Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 1996 Leaf Football
Are you ready for some football?
1996 Leaf Football was the brand’s debut football release, at least in the modern era. The base checklist features 190 cards including 26 Rookie Cards. While there are some well-known names in the RC checklist, like Mike Alstott and Simeon Rice, Jonathan Ogden is the lone Hall of Famer.
1996 Leaf Football has quite the insert checklist. While Gold Leaf Rookies are fairly easy to pull, most of the inserts are serial numbered and tougher to find. Grass Roots (/5000), American All-Stars (/5000), 22 Karat Gold Leaf Stars (/2500), Shirt Off My Back (/2500) and Statistical Standouts (/2500) are all attractive sets. Just don’t plan on pulling too many in one box, though.
1996 Leaf Football Box Break
Cards per pack: 10
Packs per box: 18
Price paid: $40
Shop for 1996 Leaf Football boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Drew Bledsoe, Brett Favre & Ken Norton, Jr.
Norton won three Super Bowl titles, matching his three Pro Bowl selections.
Pack 2:
Bruce Smith & Andre Rison
Pack 3:
Bryan Cox, Michael Irvin, Isaac Bruce & Curtis Martin
I always loved seeing Bryan’s giant neck pad behind his helmet.
Pack 4:
Jerry Rice CL, Boomer Esiason, Kordell Stewart & Dan Marino
Pack 5:
Terrell Davis, Steve McNair & Joey Galloway
Give me all the pictures of football in the snow. Maybe someone can put out an entire set with just snow pictures.
Pack 6:
Antonio Freeman & Keyshawn Johnson Gold Leaf Rookies
Pack 7:
Jim Kelly, Rod Woodson & Emmitt Smith Grass Roots /5000
These Grass Roots inserts are awesome! The fronts are textured with almost a fake turf surface.
Pack 8:
Trent Dilfer & Tim Brown Press Proof
Pack 9:
Ben Coates, Mark Brunell, Steve Young & Simeon Rice RC
Love this shot of Rice here.
Pack 10:
Ken Norton, Vinny Testaverde, Deion Sanders & Jonathan Ogden RC
Pack 11:
Troy Aikman, Jerry Rice & Willie McGinest
Close up action shot of the NFL’s all-time leading receiver? Love it.
Pack 12:
John Elway, Junior Seau & Robert Smith
Pack 13:
Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Kerry Collins, Shannon Sharpe & Warren Moon
While we are talking receivers, let’s not forget about Carter. Cris ranks 13th all-time with just under 14,000 receiving yards. No active WR has more yards than Carter.
Pack 14:
Antonio Freeman, Eric Moulds RC, Amani Toomer RC & Carl Pickens
They did Freeman dirty with that photo choice. Having said that, I do like it!
Pack 15:
Marshall Faulk, Darren Woodson, Rodney Hampton, Jerome Bettis & Emmitt Smith CL
Woodson made five straight Pro Bowls from 1994-1998.
Pack 16:
Aeneas Williams, Dan Marino CL, Jim Harbaugh, Daryl Johnston & Tim Biakabutuka Gold Leaf Rookies
Pack 17:
Herschel Walker, Darrick Thomas, Ricky Watters, Kevin Carter, Tim Brown & Marcus Allen
Pack 18:
Mike Alstott RC & Emmitt Smith
Lastly, the Emmitt card back. While I like my stats on the back, I can get behind a second massive player photo.
I may give 1996 Leaf Football another shot. The inserts are great. Yes, they are tough pulls but it is always more fun to pull a nice card yourself than it is to just go and buy it.
Football breaks will be running here through the end of the NFL season.
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Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
