Reid's Rips: 2018 Panini Contenders Football Mega
With as amazing as the 2018 NFL Draft class is performing this season, I went against my better judgment and opened a 2018 Panini Contenders Mega box that was calling my name from the shelf in my LCS.
With that crazy class of rookies staring me in the face, it was hard to say no to this rip the longer I stood there and stared at it. Back in 2018, we were a proper country as our mega boxes offered a guaranteed auto, a few mems and more than a handful of packs and cards.
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Collectors know how it goes. We all think we are the lucky one that's going to hit the Josh Allen rookie auto. We are finding the Lamar Jackson or the Saquon Barkley RC auto or maybe even a Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold after as great as they both played this year. We talk the box up in our heads, site unseen, packs still wrapped, hoping for the best, and eventually make the decision to get after it.
Well, the stark reality holds true that it generally pays to buy the card instead of gambling on a box. It didn't take long for me to take my first sack, as very early on we pulled our autograph. We hit the Tampa Bay rookie QB by the name of Riley Ferguson. Ferguson tore it up at Memphis in his two years there, throwing for almost 8,000 yards and 70 tuddies but, unfortunately, that's where his career ended as he never saw the field in an official NFL game.
As anyone that rips Contenders knows, once that auto has been uncovered, there really isn't much left to write home about but I will again, go against my better judgement and continue to write about it.
We pulled a Rookie Ticket mem of then Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph. Rudolph was a fan favorite in Pittsburgh when he saw time on the field and even started for the Tennessee Titans this year. So, that wasn't a total loss.
Our second Rookie Ticket memorabilia featured then Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley. Ridley has pieced together a fine career, also now playing with Rudolph and the Titans. Again, we hit a name player, but no real value here.
One of the cooler cards in the box was a Team Quads featuring for New York Giants stars including rookie Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Odell Beckham, Jr., and quarterback Eli Manning. We can say we pulled a rookie year Saquon in this box after all. We got a Quads of Saquads!
Our final hit was a Cracked Ice of the veteran variety in Tampa Bay Buccaneers Gerald McCoy numbered out of 24. Obviously, not ideal in this situation. McCoy is a six-time Pro Bowler and had a fine career in the league but defensive tackle value doesn't translate to the hobby.
We got a few decent Rookie of the Year Candidate subset cards of DJ Moore and then potential star rookie quarterback Josh Rosen.
The Panini marketing team did their job on this one by putting all of those incredible rookies on the box. I couldn't resist opening it and I paid the price afterwards. All in all, it was fun to (briefly) have the opportunity to pull one of those big cards. It didn't happen this time around. Maybe next time.
Tony Reid spent more than a decade covering combat sports at the highest level. He has written hundreds of articles and conducted hundreds of interviews about sports collectibles for such publications as Beckett, Sports Collectors Digest, and Sports Collectors Daily. Reid worked full time at a sports card shop in Central Pennsylvania for a number of years. A lifelong collector, Tony treasures his rookie card collection of star players in baseball, basketball, and football. If you want to discuss the greatness of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey Jr., you can reach him at @tonyreidwrites on all social media platforms