We've recently had our rookie fix in football cards, so we decided to crack open some rookies from the hardwood:

Press Pass Basketball 2008

• 4 cards/pack
• 30 packs/box ($100)

This book is all rookies in their college uniforms. Press Pass has most of the big-time prospects and they feature them in many different subsets and with autograph and patch cards.

Each box touted five autographed cards and one game-used jersey card. We pulled two jersey cards and the predicted five autos:

- Brook Lopez Game Day Gear patch (numbered to 50)
- Anthony Randolph Game Day Gear patch (numbered to 99)
- Jerryd Bayless auto (numbered to 250)
- Eric Gordon auto (numbered to 127)
 - Sonny Weems auto (numbered to 50)
- JJ Hickson auto (numbered to 199)
- J.R. Giddens auto (numbered to 199)

And now for the ever-exciting video box break: 

Nothing like a few NFL rookies to crack open with the morning coffee. At least, that was the treat when we cracked open"

Upper Deck SP Rookie Threads Football

• 5 cards/pack
• 6 packs/box ($235)

Each box contains two autographed rookie letterman cards and among that set, we pulled Paul Smith (numbered to 50) and Tashard Choice (numbered to 42).

But there was tons more of the good stuff in this box, which we'll highlight below. Among the treasure were autographs and some nice rookie patch cards.

• 1 Multi Marks triple auto: John David Booty, Dennis Dixon and Erik Ainge (numbered to 35)
• 1 SP Authentic auto: Early Doucett III (numbered to 244)
• 1 Signature Draft Choice auto: Rashard Mendenhall (numbered to 50 - just his initials, however)
• 2 Rookie Threads, patch cards: Mario Manningham ("RT", numbered to 250) and Kevin Smith ("SP", numbered to 25)
• 2 Rookie Numbers patch cards: Jake Long ("77", numbered to 75) and Earl Bennett ("85", numbered to 135)
• 1 Trio Threads patch card: Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Rashard Mendenhall (numbered to 45)
• 1 Rookie Super Swatch card: Harry Douglas (numbered to 175)
• 2 Flashback Fabrics patch cards: Eli Manning (numbered to 60) and Brady Quinn (numbered to 20)

Over all, not a bad product to bust open, that's for sure. Plenty of hits. Check out the video to get an up-close look at these cards.
 

There's something regal about opening a product with the word "treasury" in it. It just feels like you have the chance to open something really cool.

Well, we opened Topps Treasury Basketball, and while we didn't find anything really cool, there were a few cards worth noting.

2008 Topps Treasury Basketball

• 5 cards/pack
• 18 pack/box ($75)

The big draw of this product is the Rip Card. To rip or not to rip, that is the question. And when Topps announced that there could be actual money in the Rip Card (up to a $1,000, no less), that gives you something to think about.

Our Rip Card was Rudy Gay, numbered to 99. Not bad, but we couldn't resist. So what was inside - money or a mini card? Well, it was a mini card of Deron Williams, numbered to 278. No autograph, no money. Bad decision on our part.

And here are some other parallel highlights:

• Robin Lopez auto (numbered to 50)
• O.J. Mayo (numbered to 2,008)
• Eric Gordon (numbered to 2,008)
• Samuel Dalembert (numbered to 999)
• Tayshaun Prince (numbered to 999)
• Danny Granger (numbered to 999)
• Carlos Boozer (numbered to 199)

Check below to see a video of the break:

Sometimes it's just fun to rip open a box of baseball product you know will be loaded with patch cards and autographs. And that's exactly what we did with Upper Deck Ballpark Collection.

This box offered three memorabilia cards or one auto and two memorabilia cards in every  five-card pack.

Because we could run down the entire box as a listing below, but we have them all on video anyway, we'll just highlight four of the top cards here.

- Roy Halladay autograph and patch card

- Brandon Boggs rookie card autograph

- Six Swatch memorabilia card
    - Frank Thomas (Sox)
    - Manny Ramirez (Red Sox)
    - Vladimir Guerrero
    - Carloes Lee (Brewers)
    - Mike Schmidt
    - Albert Pujols

- Eight Swatch memorabilia card
    - David Ortiz
    - Casey Kotchman (Angels)
    - Jason Giambi (Yanks)
    - Frank Thomas (Sox)
    - Richie Sexson (Mariners)
    - Aubrey Huff (Rays)
    - Jim Thome (Phillies)
    - Justin Morneau

For the dual and quad patch cards, check out the video:


 

At the end of September, Donruss released Leaf Certified Materials Football - and we were look enough to open a box.

