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Saturday, March 3, 2012

2011 Rittenhouse Archives The Complete Brady Bunch Trading Cards Box Break Recap And Review


You have to love it when a company who consistently produces great cards, like Rittenhouse Archives, takes on a beloved subject matter, like the Brady Bunch.  2011 Rittenhouse Archives The Complete Brady Bunch Trading Cards delivers a set of cards that causes episodes of this popular show to replay in your mind.  It is impossible to go through these cards without pausing to get a full view of each episode, front and back.   Add to that great autograph cards and you’ve got a set that would be perfect if it weren’t for one person, Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! But even without the inclusion of Maureen McCormick in the autograph group, this is still a must purchase for fans of all things Brady.

The Complete Brady Bunch falls under our premium cards category.  Each box contains 59 episode cards that feature all 117 episodes, plus 5 autograph cards signed by Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter), Mike Lookinland (Bobby), Eve Plumb (Jan) and Susan Olsen (Cindy). Each box is individually numbered to 500.  As a bonus, if you purchase two sets, you get an autograph card signed by Ann B. Davis (Alice).

Here are some of the cards we pulled from our set.

The Episode Cards
 The first card, front and back, The Lyrics to the Theme Song and "Vote for Brady."  From that point on, all the cards have two episode, one on the front and one on the back.  "The Honeymoon"

 "Father of the Year", "The Slumber Caper", "The Not-So-Ugly Duckling"

 "Where There's Smoke", "Will The Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up", "Our Son, The Man"

 "Dough Re Mi", "Her Sister's Shadow", "Getting Davy Jones"

 "Hawaii Bound", "Pass The Tabu", "The Tiki Caves"

 "Amateur Night", "The Subject Was Noses", "Adios, Johnny Bravo"


 "Mail Order Hero", "Welcome Aboard", "The Hairbrained Scheme"

 The Autographs
 Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter), Mike Lookinland (Bobby)

 Eve Plumb (Jan) and Susan Olsen (Cindy)

Overall Look
Stylistically, these cards have the look of the times.   Everything from font selection to color coding works well.  The autograph cards are excellent, providing a few looks for the actor and plenty of space for autographs, which is used perfectly.   These are some of the best signatures we have seen from any series of cards.

Quality and Variety of the checklist
You’ve got every episode plus the lyrics to the theme song.  Short of delving into the post Brady series appearances, which really should not be a part of this release, this is a complete checklist.  While it would have been nice to see the guest stars such as Davy Jones, Vincent Price or Joe Namath on their respective episode cards, or even the inclusion of characters like Sam the Butcher, one has to guess it would have been a licensing nightmare and their absence does not detract from the appeal of the set.

Do the Hits satisfy?
Yes they do.  These are beautiful autograph cards and it is a shame that Maureen McCormick is a no show.  Having a Florence Henderson 4 set incentive autograph would have been nice too but there is still enough here to provide your Brady needs.

Will you keep coming back for more?
While buying a second set to give to a friend while keeping the Ann B. Davis Autograph for yourself might get a raised eyebrow from Mike Brady along with a lesson about “putting others before ourselves” it would be completely understandable.

Rating
4/12 out of 5

For Brady fans, 2011 Rittenhouse Archives The Complete Brady Bunch Trading Cards is an easy purchase and should be part of your Brady collection.  It is a great walk down memory lane and a fitting tribute to this beloved television show.

Friday, March 2, 2012

2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Football Box Break Recap And Review


Much to the delight of rookie prospectors, 2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Football has arrived.  It is always a solid set of cards to collect and this year is no exception.  Contenders looks a good as it has ever looked and is full of potential big hits.

Playoff Contenders Football fits into our premium cards category.  Each box contains 24 packs with 5 cards each with a promise of 4 autographs.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

Base Set
 Eli Manning, front and back

 Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees

 LeSean McCoy, Adrian Peterson

 Mike Wallace, Roddy White

Rookie Of The Year Contenders
 A.J. Green, Delone Carter, Daniel Thomas

 2011 Draft Class
 Jake Locker & Jamie Harper

 Jonathan Baldwin & Ricky Stanzi, Greg Little & Jordan Cameron

Legendary Contenders
 Tom Rathman, Emmitt Smith, Irving Fryar

 Rookie Roll Call
 Christian Ponder

 Prince Amukamara, Jake Locker

Super Bowl Tickets
 John Stallworth Super Bowl XIII

 Ahmad Bradshaw Super Bowl XLII, Donald Driver Super Bowl XLV

Rookie Playoff Ticket Numbered Parallel
 Dan Bailey #/99

The Autographs
 Alex Cobb RPS Rookie Tickets On-Card Autograph Redemption

 Henry Hynoski Rookie Ticket Auto, Stephan Paea Rookie Ticket Auto

 Johnny White Rookie Ticket Auto, A.J. Green RPS Rookie Ticket On-Card Auto

Overall Look
Going to a horizontal profile works well this year.  It puts less emphasis on the ticket, mo0re on the player. The backs of the cards are as good looking as the fronts.  The Rookie Ink cards look great as do the Rookie of the Year contenders.  Having the seat number match the numbering for the parallel Rookie Playoff Tickets is a nice touch.

Quality and Variety of Players
This is a really good mix of all that matters to collectors.  The legends checklist is not as deep as some other products but that’s fine for Contenders, a product geared towards prospecting.

Do the Hits satisfy?
There are a lot of great pulls that will be coming out of this All Autograph hit product.  Besides the RPS autos and the SP parallels, hitting any of the other insert autos will make you a happy collector.  Hit a Black Golden Ticket 1/1 made of 14K gold and you will be jumping for joy.

Will you keep coming back for more?
This is easily a multiple box purchase.  Going by the case will increase your chances of pulling a big hit.

Rating
4 1/2 out of 5

2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Football delivers again this year with great design and desirable autograph hits.