There are two huge Topps releases that should be going live today for hobby, both of which I plan on buying quite a bit of. The first, Topps Allen and Ginter, has one of the most polarizing effects on the hobby, but also one of the most loyal followings. The second, Topps Inception football, was probably the biggest surprise success of 2011, now back for its second year in 2012. Both sets feature only a few minor tweaks to the design, but they do deliver some of the best looking cards around regardless. Its one thing to not fix a broken down beater, but its another thing not to mess with greatness.

Allen and Ginter has always delivered content that is quite unusual to say the least. Whether its celebrity autograph content, or unusual plant and grow cards from last year, it never has any lack of surprises. This year, in addition to the normal added celebrity content, there is also a huge contingent of ridiculous memorabilia, which include the favorite bat knobs that were so popular in Tier One, as well as some bat barrels encapsulated in dual booklets. From what Topps previewed on Twitter, they look awesome.

Here are some big ones so far:

2012 Allen & Ginter Kate Upton Auto – See what I did there? Big ones? Haha.

2012 Allen & Ginter Yu Darvish Auto

2012 Allen & Ginter Richard Petty Auto

2012 Allen & Ginter Anthony Rizzo Auto

Even more than that, Topps has also released information via checklist, that for the first time, the rip cards will contain redemptions for full sized memorabilia. I cant tell you how cool this is, as I have always loved the idea of getting a bigger connected piece to the player than just a small swatch.

As for Inception, there is a definite buzz after we saw how amazing the cards looked last year. There are some new additions to the pot this year, which include some updates to one of my favorite sets. The silver signings from 2011 were some of the best looking autographs of the rookies, if not only because the black background and sharp silver signature popped off the card. This year, they switched the orientation to horizontal and added more space for the player to sign, which I absolutely love.

Here are some cards already listed:

2012 Inception Robert Griffin III Base Blue On Card Auto /150

2012 Inception Nick Foles Gold Auto Patch /25

2012 Inception Ronnie Hillman Jumbo Patch Auto

2012 Inception Jarius Wright Jumbo Patch Auto

Addtionally, Topps also created patch autographs with gold signed stickers this year (linked above), which look incredible on the same black background. Even though it’s a sticker for the reason that the cards with swatches cant be signed this early, the results speak for themselves. It works so well, that I might have to buy a few from rookies I don’t even collect. The gold on the sticker surprisingly works about as well as the hard signed elements, even though I expected it to be very tough to see. Good looking cards are good looking cards regardless.

Ill post more auctions as the sets become more available throughout the day.