Seeing Topps Inception 2015 Football brought back memories from 15 or 20 years ago, talking to some of the guys who broke cases long before it was fashionable. Guys like Gary Walter and Chuck Juliana would often say those cards numbered to 100 or less were great long-term plays and would be in huge demand way down the line.
Well, as we have seen, much of that has become true and there are even threads on message boards with titles such as “Super Sweet 90’s inserts”. That is because you might not even find all the serial numbered cards of players such as Omar Vizquel and Andrew Galarraga, and when those come up for sale, the prices may be out of sight. There is an even a collector who has offered several times book price if you can offer him a 2001 Topps Chrome Retrofractor of Fernando Tatis.
When you have a seven-card pack which retails for over $100 and there are only two commons in each box, it’s not hard to imagine these base cards, many of which often feature big name players, as being very much in demand down the line.
While the base cards are very in the early days of the product release, I wonder if some of those very limited base cards may just be the future.
Released last month, Topps Inception also includes: one base green parallel, another base parallel, two autographs or auto relics and one Jumbo relic or patch card. Autographs are on card and Topps promised no redemption cards, which was great news for collectors.
Inception did come out to strong reviews, at least locally as my local card store (Triple Cards, Plano TX) reported selling out his two-case order almost immediately at a little over $100 per box. Meanwhile leading online retailers are between $90-95 before shipping.
The base cards show the player photo set against a multi-colored background. The player’s name and position are at the bottom while the back has biographical information, a brief blurb and seasonal/career statistics.
Here’s what we pulled:
Base Cards: Nick Foles, Toby Gerhart
Green Parallel (#d to 150): Teddy Bridgewater
Red Parallel (#d to 75): Colin Kaepernick
Rookie Relics Patch (#d to 125): Bryce Petty
Rookie Jumbo Patch Autographs: Tyler Lockett
Autograph Silver (#d to 10): Brett Hundley
Well, we do realize the chances of Hundley replacing Aaron Rodgers as the Packers quarterback anytime soon is about the same of me dating Taylor Swift but he’s been impressive so far and could well develop into a star somewhere else in future years. I wish his autograph was more than just a “B-” and an “H-“.
Lockett returned a kickoff for a touchdown in his first game so I can’t complain about the two autographs in the box.
With most cards in the product generally somewhat limited, two on card autographs promised and a decent rookie class, Inception isn’t a bad choice if you’re looking for a product to break.
You can see boxes, singles and box break spots on eBay here.