Product Review: 2012 Topps Strata Football

Wow is the first word that came to mind about the 2012 Topps Strata product. This was mainly due to the Clear Cut Jumbo Autographed Relics. Those are Beasts to look at, and the Patch versions are ridiculously beautiful. This was one product I needed to rip. Now buying a box of Strata just for the Clear Cut Autograph is not really a good idea as you not always going to get a nice patch or multicolor design, some are just one color jersey swatches. But don't be fooled either as the product has two other hits that can net you some decent players.

Each box comes along with the One Clear Cut Autographed Relic, One Rookie Base Variation Autograph, One Memorabilia card and One Rookie Die-Cut card. The Base set is 150 cards deep and has five different Parallels to chase down. All of the 2012 Rookies are included in the Autographs, Relics and Base Cards. 35 of these rookies made it to the Rookie Die-Cut set which are a nice touch to this set.

This is a relatively inexpensive box to purchase as they are ranging from $79-$99 a box depending on where you buy from. And with the Clear Cut Autographs being as hot as they are, it is sure worth the money. here is how I did on my box:


Base Cards: 67
Base Card Rookies: 34 (RGIII, Doug Martin, Russell Wilson, T. Richardson)
Base Parallel: Whitney Mercilus Gold /99
Rookie Die-Cut: Kendall Wright
Rookie Relic: Isaiah Pead Patch /75
Rookie Autograph: Dre Kirkpatrick (Redemption)
Rookie Clear Cut Autograph: Trent Richardson Green Parallel Patch Autograph (Redemption)

So overall I did very well on my box. The Richardson Patch Autograph is a great pull from this product even though it is a redemption. Haven't had more than one redemption in a box in a long time until today with the Kirkpatrick Autograph, but I'm not going to complain on these. The Pead patch is a nice little hit as it has a little bit of the Rams patch showing and is a low number. Also pulling the RGIII rookie card is good too as him and Luck are not showing up in each box and some with neither of them. This box brought in a total of 34 rookie cards which is very impressive from a product. I was impressed with the overall design of Strata and the cards felt like a mid-level card which is nice to see from Topps. One thing to watch for is that the product does not use filler cards so you can easily check through an open box for the Clear Cut Autograph or the Relic with ease, so watch out if your buying by the pack on this one.

Until I receive the Richardson I won't know how it will look with the Patch, but hopefully from the other players I've seen in person and online it should be a sweet looking card. I would recommend this product for anyone looking for a nice looking hit in a decent price range.

Gambler Overall Rating: 4.4 out of 5
Cost: 5/5
Autographs: 4/5
Memorabilia: 5/5
Parallels: 3.5/5
Rookies: 5/5
Fun Aspect: 4/5