With this week being one of the biggest weeks of the year for the card companies, there was a lot going down over the last few days. The most important part of the weekend was today at the Rose Bowl, where all the rookies put on the new Nike uniforms for the first time. Both Topps and Panini were shooting on twitter all day, and I have been amazingly impressed with the content that is going to be offered this year.

Topps was obviously the most impressive with the previews of the autographs that are going to be all over their flagship product that should hit shelves in july. They really took advantage of the 1984 retro design, one of the most iconic sets of the modern era. 1984 had the rookie cards of John Elway and Dan Marino, both of which are the ones that every one has a nostalgic attachment to.  The cards turned out awesome from the pictures, and I think will be ones that a lot of collectors chase, especially from Luck and Griffin. They turned out to be some of my favorites that were tweeted, if not only because I love on card autographs of retro throwbacks. I wish they could have been the retouched cards that have been making appearances throughout the last few days, but these same day signature cards are more than satisfying because they dont have to do the “00” jerseys that were forced on to some of the other cards due to licensing problems with the NFL.

I also love the look of the rookie premiere signatures, as the design with the gray border looks awesome. Even though these are helmet off shots, which usually look goofy and weird, I think Topps has found ways to make them look cooler than normal. The design sure helps a bunch, but some of the players still look like they were caught by surprise.

The Panini Pen Pals signatures look a lot better without those awful combine and press conference photographs, and I have to believe that they will be included in National Treasures like they have been for the last five years. Panini really kept a lot of their tweets focused on the action, which was a bummer, but im sure we will get more as they get to press with their solicitation. The sell sheets are ridiculously late for the beginning of the year, and I am beginning to question what is going on. Topps is already teasing Chrome, and we JUST got Elite last week from their marketing team.

Ill talk about more of the cards as they come up, but so far, Topps was an overwhelming winner over the last few days by far.