Buzz Break: 1996 Pro Line National Edition 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: 1996 Pro Line National Edition NFL cards
Where to buy: Will take some hunting to find ... click here for newer NFL stuff

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

Packs per box: 28
Cards per pack: 10
Cards in this box: 280
Base set completion: 
[I'm not sorting these today] of 350
Duplicates: Quite a few

Notables on base cards – Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Randall Cunningham, Drew Bledsoe, Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Cris Carter, Andre Rison, Andre Reed, Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Terrell Davis, Jerome Bettis, Marshall Faulk, Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Michael Strahan, Deion Sanders, Junior Seau, Neil Smith, Rod Woodson, Cortez Kennedy, Cornelius Bennett, Daryl Johnston, Ed McCaffrey, Jim Harbaugh, Steve Tasker, Wayne Chrebet, Ki-Jana Carter and plenty of other notables from the past in the gallery.

Notable Rookie Cards – Mike Alstott, Eddie George, Marvin Harrison, Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, Kevin Hardy, Tim Biakabutuka, Lawrence Phillips

Inserts: 30 (highlights from everything in gallery below)
Anaheim National parallel (28) – Michael Irvin, Mike Alstott, Mark Brunell, Ki-Jana Carter, Trent Dilfer, Sam Mills, Jeff Hostetler, John Taylor, Mark McMillian, John Copeland, Gus Frerotte, Lawyer Milloy, Bill Brooks, Mark Bruener, Willie Jackson, Orlando Thomas, Brian Roche, Jevon Langford, Vaughn Dunbar, Lamar Lathon, Donnell Woolford, Steve Wisniewski, Sean Jones, Harvey Williams, Mark Carrier, Dan Saleaumua (all announced /499)
Anaheim National Interactive (1) – Marshall Faulk
Rivalries (1) – Warren Moon & Rashaan Salaam

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Blue Autographs (1) – Tommy Maddox

What's Buzz-worthy: This one was a nice surprise before it became a ripping nightmare -- at least not a fun one despite a bargain price. Why? The surprise was that this was a National box, meaning it was part of a short run made for the National Sports Collectors Convention all those years ago so it had a parallel card in every pack and a chase element (a scratch-off card) with a shot at other cards or memorabilia at the show. I landed this for not much more than $1 a pack -- a good price -- but didn't contemplate the cards being somewhat bricked with gloss that didn't age all that well through the years. Some cards were fine, some are as snowy after pulling the cards apart too away ink. The good news here is that the autographed cards are not glossed and they're one per box ... so the reason to rip here is still going to be fine 99* percent of the time. (*Other things can go wrong at times.) This time? I got ink from future XFL legend Tommy Maddox who was at the end of his first NFL run -- an uneventful one -- but that's OK as his autograph is a bit of a time capsule for the time. He was a hyped college star who didn't deliver -- but at least this kind of box wasn't $500 (then or now). Unlike other years for National boxes, the boxes weren't numbered but the parallels in every pack have an announced run of 499 copies per card with their gaudy stamping that overwhelms the image on every card noting that. (I would have scaled it down some, guys.) This was the sixth year of Pro Line NFL and one of the better ones ... I ripped a ton of it but not as much as years before. These boxes include ink every time but the larger-pack formats and some retail specialty boxes may or may not -- and that's why I'll rip here as long as the price is right. Among the ink? Rookie Mike Alstott, Drew Bledsoe, Tim Brown, Dwight Clark, Kerry Collins, Jumbo Elliott, Marshall Faulk, Ron Jaworski, Keyshawn Johnson, Jim Kiick, Ed McCaffrey, Jim Plunkett, John Randle and Randy White for these more-standard Blue-foil autos. Rarer numbered autos and Gold-foil sigs include Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith (a dual!), Smith as a single and then Steve Young and a few other rookies and stars who aren't as big now. Why rip? For me, it's just a throwback of sorts as the brand got my attention quite a bit until the autograph-in-every-pack releases started to arrive. The bricking here wasn't fun and a lot of the cards were will probably get trashed with their snowstorms but there are a lot of fun names and strong images here ... and these kinds of sets, while a challenge, are also prime for grading if you ask me (when they are clean).

Product Grade: B+ (for regular release)
Box Grade: B (National insert rarity helps)
Fun Grade: B- (yet this has way more in it vs. a regular box)

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