Right now, there is a big gap of products before Topps Football is released later this month. Its going to be almost four whole weeks until something worth buying hits shelves, and that could make for some very hard times if you have the itch to bust some wax. In fact, with the way Topps football is looking, you may need to save your money in the meantime, as the cards look awesome compared to previous years of the set. With case hit variations back for year 3, two on card auto sets, and a set collector’s paradise of a product, its worth the wait for sure.

However, the question remains, what if you just cant get past this drought?

2011 Upper Deck Sweet Spot

I am not a college collector, but I do love the helmet autographs from past years of this set. This year I really dislike the design, and the checklist has always been a problem with Sweet Spot since about 2007. If you are desperate, this is a good fun break, however, I would most likely suggest waiting to see what comes out of it before dropping major coin on boxes. Singles from this set will sell well because of product availability, but after that, its not much of a juggernaut like some of the other upcoming products will be.

2010 Topps Chrome

I think the 2010 rookie class is going to have a banner year this year, mainly because the 2011 class wont do very well without an offseason of OTAs and similar activities. Plus, they were good last year to begin with, and their values definitely reflect that. 2010 Chrome was a cheap break with great looking cards, and a lot of potential for value outside of the normal box hit auto. I had to have broken about a case worth, and though I didn’t hit any Tebow or Bradford, it was still a ton of fun.

2010 Contenders

I hated that Panini ruined the awesome design with foil for the autos yet again, but the set was solid. If you can get the boxes for under 150, there is still a lot of good stuff left. Although the Golden Ticket cards are so ugly that they make 2011 Elite look like Exquisite, they are worth a ton if you can find the remaining few. Bradford and Tebow are all over this product with good looking rookie autos, and that is where a lot of collectors have loved contenders. Hope you don’t pull one of the Rookie Ink cards, because they may be the ugliest in the history football cards. Im not kidding.

2009 SP Authentic

I thought 2009 SPA had a great design, and it was really the last hurrah of a lot of the Upper Deck NFL work that I could not get enough of. Although there are many redemptions in this product, Stafford and Sanchez are live, and UD has shipped out a lot of the redemeers even without a license. If you want on card autos and a great looking set, this is it.

2010 Topps Finest

Man oh man was this set a surprise last year, and luckily for us, prices have dropped since the initial spike. Its still over what MSRP was, but its worth it for the fun of the break. My only complaint is the vertical patch autos that had the swatch covering up the players, but everything else was awesome. For 100 bucks with two jersey autos and a bunch of rookies, you cant beat it, even more so if you get the third auto finest moment card.

2010 Five Star and 2010 Exquisite

If you have a ton of extra paypal sitting around, these two super high end products are a blast. The cards look amazing, its all on card, and you are going to have fun even if you miss the mark with your box. Not the same can be said with NT and the copious amounts of shitty single jerseys, stickers and large price tag. Both of these sets are on card 100%, and for the most part, each box has a booklet card. Although I am not the biggest fan, the booklets sell crazy go nuts, and with a strong rookie class behind it, these products deliver. Lastly, the inscriptions available in both sets are worth the price of admission alone, pray you are lucky enough to pull one.

2011 Leaf Metal

I think this set is completely underrated in both look and content. The checklist is legit, and the cards look very nice with airbrushed uniforms. The boxes are relatively inexpensive for 4 autos, and many of the boxes have at least ONE good card. I would not hesitate to buy this stuff if you don’t mind unlicensed cards, and I think it will continue to be a guilty pleasure of a lot of us during this timeframe.

What to Avoid COMPLETELY

2011 Prestige

Horrible design work on the base rookies and really terrible inserts are going to ruin this product. It has already dropped below 60 bucks a box in a lot of places and that is only the beginning. For that sixty bucks you are getting a few two dollar jersey cards that look awful, and autographs from a VERY deep checklist of undrafted players. Yuck.

2011 Elite

This set has to be one of the worst looking sets of the last few years. Combine photos, big white boxes for the autographs on horizontal cards, odd placement of serial numbers, huge “ROOKIE” text and weird looking name banners. Then you see the on card autograph set and a lot of people get that vomit taste in their mouth. Again, prices are still very high due to it being the first set with post-premiere photos of the main rookies, but its all the other stuff that is going to drop this product through the floor. You wonder why Panini wants a minimum advertised price for their junk? This is why. Content is awful, design is awful, and that is made worse by the fact that this set wouldn’t have even been passable back in 2004.

2010 Certified and Limited

More awful design work and TONS of redemptions. When I say TONS, I mean that most of the cards you want are not live. All of the good 1/1s have been pulled or given out as redemption replacements, and again you are left with 2-3 shitty jersey cards and an auto. Don’t waste your money, even if the prices continue to bottom out. That is, unless you want more Taylor Price and Marcus Easley autos in your collection.

2010 National Treasures

One of the worst super high end products ever made, and it still costs about 200 bucks above what it should cost. You get 1 rookie auto, 1 okay auto, 4 single jersey cards, 1 patch and maybe a rookie patch auto. The rookie auto patches look and are great, but you might as well just buy the ones you want instead of trying to hit it big. Many collectors have mercilessly ripped this product for content and value in the boxes, but I have been more concerned with design work and stickers in a product that costs this much money. It’s a lazy attempt at a beloved product, save your cash or buy Five Star.