Today marks the go live of the second Topps product in as many weeks, even though this one seems to be a little more like what we have already seen from existing sets. Bowman Sterling has always been on my naughty list, mainly because of what you get for the enormous price tag on the box, and for the most part, that still hasnt changed.
The design for Sterling this year is standard for the product, and not really something that gets me excited to run and buy. The real factor of this product is that there are game photos with autographs for some of the cards, and the first appearance of players like Josh Gordon, Alfred Morris, Harrison Smith, etc, in Topps products.
This is really a set for people that have a lot of money to burn, or singles buyers for the guys who have updated photos for the first time with an autograph.
There really isnt much more to say, if only there were on card autos to really make this product worth a portion of the MSRP.
Here are some major cards already posted:
2012 Bowman Sterling Quad Auto Patch – Luck, Griffin, Tannehill and Weeden
2012 Bowman Sterling Quad Auto Book – RGIII, Richardson, Blackmon and Tannehill
2012 Bowman Sterling Luke Kuechly Auto Patch Superfractor 1/1
2012 Bowman Sterling Robert Griffin III Jumbo Patch Gold Refractor
2012 Bowman Sterling Robert Griffin III Auto Patch Gold Refractor
After watching a few box breaks of Sterling, one question arises:
Is there a SINGLE redeeming quality to this set?
I can’t find one. It has sticker autos. The design is almost exactly like most Finest and Platinum. Box value is crap (even for Topps). Price tag is high.
Worst product of the year.
For a product that has a hobby box going for at least $290, it is ridiculous to see excessive sticker auto’s being placed in this “high-end” product. The design is absolutely horrible and it is apparent that Topps made no sincere effort to distinguish this product from their other brands. With that said, some of their cards I have seen on ebay looks very similar to Topps Finest. The Quad auto booklet is hideous and poorly designed- white auto box with too much aqua blue blank space surrounding it and the photos of players are too small. I pity those poor souls who splurge $$$$ for this product because the card value will drop dramatically in no time.
I actually dont mind the design, its just we have already seen it three times this year. The money is just ridiculously high for what you get.