In today’s football card hobby, there is a definite hierarchy of what collectors chase. As we have found out from this ridiculous sale of the Cam Newton Chrome Superfractor Auto, those are most likely the top of the mountain. However, underneath that is the chase of autographed 1/1 NFL logo, widely considered to be a necessity for any player collection or team collection.

This year, we have already had a gross ton of Logo autographs, and after seeing the results from Topps Platinum and Panini Gold Standard, im trying to figure out if someone leaked the Topps design to Panini so they could make their own. I think I might want to play “who wore it better?”, especially because there is such a similar look to both cards. I think its also pretty obvious which is better, which is horrible considering how much more Gold Standard costs per box.

Personally, I understand the allure of the Superfractor, but I don’t really like the way the gold x-fractor pattern looks. I think it was a great idea to use the red chrome for the Platinum 1/1 NFL logo auto, thus making a cool design look right up to expectations. Although these cards are stickers just like the Gold Standard ones, Topps did a much better job making the card layout work, using design elements to highlight the autograph instead of a weirdly shaped white box. The pictures on these cards are from the premiere instead of a game like the Gold Standard ones, but I still think they look like they are on a different level. Platinum was a wildly successful set in terms of content and simple design, both of which are echoed in these logo cards:

Cam Newton Topps Platinum Red Logo Auto

Torrey Smith Topps Platinum Red Logo Auto

Blaine Gabbert Topps Platinum Red Logo Auto

Gold Standard does have a few advantages over Platinum in that the cards in the set are both Veteran and Rookie alike, as well as the use of rookie game photos instead of staged premiere ones. After these small pieces of the puzzle, the wins quickly become losses, both in the overall design of the card’s content, and the elements in the card itself. The Platinum 1/1s succeed in making the cards look more high end than they actually are, where these take it down a level or two. Although the Gold Standard cards feature logos and autographs, I can get BETTER logo autographs in 2011 Certified for less than half the cost of this box. Hell, Absolute had hard signed rookie logo autographs that look better than these. Even though this is the most expensive Panini product thus far in 2011, its not even close to the best idea for a product. Certified had hard signed rookie autographs with NFL logos, and so will a few other sets this year from Panini. I think these cards may have stolen a few pages out of Topps’ book, but the execution on those pages is not on the same level of success.

Cam Newton Gold Standard 1/1 Logo Auto

Joe Flacco Gold Standard 1/1 Logo Auto

If the manufacturers are going to flood the market with the logos off the 15-20 jerseys each rookie wore at the premiere, they need to make them special. Otherwise collectors are going to devalue the new cards, and that is NEVER a good thing for anyone. It used to be there were only one or two logo autographs per year, and now there is one in almost every product. Although it adds a chase month to month, it takes the fun out of the ones that came before it.