Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 1995 Collector’s Edge Excalibur Sword Football
1995 Collector’s Edge Excalibur Football was released in two separate boxes, Sword boxes, like this one, and also in Stone boxes that look similar but havethe sword was facing the other direction. The base checklist totals 150 cards. Sword boxes hold the first 75 cards in the checklist, with Stone boxes covering the second half.
The inserts in each are also different. The best insert in Sword boxes is Knights of the NFL. There were many design variations to these as well, with some really sweet looking cards.
One of the main draws of this set were the EdgeQuest redemption cards. Sword boxes have the letters to spell SWORD, with Stone boxes featuring the letters to spell STONE. There was also a “&” EdgeQuest card that was a tough pull, landing just once in every 200 packs. This was a tiered redemption program where you could send in any single EdgeQuest card and receive an Edge NFL promo card. If you spelled SWORD, you could redeem those five cards for a 25-card Rookie Roundtable set. If you spelled STONE (only available in Stone boxes), you could redeem those five cards for a 25-card Challengers Rookie set. Now, if you found all eleven cards, including the “&” card, you could redeem all eleven cards for two uncut sheets of the 22K gold embossed Knights of the NFL set. At the time, Edge claimed that the sheets were valued at $200.
1995 Collector’s Edge Excalibur Sword Football Box Break
Cards per pack: 7
Packs per box: 36
Price paid: $35
Shop for 1995 Collector’s Edge Excalibur Football boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Junior Seau & Antonio Langham Rookie Roundtable (1:9 packs)
Looking back at it now, the Roundtable set really wasn’t star-studded. The best of the bunch, though, was Marshall Faulk.
Pack 2:
Marcus Allen, Dan Marino & Herman Moore
Pack 3:
Qadry Ismail, Warren Moon, Deion Sanders, John Elway & Ben Coates
Pack 4:
Shannon Sharpe, Jerome Bettis & Jets Challenger Draft Day Redemption (1:12 packs)
Each Challenger Draft Day redemption card could be sent in with $2, and you would receive a card of that team’s top draft pick.
Pack 5:
Herschel Walker, Jerry Rice & EdgeQuest R (1:9 packs)
Pack 6:
Chris Warren & Jeff George
Pack 7:
Rodney Hampton, Edgar Bennett & Steve Atwater
Pack 8:
Andre Reed, Jim Kelly, Marshall Faulk & Steve Walsh Die Cut (1:9 packs)
Die Cuts found in Sword boxes have red foil, while Die Cuts from Stone boxes use gold foil.
Pack 9:
Eric Metcalf & Raghib Ismail
Pack 10:
Qadry Ismail, Warren Moon, Ben Coates & John Elway
Pack 11:
Boomer Esiason & Terance Mathis
Pack 12:
Marcus Allen & Dan Marino
Pack 13:
Junior Seau & Colts Challenger Draft Day Redemption
Pack 14:
Herman Moore, Ben Coates, John Elway & EdgeQuest W (1:9 packs)
Pack 15:
Jerome Bettis & Bam Morris
Pack 16:
Herschel Walker, Jerry Rice & Jim Kelly Die Cut (1:9 packs)
Pack 17:
Rodney Hampton, Steve Atwater & Jake Reed
Pack 18:
Qadry Ismail, Warren Moon, Deion Sanders & Sterling Sharpe
Pack 19:
Chris Warren & Bryant Young Rookie Roundtable (1:9 packs)
Pack 20:
Jeff George, Terance Mathis & “Rocket” Ismail
Pack 21:
Andre Reed, Jim Kelly, Marshall Faulk, Eric Metcalf & Jim Kelly Knights of the NFL 22K Prism (1:36 packs)
Pack 22:
Boomer Esiason
Pack 23:
Troy Aikman & EdgeQuest D (1:9 packs)
Pack 24:
Junior Seau
Pack 25:
Marcus Allen, Dan Marino & Herman Moore
Pack 26:
John Elway, Ben Coates, Qadry Ismail, Warren Moon & Cortez Kennedy Die Cut (1:9 packs)
Pack 27:
Deion Sanders, Sterling Sharpe, Jerome Bettis & Dolphins Challenger Draft Day Redemption
Pack 28:
Troy Aikman & Tim Bowens Rookie Roundtable (1:9 packs)
Pack 29:
Deion Sanders & Jerome Bettis
Pack 30:
Herschel Walker & Jerry Rice
Pack 31:
Rodney Hampton & Steve Atwater
Pack 32:
Chris Warren, Jeff George & EdgeQuest D (1:9 packs)
Pack 33:
“Rocket” Ismail & Natrone Means
Pack 34:
Andre Reed, Jim Kelly, Boomer Esiason & Terance Mathis
Pack 35:
Marshall Faulk, Eric Metcalf & Antonio Langham Die Cut (1:9 packs)
Pack 36:
Troy Aikman & Charlie Garner Knights of the NFL 22K (1:36 packs)
Lastly, the Aikman card back. Every base card had a serial number stamped on the back.
The base cards feature a different almost plastic-like card stock. Sword and Stone is an odds theme to use for a football card set, but it is fun. I would imagine back in the day people were ripping this one to find the EdgeQuest redemption letters. The only tough one to pull was the “&” card. The Jim Kelly Knights of the NFL Prism variation is an attractive insert. Even today, people are asking $10 and up for it and I can see why.
Shop for 1995 Collector’s Edge Excalibur Football cards on:
Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
What would the value be on the redemption set today? I got it in 1995 and had the sheets framed.