With the NBA basketball All-Star game fast approaching, we thought it was a good time to break open:

2008-09 Skybox Basketball

• 10 cards/pack
• 12 packs/box

The one thing I like about these cards is the design. there are some great action shots with the featured player in color and the background in black and white. It's like the colorized version of The Wizard of Oz.

The other cool feature is the Close Ups insert, many featuring old school talent. We nabbed Jordan and Magic Johnson. No matter the context, it's always fun to pull one of those out of the bunch.

Each box boasts three memorabilia cards and one autographed card. Our three memorabilia cards come in three different inserts:

• Rookie Prevue: O.J. Mayo
• One On One: LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas
• Larger Than Life: Ray Allen

The autograph card:
Paraph Signatures: Alando Tucker

Nothing to blow your mind away here, but a decent basketball product all around.

With spring training now just days away and not weeks away (most camps open by Feb. 14), it's a great time to look at some of the young ballplayers in the minor leagues by busting a box of:

2008 Playoff Contenders Baseball (Feb. 4 release)

• 5 cards/pack
• 24 packs/box ($115)

The draw in this box is to get cards of "rookies" in one of their first years in the minors. The autographs are the big draw, as you never know who will be the next David Price or Cole Hamels in the years ahead.

There are also parallels and limited inserts such as Roll Call, Round Numbers and Draft Class. There's also a Legendary Rookies insert made up of five players.

Here is what we pulled:

Rookie Ticket Autos (5, the box average):
Robbie Grossman (Pittsburgh)
Brad Mills (Toronto)
Brad Hand (Florida)
Ike Davis (Mets)
Angel Morales (Minnesota) 

Playoff Tickets (all numbered to 199)
Byron Wiley
Jared Bolden
Brandon Crawford

Roll Call
Isaac Galloway (numbered to 1,500)

Round Numbers
Buster Posey and Gordon Beckham (numbered to 1,500)

Draft Class
Jon Jay and Lance Lynn (numbered to 1,500)

Legendary Rookies
Cal Ripken Jr. (numbered to 1,500)

All in all, not too bad - considering we'll have to see how these players progress.