Its the end of the year, so its obviously the time where every blogger and journalist out there is going to fill time and content with a countdown list that recaps everything that happened during the course of the year. Since I am right there with the rest of them, Ill throw my hat into the cliche ring of honor. Im not going to countdown my top ten, but I will discuss my favorite cards and least favorite cards released since the beginning of the year.

Favorites

2011 Topps Five Star Quotables Inscription Auto

If you have been following the site at all this year, its been pretty clear how awesome I think these cards are. They are just amazing examples of everything that collectors have wanted, especially for some of the veteran players included in the set. My favorite Adrian Peterson card I own comes from this set, and though I have been offered a ton of money for it, it will never leave my collection.

2011 Topps Five Star Patch Autographs

Not only did this product produce some of the most valuable cards of the year, it also produced some of the best looking. Even though the swatch size was smaller than some were looking for, I couldnt care less. The cards are absolutely incredible to have in my collection, and I only wish Topps had more time to grow the checklist for these to include more players.

2011 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs

Topps Chrome has easily been the product of the year so far, and sadly its not even a competition yet. Although there are still a number of 2011 sets that havent hit the market, they dont look like they have what it takes to overtake Chrome’s spot atop the mountain. Having on card autographs for this set made it THAT much more collectable. With other collectors at my side, we had called for hard signed autographs in Chrome year after year, and to have it come true was a sight to be seen. The addition of the hard signed Red Refractor and Superfractor autos were some of the most expensive modern football cards ever produced.

2011 Panini Crown Royale Die Cut Jumbo Patch Autographs

I loved these cards last year, and Panini actually improved on them this year (shocking, I know). Hard signed autographs on these cards with jumbo patches continue to be a perfect compliment for the die cut player pictures that overlay the swatch. I really wish that Panini would use these cards as a roadmap for how to actually produce good looking cards, but instead we the junk we get in every other set this year.

2011 Topps Inception Silver Signatures

First off, these cards look like a late year set released less than a few months after the rookie premiere. To say these cards are stunning in person, is like saying that Tom Cruise is just “a tad on the crazy side.” Additionally, when you see the awful results from the Gold Standard rookie autos, its easy to appreciate the sharp contrast and black cards from Inception that much more.

2011 Topps Finest Jumbo Swatch Autographs

Man, was I excited when I saw how cool these cards looked upon Finest’s release. They took the dual swatches from last year, and switched to the jumbo swatch, something that made these cards go from good to great. Although they didnt get the same treatment as some of the other on card sets this year, it really was a huge design victory with the big piece of jersey and the full sized player picture. If the regular finest rookie cards had better pictures, I would have put them on here too.

Least Favorites

2011 Panini Elite Rookie Autos

I dont think there was a bigger disappointment this year than the downgrade from 2010 Elite to 2011. The switch to the horizontal orientation was absolutely unnecessary, and to add in that white box for the signature at the bottom of the card was truly atrocious. The white box will definitely be a theme here, as I cannot understand why not just design a card with a part of the border built into the layout instead.

2011 Panini Prestige Non-auto Rookies

When Panini previewed these cards on draft day, the team logos were big and bright. It broke up the monotony of the same close up head shot they used for all the cards, and it didnt hurt that the NFL word logos are some of the best designed logos in sports. When the product hit shelves, the logos were grayed out as if the autograph was supposed to be applied on top of it, something Im guessing was done to save money. Saving money by creating low quality products is useless and stupid.

2011 Topps Triple Threads Triple Jersey Autos

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Topps hasnt changed this set since 2007 and somehow it actually got worse this year. The color palate and phrases spelled out in the die cut windows were much worse this year, and I still wonder who spends 180 bucks on a box of this crap and comes away happy.

2011 Panini Timeless Treasures Leather Auto

If someone can tell me what white pieces of pleather has to do with football, ill shake your hand. This product was created to replace the old Donruss Classics, and it did not do a very good job. These cards, which featured a player picture the size of a penny, were the box hit in many of the tins, and that fact led to a lot of unhappy box breakers. They are some of the lowest valued rookie autographs of the year, and I dont think its confusing to figure out why.

22011 Panini Gridiron Gear Rookie Orientation Jersey Autos

Aside from the fact that these are the sixty fourth Panini subset that tries to play off some sort of orientation, these cards look ridiculously worse than any other this year. First, the big white box to highlight the sticker is placed DIRECTLY over the players chest, which is beyond laughable. Secondly, the helmet off studio shots for the rookies look creepy. Considering how great some of the photography was for the rest of the year, the use of these photos is inexcusable.

2011 Panini Certified Immortals Jersey Autographs

Although the checklist is pretty nice, the cards do not live up to billing. Big white box covering the player? Check. High placement on the card? Check. Cluttered and busy design? Check. Ugly result? Check.

These are only some of the cards that I liked and hated, but its obvious that Topps stepped up their game with their products during the 2011 card year. Panini, on the other hand, did nothing but downgrade just about every set they produce, including collector favorites. After seeing previews for more cards to be released in 2012, I think they may have more cards on the naughty list than on the nice list.