Over the last year, Topps has stepped up their game across football like no other manufacturer. Adding more rookie on card content for autographs, combined with unparalleled design work during the entire season, put them on the top of the heap in every way, shape, and form. Now that we are starting to see what 2012 has in store for the Topps faithful, I think this could be an even better year than 2011.

For 2011, Finest was a vastly improved product over 2010, mainly because of the look of the cards, as well as the added content itself. For 2012, it looks as if there is going to be a similar structure to the set, with what I believe to be a superior base and patch auto design. With 2011, the patch auto designs were the weakest of the entire set, and this year, it looks like they may be the stongest.

The base and base auto designs look great, as the update to the borders work REALLY well with the type of stock this will be printed on. I hope that they go for a larger contingent of hard signed rookie cards this year, but it will all depend on the players themselves.

Overall, I thought the jumbo swatch autos were one of the best cards of the year last year, and this example looks to be a downgrade in my opinion. The swatch, like with 2011 Inception, is covering up part of the player, which is a big no-no in my book. I would have liked better diecutting and placement of the window to prevent this.

Finest has turned into one of my favorite products, and I dont expect any different this time around. Hopefully Topps continues the strong showing with the previews due in the next couple of weeks before the premiere.