Both Topps and Panini are tweeting like crazy from the first night of the 2012 NFL rookie premiere, and from what we have seen so far, there are a lot of awesome looking things to look forward to this year. Although there are some obvious duds mixed in, I am ridiculously impressed with the ability for both companies to get NFL uniforms airbrushed with class for the rookies to sign.
My favorite cards so far are the silver signings from 2012 Inception that are being tweeted all over the place, as I absolutely love the horizontal orientation as compared to last year’s. Although some of the rookies are showing 00 on their jersey, which is disappointing to say the least, the cards are looking awesome for a second straight year. I would have liked college numbers at least, but it looks like licensing issues may have prevented that. Regardless of jersey numbers, the top guys in Luck and Griffin look to be on display in each of the first couple of sets this year, which is awesome.
Topps is also bringing back the “Tall Boys” from 1965 into a special insert set for 2012 Topps Flagship, and I think the cards definitely are a nice throwback insert to include with on card autographs. On top of that, they are also trying to get all the rookie premiere autographs shot and printed tonight, which from the design they tweeted earlier, look completely boss.
Panini combined some MAJOR let downs with some huge highs in their pictures, which I definitely expected. In addition to MORE of the lame looking field signatures that have been in Gridiron Gear and Epix for the last 28 years, they are also bringning back the pull out swatches, which are not even event worn based on the pics. I have never been a fan of cards that require some gimmick to display and appreciate, and these coming back again does not make me look forward to ANOTHER boring year of Gridiron Gear.
The rookie inscription cards from Elite look to be more awesome than previously expected, as they are either going to be on acetate (which I love) or on the regular stock (which still look amazing). Im a huge fan of the way these cards look, and I anticipate them to be a big part of the chase for 2012 Elite which should hit shelves soon.
Aside from getting mass exposure on night one, I think we are all in for a tweet fest laden treat this weekend, and I cant wait to see more from each company.