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The box: 2016-17 NBA Hoops basketball cards (blaster box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for hobby)
Packs per box: 10
Cards per pack: 11
Cards in this box: 110
Base set completion: 99 of 300 (33 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Notable players on base cards – Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Andrew Wiggins, Dwight Howard, Jahlil Okafor, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard
Rookie Cards (12) – Kris Dunn, Kay Felder, Brandon Ingram, Timothy Luwawu-Carbarrot, DeAndre’ Bembry, Michael Gbinije, Damian Jones, Malik Beasley, Henry Ellenson, Caris LeVert, Thon Maker, Chinanu Onuaku
Inserts/short-prints: 10 (see gallery below)
Lights, Camera, Action (2) – Gordon Hayward, Dirk Nowitzki
End 2 End (1) – Blake Griffin
Double Trouble (1) – Damian Lillard & C.J. McCollum
Kobe Bryant NBA2K17 (1) – Kobe Bryant
Swat Team (1) – Nerlens Noel
Faces of the Future (1) – D’Angelo Russell
Blue parallel (3) – LeBron James, DeAndre Bembry, A.J. Hammons
Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Rookie Remembrance (1) – Doug McDermott
What’s Buzz-worthy: NBA Hoops is The Big Fundamental of basketball and, while there’s no Tim Duncan to be found in the basic set there’s no doubt that it gets the job done with a simple and clean framed approach to design, some strong action photographs (or portraits for players on their new teams), a smattering of insert cards and, most importantly for the blaster boxes, a hit of some sort to be found. One thing not found in this box was one of the retail-only Red parallels limited to only 49 copies, but the parallels were pretty strong here with LeBron James and a pair of rookies. The memorabilia card found here wasn’t too bad, either, though that design feels a bit too 1990s Signature Rookies for me with its color selection. Overall, this one is a relatively fun rip, though one might think Panini could double up on the inserts and rookies and still have plenty of meat on the bone when it comes to base cards. (That would raise the fun grade here.) If you want to dabble in basketball to see what’s up this year, Hoops is one to consider as it’s the first brand of the new season and there’s plenty to be found inside its packs.
Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: A
Fun Grade: B
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