Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 1999 Topps Football
1999 Topps Football features a base checklist of 357 cards. Yes, typically sets are more round numbers, but not this one. Twenty-nine Rookie Cards are on the checklist with some decent names like Champ Bailey, Daunte Culpepper, Kevin Faulk, Torry Holt, Edgerrin James, Jevon Kearse, Donovan McNabb, and Ricky Williams. RCs fall once in every 5 packs.
There are also plenty of fun inserts. All Matrix and Season’s Best, both of which look great, should appear in every box. Same with Mystery Chrome inserts, while the Refractor versions are tougher to find, landing once in every four boxes.
How about some autographs? They do exist, but they are tough. Then-current player autographs fall about once every 15 boxes, with a checklist including Randy Moss, Marshall Faulk and Dan Marino. The entire 1999 Football Hall of Fame class also has autographs, but those are even tougher.
1999 Topps Football Box Break
Cards per pack: 11
Packs per box: 36
Price paid: $45
Shop for 1999 Topps Football boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Antowain Smith, Terry Glenn & Steve Young Picture Perfect (1:14 packs)
Pack 2:
Jim Harbaugh, Jake Plummer, Jake Reed & Randy Moss
Pack 3:
Jake Plummer, Tony Gonzalez, Kevin Carter, Troy Aikman, Terrell Owens & Kerry Collins
Pack 4:
Andre Rison, Peyton Manning, Ricky Watters & Jerry Rice
Pack 5:
Marshall Faulk, Shannon Sharpe, Michael Strahan, Curtis Martin & Jeff George
Pack 6:
Brett Favre & Dan Marino Picture Perfect (1:14 packs)
Pack 7:
Tim Brown, Carl Pickens & Bryan Cox
Pack 8:
Duce Staley, Dorsey Levens, Michael Irvin & Jonathan Ogden
Pack 9:
Kevin Greene, Doug Flutie, Steve McNair, Dan Marino & Jamal Anderson
Pack 10:
Warren Moon, Leon Lett, Keyshawn Johnson & John Randle
Pack 11:
Desmond Howard, Corey Dillon & Steve Young Picture Perfect (1:14 packs)
Pack 12:
Ben Coates, Garrison Hearst & Terrell Davis
Pack 13:
Antonio Freeman, Ray Lewis, Zach Thomas & Charles Woodson
Pack 14:
Ed McCaffrey, Jason Taylor, Terry Glenn, Antowain Smith & Eddie George All Matrix (1:14 packs)
Pack 15:
Darren Woodson, Ken Norton, Jr. & Rich Gannon
Pack 16:
Garrison Hearst, Lawyer Milloy, Joey Galloway, Deion Sanders & Emmitt Smith
Pack 17:
Emmitt Smith & Derrick Thomas
Pack 18:
Keenan McCardell & Trent Dilfer
Pack 19:
Ty Law, Tiki Barber, Warren Sapp, Antowain Smith, Terry Glenn & Tim Couch All Matrix (1:14 packs)
Pack 20:
Junior Seau & Jevon Kearse RC
Pack 21:
Garrison Hearst, Joey Galloway, Frank Wycheck, Deion Sanders & Emmitt Smith
Pack 22:
Emmitt Smith & Derrick Thomas
Pack 23:
Keenan McCardell & Trent Dilfer
Pack 24:
Kordell Stewart, Warrick Dunn, Marvin Harrison & Eric Dickerson Hall of Fame Autograph (1:1,832 packs)
Yes, you read that right. Only one of these Hall of Fame Autographed cards in every 51 boxes!
Pack 25:
Jamal Anderson, Doug Flutie, Barry Sanders, Bruce Smith & a Mystery Chrome insert (1:36)
The Mystery Chrome cards feature a black plastic covering on the card fronts. The backs are visible, though, and show four players. One of those four will be on the front.
After peeling, this one happens to be Vinny Testaverde
Pack 26:
Vinny Testaverde & Michael Strahan Season’s Best (1:18 packs)
Pack 27:
Willie McGinest, Mike Alstott, Troy Aikman, Eric Moulds, John Elway & Peyton Manning Record Numbers (1:18 packs)
Pack 28:
Robert Smith
Pack 29:
Derrick Brooks, Priest Holmes, Steve Young & Cris Carter
Pack 30:
Jimmy Smith, Isaac Bruce & Simeon Rice
Pack 31:
Randall Cunningham, Darrell Green, Rod Smith, Andre Reed, Drew Bledsoe, Jerome Bettis & Jason Elam
Pack 32:
Terrell Davis, Thurman Thomas & Rodney Harrison
Pack 33:
Randy Moss, Gary Anderson & Darrien Gordon Season’s Best (1:18 packs)
Pack 34:
John Lynch, Rod Woodson & Terrell Davis Record Numbers (1:18 packs)
Pack 35:
Fred Taylor, Robert Brooks, John Elway, Randall Cunningham & Troy Edwards All Matrix (1:14 packs)
Pack 36:
Mark Brunell & Kevin Faulk RC
What more could you ask for? A super tough pull that’s an on-card autograph of a Hall of Fame running back. It really doesn’t get much better than that when you’re opening a 25-year-old box of cards!
We are in the home stretch of the football season already. Football breaks will continue through the end of the NFL season. After that, I will switch back over to baseball and look forward to spring.
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Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
I remember this was one of the few years that Topps experimented with short printing the RCs, so I passed on the flagship set.
However, one night at the gas station I bought an entire box of 1999 Topps Kickoff that had one RC per pack … for under $30 I pulled all the key RCs from the 1999 class – McNabb, Rickey Williams, etc.