I'm not complaining about getting a Lynch card). On the other hand, the set has rookie cards of players in their college uniforms, which is nice to see.

Base cards including the rookies

The base cards have little to no flash about them but I appreciate the fact that Score didn't try and go overboard with the design.  Less is more.  Simple design but it gets the job done.  The same image is on the front and back, which is a little disappointing.  Panini also seems to only include the last year's stats on cards, which I don't know if I like or not, but it can give you a sense of where the player is at in their career.

Seahawks inserts!

I apologize for the quick and dirty photo but these cards did not show up well at all when scanned.  Anyone have any tips for scanning these type of reflective cards?  I love the gold look and the fact that it is a Russell Wilson card.

Draft insert

No-Fly Zone Insert

The other two inserts were also nice looking, including the No-Fly Zone which was a red variation of the main insert.

Seeing as how I liked the base and the inserts, I was willing to buy more packs.  This led me to the $5 pack which contained a way better deal of 52 cards.  In it were more inserts and base cards.  This set has a lot of inserts and variations of the inserts so if you like collecting the same insert over and over again, this one's for you.  I like the green inserts the most so I think I will try to collect all the Seahawks who have green inserts.

After getting a good feel for this football set, I was ready to make the jump to a $20 box.  This one came with 11 packs for a total of 132 cards.  The box also indicated that each box contained one helmet piece, on average.  I pulled a lot of nice base cards and more rookies but I won't be posting them all because that's a lot of cards.  I will post a few more insert highlights.

A disappointing patch

The phrase "1 per box on average" made me a little nervous that I wouldn't get a patch at all but I did indeed pull one.  It is a huge disappointment though.  The patch is nothing unique at all.  No specialization in relation to the player featured on the card.  They could have at least made some color difference based on the player's college.  If all the rookies are going to have the same patch then I'm not interested at all in collecting any more.  This is the biggest disappointment for me in the set.

LOL

Boy, I bet this is a card Score wishes it could have back.  This is also another reason why the Score set came out too early.  Manziel will, mark my words, never play in the NFL again.

I like the themes for the different inserts so no complaint from me there.  Again, I do think there are a few too many color variations but it gives collectors options.

After all these packs I have 33% of the set completed.  I'm really torn whether I want to push forward with completing the rest of the set.  There are a couple things though that will lead me to be happy with what I have.  First, as a mentioned above, the patches are a big let down.  Second, if I went the hobby box route, the memorabilia/autograph cards didn't appeal to me much.  I didn't recall seeing any Seahawks players.  I know the likelihood of getting such cards is slim but without even the chance to get them, it makes me hesitant to go that route.  I only need five more Seahawks base cards and three more Seahawks rookies, which I think I can procure through cheaper means.   Furthermore, a hobby box is $100, which seems steep for this set.

In sum, I like this set and it's inserts.  I don't know if I'm committed to completing the set but if not, I like the cards I have.