SCF Official Review: 2013 Topps Archives

[Enigma]

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



24 packs per box
8 cards per pack
Current Retail Price (online): $64.99 - $84.99

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

BASE CARDS
Base Cards (200 subjects) Featuring Retired Stars, Veterans and Top Rookies on 1959, 1976, 1985, and 1986 designs.

PARALLEL CARDS
Archives Gold Parallel (1:12)
Base Card Printing Plates - 1 of 1 Hobby Only!

FAN FAVORITES AUTOGRAPHS
The Fan Favorites autographs make their long-awaited return in football! These hard-signed cards feature such NFL franchise favorites as "Ickey" Woods, Mercury Morris, Ben Coates, "Flipper" Anderson, Christian Okoye and Eric Allen on designs from their era, but with all-new photography. There are up to 75 different players in all!

AUTOGRAPHS
Topps Originals - Up to 10 stars will sign 10 copies of an original card. Sequentially #'d to 10 Hobby Only

Framed Autographed 1988 TOPPS Minis - Up to 25 players sign mini verisons of the 1988 Topps design. Seq #'d to 25 Hobby Only

1984 TOPPS Autograph Book Cards - Up to 10 book cards featuring two of the hottest rookies from the 2012 season on each card. Seq #'d 1 of 1 Hobby Only

Autographed USFL Buybacks - Up to 10 players sign their original USFL cards from the 1980s. Seq #'d to 10

1980s Celebrity Cut Signatures

INSERTS
- 1970 Topps Glossy (25 subjects) (1:6)
- 1,000-Yard Club Rack Pack Inserts (25 subjects) (1:8)
- 1968 Topps Stand-Ups (15 subjects)
- Topps Originals - Topps buybacks, foil stamped with "TOPPS ORIGINALS" logo.
- Topps Originals Redemptions - Good for graded/un-graded original cards, packs and complete sets.
- Topps Vault Redemptions - Good for items sold on the Topps Vault.
- Uncut Sheet Redemptions - Good for an uncut sheet from the base set.
- Insert Printing Plates (130 cards) Hobby Only

OVERSIZED CARDS
1965 Tall Boy Autographs - Based on the 1965 Topps design and built to the same size, these cards will feature up to 25 subjects and On-Card autographs, inserted as box loaders. Seq #'d to 25. Hobby Only!

Touched By Greatness Oversized Autographs - These oversized cards include an actual handprint and autograph from one of the NFL's Fan Favorites. Seq #'d to 10

BOX BOTTOM CARDS
1985 Topps Box Bottom Cards of top players will be printed directly onto the bottom of the Hobby box, just as was done in the 80's, featuring the 1985 Topps design with a red border. Hobby Only!

WHAT WE PULLED



Box Bottom Cards (unscanned): Russell Wilson, Drew Brees, Alfred Morris, Arian Foster

Base - 173/200 (86.5%)
SPs (6)
Gold Parallel (2)







Originally supposed to be a 2012 product, Topps "kickoffs" the 2013 collecting season with Archives. Popular as a baseball product, Archives goes back in time and uses previous card designs with today's players. One noticeable issue deals with the rookies. There are no rookie card logo on the cards, though the stats on the back refer to the player's college career. That means they are rookies. However, since it is a 2013 product, they cannot be classified as rookies on the card. Confusing, eh? There is a gold parallel version for each and variations on some of them.

1000 Yard Club (3)
1970 Topps Glossy (4)
1968 Topps Stand-Ups (2)



There are three inserts in Archives that turn back the clock. 1000 Yard Club appears back in the 80s and early 90s. Instead of focusing on the backs and receivers who eclipsed the 1000 yard mark in 2012, the players are featured from a previous season of making the accomplishment. Topps Glossy is a throwback from 1970. Cards are cut in a rounded fashion and are smaller than a regular card. Finally, there are the Topps Stand-Ups from 1968. Players have a cut out that goes around their picture so that they can "come to life."

Fan Favorites Brian Sipe Autograph (on-card)



Fan Favorites Steve Bartkowski Autograph (on-card)



Each box should yield 2 Fan Favorite Autographs on average. These are on-card signatures. There are other various signed cards available ranging from USFL Buybacks, Booklets and even Mini Helmet Redemptions.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Base - 4.5/5
Design - 4.25/5
Fun - 3.5/5
Value - 3/5
Rebuy - 3/5

Overall - 18.25/25 (73%)

NPN Information

NPN 2013 Topps Archives Football
PO Box 2008
Duryea PA 18642

Limit 1 Request Per Household

Postmarked By: 7/17/13
Received By: 7/24/13

Canada Skills: 11 + 22 x 3 - 9 = ?

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful sponsors at Topps for giving us the opportunity to open and review this release. For more information on all of their products, you can visit them today at www.topps.com.

Cards are available for request. Please PM with the card or cards of interest. Cards will remain available for 30 days for the time this review is posted. As always, only VIPs may make requests for the first 48 hours.

[11chaos]

Not bad.

I like the design but wish they could have incorporated this (2013) rookies into the mix somehow, maybe as redemptions. Reg, say less than 100 per player. Gold - less than 25, and Platinum - Auto'd #'d to 10. Only an idea of course.