2011 Topps Rising Rookies

Topps Rising Rookies is the first Topps product I've gotten to this year and I knew what to expect. This is the product that will rival Panini Prestige. I will review Prestige a little bit later; these reviews are in the order that I opened the products so far this year. Obviously, this product is based on the rookie class and should give us a good idea how hard the people at Topps have been working.

Price Paid: $73.90
Sale Value (on ebay): $37.00

Design: The base cards are simple action photos with a football swoop at the bottom with the player's name and a dash of the team colors. If you like good action shots and simple base cards like I do then these are nice. Nothing amazing, but nice. They are not very collectible;however, they are at least easy on the eyes and worth having stashed in my collection (I would keep my favorite team's set). On the other hand, I did not care for the rookie card design. I know it was hard for them without the NCAA approval, but it is still not my cup of tea. I really do not like close ups of player's faces on my cards. The team logo at the bottom is a decent touch, though. Furthermore, the inserts were mostly very lame other than the Playmakers which were the only ones to stand out. 3.5/5

Checklist: It is a relatively deep checklist with more to it than just rookies. The base rookie autographs leave a little bit to be desired. Additionally, the diamond-shaped patch autograph cards are very nice and the Playmakers hits look great as well. The Draft Selections jersey cards are the ones you will want to avoid. They are to be expected in a mid/lower end product like this, though. 4/5

Fun: With 5 rookies per pack and a parallel in every pack, you will stay entertained. That's 24 packs of rookie and parallel goodness with a dash of two autographs and four total hits. I had a lot of fun opening this and younger collectors should flock to a product like this. 4.5/5

What I got:
Tons of rookies
20 Gold Rookies (Locker)
4 Blue Rookies /1399 (Mallett)
Mardy Gilyard Jersey /10
Austin Pettis auto /260
Ray Lewis Playmakers Jersey
Tandon Doss auto






Overall/Value: To me, this one looks like a big hit or miss. At the price, it won't kill someone to buy a box of this stuff and not get much. For what it's worth, you get a lot of rookies, parallels and at least four hits. I would not buy this product again and at the same time I wouldn't knock it either. 3/5

My Break/Tilt: What I got is probably around average for this product. There are probably some a little worse off and some a little better. Getting a huge hit out of this is unlikely and it may not be likely to make 100% of your money back. There are 1/1, inserts, and some veteran auto cards that will make or break you here. 3/5

Overall: 18/25 D/D+