Box Breakdown: 2005-06 Topps Bazooka
Topps Bazooka is one of the most interesting products on ¿0athe market. Geared towards the younger collector it’s full of parallels and ¿0ainserts that appeal to that set, but at the same time still gives all the appeal ¿0aof a complete set. The target market is something that must be kept in mind when ¿0aevaluating this set – it simply isn’t fair to evaluate it the same way one would ¿0asomething like Pristine or Bowman Prospects.
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When Topps created Bazooka they wanted something that ¿0awould appeal to kids. All indications are that Bazooka has been exactly what ¿0athey hoped. "We have received a lot of positive feedback regarding all the cool ¿0astuff in Bazooka," says Topps spokesman Clay Luraschi. "The kids love the ¿0aproduct because it’s very interactive. It has an affordable SRP and it’s a lot ¿0aof fun."***image6:right***
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All that fun includes temporary tattoos, stickers, window ¿0aclings, and magnets in addition to the regular rookies and stars – a veritable ¿0acornucopia to open.
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The Cards and The Odds
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Bazooka comes 24 packs to a box and eight cards to a ¿0apack. The box cover features spokesmen Dwyane Wade and Jay-Z and proclaims 3 ¿0arelic cards in every box, plus exclusive autographs of the Jigga Man. The base ¿0aset features 165 cards and 55 rookies, including the requisite celebrities.
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Each pack eight cards. One of them is a parallel called ¿0aBazooka Chunks – they are roughly twice as thick as a normal card and also serve ¿0ato dissuade the pack searchers who are looking for one of the three relic cards ¿0ain the box. Another card is a Bazooka Mini parallel. Both the Chunks and the ¿0aMinis have a 1-1 relationship with every card – including rookies – in the base ¿0aset. There is a third parallel, called Fortune, that is very rare and comes ¿0a1:182 packs.***image4:right***
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At odds of 1:4 packs come the tattoos, 4 on 1 stickers, ¿0acomics magnets, and Window Clings. The tattoos feature sketched out bodies with ¿0ano faces (reminiscent of old And 1 T-shirts) and the backs feature all the ¿0ainstructions one would need. There are 55 different 4 on 1 stickers and they ¿0afeature a group of four players that are roughly the same level – Topps did a ¿0agood job with the groupings (see below). The magnets feature three-panel ¿0acartoons of top stars and top rookies – did you know "Nowitzki" is German for ¿0a"unstoppable"? The Window Clings feature the logos of all 30 NBA teams.
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I would be remiss if I forgot to mention one of the best ¿0aparts of Bazooka, seeded at one in every pack: The gum! This isn’t the hard ¿0astuff from the early eighties either – it’s much softer and not bad at all.
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There are four different relics in this set: All-Star ¿0a(1:46) featuring – yep – All-Stars; All-Access (1:24) featuring rookies; Blog ¿0aSquad (1:37) featuring mostly young stars, and Power (1:29) featuring more young ¿0astars.***image1:right***
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One autograph set called Bazooka Signs is available at ¿0a1:236 packs. The checklist features the five celebrities (Jay-Z, Shannon ¿0aElizabeth, Jenny McCarthy, Christie Brinkley, and Carmen Electra) plus rookies ¿0alike Andrew Bogut and Deron Williams and stars like Emeka Okafor and Stephon ¿0aMarbury.
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The Breakdown
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I enjoyed opening this box – take a look:
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* 97/165 base cards -
¿0a* 29/55 rookie cards – Channing Frye, Andrew Bogut, Chris Paul, Marvin Williams
¿0a* 15/165 Bazooka Chunks - Grant Hill, Ray Allen, Jermaine O’Neal
¿0a* 6/55 Bazooka Chunks rookies – Raymond Felton, CJ Miles, Julius Hodge, Gerald ¿0aGreen, Ricky Sanchez, Sean May
¿0a* 18/165 Bazooka Minis - Elton Brand, Dwight Howard, Shaquille O’Neal
¿0a* 6/55 Bazooka Minis rookies – Brandon Bass, Nate Robinson, Sarunas ¿0aJasikevicius, Shannon Elizabeth, Jay-Z, Lawrence Roberts
¿0a* (1) Bazooka Power relic – Shaquille O’Neal
¿0a* 6/24 Bazooka Magnets – Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson, Marvin Williams, Sean ¿0aMay, Josh Smith, Chris Bosh
¿0a* 6/30 Bazooka Window Clings – Hornets, Bucks, Lakers, Clippers, Grizzlies, ¿0aPacers
¿0a* (2) Bazooka All-Access Relics – Chris Paul, Wayne Simien
¿0a* 6/29 Bazooka Tattoos
¿0a* 6/55 4 on 1 Stickers:
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Eddy Curry/Marc Jackson/Chris Mihm/David Harrison
¿0aShannon Elizabeth/Christie Brinkley/Jenny McCarthy/Carmen Electra
¿0aDarius Miles/Cuttino Mobley/Michael Finley/Caron Butler
¿0aLuke Ridnour/Sam Cassell/Mike James/Chris Duhon
¿0aChris Bosh/Rashard Lewis/Rasheed Wallace/Antawn Jamison
¿0aTony Delk/Louis Williams/CJ Miles/Monta Ellis***image2:right***
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Favorite Card: I’m going to have to go with the ¿0aChris Paul All-Access relic. With a nice piece of turquoise shooting shirt it’s ¿0anot a bad card to have of the rookie who is already dominating the league. Paul ¿0afell to the fourth pick in the draft behind Deron Williams despite being the ¿0acollege player of the year and the fact the Atlanta Hawks desperately needed a ¿0apoint guard. They still do – they might like to have that one back…maybe.
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Rookie Breakdown: Because of the lack of numbering ¿0aor general short prints of any of the base cards there are ton of them, just ¿0alike in the classic Topps set. The pictures of most of the rookies are pretty ¿0ainteresting, especially the ones of players who were at the Rookie Photo Shoot ¿0ajust after the draft. Channing Frye is holding two basketballs in front of the ¿0acamera; Chris Paul is curling them like a dumbbell; Rashad McCants has a ¿0asupermodel grin on his face; the diminutive Salim Stoudamire is taking off for ¿0awhat looks like a free throw line dunk; and many of the second round picks have ¿0agood action shots from the summer leagues.***image5:right***
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The Conclusion
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Grades are given on a five-point rating scale – five¿0abeing the best.
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Basic Card Design – 3.5
¿0aRookie Card Design – 3.5
¿0aInsert Card Design – 4.5
¿0aBig Card Chances – 3.5
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Overall – 3.75 stars
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Topps had a plan with Bazooka – appeal to a younger ¿0amarket. Since each pack of cards promises so much variety and pieces not ¿0anormally seen in a box of cards - like magnets and tattoos – the company ¿0areally hit the nail on the head with Bazooka. With an affordable price of ¿0asomewhere between $30 and $40 across the net they made it easy for parents to ¿0apick up a nice product their kids would enjoy.
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And hey, I’ll be honest, I enjoyed it too…
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