1996 Select Football Box Break

Nothing adds some excitement to two football games where your team isn't playing than an old school box break.  I snagged a box of 1996 Select football a few months back at a garage sale.  For $10, it was worth the trip down memory lane.  

It was a pretty solid year for collecting - rookies of Eddie George, Marvin Harrison, Keshawn Johnson.  Of course I don't think any of those guys have held up their collector base, but that's just the nature of the beast in collecting these days.

The box didn't have too much pizazz - I think the set only has 3 inserts, only one of which is supposed to fall in each box.

 But that's alright.  That's how collecting used to be, and I can't say I mind.

 The box held two Artist's Proof cards, and while the small set means almost all the players had at least reached starter status, Tim Brown and Kerry Collins were two pulls I was happy with.  Particularly Collins, if only because of how much I loved the Panthers' wild uniforms.

 But the base cards offered quite a bit themselves.  The combo of the larger photo and head shot made for some interesting cards.  90's fashion left some real gems on cardboard.

 And the action photography is top notch.

 Did I mention the posed photos?

 Or the fact that the all-time rushing leader appears to have also been a character in Mortal Kombat?

 Speaking of characters...

The box was a lot of fun to open.  And even without any true "hits" I was still eagerly pulling back each card to see what the next revealed.  And fortunately all the cards came out in excellent condition

 Oh, and the one insert?  This one couldn't have worked out any better.  My favorite player as a kid.  Better yet, it's a new Slash card for my collection.

Overall, the break was certainly worth the $10.  I'm not sure if I completed a full set - I know there were quite a few doubles.  And some of the cards will undoubtedly end up headed out in the mail as TTM requests.

Now let's just hope the games turn out as well as the box did.