[ZSDOne]

Is there any product in 2012 that is not worse than it was in 2011? Okay, so far the list is regular Rookies & Stars. Good design, inserts are okay, and now give two autos per hobby box rather than one And that is it.

What a shame that Panini ruined Longevity this year because the Rookies & Stars design once again looks even better in Silver. What great looking cards - too bad that unlike last year where R&S Longevity at least gave the illusion of value with 4 hits all numbered to 299 or less including veterans and rookies with at least based on my boxes about a 50% chance of an auto numbered to 175 or less. It was hard to resist for $50 especially since just about every box I had had either 2 veterans numbered to 100 or less, an auto, or a jumbo rookie patch numbered to 50. And a Julio Jones memorabila numbered to 249 - seriously, the weirdest thing about this last year was how I pulled multiples of the same card like 2 Adrian Peterson relics numbered to 100. At least the repeats I got were good. And the autos were decent. I even made two big hits - Julio Jones auto to 10 and a 1/1 Jumbo Prime Relic of Ryan Williams. Add in three colored numbered parallels - all to 150 or less and it seemed like good value. Every box at least 7 cards numbered to 299 or less and you had a reasonable chance of getting something quite nice. It was irresistable.

To give an idea of what good value last year's R&S Longevity was, the LCS here got in several boxes and sold them for $5 more than Target and sold out of two orders (probably a full case) in a couple of days. I even bought a couple from my LCS because it was worth paying $5 more to support the local business rather than the multinational. And even at $55 it was still one of the best box breaking deals last year.

Okay, its kind of cool to see silver versions of two of the inserts. But what was Panini thinking with this? Okay, you still get four "hits" and still have a chance at hitting something good - but the veteran hits are gone. And rather than being numbered to 249 or less most of the rookie "hits" are unnumbered and likely there are a ton of them.

You still have a chance of hitting an auto or a prime relic, but the odds seem very much stacked against you. Plus, there are no numbered inserts. What a waste - basically you are likely to get four of the 35 rookie premiere material relics with very small odds of getting something nice.

Apparently Panini realized that they actually made R&S Longevity too good of a value last year. So they decided to ruin it - especially since it is still not really a cheap product costing $1 a card and $5 packs.

Also if this ever gets sold by the pack, the boxes and value will be horrible - in my pack, every one of the hits was a rookie premiere memorabilia and was easy to tell becuse they were much bigger than the others (one was much bigger for reasons you will soon be able to tell).

Anyway the only thing I'm really happy with about this box is that I got the LeShawn McCoy Stastical Standouts Insert. It looks fantastic and as an Eagles fan, I would have paid a couple of bucks for it.

Anyway here are the "hits" (all from the last four boxes in the order I pulled them):

Kendell Wright Dress for Success - an unnumbered white patch. Nice looking card though.

Two Brock Osweiler Freshman Orientation - unnumbered blue patch - both from the same pack - okay, I guess it was nice to get an extra "hit" but of course, it was two of the same card and one was damaged. BTW, why does anyone think that Osweiler has a shot of being anything other than horrible in the pros? Did anyone actually watch Arizona State play last year?

Chris Givens Dress for Success - another unnumbered plain white patch. Again, its quite nice looking.

Robert Griffin, III, Freshman Orientation - unnumbered maroon patch. Maybe this "hit" is okay.

[sconnienation3]

I picked up a box yesterday and while less #d cards is definitely a downer, the cards themselves look really sharp. The base R&S design this year seems much cleaner than in years past, and the foil of the Longevity really adds to it. That being said, I wasn't expecting much as far as the hits--did get an auto #/99 and a patch #/49, so I think that's a win. And for the price? Not bad.

[ZSDOne]

I picked up a box yesterday and while less #d cards is definitely a downer, the cards themselves look really sharp. The base R&S design this year seems much cleaner than in years past, and the foil of the Longevity really adds to it. That being said, I wasn't expecting much as far as the hits--did get an auto #/99 and a patch #/49, so I think that's a win. And for the price? Not bad.

Definitely a win for you there especially if they are good players.

Last year I got one box which had the 1/1 Ryan Williams, a /50 jumbo patch of someone (Greg Little maybe) and a Denarius Moore autograph to 175. So like any product there are going to be great boxes.

Its just such a bummer that they have such a good looking product where you are likely only getting unnumbered rookie premiere material items.

I also have to wonder if the concerns over fake "game used" memorabilia are why were are seeing fewer "game used" cards of veterans in a product like this.

I'm definitely going to get more boxes of it because the cards look awesome, but it seems a good example of how card companies are delivering less value.

[sconnienation3]

Definitely a win for you there especially if they are good players.

Last year I got one box which had the 1/1 Ryan Williams, a /50 jumbo patch of someone (Greg Little maybe) and a Denarius Moore autograph to 175. So like any product there are going to be great boxes.

Its just such a bummer that they have such a good looking product where you are likely only getting unnumbered rookie premiere material items.

I also have to wonder if the concerns over fake "game used" memorabilia are why were are seeing fewer "game used" cards of veterans in a product like this.

I'm definitely going to get more boxes of it because the cards look awesome, but it seems a good example of how card companies are delivering less value.

Yeah, that's definitely a trend industry-wide, I think.

Good players? Zach Brown auto and Jarius Wright patch. Meh.

[ZSDOne]

Yeah, that's definitely a trend industry-wide, I think.

Good players? Zach Brown auto and Jarius Wright patch. Meh.

I'd still be happy with that box

Zach Brown could actually turn out to be good, btw. While like pretty much every Butch Davis era UNC player he was an underachiever in college, he easily is a First Round level talent and has the potential to be very good with proper coaching.

[arod1973]

Im actually a way bigger fan of R&S this year than the last few years...

I was finally glad to see them ditch the Signed Cloth RC patch and go with the Jersey Auto..

Only complaint I have this year is that it seems to be way more Rookies and less Stars than in years past..

[rjcj2017]

Im actually a way bigger fan of R&S this year than the last few years...

I was finally glad to see them ditch the Signed Cloth RC patch and go with the Jersey Auto..

Only complaint I have this year is that it seems to be way more Rookies and less Stars than in years past..

I don't know, LOL, I think I would have much rather had another rookie hit than the Brandon Lloyd jersey I pulled last year from Longevity.

[alstott9adams]

Nice LeShawn McCoy

[mrgonzodad]

I was planning on buying at least 5 boxes of this, maybe more. Bought one the other day and was just as disappointed as you. Cheapskates aren't numbering anything but the autos is the kicker for me.
I for one like the manufactured patches on the cloth.
In the past few years I pulled a Spiller 1/1 auto, a Locker Jumbo patch /5, a Torrey Smith "rc" auto /10 and a Taiwan Jones auto /5. Not buying any more of this. Not buying Finest or Platinum either.

[gadsden86]

I have held boxes of this a few times at target. I figured it was worth the gamble but didnt get it.
So thier are 4 hits per box? Thats not bad figuring you get maybe 1 in a 20 blaster.
I would get one hoping for DOlphins and sell the rest at the card show i am at every month So knowing thier are 4 hits and few inserts might be worth it. I am a sucker for this stuff sorry you dont like it. It was better when most cards were #'ed but as we saw what they did with score they are looking at saving cost on lower end products it seems.