[jplarson]

I was fortunate enough to fine a "damaged" box of 1999 Finest HTA for a good price.  Hobby boxes have 24 packs per box, 6 cards per pack, 1 SP base card per pack.  Home Team Advantage boxes have 12 packs per box, 13 cards per pack.  There's an extra SP card in HTA pack.  So essentially it's two Hobby packs in one, with an extra base.

As you can see below, one corner is dented pretty good, the shrink wrap is partially torn (though not enough for me to believe it was tampered with), and some lightly crushed edges.




Below are the pack highlights that included parallel or insert cards.



Pack #1 - Terrell Owens Leading Indicators.  These cards are printed with a special ink where heat causes the black to reveal stats under it.  If anyone owned Transformers or Battle Beasts from the 1980s, you know exactly what kind of ink this is.



Pack #8 - after 6 straight packs (picking from the top of the box, going left to right), finally get a solid pack.  Dan Marino Refractor and a Torry Holt Prominent Figures 1695/1848.  Prominent Figures is a 60 card insert set split into 3 major position groups (QBs, RBs, and WRs) that are further split into 2 groups (yards and touchdowns).  At the time of printing the records were 5,048 passing yards, 48 passing touchdowns, 2,105 rushing yards, 24 rushing touchdowns, 1,848 receiving yards, and 22 receiving touchdowns.  Each group is serial numbered to that.  So you can imagine cards like Barry Sanders TDs #/24 and Jerry Rice TDs #/22 are some hot cards to have.



Pack #9 - Main Attractions McNabb/Stewart.  These come either left side refractor, right side refractor, or dual refractor with the last one harder odds to pull.  This set paired a rookie and a veteran who played the same position and may have shared other similarities.  My favorite two from this set are the Deion Sanders/Champ Bailey and Marshall Faulk/Edgerrin James.



Pack #10 - Terry Glen Refractor and a Double Team Kordell Stewart/Jerome Bettis.  This set is similar to the Main Attractions with a single sided or dual refractor.  This set pairs teammates together.  The Steelers one is probably the best by default since it's the only one to feature a HoFer, though the Bengals and Bears both have rookie QBs.



Pack #11 - Prominent Figures Randall Cunningham 2905/5084.






Pack #12 - what do I spy here?????  Is that the deckled (die cut) edging of a GOLD REFRACTOR????????







What's that hiding behind that dual refractor Double Team?  Could it be one of the the last 8 Gold Refractors I need for the set???????????????












Pack 12 aka the crushed corner pack - Double Team Dual Refractor Warrick Dunn/Mike Alstott and a Gold Refractor Terrell Owens 30/100!  Unfortunately not one of the ones I need, but it's a HoFer and a great pull!  As for the damage to the box, all the base cards were totally fine!  From the box with the crushed corner, a single base card had the peel slightly back but no damage to the cardboard.  I couldn't say that the card wasn't already peeling on its own.

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Thanks for looking and keep those collections the finest they can be!

[rjcj2017]

Great find, great deal, congrats JP!

I love that Claiborne ... double PC for Lions and Trojans, LOL

[ZSDOne]

Nice Owens!

[akaus]

Nice to open a box from the good ole days. Congrats on the gold refractor. Sorry it wasn't one you needed.

[CMCFan22]

Seems like it was a good break!

[jaderock]

Thank goodness it wasn't bricked. I've opened so many unfortunate boxes from 1996-98 that were completely bricked inside. Awesome pull on the Owens Gold Refractor #/100!

[jplarson]

Thanks all! Really was a lot of fun. More fun when hobby boxes were $50 and HTA were $100. Now it's like Hobby are closer to $100 and HTA $200+ but this box came in at $140ish.

Thank goodness it wasn't bricked. I've opened so many unfortunate boxes from 1996-98 that were completely bricked inside. Awesome pull on the Owens Gold Refractor #/100!

Oh yeah for sure. I remember a couple years back a box of 1999 Topps Chrome being bricked and "dusty". These Finest cards are fine thanks to the protective peel. They stick a bit but no gloss or paper loss.

[dmc913]

Great find, and nice hits