Buzz Break: 1993 Collector's Edge Rookie Update NFL cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 1993 Collector's Edge Rookie Update football cards
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... BlowoutCards.com for Retro Rips boxes

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 6
Cards per box: 144
Base set completion: 
75 of 75 (100 percent) (excludes one late-add SP)
Duplicates: 42
Triplicates: 1

Base card notables – Joe Montana, John Elway, Reggie White, Marcus Allen, Ronnie Lott, Boomer Esiason, Gary Zimmerman (all base cards /100,000)

Rookie Cards (41 unique ... Don't make me sort and count this more!) – Notables include Drew Bledsoe, Mark Brunell, George Teague, Rick Mirer, Curtis Conway, William Roaf, Robert Smith, John Copeland, Eric Curry (all base cards /100,000)

Inserts: 26 (all in gallery below with some base)
Checklists (2) – not numbered as part of set, so technically inserts
Edge F/X (24) – Garrison Hearst, Glyn Milburn, Demetrius Debose, Joe Montana, Thomas Smith, Mark Clayton, Curtis Conway, Drew Bledsoe, Stan Humphries, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Marion Butts, Drew Hill, Michael Irvin, Warren Moon, Andre Reed, Andre Rison, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas, Ricky Watters, Calvin Williams, Steve Young, Howie Long

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What's Buzz-worthy: This is a retro brand that, in theory, you don't see every day as every base card is serial-numbered to 100,000 copies on the back and all cards here are printed on acetate. That should make the box volume out there limited by definition. This box? I found it on the cheap and ripped it awhile back but, well, this stuff hasn't aged that well with the checklist (see all in gallery) despite the simple design and its stock being one of the best combos of the decade (excluding hits-driven stuff). The small set means a full set and more in a box and I only failed to land an SP Carolina Panthers team card. The inserts are made on Gold stock for this series and I came up a couple cards short there while landing two copies of perhaps the biggest name of the time, Joe Montana. The crop of RCs isn't great now but there was a lot of money made off of them back in the day and the tiny base set still has a good crop of Hall of Famers, too. Would I rip this again? Maybe if it was well under $1 a pack (this wasn't far higher than that) but I'd be more likely to rip into some of the other earlier releases for this company that printed on plastic. These generally have aged well but on some cards the serial-numbering ink ran right or is perhaps lightening over time but everything else is cool. The inserts have a tendency to be not as clean on the edges but overall everything here sure seems grading-friendly to me ... I might.

Product Grade: A- (in its time ... now, it's probably a high-C or B-level box at its best)
Box Grade: A (got most of what is possible here)
Fun Grade: B- (tiny set and a lot of dupes ... and checklist hasn't aged well)

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