[durfeecoach1]

Simple question. Is there any good products this year? Looking at pre-sells and seen that Topps is coming out with Topps Chrome mini. So has it really gotten to the point that all these manufactures are just producing tons of garbage and sticking a $100 bill on it and saying that it's collectors telling them that they want all this stuff. I wonder what collector really thinks going back to the 90s is good.

[ZSDOne]

Thus far, the only non-terrible product in my opinion has been base Topps - and I have no idea how much of that is because I got a very good (Odell Beckham, Jr.) auto as one of my two autos and also got a printing plate in my jumbo box.

Topps Valor looked good, but the breaks of the product were generally pretty bad.

Upper Deck isn't bad - again, my opinion is probably set by getting a good auto - Mike Evans (the other two autos were pretty bad though) to save the box - but at least the cards look good.

Everything Panini has delivered horrible value this year - and the large number of 150 Panini "Rewards" cards in hobby product is downright insulting especially when you consider that you have to pay as much in shipping as the likely fair market value of a card - making people pay over $4 to ship the "hit" they failed to deliver with the product is pretty dirty - especially when the "hit" is only a $5 card.

Unfortunately, it seems that Topps has given up on football cards after losing their license.

[durfeecoach1]

Last year's draft class was worse but it seems the products were more balanced and had some value. Is it just a matter of the huge upswing in overproduction or are the checklists and designs just awful?

[savagenate]

I really like the look of Topps Finest this year. Valor as well, though the value wasn't there in the box I bought. Plus with valor, the only difference between hobby and retail is a slight color variation and a whisker, if that, in thickness. I actually thought contenders looks kinda cool this year, though I don't plan on buying boxes as the value almost never matches up. I really like Prizm this year. I'm frustrated with all the parallels though. There's like 12+ in Prizm and Chrome this year, so to do rainbows, its a pain. They are making it impossible for anyone to be a super collector from the sheer volume of cards they are putting out. They are going to kill the hobby at this rate. Buying retail, and singles seem to be the way to go in my opinion. Last year's rookie class got way over hyped, with Montee Ball barely playing, Patterson a bust, and quarterbacks benched. This years is way better.

[bojesphob]

I have to agree with Prizm. Really like some of the variations (Red White Blue, Green neon yellow, red power), but it's overkill. I have enjoyed getting the 3 packs from Target/Walmart, same with Chrome (though Chrome in and of itself overall is a letdown). Finest was my favorite design this year, as I have the non-auto/non-1/1 rainbow of Jordy Nelson and like all of them

Though, I've heard that Panini plans to do something like 20 football sets (or something like that) a year once they have the exclusive in place..... Kind of glad my collecting is getting trimmed out of my budget!

[jaykayzee]

Was really disappointed with Topps for no longer even numbering half of the hits in Prime and Valor
(which seem to be almost the same product, with just different designs on the base cards). I mirror what being said, I really wanted to buy into this years rookie class, but haven't found any product worth my money.

[jplarson]

Topps Finest

[relentless1]

So far, 2014 Topps Valor has been the best looking cards I've came across. You get plenty of rookie cards but the downside is the hits because they are so basic and nothing exciting comes from them. Contenders also look really nice but that's more for building up a base set. One thing about the retail blasters this year is that some (Contenders, Platinum) will come with a guarantee jersey card but from what I've seen online, hardly any of them comes numbered. I'm hoping that Panini will come out with a 2014 Momentum hobby box in the spring.

[bigtrip18]

I'm with a couple others on here, Prizm was by far the best Panini product this year and Topps Jumbo provided me with my best hits.

I would like to see more numbering from Valor, especially on their RPAs, most of which aren't numbered and lead to small sellers despite being very nice cards with good designs.

I tried Topps Chrome, but the base Topps design just doesn't work in Chrome, it's too busy. I'd also say Showcase has been my favorite to collect singles, but would probably not buy the whole box.