Alright, so you wanna know about my little adventure with the 2023 NFL National Treasures checklist, huh? Lemme tell ya, it’s always a bit of a rodeo with these high-end sets. It’s not like they just hand you a perfect, easy-to-read list on a silver platter, not usually anyway.
So, the first thing I always do when a new set like National Treasures is on the horizon, or just dropped, is I start sniffing around. You know the drill. I hit up the usual spots – the big card forums, maybe a couple of the bigger dealer websites, and of course, I’ll try the manufacturer’s main site. Sometimes you get lucky and they’ll have a preliminary list, or at least some sell sheet info that gives you a good chunk of it.
But with National Treasures, it’s a different beast. This stuff is complex. We’re talking Rookie Patch Autographs, Colossal Signatures, Treasure Hunt cards, all those crazy booklet cards, and then a billion parallels for half of them. It’s not just a simple base set and a few inserts.
So, what I found, like most years, is that the information trickles out. It’s like putting together a puzzle with pieces scattered all over the internet. Some folks in group breaks will start posting their hits, and you see, “Oh, okay, there’s a /25 Green RPA for that guy,” or “Huh, didn’t know they were doing that insert this year.”
My Process of Piecing It Together
My actual process? It’s pretty old school mixed with some modern grunt work. I literally start a spreadsheet. Yep, good ol’ spreadsheets. I’ll have columns for player, card type, parallel, and serial numbering. Sounds tedious? It absolutely is.
I’d be watching breaks on YouTube or scrolling through social media. Someone posts a monster pull, I’m there pausing the video, squinting at the card, trying to confirm the details. Is that a Brand Logo? Is it a Platinum Shield? What’s the number on the front? You become a bit of a detective.
- First, I try to lock down the base set, if you can even call it that in NT. The veteran patch autos, the base veteran cards.
- Then the big one: Rookie Patch Autos. This is where the real money and hype is. I try to list out every rookie and all their known parallels. This part alone takes ages because new, unannounced parallels sometimes pop up.
- Then I move onto the other autograph and memorabilia subsets. There are always a ton in National Treasures.
The hardest part is always the short prints and the ultra-rare stuff. Sometimes a card is so rare, you won’t see it surface for weeks or even months after release. So, the checklist is always a “living document” for a while.
I remember with the 2023 stuff, I was particularly trying to track down the full list of “Crossover RPA” cards because those are always a big deal. And the information was just… scattered. One guy on a forum would list a few he saw, another would mention one he pulled. I’m copying, pasting, cross-referencing.
Why Bother With All This?
You might be thinking, “Dude, why go through all that trouble? Just wait for an official checklist or use one of the big database sites.” And yeah, eventually, those resources get pretty good. But here’s the thing: when you’re deep in the hobby, especially if you’re buying singles early, or trying to complete a player or team set from a monster like NT, you can’t always wait. You need to know what’s out there, what’s possible.
It’s also about understanding the set. By the time I’ve wrestled with building my own checklist, I’ve got a pretty good feel for the print runs, the tough chases, and what to expect. It helps me make better buying decisions, or even just appreciate the complexity of what Panini (or whoever is making it these days) put together.
And honestly, sometimes those official lists, when they do come out, are still not 100% perfect, or they’re formatted in a way that’s just annoying to use for my specific needs. I like my own version, tailored to how I track my collection.
So yeah, that was my journey with the 2023 NFL National Treasures checklist. A bit of a digital scavenger hunt, a lot of squinting at pictures of cardboard, and a healthy dose of spreadsheet action. It’s not glamorous, but it’s part of the game if you’re really into this stuff. And when I finally have a list that I feel is pretty comprehensive, well, there’s a small bit of satisfaction in that. Makes navigating those new releases just a little bit easier. Now, onto the next set, right?
