It’s been a while since a Topps branded box of football cards was on the market and while 2023 Composite isn’t quite the same as a fully licensed product full of current stars and rookies, it is kind of a landmark issue.
Topps grabbed some of its own brands off the shelf, made use of its deals with a few 2023 rookie quarterbacks and dipped back into the past for the bulk of its checklist. The result isn’t perfect, but you have to give Fanatics/Topps props for the guts to try getting in the game even if their NFL license is still a couple of years away.
Composite Hobby boxes have 12 packs, with eight cards per pack. The enticing draw is the three autographed cards, with a shot at CJ Stroud, Will Levis, Anthony Richardson and Bryce Young rookie cards along with a decent roster of former stars.
There are also blasters, hangars and mega boxes with their own exclusive elements.
We had to grab a Hobby and rip just to take a gander at what Topps did with its first significant football card product since Cam Newton and Todd Gurley were the NFL’s big offensive weapons.
The checklist is mostly former players who were active in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s, although we did pull a Fred Biletnikoff. The good news is you’ll probably get multiple cards of at least two of those rookies in your box—and maybe an autograph. We pulled six regular cards of Richardson—and a serial numbered autograph– along with a Stroud insert and Chrome Black base card.
The cards are produced in sort of a Brady Bunch-like mix of Topps brands. We get a look at the new Topps Midnight and Resurgence as well as the familiar Chrome, Cosmic Chrome, Finest, Heritage, Chrome Black, Gallery and Allen & Ginter.
The shiny to non-shiny ratio was about 70-30.
One drawback we noticed was that the Chrome Black cards seem to have a slight curl to them and since Stroud was one of our pulls there, that was a little disappointing.
While some may not like a hodgepodge of brands in a singular product, I’d argue that this one is actually saved by it. The sheer variety and some snazzy colored designs keep it from being just a set of mostly former players in one design that gets stale after about three packs. But yes, if you open this and think Panini Chronicles, you’re not altogether wrong.
Some manufacturers that don’t have league licensing and try to produce cards for that sport wind up making some really awful cards, with photos that accentuate their inability to use team marks. The first thing you notice with many of them is that the photos are devoid of logos.
It’s obvious with Composite, too, but the variety of the brands in use is what you first notice here—not the fact that the logo is missing from the helmet. Football uniforms tend to have more color than baseball, too, so the missing logos aren’t as noticeable. Topps was also smart to use a fairly large number of photos that were shot from straight on or at a slight angle. That way your eyes aren’t immediately drawn to what’s missing.
In addition to the mix of base cards, here are some of the highlights from the box:
Autographs
Chrome Anthony Richardson RC #/299 (sticker)
Chrome Green parallel Fred Taylor #/99 (sticker)
Chrome Black Donnie Shell (unnumbered)
Low numbered parallels
Resurgence Green Bo Jackson #/20
Gallery Modern Artists Steve Young #/25
Chrome Gold parallel Ray Lewis #/50
Finest Blue Jevon Kearse #/99
Other inserts, parallels, etc.
Chrome Black Purple parallel Donovan McNabb #/150
Finest Purple Emmitt Smith parallel #/250
Topps Gallery Modern Artists Steve Young #/250
Chrome Negative Refractor: Jim Kelly
Chrome Refractor Steve Young (unnumbered)
Resurgence Silver Anthony Richardson (unnumbered)
Resurgence Grounded Blue Chris Johnson (unnumbered)
Grounded: Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Stephen Davis, Frank Gore
All-Etch: Bryce Young, Doug Flutie
Voltaic: CJ Stroud, Chad Johnson
Topps Gallery Frame: Troy Aikman (unnumbered)
Topps Gallery Modern Artists: Rod Smith (unnumbered)
1973 Style: Zach Thomas, James Harrison
1974 Flashbacks: Rod Smith
Spotless Stats: Fred Taylor
There are autographed patch cards in Composite, but we didn’t pull any of those.
We didn’t land a huge score but there’s enough here to feel OK about. Composite feels a little like a semi high-end product and Topps’ decision to release it just as the new season is cranking up is a good move, even if most of the players on the checklist are drawing an NFL pension and the “rookies” are about to enter their second season.
Is it worth the current price tag for a Hobby box? It’s questionable unless you have a little luck but there are certainly worse products out there on which to launch a Hail Mary box rip and it was fun to see a Topps football product again.
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