Back in 2008, football retro sets were all the rage because of the way Allen and Ginter performed annually in baseball. Based on this concept, Topps released a number of products to get people going the way retro did in baseball with products like Heritage. The problem surrounding this practice was that baseball cards were so rooted in the history of the hobby, that many collectors flocked to the cards with the notion of reclaiming nostalgia. In football, the hobby had migrated long ago to a more hit centric collecting base, and sets like Mayo didnt have the same ability to impress. That didnt stop them from trying one more time with 2008 Topps Magic, a set that was a sticker dump disguised as a retro product to garner support. The product may have had some initial success if the cards actually looked good, but the combination of horrendous content and poorly designed NCAA cards proved to strike the product dead in the water.

Topps came back this year with Topps Magic as the only retro set on the calendar, a brave move after the enormous failure of both 2009 Mayo and 2009 National Chicle. The one plus to this whole situation is that for the first time of any of their retro sets since 2008, Magic looks great. The painted style used for the player photos look great, and now that there is no ability to use NCAA content in the set, pro uniforms are welcome to impress.

Much like many of the Topps sets this year with a retail element, 2010 Topps Magic went retail live more than a week early. Some of the early hits are starting to show up on eBay, and there are some great elements coupled with elements that make me angry beyond belief. The good elements consist of the look of the base cards and the look of the base single and dual autographs. The base cards’ simple and classy design coupled with the full painted game shot is awesome. I can imagine that these will be great for TTM collectors to send out, especially if they are more cardboard stock and not glossy. The autographs may be stickers, but they at least look well done for sticker autos. With Topps finally deciding that auto parallels of the great look base cards are necessary in a set like this, I am glad that they didnt go the way of UD Masterpieces. Masterpieces had on card autos, but not of the beautiful base cards. This is much different.

As for the main problem, as it was in 2008, Magic’s purpose is solely to empty out old stickers that Topps has paid for and not used. Obviously, some players that were rookies in the last few years have not panned out, and there is no better opportuinty to get rid of them than with a lower end set like this one. That is so frustrating, I cant even put the feelings into words. My feelings have always been that if you pay for 10,000 stickers of a second string receiver at the premiere, its your fault. Maybe if more hard signed cards were sought, sticker dump sets wouldnt need to happen.

Here are some cards that have gone live, more to come:

Brian Brohm Base Auto – This autograph should never have happened. I would be PISSED if this was my box hit.

Jahvid Best Base Rookie Auto – Outside of the sticker’s black border, this is a great looking card.

LaDanian Tomlinson/Shonn Greene Dual Auto /25 – Nice pairing on a good looking dual auto.

Devin Thomas Base Auto – I dont think Thomas is even affiliated with a team right now. Maybe a practice squad. This is embarrassing.

Drew Brees Base Auto – If I was a Brees collector, I would be emailing the seller right now to sell off eBay. What a great looking card.

Buffalo Bill Cody Stamp Relic Card /25 – Interesting concept for a card.

Early Doucet Base Auto – At least he is playing somewhat. Still a joke.

Ryan Mathews Base Black Mini – Best looking Mathews card in a LONG time.