National Treasures continues to truck along, and we are finally getting some of the bigger pulls online now that the group breaker’s customers are getting their cards in the mail. There is also a lot of people opening boxes, despite an almost sure thing of losing 50%-60% on each box that is opened. That is pretty crazy, but people continue to love this product. They should, as it is really getting some nice cards for people to chase.

Notable Nickame Autos

These are arguably my favorite cards of the product, as they feature inscriptions of player nicknames on some of the cards. Its awesome, and I am always a fan of added autograph content at every turn. Many of these have been previewed already, and some of the names they chose are a bit confusing, but many of these cards are incredible.

2013 National Treasures Drew Brees Nickname Inscription Auto

2013 National Treasures Gale Sayers Nickname Inscription Auto

2013 National Treasures Peyton Manning Nickname Inscription Auto

Century Jumbo Logo Patch Autos

I really like the Century auto patches, as the design is simple and showcases everything I like about a card. The major issue is that they are all stickers, which is BEYOND unfortunate. We have all said many times that stickers like this dont belong in NT, and though the checklist is deep, I would gladly trade a shallow checklist for on card. There cant be THAT many Nate Washington collectors out there.

2013 National Treasures Tyrann Mathieu Auto Nike Logo 1/1

Jumbo Logo Patch Auto Booklets

This is where I start questioning some design elements, as this is the PERFECT opportunity to get the collar in there with the new NFL logo patches. For whatever reason, Panini decided to die cut the patches, which means they were likely from Pants or someplace else. As we see with the Nike Logo books, they are much more extended out to see the whole patch. Its really too bad, because these are all on card, and look tremendous.

2013 National Treasures Peyton Manning Auto NFL Logo Booklet 1/1

2013 National Treasures Mike Glennon Auto Logo Booklet 1/1

Colossal Logos and Logo Autos

As we see EVERY year, the colossal autos tend to look great. They have had their hideous years of poor design like every Panini set, but these look AMAZING this year. I am a huge fan, and cant wait to see more of the logos to show up with ON CARD autos. Right now, only the rookies are showing up, but dont worry – the non-RCs will show up eventually.

2013 National Treasures Eddie Lacy Colossal Auto Logo

2013 National Treasures Cordarrelle Patterson Colossal Auto Logo

2013 National Treasures Andre Ellington Colossal Auto Logo

Rookie Auto Logo 1/1s

These are slated to be among the top cards for a 2013 rookie beneath the Chrome Super Autos, and to see the way they turned out is disappointing on the NFL Logo front. Instead of reducing the outline to fit snugly around the logo, they just filled in the existing swatch window with foil. It looks awful. The brand logos look a million times better, and hopefully people will see that they can pay a lot less and come out with a much better looking card.

2013 National Treasures Tavon Austin Auto NFL Logo 1/1 With Inscription

2013 National Treasures Zach Ertz Auto NFL Logo

HOF and Jumbo Logo Patches

When Panini first previewed these cards on their blog, I think we all collectively gasped at the quality of the patches they used in the cards. Logos galore, and tons of crazy patches we all can appreciate. These would be awesome with autographs, but the cards may not have looked as nice. Its good either way.

2013 National Treasures Robert Griffin III HOF Logo Patch

2013 National Treasures Chris Johnson Titans Anniversary Logo Patch

Dual Brand Logos

This is a cool idea, but I still have no clue why they wouldnt do these as booklets with autographs for each player. I also dislike the tiny pictures, as it would have been much more good looking with the logos stacked and full pics on either side. These will sell well regardless, but potential for greatness was missed.

2013 National Treasures Jamaal Charles / Alex Smith Dual Logo 1/1

2013 National Treasures Matt Ryan / Tony Gonzales Dual Logo 1/1

For 2013, Treasures has been beautiful with the exception of a few horrendous cards that we usually expect from Panini. If only the rest of the product carried the value that was needed for people to actually come out ahead when they pull a nice card. That’s not really their fault, as the rookie class is so fucking awful. Hopefully the progression continues next year.