2008 Leaf Certified Materials Football

• 5 cards/pack
• 10 packs/box ($80)

The packaging promoted four autograph or memorabilia cards, and that's exactly what we got. There is some nice photography here and plenty of rookies to keep the fans happy. Here are some of the top cards we pulled, and the video will cover the rest.

• 1 red parallel: DeSean Jackson (numbered to 250
• 1 gold "rookie" parallel: Brad Cottam (numbered to 25)
• 1 Certified Potential rookie: Mario Manningham (numbered to 1,000)
• 1 New Generation Rookie: Martellus Bennett (numbered to 1,500)
• 1 New Generation Rookie Auto: Terrell Thomas (numbered to 999 with a horrible signature)
• 1 Freshman Fabric patch: Steve Slaton (numbered to 599)
• 1 Certified Potential patch: Steve Slaton (numbered to 250)
• 1 Fabric of the Game triple patch: Alan Page (numbered to 50)

And here's the exciting video of the box break:

It's all about rookies when it comes to 2008 Upper Deck Football.

20 cards/pack
16 packs/box ($65)

With rookie cards in every pack, this is a great set to get your hands on the soon-to-be NFL stars. there's also three jersey cards and one autograph card in every box, on average, and that exactly what we found:

Limas Sweed Signature Shots
Sidney Rice UD Game Jersey patch
Matt Forte UD Rookie Jersey patch
Jay Cutler Team Colors patch

We also nabbed some nice Upper Deck Masterpieces cards (Lombardi and Unitas), while admiring the great photography captured on the cards.

Here's the video showcasing what we found:

This one will be short and sweet, as the video does most of the talking. We busted open:

2008-09 Topps Basketball

• 10 cards/pack
• 36 pack/box ($50)

This is a pretty basic set, perfect for set builders, without a lot of flash. Kids can actually afford this one.

Our predicted one autograph and one relic card were:
- Ryan Anderson Rookie Photo Shot Auto
- Greg Oden patch card

We also nabbed four gold parallels, numbers to 2,008 of Hakeem Olajuwon, Kenyon Martin, Robin Lopezand Ben Gordon.

And here's the video:

We're at it again, this time cracking open a box of 2008 Upper Deck Icons Football. The product offers the following:

• 6 cards/pack
• 10 packs. box ($95)

UD touts that there is two jersey cards and one autographs in every box, plus tons of limited-edition cards. We found even more than that:

• 2 NFL Icons Immortal Lettermen patch cards – Jim Brown "N" (numbered to 97) and Fran Tarkenton "I" (numbered to 68).
• 1 Rookie Brilliance Auto – Early Doucett III (numbered to 199)
• 1 Rookie Brilliance patch – Chad Henne (numbered to 199)
• 1 Class of 2008 patch – Andre Caldwell (numbered to 199)

To see what else we pulled, check out the video:

We just finished up a massive box break party in the office, covering hockey, football and basketball, so we'll have plenty of break sprinkled onto Bustin' Wax in the days ahead.

We'll start with Bowman Sterling Football:

• 6 packs/box ($225)
• 5 cards/pack

This was the honey pot of the group, with patch cards, autographs and patch/autos in every pack, including the coveted rookies.  The video break below shows off the goods, but here are some of the highlights:

12 patch cards, ranging in edition from 199 to 569. Rookies included:

• Mario Manningham (399)
• Jamaal Charles (309)
• James Hardy (309)
• Kevin Smith (569)
• Jake Long (569)
• Brian Brohm( 199)

8 rookie autographs:

• Marcus Smith (199)
• Jacob Hester
• Matt Forte (1,050)
• Ryan Torian
• Early Doucet (250)
• Limas Sweed (with patch)
• James Hardy (with patch)
• Fred Davis redemption

And here's a look at the video: