I cant believe its already time for the rookie premiere, and I could not be more excited. So many previews will be coming this week and we are already getting some of them now. Panini has been very active, as has Topps in showing some of the cards, most of which we have yet to see for the first time.

Panini

Let me put it this way – all the on card stuff for their sets was about as close to a disaster as it could come. Some of them were straight up horrendous. Prestige, Elite, and the on card sets for both were so bad that it almost prevented me from buying singles of the cards that actually looked good.

Last year’s Elite:

2013 Elite Inscriptions – EJ Manuel

2013 Elite Inscriptions – Eddie Lacy

2013 Elite Base Auto – Cordarrelle Patterson

Last year’s Prestige:

2013 Prestige Passports – Tavon Austin

2013 Prestige Road to the NFL – Geno Smith

2013 Prestige Draft Ticket – Le'Veon Bell

This year’s cards:

This year’s stuff looks freaking great. Although we are seeing the effect of a very late draft in all the double zero jersey numbers, the card design makes up for it. Even though we have yet to see a preview for any of the cards that Panini is getting signed, they seem to be keeping things much more open now that the premiere is going. Cant wait to see more.

Topps

So far, Topps has focused more on showing the players than anything. Although we are getting some of the cards, which from a distance look great as usual, im sure there will be many more pics to come. Inception is their top pre-premiere set so far, and from the first looks, they have had a lot more success getting the jersey numbers in there. More to come.

Inception’s design is one that I dont mind the fluent set look through the years. The look is so well done, I think it works extremely well each year. Because Topps’ retouch artists are so good at what they do, its worth buying a box or two just to see what they look like. The inscriptions are going to be back from what I hear, which makes me beyond happy.

Here are this year’s cards:

Ill have more coverage as its available all weekend – keep checking back!

When Panini first started to bring back Score to the main football calendar, I think a lot of people were excited that the product from their youth was being revived. What they didnt know was that it was going to be as bad as it has been over the last few years. Poor design and even worse content are not even worth the small price tag on the box.

Last year’s Score was about as horrendous as it gets, even though it was trying to mirror the iconic 1989 set:

2013 Score Cordarrelle Patterson HOT Rookies Auto

2013 Score Eddie Lacy 1989 Auto Throwback

2013 Score Geno Smith Hot Rookies Auto PSA 10

Here is the thing. Back in 1989, football cards were still trying to model themselves in some capacity after baseball. Similarly, because there was no rookie premiere, there was no way to get on field action shots for the new rookies. Well, 1989 was 25 years ago, and we have come a LOOOONG way in pre-season card design. We do not need these goofy sideline shots of rookies taking a break from playing the game. We need action photography, and if that means retouching some college shots along the way, DO IT.

They did get off their asses to do some retouch work on the HOT ROOKIES, which were one of the worst subsets of recent memory the way they were done last year. Gone is the bright orange and stupid looking design elements, replaced with a cleaner white design. BUT OH WAIT! The 349 point text size is back, because its obvious that Panini cant put text on a card without covering 50% of the surface area. Either way, its still about 100000x better than 2013, and doesnt look as horrid as in the past. As obsessed with obnoxiously sized text as they are, Panini seems to be more obsessed with the Hot Rookies “brand” if you will. They seem to think its worthy of making into its own set, which is a bit troubling on its own. Hot rookies is about as good a card brand as Fiesta is to Ford.

One thing that was great about Score last year was the veteran insert sets, which look pretty good again this year. This is a rookie themed set, but still very well done on the veteran side. I love the Franchise subset, as well as the field generals set which uses imagery and gimmick to sell the cards quite nicely.

Here are some beauties from last year:

2013 Score Andrew Luck Auto Logo Patch

2014 Score Alfred Morris Inscriptions Laserview Throwback Auto

2014 Score Frank Gore Auto Patch Franchise Fabric

Score has history, and I get that, but you dont have to give up on good looking cards to relive it. Its okay to go a different direction as long as the cards are done right.

Love it or hate it, this is one of the biggest weeks for Football Cards all year long. Coming next weekend, both Topps and Panini will be taking the opportunity to run the rookies through their paces for the first time in their NFL uniforms, and also taking some time to get an absolute metric ton of autographs. I posted the list of attendees, and from the looks of it, we are in for a great year, here is what to watch for in the plethora of pictures each company will post.

Topps Inception

Of all the different things that get done at the rookie premiere each year, Inception is easily the best of the best. Although the methods used to create this set have been replicated across a lot of products, this is the original. The reason I love this product so much has a lot to do with the design, but more to do with the quality of work on retouching that Topps has mastered. The set has become so popular, that it has even crossed over into baseball with a lot of success.

2012 Inception Andrew Luck / Robert Griffin III Dual Auto

2013 Inception Eddie Lacy Jumbo Patch Auto

2011 Inception Cam Newton Silver Signings Auto /25

Topps Rookie Premiere Autographs

Going back for over a decade, these autographs are changing this year for the first time in as many years. It used to be that Topps would take pictures one day and have them printed and ready for signing the next, but recent years have changed the process. Arrival schedules and other demands have prevented a good number of pictures to be taken in time for signing, which means that the cards are created with stock photos more times than not. Instead of another year of inconsistent results, Topps is going to change things up from what we saw on the sell sheet. Cant wait to see. If you are going to buy from years that arent serial numbered, WATCH OUT FOR A BOATLOAD OF FAKES.

2012 Topps Nick Foles Rookie Premiere Auto Red Ink /10

2011 Topps Colin Kaepernick Rookie Premiere Auto /90

2007 Topps Calvin Johnson Rookie Premiere Auto

Panini Player Sketch Cards

Although I think these cards are usually less than artistic, its always funny to see who has artistic chops and who chooses to go a completely different direction. Aside from the fact that putting a bucket of markers in front of the rookies during this even seems childish and stupid, the results are interesting to say the least.

2013 Panini EJ Manuel Sketch Auto 1/1

2013 Panini Eddie Lacy Sketch Auto 1/1

Panini Elite and Prestige On Card Autos

For whatever reason, Panini has decided to keep the designs under wraps, which is probably a good thing considering how these have turned out in the past. Although 2012 was a very good year for both Elite and Prestige on card autos, 2013 was a complete train wreck due to some awful retouch work. Where Topps has showcased a talent for changing college uniforms to NFL, Panini has struggled mightily

2012 Elite Andrew Luck Inscriptions Auto.

2012 Prestige Russell Wilson On Card Auto

Topps Retro Autos

Much to my delight, it looks like Topps is rolling with 1985 as their design for throwbacks this year, which is one of the better Topps football designs ever made. The last few years of retro autographs have been nothing less than awesome, and I cannot wait to see how the new ones look.

2012 Topps Chrome Andrew Luck 1984 Retro AUto

2013 Topps Chrome Keenan Allen 1986 Auto

2013 Topps Mike Glennon 1986 Auto

Late Draft Adjustments

Its clear the date of the NFL draft will affect the way the cards come out. It has to, mainly because of the amount of work that needs to be done in such a short amount of time. Where both companies used to have 4-6 weeks in between the Draft and Premiere, the amount of time has shrunk significantly now. We are likely going to have more double zero jerseys, and maybe more repetitive pictures used in the course of the production of each early set. This is going to be our first taste of how it turns out, and I am scared for what is going to happen.

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year, as we get to see a lot of cards previewed and rookies in their pro gear. However, this week is now without a polarizing feature, as this is where all those event used jerseys come from. If you are unfamiliar with what event used means – do a quick google search to see how everyone feels. Either way, I cant wait to see what happens.

We got two big previews today from Topps, including a product most of us thought was dead for good.

The first is 2014 Topps Triple Threads, which is back for ANOTHER year. Its a controversial product, only because of the way people either love it or hate it. Everyone knows how I feel about Triple Threads, and you should be surprised how much I liked some of the elements from last year’s set. I think the brand has come so much further than baseball over the years, and this year’s product looks like an evolution of last year’s concept.

Here is what I mean by a vastly improved concept. Look at this 2012 disaster:

2012 Triple Threads Russell Wilson Auto Relic RC

2012 Triple Threads Nick Foles Auto Relic RC

Then check out this complete revitalization for 2013:

2013 Triple Threads Cordarrelle Patterson Auto Relic RC

2013 Triple Threads Eddie Lacy Auto Relic RC

Sure, 2013 had these which were, for lack of a better term, horrendous. The rest of the set wasnt bad:

2013 Triple Threads Eddie Lacy UNITY Auto Relic RC

As for 2014 Valor, I was really impressed with the concept and launch campaign back in 2012, but like most collectors, was turned off by price and content. The product is back at a different time in the year with a new configuration, and like 2012 looks really nice in theme and design.

Here is what Valor looked like in 2012:

2012 Topps Valor Robert Griffin III Auto

2012 Topps Valor Nick Foles HONOR Auto

2012 Topps Valor Jim Brown Auto

2014 Triple Threads

For the second year in a row, the basic triple relic RC autograph looks VERY nice, and well conceived in the layout of the card. It can be very tough to squeeze 3 relics and a sticker on a card, and this works well. I have no idea why Triple Threads continues to be stickers at this price point, though. Completely stupid in that respect.

I have been a fan of the hand stamp autographs since 2012 as well, and this year may be one of the better designs they have done. These oversized cards are done at the premiere where the rookie actually puts his hand in ink and applies it to the card, which I think is quite the unique concept. Last year’s versions were tough because of design elements not highlighting the sigs as much, but that looks to be a one year issue with this design.

Here are some of them from the past:

2012 Triple Threads Robert Griffin III Hand Stamp Auto

2013 Triple Threads Eddie Lacy Hand Stamp Auto

The main issue I have with Triple Threads is the stupid words die cut into the cards, and how dumb some of them have been, however with last year’s set, most were pretty tame, and it looks to have continued into this year too. I am NOT a fan of these cards and never have been, and I just wish we could give up on it and move where the rest of the product is going.

Lastly, the transparency cards are back, much to my delight, as I absolutely loved these cards in 2013. Although I dont like the design as much, these cards still look pretty cool, as long as that stripe changes to team colors in the final design.

2014 Valor Football

So, price and configuration change, combined with a release date early in the year around beginning of October will all help this product. The main issue with 2012 was that it was released at the end of the year when all the high end products were already on their way, and a configuration where the box hit did not guarantee a relic auto, sealed its fate.

The relic autos just happened to be the nicest cards in the set:

2012 Topps Valor Ryan Tannehill Patch Auto

2012 Topps Valor Robert Griffin III Patch Auto

Now, the layout has been updated to contain packs with a pelic auto per box, thus ending a lot of the issues from the first go around. Although I am sad that this set is no longer on card, it is going to perform a LOT better at this point in the year.

I have always been a fan of Upper Deck and their card design. Even after they lost their NFL license, collectors have still attributed value to the cards at pro levels, which has been quite shocking to me. Exquisite is the best of the best for UD products, and we are getting our first look today.

Here are some of my favorites from past years’ Exquisite:

2012 Exquisite John Elway Shadowbox Dimensions Auto

2012 Exquisite Robert Griffin III Auto Inscription

2012 Exquisite Russell Wilson Rookie Auto Patch

2012 Exquisite Alfred Morris RC Auto Inscription

Although the cards look great in 2013, as they always have over the history of the product, I cant help but feel this is a TERRIBLE idea to release ANOTHER high end product for a rookie class that has the value of an undersized running back in the NFL draft. Had this been released earlier in the year, collectors may not have been as turned off, but its clear that planning really didnt take hold here.

Upper Deck releases products through the whole year, and saving Exquisite for a time like this is not a good idea. Think of how people would react if they could have super high end cards of their favorite players in November, instead of weeks after Topps and Panini have already closed out their card year.

It was abundantly CLEAR at the beginning of the year that the 2013 class was going to be a buzzkill. To still roll with a calendar that includes a product like this in freaking borderline JULY, showcases how much things need to change with UD’s product planning. They need to capitalize on the fact that they can have cards done at any point after the NCAA season, because there is no need to have pro-shots on the cards. There are 2014 autos that will help, as they have in year's past, but its not going to be enough of a saving grace to make a difference.

As I mentioned before, many of the cards, including booklet and rookie auto patches that look better than any previous year of NCAA exquisite. No joke. However, that does not give them a pass on this release date.

The entire hobby could not wait to move on from 2013, which is only highlighted further by the prices we are seeing on 2014 cards. Im not a fan of this situation, even though I am a fan of the way the cards look. Pull your heads out of your asses and look at how many people opened Quantum. More will open Exquisite because of the name, but untold potential has been lost with this release date.