Im not going to get on here and say that the pro bowl game isnt something that we are all super excited about. The season is over for most of the league, and most are looking forward to the biggest game of the year next week. That being said, I have always taken very much interest in All Star teams, as I think it can represent a cherry on top of the proverbial sundae for a player’s season. Huddle has done some fun sets over the last few days, and I want to take some time to talk about them.

Huddle Inception 2 – Active and Legends

This was a surprise for most, and a welcome one at that. The first group of inception cards was one of the most popular sets of the regular season, and it is awesome to get another dose.

Adding in the legend component is just a complete wrecking ball of low count sickness, and I may have spent more money ripping packs of legends than I have in the history of the app. Not only do they have the names that have been in the app all season, but also Emmitt, Barry, Marino, and the rest of the top legends. These cards are going to be crazy valuable, and even harder to build as a set, which means we might have our first 1/1 award card, if that.

The active players come in a guaranteed insert pack, which is quite fun as a set concept. People who have been saving their coins love to be able to rip packs and get a nice looking card every time. Having Russell Wilson as the signature award makes this even more of a big chase, and trading has been furious trying to get the cards done.

If you havent gotten in on this set, its time to get off the couch and start ripping. 40 cards for the Legends is a long grind and expensive at that. However, for me, I want these cards out of reach for most with counts staying quite low to preserve value. If that means no one gets the award, fine with me.

Verdict: Long Touchdown

Pro Bowl Legends

Great looking cards this year for the pro bowl, and I was not expecting them to go this direction for a throwback set. To this point, most of the legends havent been all that affordable, and to see that they went with another cheap pack with guaranteed inserts is a huge win. This is a much easier opportunity to get your favorite legends like Jerry Rice and John Elway, as well as a bunch of active players. I cant remember a legends chase like this that everyone has a great chance at pulling.

The Barry Sanders sig award is easily one of the best award cards released so far this year, and I chased this set just so that I could get a copy. I love sigs, and I love legends, and Barry is one of the best of all time.

My only complaint is the similarities between the main pro bowl set and this set, which makes it hard to trade without studying every card in the offer to make sure that you arent giving up something you dont want to. Would have been cool to have a different look, but there were so many cards out this week that I can understand the time crunch.

Verdict: Touchdown

Main Pro Bowl Set

For the first time ever, there will be a contest for the pro bowl! Not only will there be a set commemorating every part of the team, but the cards will be the only ones to score in the game. This should be very interesting.

I love the design this year, and the fact that the set is huge, makes the chase that much more fun. 124 players are available, and packs are cheap, which means that you can have a blast wheeling and dealing and not drop a ton of money in the process.

The variants are a bit tougher to chase, and are only available through direct purchase or as tough pulls in the 25k super pack. This has led to them being super rare and hard to come by, only increasing the value even more for the team collectors who want to chase them.

Many of the better teams have so many Pro Bowl players that it is creating a frenzy of people trying to pick up the ones that they need. The variants arent easy pulls even in the super pack, as I only pulled a few in a LOT of tries. I was able to trade a lot of them to get the Vikings variants I needed, but like the Inception Legends, this could end up being a 1/1 award if that.

Speaking of the award, it will be the game’s MVP, which is going to be fun.

Im a big fan of big sets in a guaranteed pack, and this is right up that alley. Cant wait to see what the other content looks like, as its clear that Huddle isnt shying away from releasing a ton.

Verdict: Touchdown

Getting Ready

Ill start by saying the concept of this set is interesting. However, I dont think I would have gone the direction they did with the way it was released or built.

When I read the article, I was expecting more of an entrances type set, where the players would be featured coming out of the tunnel, or out of the teams inflatable monster or with pyro behind them. Instead, its a lot of sideline shots with a few entrances mixed in.

This might be a licensing issue, or a league issue, as there are a lot of reasons why an entrances set might not work for Huddle. However, knowing this was the case, making this a direct purchase release isnt the way I would have gone. This should have been packed out, and from the way it sold, I dont think it was all that successful.

If a card is sold via direct purchase, it has to be among the better inserts in the game. Although I like the full bleed type presentation of this set, I think its better served as a normal packed product.

Verdict: Punt

Nicknames

Since Huddle began releasing inserts, I have been pestering the team to release a Nicknames style insert set. Its literally been 2 years of me asking them to do this, and I am very happy with the results. Not only is it a good looking set, but they had some fun with the cards.

Some people complained about player quality in the set (Marc Sanchez for example), but I love that they didnt keep it to just the big names we get every set. Im sure there were quite a few Eagles fans that thought the Sanchize card

The Gronk sig award looks really cool with the sig running up the side, and should be a pretty nice reward for those that chased this set.

My only complaint is that I wish this was more like Rain or Lightning, where the cards were released as singles with a greater set reward for collecting the whole run. That would have been a sweet setup.

Verdict: Field Goal

This is going to be quite the week coming up, and these cards are a nice start to the festivities. Lets see what Huddle has up their sleeve now that the Super Bowl prep is officially underway!