Murad Box Break #2

Well, I just opened my second box of Murad.  Still in love with the product design, not so in love with Topps right at this moment.  I'll explain later in the article.

First, per my experience with Panini breaks, I bought my second box from a different seller to ensure that I'd have a better mix of cards - it's better than running the risk of buying from the first seller and possibly getting the second box from the same case.  And it seemed to work out pretty well, from a set building standpoint that is.  After busting two boxes, I'm short 62 base cards from completing the 230 card set.  That's not bad considering you get four cards a pack with 24 packs per box.  And between the two boxes, I only ended up with 24 duplicates. 

Now, right off the bat, I was letdown by not finding a cabinet card.  It just wasn't there.  The box was well sealed and I bought it through blowoutcards, so I'm not worried about tampering.  It was a Topps issue.  And since I don't videotape my box breaks of boxes with lots of packs and few hits, I have no proof to send to Topps to get a cabinet card replacement.  Unless I'm mistaken and they fall 1 per 2 boxes.  Either way, I'm not too worried about it.  The first box I did I pulled the Lebron cabinet card, so that's the most expensive one anyway.

Now, I didn't get another printing plate, nor did I get a silk or leather card.  But the break was still enjoyable.  For my game-used, I pulled this Larry Bird:

Now, the material itself has a bit of 'tugging' on it.  But it's not to the point where I'd call it defective.  I think it gives the card a bit of character.  Plus it's a Larry Bird relic, so what am I going to do?  Throw it away?  No, I'll keep it as is.

It's a beautiful looking card.  The card screams CELTIC.  Not that I'm a Celtics fan, but I like cards that correspond with the player.

The irony of this card is that I had a trade worked out with TJ for a Murad Larry Bird relic card just like this one to help build the set.  But, it's still fun to pull it.  And I pulled it before the trade went through the mail - so I didn't end up with two of the same relics.

Now, the auto.  First of all, the auto wasn't a redemption.  So that's a huge plus.  And the auto I pulled was a good one, I got a Rudy Gay.  But pulling the Rudy Gay has made this collection of the autos infinetely more frustrating.  First the card, then I'll explain the headache.

This auto looks good.  And even though it's a sticker, the autos are framed well behind the white holders they come in.  However, this auto is of Rudy Gay, like I said.

Here's the problem:  Rudy Gay isn't on the checklist. 

The back of the Hobby Box lists Rudy Gay as one of the Class C autos, but on the auto checklist online, and on the checklists that fall one per pack, the Rudy Gay auto isn't even mentioned.

So, I called Topps today.  And I told them about the Saer Sene swap from the Robin Lopez redemption (they didn't care - I'm stuck with it) and I asked them about the true auto list.  I got almost no help.  The guy helping me sounded like he could've cared less.  But from what I could gather, the Lopez brothers, Anthony Randolph, Mario Chalmers, Kosta Koufos and Michael Beasley are not in the auto list.  But evidently Rudy Gay is.  He couldn't tell me if there were any 'extra' autos included in the checklist.  So I'll have to collect what I know to be out there and continue to scan for autos that aren't on the checklist.

The closer I get to finishing this set, I'll call Topps again and try my luck with a better customer service agent.  But for the time being, I'm close enough on the base set to buy lots and trade for what I do need.  I still need a ton of minis.  If anyone has minis, let me know.  I've updated my needs list for anyone to see if they have what I need.

Also, I still recommend that if people are looking for a basketball set to try their luck with, this is still the set.  It's a fun time.  Really, the list of autos that did make it into the set is pretty large, and it looks like only five or six got the axe due to liscensing.  So it's not bad.  And after all, I won't cry if a Kosta Koufos auto isn't around to round out the collection.  That's what Saer Sene is for I guess.