Upper Deck posted the SPA photos today on their facebook page, and when I saw the post, my heart jumped. SP Authentic is my favorite set of the year, which means that its pretty much a holiday when I can see how its going to look. This year, I kind of had an initial poor reaction to the new design, but I think I have warmed up now. Of course, now that SP officially stands for “Smoky Players, ” ill let you guys see for yourselves why I had the initial reaction I did.
I will say this, the rookie jumbo patch signatures look like they could be some of the coolest cards released during the entire year. Football hasnt seen signed swatches like this since 2006 Exquisite, so Im glad to see that they are making a comeback. Also, the Rookie Authentics dont look all that bad, and the team color elements on a white background does look nice. Im not getting why UD chose smoke as the theme for the set, as the simplicity of the design without the smoke would be amazing. Maybe we will get lucky and it wont be as noticible.
