2009 National Chicle Box Break

The other day I posted about 2 boxes that I just received, a 2009 Topps National Chicle Football and a 2009/10 Panini Rookies & Stars Basketball box. I am posting the National Chicle first since it was the first box I busted, plus the R&S box turned out to be a better break.


What I Pulled:

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 8 (Relics contain 7)
Cards pulled: 188

Base set completion: 70%

140 base cards
24 minis (18 regular, 4 National Chicle, 2 Bazooka)
6 Youngster, 4 Stars, 1 Greats, 1 Greatest Thrills, 8 Era Icons
1 Jersey- Mohamed Massaquoi
2 Autos- Jamaal Charles, Ramses Barden
1 Stamp Relic- Amelia Earhart
1 Cabinet Card- Beanie Wells


When you are looking at a set that contains all artwork paintings that were created by 10 separate artists, you are in for a set that is very original because no two artists will produce similar works. I have seen many reviews that put this set down and from now that I have busted a complete box I tend to agree mostly.

The artwork is interesting and range from honest depictions to artists interpretations of the players. I actually like Mike Kupka’s work but I felt that Dave Hobrecht went over green with his paintings.

I pulled 188 cards from the box with no duplicates so I was satisfied with the quality control. I was also surprised to pull a stamp relic after having already pulled a jersey card because each box is marked as containing 2 Autos and 1 Relic per box.

Some of my favorites include Matt Hasselbeck, Aikman, Warner, Sanders and Fitzgerald. I also pulled some of the year’s top rookies like Matt Stafford, Percy Harvin and Hakeem Nicks.

There are some cards where the images are hilarious or are just completely out of wack like Asante Samuel’s green tone, Ron Brown’s robotic looking head and Wes Welker’s “Just seen a ghost” look.

The Mohamed Massaquoi jersey is just all right, nothing special considering I am not a Brown’s fan, the same thing could be said about the Charles and Barden autographs. To me the saving grace of the entire box was sitting in the final pack, the Amelia Earhart stamp relic. How cool is it to pull a stamp from 1935? I would have preferred the Babe Ruth stamp but I cannot argue with this pull.

The Good;

- Ten different artists offering interesting depictions of players, both past and present including the top players and the most recent rookies.
- Not overloaded with parallels and inserts
- Inserts are varied from the basic set
- Decent selection of player autographs
- Era Icons relics

The Cons;

- Maybe to many artists were used
- Sticker autographs
- Jersey relics are bland

Final Thought;
With some work this set could have turned in to an industry standard for Topps had they not lost their NFL license. Unfortunately Topps has attempted to force this brand in to a baseball line and failed miserably.