When you consider that Prime has only been around for a few years and hasnt really changed much, its nice to see that they still look for ways to make it fresh each year. Although I wasnt a huge fan of the readily available parts of the set last year, it wasnt even close to a poor showing. Prime has always been about the many booklets that this product is based around, and this year the rest looks good too.

Here are some of the first cards already up:

2014 Topps Prime Teddy Bridgewater Quad Relic Auto

2014 Topps Prime Julio Jones Auto Quad Relic

My favorite cards that I have seen so far are quad patch autos, which I thought were the weakest part of the set last year. Taking a page from Supreme and spreading out the swatches in a hashtag configuration is a great look, and it gives the box hit a much better feel overall.

The base and base autos are nice too, even though the design really isnt the focus. This is a set build around the photography, and I think the full bleed presentation is really a nice way to go.

As for the booklets, I think the design is actually a downgrade over last year, but its still obvious that everyone is going to chase them like mad. Because they are numbered so low, its going to be very difficult to find them, especially if the product isnt opened very much.

The big drawback from what we can see so far is the prevalence of a lot of different redemptions, which I cannot stand for sticker autos. I get that the players hate signing the labels, but falling behind on these THIS early in the season is really unacceptable management of the situation. The NFLPA does have regulations on when the players can sign and when they are not going to be available, but there needs to be better planning with the agents to get them done.

In the past, Prime was a product where all the rookies had a high numbered rookie auto that made them more affordable than the RARE Finest and Platinum auto patches that use an SSP list for the big players. This made it a fun break for around a 100 bucks, because the chances were better to pull the big guys in the class. We will see if that remains the case like it was in 2012 with Luck and Griffin.

Topps Prime will never be the set that people remember at the end of the year, but that hasnt stopped it from looking good. That has always been what separates Topps from the competition, is that even their products that dont hold still look great.