Best in Class Awards: 2012 Football Products

Here are The Pack Gambler's Best in Class for the 2012 Football Products;

Best Product / Best Set / Best Rookies / Best Value: 2012 Topps Chrome
Topps Chrome has been the best selling and most popular Football product on the market for the last few years. This year I thought Panini would bring a product that would take over the number one spot but I was wrong. the 2012 edition of the powerhouse Chrome came in fierce and packed up so much demand that it is still carrying over into the new year. Presale for the Hobby boxes were running at $69.99 a few months prior to the release. A couple of days after the release in early November boxes jumped to the $130 range, and not only were they still selling, but they were selling out of Hobby shops everywhere. The rookie class of 2012 sure did help with the sales as well with both RGIII and Luck doing very well in their first seasons. the two rookie autographs per box were the main reason everyone wanted in on Chrome. New for Chrome this year were the Military (Camo), BCA Pink and Prism Refractors. All three were offered in the Base cards as well as the coveted rookie on-card autographs. The 220 card strong set was filled with all the rookies from 2012 as well as new subsets like the 1957 Retro Rookies, 1965 Tall Boys and 1984 Retro Rookies. This product was not to be out done and will continue to be strong for the years to come.  

Best Autographs: 2012 Panini Black
Black and gold just seem to go together so well, and that brings us to the reason why the best autographs of 2012 are found in Panini Black. Sure there were a lot of products that provided us autographs through 2012 and a lot of them are as nice as the next one. A couple of things stand out in autographs and they are, placement, on-card and look. Even the worst signer that prints two letters of his full name on one of these cards is going to look amazing. Hands down Panini Black raised the 2012 autographs with their product.   


Best Relic & Game Used: 2012 Topps Strata
We have been lucky enough to have some of the best relics / game used cards come out this year. The prime patches particularly have been great on cards and the placement on the cards have been outstanding this year. The best of everyone was Topps Strata. The Clear Cut Rookies were the best pieces I have seen in a while come out of a product. The placement of these jumbo pieces on the card have made even the common collector want one of anyone they can get their hands on. With the amount of space on the cards the patches have allowed the lucky collector who pulls one of these feel like they have something tangible from that player. Oh and they didn't just put in jumbo swatches into the product, they put awesome looking patches, spikes, gloves and RGIII socks! Could you make a product more intriguing for relic/game used hunters? Well why not throw in a Rivet card to boot! Yes those Rivet cards are something, all numbered /5 these cards fan out in three sections and take the Relic/Game Used cards to a whole new level that will make everyone want to catch up.  

Best Design: 2012 Panini Black and Panini Momentum
This year I thought the best two designs came from Panini Black and Momentum. Both high-end products and both provided quality card stock and designs to their customers. Starting with Momentum, they really are nice with the white background covering the base cards. The sleek design lines on the card front complement the white back and give the base cards something to desire for. This runs the same with the inserts and relic/game used card designs. A very clean and neat design for 2012. Panini Black struck a note with the bold black cards and the unique design lines on the cards. It is a really dark look for cards and makes the product very rich looking. Even the common cards look to be $10 or more for the commons they look this good. As mentioned above the gold autographs on the black cards are striking and a must have just for the way they look and not the player. Both of these sets are opposite spectrum's of designs and both have given a very attractive look to their respective 2012 cards.