When Topps was master of the football game, a cornerstone of the pre-season product line was Inception. Starting in 2012, Topps brought special design concepts to the rookie premiere to have players sign on card with retouched photos of them in their pro uniforms. It had never been done before on such a large scale, and in all reality, was a really creative idea. When Topps was forced out football starting last year, Panini took inception and rebranded it with their own name. Because Origins is basically Inception under the Panini umbrella, obviously im a fan.

Check out the top hits already up:

2017 Origins Christian McCaffrey On Card Auto 1/1

2017 Origins Mitchell Trubisky Patch Auto Booklet /25

2017 Origins Deshaun Watson Patch Auto /99

2017 Origins JuJu Smith-Shuster Glove Logo Auto Booklet /2

2017 Origins Six Way Auto Booklet – Trubisky, Fournette, McCaffrey, Davis, Williams, Mahomes

This year’s set doesnt break from the formula at all, so its clear why the set looks as good as it did last year. Although there are more 00 jersesy than Topps ever had in any year, the concept is still quite solid. I love the on card autographs, and the different ways they incorporate different ink parallels in the identical way Topps did, and the books are super premium pro branded content early in the year. None of this has changed since 2015 Inception, and therefore, its great.

My only complaint is that Panini hasnt taken this to another level, incorporating veteran content or bringing the rookie content a bit more forward. Being that this is a rookie program, there are arguments that Vets have no place – however, thats maybe where Panini can separate this rip off to be something worthwhile on its own. Topps incorporated veteran content through retro photos and flashback themes, and it could DEFINITELY work here too. Again, Panini has not differentiated this brand at all, which isnt a bad thing for people stuck in the past like me, but it doesnt speak all that well of the current landscape.

I bought a bunch of Origins and will continue to buy as long as there is a rookie I collect. I just wish there was a roadmap for this product that has more instructions than Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V from Inception.