2012 Topps Strata Football Box Break Recap And Review

Strata is plural for stratum.  Stratum is defined as any of several parallel layers or levels of something.  The most predominant example is in geology where sedimentary rock and soil form layers that vary in color .  So with a product that includes hits that are constructed with layers of cardboard, acetate, memorabilia and autographs of some of the NFL’s newest emerging stars, layered one on top of the other, it seem apropos that it has been given the name 2012 Topps Strata Football.

2012 Topps Strata Football is certainly on the higher end of the category from a cost standpoint, but still falls under our classification of trading cards. Hobby boxes include 18 packs with 5 cards per pack with the promise of 3 Rookie hits per box, 1 Clear Cut Autograph relic, 1 autograph card and 1 relic card.

Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled.

Base Set

 Doug Martin, front and back

 Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson, Russell Wilson

 Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan

 Matt Forte, Reggie Wayne, Calvin Johnson Jr.

Color Parallel

Ryan Broyles Gold #/99

Inserts

 Jarius Wright Rookie Die- Cut

The Hits

 Nick Foles Rookie Relic #/296

 Luke Kuechly Rookie Autograph, Bernard Pierce Clear Cut Autograph Relic Redemption

Overall Look

There is definitely plenty of eye appeal here and continuation of the theme with bold horizontal lines that make up the background of the base cards.  Perhaps a little more variation with coloring and shading of those lines would have aced the theme, but that is a minor issue and doesn’t lot take away from the look of these cards.  Other than vary subtitle differences in the color parallels, all that is left are the hits.  The relic standalones would be considered very nice in any other release but they are clearly outshined by the Clear Cut Autograph Relics.  The design offers a veritable smorgasbord of everything collectors have been excited about lately.  Layers upon layers of oversized multi-color memorabilia, die cutting, acetate, on-card autographs and more take the shadowbox theme to a whole new level. The Strata Autograph Relic, patch or rivet, takes it even further.

Quality and Variety of Players.

The veterans of the NFL are well represented here in the base set but the hits are exclusive to the 2012 Rookie class.

Do the hits hold up?

The majority of hits here are the NFL Premiere rookies, which works well in a strong rookie class.  The Clear Cut Autograph Relics and Strata Autograph Relics speak for themselves.

Will you want to collect them all?

With the beauty of the hits, the base set can get lost on you.  But this is one that you will want to collect.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

2012 Topps Strata Football is simple in its structure but has a lot to offer.