You know me, Im a sucker for on card autographs. Its what I live for in this hobby, and I get excited whenever there are new products that feature my favorite players. Last year, Topps tried a few new things with on card autographs, some of which were awesomesome of which were awesome, some of which had some issues catching on. I rarely saw an on card autograph from topps that wasnt designed to be the best there is, and I think that this year has been similar.

One of the products that didnt really have success despite a cool design theme, was Topps Precision, mainly due to the price tag that scared so many of the potential buyers away. I really liked the on card offerings from the set, and some of other cards too, even though I might have been one of the only buyers. This year, Precision is going to be replaced by a new product, one that even got the first ever viral campaign on Twitter. If you have been following @V_is_for, you have gotten cryptic quotes on victory and battle, and last week, even a few pictures of cards.

It all culminated today with the reveal of Valor Football, a high end product to be released in February. That isnt the news, as new products rarely are. The news is the packaging, which from the pics posted today, might be the coolest ever produced. I remember back in 2003-04, when Exquisite was released with a wooden box (See an example here), and again in 2006, when NT was released in a lacquered Cigar Box (See an example here). This is much cooler.

Valor should be coming in the shape of a shield, with copper like etching and a very gladiator-ish appeal. Dont get me wrong, the cards look cool too, but it really isnt anything we havent seen before. For the first time in a long time, the packaging is the story! Im not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I MUST get me one of these!

As for the cards, we are only getting a preview of the on card signatures and their parallels, which Im sure will be accompanied by other cards. If not, this might be Precision with less content. I hope, for Topps’ sake, there is more to this set.

Here are the pics: