A few years ago, I had said that Topps Finest was as dead of a brand as it could be. There were rarely any cards that presented a reason to buy the product, and even the design was well below the standards that finest usually presented in years prior. Once the only high end product, it became stale and overshadowed by many other products that had similarly perfected the higher end pack price.

Lately, over the last few years, finest has come back with a vengeance. Hitting shelves the same day as Topps Football was a formula for disaster, but huge hits that look awesome have driven this product, if not only because of a renewed focus to on card autographs and great uses of stickers as well.

2012 Topps Finest Mike Trout / Albert Pujols Dual Auto /10

2012 Topps Finest Yu Darvish Red Refractor Jumbo Patch Auto /25

2012 Topps Finest Bryce Harper Red Refractor On Card Auto /25

2012 Topps Finest Trevor Bauer Atomic Refractor Patch Auto /5

I love cards that use a large space to sign, even more so when they are parallels of the base cards. As the face of the product, the base cards are usually the most well conceived cards in a product, and on card autos on said examples are always cool looking.

Adding in more jumbo swatch autos with a horizontal orientation presents a cool box hit, especially when the diecut mirrors the swooping borders that represent the theme of this year’s finest. Topps has had a strong year this go around thanks to the onslaught of Angels’ superstar Mike Trout, as well as guys like Yu Darvish, Bryce Harper, and even Brett Lawrie and Anthony Rizzo.

I am not a baseball collector as much anymore, but products like this and Bowman Platinum suck me in with the potential for the big hits. Even though Topps has set the bar high with their previous offerings, its never unwelcome to add another set that capitalizes on what collectors love.

Finest may never reach the level of following that base Topps and the Bowman sets have, but at least it fills out the calendar in a way that isnt without a draw. As the year moves closer and closer to Five Star, I cant help but wonder how much more awesome the first Super High End product will be.