2013 Topps Prime Football Box Break Recap and Review

Topps Prime Football is known for its full bleed photo base cards and multi swatch relic autos.  The hit concentration leans heavily towards the Rookie class in various auto, auto relic booklet cards and multiple tier level hit forms.  Still there is a nice base of 25 veteran autographs including names like Andrew Luck, Frank Gore, RG3 and Jimmy Graham. 2013 Topps Prime Football should be looked at as a hybrid release that works for set builders and premium hit collectors alike.

Topps Prime Football falls under our premium cards category.  Each box contains 10 - 6 card packs and promises 1 Autograph, 1 Autographed Relic and 2 additional Relic cards.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

Base Set

 Robert Griffin III, RG3, Front and Back

 Joe Flacco, Reggie Wayne, Arian Foster

 Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, Darren McFadden

 Frank Gore, Rob Gronkowski, Matt Ryan

 Jamaal Charles, Andy Dalton, LeSean McCoy

Base Rookies

 Eddie Lacy, Mike Glennon

 Gavin Escobar, Stepfan Taylor, Desmond Trufant

 Monte Ball, Jarvis Jones, Johnathan Franklin

 

Inserts

 Primetimers

 Brandon Marshall, Calvin Johnson

 Prime Performance

 Ronnie Hillman

Primed Rookies

 Johnathan Franklin

Base Card Parallels

 Danny Amendola Gold, Eric Decker Gold

 Base Rookies Parallels

 Matt Barkley Gold #/250, Zach Ertz Copper #/350

The Hits

 Relics

 Stepfan Taylor Dual #/165, Mike Glennon Quad #/99

Autographs

 Robert Woods Base Rookie Auto #/250, Landry Jones Level V Auto Relic #/449

Overall Look

The full bleed photography, thick, well-finished hobby card stock and smart foiled accents make for some really attractive base cards.  As a side note, the card stock for the retail version of Prime is not as thick.  This year’s backs are more stylish than in years past. Inserts work well but the real stars are the Auto relic booklet cards and multiple tier level hits.

Quality and Variety of Players

At 100 veteran and 50 rookie base cards, you are getting the best of the best. Since he bulk of the hits come from the players who attended the Rookie Premiere and the incoming rookie class is not quite as explosive as the past two years, this product shifts from an instant hit with large “rip and flip” potential to a rookie prospector product. 

Do the Hits satisfy?

With well-designed hits and impressive booklets this can be a satisfying break.  The addition of veteran autographs helps ramp up the immediate desirability.

Will you keep coming back for more?

With the mid-season emergence of some starting rookies, there should be enough interest to keep collectors coming back for more right now.  As players develop, collectors might even revisit this product in the years to come.

Rating

 

4 out of 5

2013 Topps Prime Football is a rookie hit centric product that offers enough veteran players to keep collectors happy.