Hobby Box Break and Review: 2010-2011 Totally Certified Basketball

This was an interesting product to open for sure. A hobby box of 2010-2011 Panini Totally Certified Basketball has 6 packs, 5 cards per pack. Each pack guarantees a hit, you are supposed to get at least 2 auto's numbered to 599 or less.

While the backgrounds of the cards are very plain, the cool thing about them is that they are textured. Each "common" card is serial numbered to 1849, kind of like the old Topps Moments & Milestones cards. Common cards are /1849, Totally Red parallels are /499, and Totally Blue parallels are /299. For some reason these cards remind me of Donruss Zenith cards, which I loved back in the day but I am not sure that I love these as much.

Here is a close up of the base cards, there were 16 total in the hobby box.


Perhaps you will find these pretty cool, or perhaps you will be turned off by the plain Jane type of design. However the texture can be a very redeeming quality here.

Here are the base cards:




Totally Red parallels /499:



Totally Blue parallels /299:



Here are the hits from the box:

Fabric of the Game /299
Fabric of the Game /299
Totally Red GU cards are /249

Game used on card auto /599
Totally Red auto /25


These boxes are in the $90-$100 price range and appear to deliver some bang for the buck. 6 memorabilia/autographs is a great selling point for hit chasers and thrill seekers, but for set builders this is one to steer clear of unless you buy lots on the secondary market. Considering people were spending $150 on a Jumbo box of Topps baseball, and only getting 1 hit and one manufactured POS- this box is a steal.

Another upside to this box was that there were no redemptions! Downside- the auto /25 is on a sticker and the one /599 is on card.... That's just bizarre.

What do you guys think of this set? Would you like a baseball set with a similar design perhaps minus the serial numbered base cards or even with? This design could spice of the Donruss Elite Extra Edition baseball set.