More Sets Hit Stores as NFL Camps Start
by Paul Angilly
August 3, 2004
With NFL training camps open, the 2004 football trading card season is already in full swing.
Picking up from where I left off a couple of months ago (when I previewed some early-season releases),
here’s a quick look at what’s coming out soon in football cards.
Upper Deck All-Star Lineup
The basics: 120-card set (including 90 veterans and 30 rookies), due out Aug. 3.
A closer look: A relatively inexpensive product, but not likely to be a very popular release. Basically, a
thoroughly average set with rookies inserted 1:6 packs and one jersey card or autograph per box.
Fleer NFL Hot Prospects
The basics: 112-card set (including 70 veterans, 23 autographed patch rookie cards, 10 game-used patch rookie
cards and 9 "Hot Prospects" rookies), due out Aug. 6.
A closer look: It is what it is -- basically a set designed to take advantage of early-season demand for
autographs and game-worn material on rookie cards. Hang on to your money, there’s better stuff coming.
Upper Deck Power Up!
The basics: 110-card set, due out Aug. 16.
A closer look: This is one of those made-for-kids sets that never seems to appeal to collectors of any age.
These downright ugly cards feature distorted photos with the player’s torso appearing much larger than his
legs. The cards come in various parallel versions, each having a point value that can be used to play a game
at the Upper Deck website, with prizes awarded weekly (presumably to whoever buys the most cards and
therefore collects the most points).
Playoff Hogg Heaven
The basics: 150-card set (including 100 veterans and 50 rookies), due out Aug. 25.
A closer look: If you like cards printed on genuine leather, then I guess this set is for you. You’ll get
10 leather cards per box, on average. If leather’s not your thing, this is a good set to skip.
Upper Deck
The basics: 275-card set (including 200 veterans and 75 rookies), due out Sept. 3.
A closer look: Upper Deck is sticking with its formula for success -- attractive base cards, slightly
short-printed rookies and enough autograph and game-used inserts to keep thrill-seekers happy. This is
the 15th straight year for the Upper Deck brand.
Score
The basics: 440-card set (including 330 veterans, 70 rookies (one per pack), 15 League Leaders, 15 Pro
Bowl players and 10 Highlights), due out Sept. 6.
A closer look: Look at these cards and it seems like 1989 all over again. It’s hard to believe that this
marks the 16th consecutive year for this set -- the longest-running issue except for Topps. Cheap packs,
a large set, a limited number of inserts (autographs and two different parallels) and a very attractive
base set. It’s ironic that after raising the bar for quality football cards back in 1989, these days Score
(now a Playoff brand) is the keeper of the flame for those who prefer attractive but affordable cards.
Topps Chrome
The basics: 275-card set (including 145 veterans, 110 rookies and 20 weekly wrapups), due out Sept. 13.
A closer look: The same Topps cards you know and love, but a lot shinier. I’ve never been a big fan of
this set myself, preferring the regular Topps cards, but there’s no denying this set’s popularity over
the years.
Leaf Certified Materials
The basics: 233-card set (including 150 veterans, 25 rookies, 25 autographed rookies and 33 "Freshman
Fabric" jersey cards), due out Sept. 29.
A closer look: No reason to pull punches here -- I hate this set. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. If you have to
open a pack, do it in a dark room so the glare of the glossy metallic fronts doesn’t blind you. Of course,
if you get a jersey card, you’ll have to turn on the light to see if it’s a White, Red, Blue, Gold, Emerald
or Black parallel -- at least five more parallels than was really necessary. These are the types of cards
you see stacked on a dealer’s table near a sign that says "any card, $1."
Fleer Platinum
The basics: 185-card set (including 135 veterans and 50 rookies), due out in October.
A closer look: As far as I’m concerned, the base cards from this set may just be the most attractive of the
year -- possibly of the past several years. Simple, but effective. I only wish the set was bigger so I could
see more of my favorite players on these cards. The usual assortment of autographed and game-used jersey cards
are also randomly inserted, although in lesser quantities than higher-priced packs.
Bowman
The basics: 275-card set (including 110 veterans and 165 rookies), due out in October.
A closer look: A great set if you like rookies and don’t like spending a lot of money, since they
aren’t short-printed. The bad news is that probably more than 100 of them will never see any real
significant NFL action. Boxes include one rookie relic and one rookie autographed card each. And as if
that wasn’t exciting enough, you could also pull a limited (to 200 copies) autograph card from an NFL
assistant coach! (Note the sarcasm.)
Bowman’s Best
The basics: 177-card set (including 80 veterans, 20 rookies, 47 rookie autographs, 5 limited edition
rookie autographs and 25 rookie relics), due out in October.
A closer look: With one autographed or relic card in every pack, including rookie autographed and relic
base cards (rookie relics have pieces of photo shoot-worn jerseys), this is your typical high-end,
overly-priced set. On the positive side, the base cards are very attractive.
Also on the way: Playoff Absolute Memorabilia, Aug. 11; Topps Total, Aug. 16; Topps Bazooka, Aug. 30; and
Playoff Honors, Oct. 20.
About the author
Paul Angilly is a sports reporter for The Bristol Press in Connecticut, and
has been collecting sports cards and memorabilia for 30 years. He is not a
dealer, nor does he make a profit from buying and selling cards. His weekly
sports card and memorabilia collecting column appears each week in The
Bristol Press and several other
daily newspapers in
Connecticut.
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