Because its Five Star Friday, and I am not a huge baseball collector, I think it’s a cool idea to show some of the previews that Topps posted on their twitter today from the Football set due out later this year. As I mentioned yesterday, I am very excited every year to see what Five Star brings in both baseball and football. After seeing some of the previewed cards, it looks like 2013 will be as good as 2012 in terms of look.

Five Star Quotables

I am literally enthralled with these cards each and every year they have been, even though some inscriptions are much less interesting than others. Even in baseball, I make a point to check them out, even though I don’t collect as much. I think autograph content has gotten a bit stale in general, but these cards are still unique and are very collectable by many people who chase the set. Every chance I get, I love to show off my PC cards from this set, including my Adrian Peterson from 2010 Five Star that is the crown jewel of my collection.

This year’s cards are a new look to the set, but well within the expectations of what the set is all about. A big area to sign, and a simple focus on the autograph content, and a big dynamic picture to make the design really pop. I like the painted like filter that is on the photo, making it look more like a work of art than a card.

Last year:

2012 Topps Five Star Emmitt Smith Inscription Auto

2012 Topps Five Star John Elway Inscription Auto

This year:

Five Star Rookie Autos

These cards usually go unnoticed with Five Star, and they shouldn’t. Because they don’t have swatches, they are regularly overlooked, but I absolutely love the way these look each year. I think that too much focus is put on event used material, and I find these cards to be much more representative of the way rookie cards should be done. Im not saying the cards that DO feature relics don’t look amazing, but these are a step up too.

My biggest gripe is that game photos aren’t more prominent in this set, as it looks like Tavon and Geno are pics from games, while EJ Manuel is a shot from the rookie premiere. When its early in the year, I understand why the photos from the premiere are awesome, but this late, I think its better to get the game shots in there.

Last Year:

2012 Five Star Russell Wilson Auto RC

2012 Five Star Doug Martin Auto RC

This Year:

Five Star Veteran Autos

As I mentioned in baseball, on card autos for non-rookie players happen so infrequently that we should go above and beyond to reinforce them each time they happen. Collectors CONSTANTLY complain about sticker autos, but when Five Star delivers beautiful veteran cards, no one seems to get all that excited. That doesn’t make sense to me, as I fail to understand why player and team collectors wouldn’t go nuts over these high end examples, especially knowing that they only happen once per year. Panini may be making a push to get on card autos of their own, but they don’t look this good. Five Star is the cream of the crop, and yet it is also one of the most undervalued products on the market.

Last Year:

2012 Five Star Kurt Warner Base Auto

2012 Five Star Adrian Peterson Base Auto

This Year:

As more previews surface, ill post them here. Consider me pumped up and ready to rock for this set, I hope that Topps takes the approach they did in 2010 by showing us the completed cards on facebook as they come in. That was always a treat.