2022 Score Football Cards : A Rip Party 32-Years in the Making

 

 

1990.

            I don’t want it to seem long ago.

            But it is.

            Thirty-two years ago, to be exact.

            George Bush was president.

            The Gulf War hadn’t happened.

            Kristen Stewart was busy being born.

            These guys ruled the airwaves.

            I was sixteen.

            Christ…sixteen.

            And in the fall of 1990, when I wasn’t watching Beverly Hills 90210, I was probably going to my local drug store to buy these.

            1990 Topps Football Cards.

            AKA…the last football cards I’d buy in pack form.

            …until now.

            That’s right. I broke down and did it. I ripped packs. It was inevitable. I tried being a good boy, not opening up so many packs this year. I was conservative. I concentrated on Topps baseball base, and singles cards that I really wanted.

            But that itch…that goddamned itch.

            Then suddenly it was fall. The weather turned unusually cool at the beginning of October. Baseball was winding down for me. Congrats on another 100-loss season, Buccos!  I was sitting down for the Sunday games. I was tunning in on Sunday night. Conversations after 8pm on Monday alluded me. I raced home from work on Thursday night, replacing my Dylan and Beatles albums, with the cadence of a plethora of announcers’ voices. The football season was suddenly in full bloom. Like I said, I’d been a good boy with cards. So I said to myself, you know, give it a shot.

            So I bought a box of 2022 Score Football cards.

            My first box of football cards in thirty-two years.

            And it was…a fun rip?

            First of all, I knew what I was getting into with Panini and base football card. I’ve been around for a few years now. I’ve bought some singles. I’ve never been incredibly wowed by Panini products. Despite my extolling the virtues of Topps unlicensed football product up to the early 1980s, I’m not at all a fan of Panini’s unlicensed baseball cards. They look generic. I find most of Panini’s brand design to be kind of bland and generic.

            In case you haven’t seen it, here’s Panini’s 2022 Score design, featuring some of the usual suspects.

            And here’s the back of the card.

            It’s…not bad.

            It’s Panini.

            It covers all of the basis.

            For my return to football cards, I’m going to go ahead and say its all right. The best set of Score cards they’ve produced in years.

            Buuuuuuttt….

            I’m not a fan of the one and done with stats. I’m a sprawl guy. I like to see the whole career laid out on the back of the card. I’m glad Aaron Rodger’s is a “magician” on the field and that he’s akin to Gandalf the White (interesting choice, considering he’s more of the wizarding type). But if that’s the kind of description I’m getting, I’d rather Panini just say nothing and show me Rodgers’ stats. Looking at his whole career number, I can determine on my own whether or not Rodgers is a “magician” or worthy enough to be mentioned in the same sentence as Gandalf the White.

            Hint…he isn’t.

            Another thing Panini does with their football cards, that I’m iffy on, is giving space to past players.

            Case in point.

            In my box, I counted over 30 base cards given over to retired players. Yeah, getting a Joe Montana card is cool. It was much cooler getting one when he actually played the game, or buying a Joe Montana card from his actual playing years. Here, it seems like Panini is making up for the fact that they didn’t get to produce cards for those players. And the cards are taking up the space that could be used to produce cards for player actually playing the game. Like right now. Like in 2022. There are 53 players on an NFL roster. Panini makes room for 10 and some guy who’s no longer playing.

            In truth, Topps did the same thing.

            Guess you can’t give room to more than 10-12 team cards, if there’s only 400 in the set.

            I always wished that football card checklists expanded to 600 or 700 cards, like baseball. Yeah, maybe not everyone wants a card of the starting Right Guard. But some collectors do. Some fans do too.

            Of course, the one thing Panini is stack with is rookie cards. Everyone loves the rookie card. There are 100 rookie cards to be exact, in 2022 Score. That’s a lot of space given over to unproven pro talent…but such is the world of collecting. So, I’m not going to gripe. One thing that is cool about the rookie cards in 2022 Score, is the fact that Panini got as many player’s as they could in their team uniforms. That means one can open up a pack of 2022 Score and, like Donruss, get a Kenny Pickett card in his Steelers uniform. Unless you’re me…I didn’t get a Kenny Pickett card. Hello secondary market for me.

            But I got these guys.

            And I did get a Kenny Pickett as an insert.

            Here are some of the other inserts/parallels that are in this year’s 2022 Score.

            That seems to be Panini’s bag. A lot of inserts. And at 10 packs of 40 cards, they’re all at the end, you know, for those collectors bored by base cards. They can just flip right on through, never thinking about the money they spent, and only wanting to get to the bells and whistles.

            Speaking of bells and whistles…you get 4 autograph cards in 2022 Panini Score.

            Here are mine.

            All are available to trade for a Kenny Pickett base rookie card.

            And by all, I mean all. I’ll send you all four for the Kenny card.

            I know this blog post seems a little snarky or negative, but I did truly enjoy opening up a box of 2022 Score cards. I had a lot of fun sifting through the cards, looking at the photos, and yes, reading about what a magician Aaron Rodgers is…even if he IS no Gandalf the White. I’m glad that I didn’t held off buying baseball product I’m not that into, so that I could have this ripping experience. I may do it again if/when Donruss is released. I’ve even excepted the fact that I won’t get a Kenny Pickett card in that product either…I know my luck.

            I suppose the final issue I have now is what to do with the cards. I did promise myself that I wasn’t going to just have a lot of base cards sitting around. I don’t know if I necessarily want to make a Panini Score complete set. I might star some individual player PCs. Or I’m thinking of getting some team sets together. Unlike with baseball, where I’m a one team man; other than the Steelers, I tend to pull for a few more footballs teams. The Giants. The Dolphins (a Pittsburgh kid and Dan Marino fan), The 49ers (child of the 1980s), and The Bills (grew to like them when I lived in Buffalo, unapologetic Josh Allen fan).

…except when he routes the Steelers.

            38-3….COME ON!

 

Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!

NEXT FRIDAY: Going into the football card well one more time.