First and foremost, I'd like to thank our sponsors at Topps for providing us with this box.

http://www.blowoutcards.com/images/football/2009toppsmagicFB.jpg

24 packs per box
8 cards per pack
SRP: 72.99 - 79.99

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS:
- THREE AUTOGRAPHS PER HOBBY BOX!
- TOPPS PRESENTS 250 AUTOGRAPH SUBJECTS - THE MOST EVER AT A RATE OF 3 PER BOX!
- EVERY PLAYER IN THE BASE SET - 250 IN ALL - IS REPRESENTED WITH AN AUTOGRAPH PARALLEL VERSION!
- 1 PER PACK MINI PARALLELS - ALSO AVAILABLE IN A BLACK BORDER VERSION!
- ALSO LOOK FOR BUYBACK MAGIC CARDS - ORIGINAL MAGIC CARDS FROM 1951!
- 11 INSERTS PER BOX!

BASE MAGIC CARDS - 250 SUBJECTS - 8 PER PACK!
Abracadabra! 200 Veterans, Rookies and Retired Legends and 50 short printed subjects in their college uniforms on 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" 20 pt. card stock.

AUTOGRAPHED MAGIC CARDS - 3 PER BOX!
- Base Magic Cards - Hocus pocus! Every player in the base set - 250 in all - is represented with an autograph parallel version!
- Alumni Dual - 30 players who went to the same college are paired up with their autographs on 15 cards. #'d to 25.
- Alumni Triple - Three time's the charm! 10 cards featuring 3 college alumni and 3 autographs. #'d to 25.
- '48 Magic - 10 high profile players including Jim Brown, Dan Marino, Adrian Peterson, and Terry Bradshaw with the signatures on the 1948 E-Magic design. #'d to 10.

MINI PARALLEL MAGIC CARDS - 250 SUBJECTS - 1 PER PACK!
Presto-chango! The entire base set is paralleled in a Magic original sized (2-1/16 x 2-15/16) insert. Available in a Black Border version.

BUYBACK MAGIC CARDS
Shazam! Topps takes a ride on the time machine and brings back original Magic cards from 1951!

INSERT MAGIC CARDS - 11 PER BOX!
- All-Americans - 25 current players who were named to All-American squads during their college years.
- Alumni - 2 stars from the same college on one card!
- Magic Thrills - 20 big Bowl moments!
- '48 Magic - The '48 Magic design featuring 15 NFL current and past stars, and 15 historic moments and personalities from 1948.

MAGIC BOX LOADER - 1 PER BOX!
Voila! Collectors will learn all the interesting little-known details of Topps 1951 Magic Set with this informative insert page!

WHAT WE PULLED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr4eKqvPsDU

Base: 154/250 (61.6%)
Dupes: 0

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00026.jpg

Mini (21)
Mini Black (3):

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00027.jpg

All-American (3): DeAngelo Williams, Shonn Greene, Matt Ryan

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00028.jpg

Alumni Duos (2): Frank Gore/Willis McGahee, Chad Pennington/Randy Moss

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00029.jpg

'48 Magic (5): Bo Jackson, Dewey Defeats Truman, Dan Marino, Jeremy Maclin, Chris Johnson
Magic Thrills (1): 2009 Fiesta Bowl

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00030.jpg

Brandon Marshall Autograph

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00031.jpg

Dwayne Bowe Autograph

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00032.jpg

Xavier Omon Autograph

http://www.sportscardforum.com/photoplog/images/1000/medium/1_CCF07152009_00033.jpg

Final Ratings (out of 5):

Base Set – 4
Fun – 2.5
Overall Design – 3.5
Value – 3.5
Rebuy – 3.5

Total – 17/25 (68%)

Topps Magic is like a illusion. It's designed to make you believe it's one thing, when in reality, it's something else. It's nice to see Topps trying to take chances by introducing new products, but all these sets based on older sets isn't working (see Topps Mayo). This releases really feels like a lackadaisical attempt to produce another product to just put more cards out there.

Without discussing the basic card designs as I know they are a take from the original set, one issue i have is no rookie indicator on the rookies. Since all players are pictured in their college uniforms, unless you know all the rookies, you have no idea if you have a rookie or not. Accordingly, all the cards show the school's nickname on the front, so I'm curious, is this meant to be a college set or a pro set.

There are positives to this release. Not many products offer 3 autos per box, which is a plus. However, for the unnumbered versions, I wonder what the print runs are on them. The card fronts are portraits of the players instead of generic pictures. At least it is different that most cards in that regards. And best of all, no duplicates. Really good for set collectors.

In the end, I can't help but feel like this is a throwaway set that wasn't completely thought through by Topps. With the let down of Mayo and now Magic, perhaps it's time for Topps to really sit down and listen to what the collectors want. Maybe a return of Draft Picks & Prospects and it's affordable price point is in order instead of these retro sets?

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful sponsors at Topps for giving us the opportunity to open and review this product. If interested in more information on this product or any others, be sure to check them out at www.topps.com (http://www.topps.com).

This product confuses me as someone who is only a slightly casual football collector. I notice everyone and their college uniforms and that may be what confuses me. The retro design is always nice but I think it would have looked better with their pro jerseys. Just like what was stated above, no rookie indicator. I know who Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Bowe are but is the last guy a rookie or some 3rd string running back I've never heard of? I don't know.

I agree with you 100% Kevin

Thanks to Topps for the box to review!

I haven't been able to break any of this yet, but I really want to...to me, this is a great set. I love the throwback designs (although this one is a little bland...I loved the Mayo design) and I'm a big college fan...winner winner chicken dinner for me! But based on the love it/hate it reviews, it's obvious this set isn't for everybody. Set collectors and college fans love it, high-end/big hit/investment/pro uni/pro team collectors don't.

I like the fact that Topps is doing a throwback set, but I agree that it is tough to really distinguish which players are rookies and which are not.

Thanks for the great break Tony!! And thanks to Topps for the box!

Jason

I'm not a FB collector, Biut I like the Old time look of the base set..and no dupes is always a plus for set collectors like you mentioned..It does look like a College themed release. Thanx to Topps for making the product available to us for the review !

Nice box and review.

Bringing back Draft Picks & Prospects would be an awesome thing.

Looks like everyone is trying to go retro with cards these days. These ones are not very good compared to others (A&G and Champ's). Nice try though, thanks for the box Topps!

Nice break and review! Thanks Topps for providing this for review!

Darin

Seems pretty average, but three autos per box is nice.

this is a great product for the college fb collector

For college collectors this is a great product. Also, this is another nice product for the TTM/IP guys as they have that same dull finish as A&G products.

I personally like the set.

Nice break and review! 3 autos is definitely an attraction to this product. Thanks Topps!

you guys gave this a 2.5 in Fun, which i hope is not the case. i am most interested because rarely can you find so many players in their college uni's without getting press pass or the like.

but i found a good deal on a box and bought it, should arrive soon :)

I think this looks like a pretty cool set actually. Are the autographs on the card, or stickers?