Group Break Results - 2004 Fleer Classic Clippings & 1996 Topps Gilt Edge football

This week's Affordable Group Break was a blast! We opened a hobby box of 2004 Fleer Classic Clippings, a product I was really looking forward too. While I hadn't opened any of this product before, I had a feeling it would be fun...and I think the box lived up to my expectations.

The all horizontal set feels pretty classy in hand. The front of the card isn't slathered with UV gloss, a nice change for the time period. The photo of the player however does have a sheen. I forgot to scan the back of a base card, but in the spirit of previous Fleer sets like Box Score, the card back features the players stats (as well as their teammates) from a single game.

1st Edition is a parallel set where each card is serially numbered to /150. The silver ink is replaced with gold ink, a small 1st Edition logo is added to the card's front.

Press Clippings mimic the cover of a magazine (or supermarket tabloid as one participant pointed out), complete with faux UPC code in the corner.

Classic Clippings feature an embedded box score. In this case this box score is from Ripken's debut game on 08/10/01, serially numbered to /750. I don't know if the embedded box score paper is authentic or just manufactured for this set. Regardless this is an awesome card and one I wish I was adding to my collection.

One of the hits the box promised was this Jersey Rack Blue serially numbered to /225. Dontrelle Willis, Kerry Wood and Curt Schilling...3 great pitchers that never gain a lot of hobby love (well, maybe you could argue Wood had a good following).

The best card of the box had to be this Ivan Rodriguez Jersey Rack Autograph /149. Pudge was the only Tigers player in the base set so I thought it was pretty cool that this card was pulled. Ben Morris essentially paid $2 for this beautiful card...not too bad!

Next up we broke an unusual box of Topps football...1996 Gilt Edge. If you never heard of it, don't feel too bad as neither have I or many of the participants in the break had much exposure to the set.

Apparently the name Gilt Edge referred to the technology used as the edges of these cards are either "gold" or "platinum". When these cards are all stacked up and looked at from the side, it looks a lot like a book as the edges of the cards sparkle.

This Tim Brown card is one of the one per pack Platinum parallels. It's hard to tell in my scan, but the logo and name are printed in silver foil versions gold on the base cards.

The only insert set was Definitive Edge. These cards feature a silver foil front...which look so-so scanned, but great in hand.

Overall this was another great way to spend my Friday night. I appreciate everyone who participated and I look forward to the next break. Have a great weekend everyone!