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2007-08 SP Authentic

Packs per Box: 24
Cards per Pack: 5
Cards per Box: 120
Base Set Completion: 100% (100 of 100)
Notable RCs: Ryan Callahan
Duplicates: 11

The exact contents of the pack scanned in and used to find insert odds:

Patrick Marleau #85
Nicklas Lidstrom #98
Tuomo Ruutu #59
Anze Kopitar #54
Miroslav Satan #26

First Pack Comments: Not much excitement ... not even a big name base card. Not a good start for the box.
First Pack Rating: 1.0 / 10

Total: 9
Autographed Future Watch (1:24, # to 999) -- 1: Ryan Callahan (217/999)
Future Watch (1:48, # to 999) -- 0
SP Notables (1:12, # to 1999) -- 3: Mats Sundin (1443/1999), Joe Thornton (1455/1999), Ron Hextall (621/1999)
SP Holo F/X (1:12) -- 2: Joe Sakic, Sidney Crosby
SP Holo F/X Die Cuts (1:144) -- 0

Sign of the Times (random) -- 1: Alexander Ovechkin
Sign of the Times Duals (1:288) -- 0
Sign of the Times Triples (# to 25) -- 0
Sign of the Times Quads (# to 10) -- 0
Sign of the Times Fives (# to 6) -- 0
Sign of the Times Sixes (# to 5) -- 0
Sign of the Times Eights (# to 3) -- 0
Rookie Review Patches (# to 100) -- 0
SP Chirography (# to 75) -- 0
Prestigious Pairings (# to 100) -- 1: Joe Thornton / Vincent LeCavalier EXCH
Autographed Future Watch Limited Patch Version (# to 100) -- 0

Autographs combine to fall 1:12

SP Limited Parallels (# to 100) -- 1: Zach Parise (38/100)
Future Watch Limited Parallels (# to 100) -- 0
SP Notables Limited Parallels (# to 100) -- 0

Parallels combine to fall 1:72

Box Rating: 8.5 / 10
Product Rating: 8.0 / 10

This year's version of SP Authentic feels a lot like previous incarnations of the product ... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The base card design is simple (perhaps too simple), the autographs are all hand-signed, the Future Watch cards are well designed but with a watered down checklist ... if you're familiar with SP Authentic then there won't be any surprises here.

One aspect of SP Authentic that should be mentioned is the frequency of inserts. Throughout the years many packs of SP Authentic have been base cards only and this year is no exception. My box featured 15 of the 24 packs containing only base. On a box level, that's not a huge problem because the other 9 packs have some pretty nice hits. However, wading through 15 packs of base -- especially if you hit them all in a row or if one of your autographs is a dud -- can be a bit of a chore. The value certainly is there in the end, it's just not necessarily the most entertaining break on the planet.

My box was a pretty resounding success considering I didn't hit any huge long shots. The Callahan Future Watch Auto is alright: he's not a huge name but at least he's still in the league. The other two autograph cards though obviously make up for it. The Thornton/LeCavalier is an exchange card and a bit of a longshot pull featuring what should be two sweet autos. And any time you land an Ovechkin autograph, that has to be considered a success. There was some nice support from the inserts too. Parise is a great parallel to pull, and Sakic and Crosby's Holo F/X cards look really nice.

Even though it wasn't the most fun I've ever had and even though I didn't hit any super long shot pulls, the inserts I did nab were top of the line and that certainly helped to make this box a good one.

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