First look: 2012 Topps Platinum Football
By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor
Come September, Paul Wall could very well be busting packs of Topps football cards to renovate that world-famous grill of his. (Is Paul Wall still relevant?)
Topps Platinum football hits the streets on Sept. 3 — chock-full of hard-signed autographs, rare Refractors and plenty of shiny things to satisfy even the most discerning of rap artists. The manufacturer recently announced that each 20-card box will deliver a total of three hits (two hard-signed Rookie Cards and one autographed Rookie Refractor patch card). Collectors can also expect the investment to yield one Black Refractor Rookie Card parallel and one Platinum Die Cut Rookie Card.
Sans-hit single packs come with a five-card formula comprised of three veteran base cards, one Chrome Rookie Card, and one veteran ruby parallel. With Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III headlining this year’s Draft class, the various parallel and new tough-to-pull finds in Platinum makes for an interesting chase.
Two-per-box Rookie Refractor autographs, for instance, feature 50 newcomer subjects in the following variations:
- Black Refractor (numbered to 50)
- Blue Refractor (numbered to 99)
- *Purple Refractor (numbered to 25)
- *Gold Refractor Die Cut parallel (numbered to 10)
- *Red Refractor (numbered to five)
- Superfracator (1/1)
- Printing Plates (1/1)
- Platinum die Cut Rookie Autograph (1/1)
* = New variation
Aside from the guaranteed autographs inside each box, the product has a number of multi-signature, multi-swatch finds to be found:
- Dual-autographed Rookie Cards (numbered to 25)
- Triple-autographed Rookie Cards (numbered to 10)
- Hexagraph two-sided Rookie Cards (numbered to 10)
- Dual-autographed dual patch cards (numbered to 25)
- Dual-autographed Rookie Refractor Jumbo Patch Book Cards (1/1)
- Autographed Refractor Platinum Patch Cards (numbered to five)
Materially speaking, 2012 Platinum will feature one-per-case Platinum Rookie Patches in addition to the host of numbered Refractor Patch variations. Topps is set to include 40 key rookies and 15 veterans on the swatch-happy side of the set.
Autographed Rookie Refractor Patch Cards
- Black Refractor (numbered to 125)
- *Green Refractor (numbered to 99)
- Blue Refractor (numbered to 25)
- Purple Refractor (numbered to 10)
- *Gold Refractor (numbered to five)
- Red Refractor NFL Shield (1/1)
- Superfractor (1/1)
Autographed Veteran Refractor Patch Cards
- Purple Refractor (numbered to 25)
- Gold Refractor (numbered to 10)
- Red Refractor NFL Shield (numbered to five)
- Superfractor (1/1)
* = New variation
Stay tuned to Beckett.com to see more preview images and find out what else Paul Wall might be able to put in his grill from 2012 Topps Platinum.
And to clarify, this is Paul Wall:
