2013 Topps Five Star Football

Returning for its fourth year, 2013 Topps Five Star Football is promising the usual array of on card card autographs and patch cards with a heavy emphasis on the 2013 draft class. A true ultra-high end product, each pack will include five hits including four autographs: one signed rookie card, one base rookie autographed patch card, one autographed veteran/retired or autographed patch card, one autographed relic book or dual autographed card, one jumbo jersey relic or patch card, and three base cards.

Due out April 30, Five Star is Topps’ latest effort to appeal to collectors clamoring for value on the secondary market who demand on card autographs with a quality checklist and a limited number of base cards. Boxes are being pre-sold now for around $425.

Topps recently released some fresh images of what collectors can expect from some of the autograph and relic cards (see gallery below). A checklist has not yet been released.

Five Star Futures will feature on card autographs of 40 premier rookies and will include a Rainbow (#’d to 25) and Five Star (1/1) parallel. 30 rookies have signed a Quotable (#’d to 25) insert that includes an inscription, some of which have proven popular in previous year’s releases. 25 veteran and retired stars have signed cards as well and Gold (#’d to 25), Rainbow (#’d to 15), and Five Star (1/1) parallels. 20 of the veterans have also provided Quotable (#’d to 10) inscriptions this year as well. Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco has signed fifty cards commemorating his performance in the game.

Up to 40 members of the rookie class will again be highlighted on autographed patch cards with Gold (#’d to 55), Rainbow jumbo patch (#’d to 25), and Five Star jumbo patch (1/1) parallels. 20 veteran and retired stars will also have autographed patch cards with similar parallels but with slightly different numbering: Gold (#’d to 40), Rainbow (#’d to 25), and Five Star (1/1).

Signature Book Cards feature on card autographs and three relics that will draw from 30 rookies and 30 veteran and retired players, with Gold (#’d to 15 rookies; #’d to 10 veteran/retired), Rainbow (#’d to 5), and Five Star (1/1) parallels that will all feature patches. In addition to the 3 piece book, the rookies will also be offered with a 4 piece book with identical parallels. If that were not all, Topps again turns to the rookies for Dual Autographed Patch Book Cards (#’d to 15) that include an on card autograph of both players along with a patch relic with Rainbow (#’d to 5) and Five Star (1/1) parallels.

Thirty top rookies will have a book card in 2013 Topps Five Star Football that includes an on card autograph and laundry tag (#’d to 5) with a Five Star (1/1) parallel. Quadra-graph Book Cards (#’d to 10) will have ten different combinations of four on card autographs with a Five Star (1/1) parallel. Five Six Signature Book Cards (#’d to 5) and three Eight Signature Book Cards (#’d to 5) will also be produced. 25 Dual NFL Shield (1/1) cards will be produced, each containing an on card autograph and NFL logo of two of the year’s top rookies. 26 dual rookie autograph cards (#’d to 20) with Rainbow (#’d to 5) and Five Star (1/1) will draw together two of the league’s best prospects. Superstar Combo Cards (#’d to 10) will feature two on card autographs of rookie, veteran, and retired players with a Five Star (1/1) parallel.

Fifty rookies, current stars, and legends will have jumbo relic cards with three patch parallels: Gold (#’d to 25), Rainbow (#’d to 5), and Five Star (1/1). 5o Letter Relic Cards (1/1) have always been popular with player collectors, and this year’s issue should prove no exception. 30 Dual Patch Cards (#’d to 15), 20 Triple Patch Cards (#’d to 10), 15 Quad Patch Cards (#’d to 10) are included and each will have a Five Star (1/1) parallel, while 10 Octo Patch Cards (#’d to 5) will round out the offering. Flacco will have his own series of relic cards featuring a relic of a Super Bowl used ball (#’d to 20) with Five Star (1/1) parallel, and fragments from the pylon including the NFL Shield (#’d to 2) and Super Bowl patch (#’d to 16) with Five Star (1/1) parallels. A Rookie Yearbook Card will also be produced with patches from each player on a giant-sized book card featuring the attendees of the 2013 NFLPA Rookie Premier class.

See a full gallery of preview images directly below. Click here to see 2013 Topps Five-Star listings for boxes and more on eBay (bookmark for future reference).