Once the NFL draft ended, Topps got on their horse and started to solicit some of their products that will be released over the course of the 2012 season. These products did and continue to make me very excited at the possibilities for 2012 and one of the highest rated draft classes of the last ten years. One product that they really didn’t pimp much of was Bowman Signatures, which fell off the relative radar in the face of a diminished distribution, and some incredible previews from 2012 Topps flagship.

Now that the cards from the hobby product have hit eBay, they are some of the worst looking cards Topps has done in the last two years. Aside from the hideous presentation of the players in generic jerseys, the cards lack the kind of pizazz that one should expect from a product that costs 30 bucks a pack. I completely understand that there is a hole in this spot in the calendar, but as someone who likes good looking cards, I am not going to touch this product in pack form.

Here are some of the bigger listed hits so far:

Andrew Luck Accolades On Card Auto

Ryan Tannehill Red Ink Helmet on Card Auto /15

LaMichael James Blue Ink Helmet on Card Auto

Trent Richardson All American On Card Auto

To be honest, I wonder what Topps would have lost if they waited another few weeks and used the time to update the non-helmet cards to have retouched jerseys that used NFL logos. Panini Prestige is obviously not going to be as successful, maybe to a huge deficit, but it is an established product that collectors expect at a certain time of year. This is a brand new product that COULD have been a great one, if Topps hadn’t rushed to meet deadlines.

Starting with the helmet cards, at 2 per box, these cards aren’t horrible. They are MUCH better than the base rookie cards, but these face a unique situation that I understand why they were produced the way they were. In order to get hard signed cards, the rookies HAD to be presented in this way, and that I have no problem with. The whole card together looks MUCH better than the Panini design it was ripped from, but that is about it. Everyone should know how much I hate head shot photos, and how much I love on card autos, so I am not going to complain too much about the way these turned out. If I was a Luck fan, I might chase one down.

Outside of that, the rookie content in this product is not just bad, its horrid. As I mentioned in my previous post, the NFL licensing is somewhat to blame for the situation, but Topps is responsible for the way the cards turned out. I really dislike the single color background, as I think a photoshopped stadium would have worked much better. I also think that the generic uniforms should have been given some identifying marks. Something to break up the colors, as RGIII looks like he took a bath in blood. The fact that there is little to distinguish one photo from another, the appeal of the cards is drastically diminished. There needs to be more differentiation so that I know its David Wilson on my card and not Trent Richardson.

There is also veteran content that is included in Bowman, which from what I have seen looks pretty cool. Like a revamped version of Topps Magic with the painted filter on the cards. The Manning and Tebow SSP base cards will be HUGE sellers for the Broncos and Jets collectors. Honestly, these cards wont make the splash they would have because of the way people will react to the rookie content. I think some veteran base cards with the auto stickers could have made this product somewhat better, but I don’t think that was a part of the plan. The veterans do have some autographs, but it’s a subset that doesn’t look as cool as the veteran base cards.

I have stated before that I would much rather wait the extra time to have a fully baked NFL product, and I have a feeling that after this year, the calendar might be adjusted. Although releasing previous year’s products in April is a HORRIBLE idea, releasing NFL branded products in May could be a similar venture for both companies.