The 2004 Total Gridiron Package
Written: Nov 14 '04 (Updated May 28 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The biggest collection of football players in the 2004 NFL season
Cons: A bit repetitive and unimaginative; includes parallel cards
The Bottom Line: Thank you, Abraham (aka openroad), for adding these cards to the database.
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| pmills1210's Full Review: Topps Total Football Collection |
As a collector of football cards, I prefer the sets I collect to be big. The more players it has to offer, the more I want to collect it. In terms of players, Topps has the biggest set of the year with its Topps Total line. The 2004 set offers 605 players on 440 different cards. These cards were released to stores in August 2004, about one month after its base brand set. Topps debuted the Total line in 2003 with over 100 more cards, and almost as many more players. Still, they offer over 150 more players than the 2004 Score set, whose base set has the same amount of cards as Topps Total.
To get that many players into one set, Topps did what it has most often done with its baseball cards -they put several players on one card. Topps put two players on 55 cards in this set, and three players on 55 more. The other 330 cards are of bigger name veterans (220) and rookies (110). The rookie count is only exceeded by Bowman and Leaf Rookies & Stars among 2004 releases. The price is right for Topps Total - it's the lowest among the lines of football cards the company has to offer. I've seen Topps Total in stores for as little for $1 per pack of ten cards, with a box of 36 packs selling for $36. It is possible to obtain these cards online for even less. Topps Total is the way to go for anybody looking for a football card bargain. It's likely for any collector to come close to completing a set through packs for the same price Topps is asking for one pack of its Signature Edition cards ($50). The Topps Total set has a value of $80, according to the November 2004 issue of Beckett Football magazine. A great deal of the value in that set lies with the host of rookies. The highest value of any individual card in that set is with the rookie card of Giants quarterback Eli Manning (#350), who was the first overall selection in the 2004 NFL draft. His card currently books at $8, even though he has seen little playing time as the back-up to Kurt Warner.
The Total cards are still filled with the statistics normally found in the Topps base set, though Total doesn't have all of the stats of the base set. Total gives collectors a player's height and weight, as well as 2003 playing stats and career stats. Also, player bios are just a sentence or two. On the base brand, they are several sentences longer. The photos on front are nice, but none of them are special. The design of the card varies little from 2003's initial gridiron offering. The white border and black frame around the photo return from last year. However, Topps put the Topps Total logo in the photo instead of the player's team logo. The team logo now occupies a spot at the bottom of the frame, to the left of the player's name. The only other new wrinkle on the front is that the player's position now appears on the 2004 now appears on the front, directly above the team logo. The new feature on the back of the card is a diagram of a play with several numbers below it. Those fetures are a part of a game that can be played with the cards. The instructions for the game can be found on a separate card inserted into certain packs.
The Topps Total inserts also don't vary much from the 2003 offerings. One silver bordered parallel card can be found in each pack. Topps made these parallels for every player in the set. Also returning are the Award Winner, Total Production, Total Topps, and team checklist cards. There's a glossy finish to the Award Winner, Total Production, and Total Topps cards, while the checklists have the same glossless finish as the base and parallel cards. Unfortunately, Topps also used the same player photos for the checklists that they used for the base set cards of the chosen players, as they did in 2003. At the top of each box is a set of ten team set stickers, which is again similar to the previous year's set. Four different ones were made, though I can't understand why Topps put ten stickers on each set when the NFL has 32 teams. One of the new inserts included in 2004 Topps Total are the First Edition parallels. First Editions look the same as the base cards, save for a designation of "First Edition" in the upper right hand corner of the photo. Also new in 2004 are a set of three master checklists, for those who don't want to rummage through 32 cards to see what's included in Topps Total. The only other inserts are very hard-to-find signature cards.
The price of these cards and player selection more than compensates for the set's lack of imagination. The Topps Total set with its inserts, though, is very reminiscent of the way Topps used to make its base brand set in the days before they had competition. They had a formula, and stuck with the formula for years at a time. Unlike many other lines of cards Topps has unleashed over the years, I think this one has potential for staying power. I don't think it will stay in the Topps family, though, if they continue to make so few changes from one year to the next. For example, they could have made the team checklists better if they offered a different photo, such as a shot of the team or a shot of the head coach. Also, if they're going to make inserts of some of the previous year's league leaders, perhaps they could think of some new themes. If Topps intends to keep producing Total and make it the brand's biggest set, Total should lose the Total moniker and become the base set. The base set could be given a new name, such as Topps Basic, or simply be eliminated in a market that has long been overcrowded with product. Both Total and the base cards are among the least expensive in the hobby, so putting the best of these two sets together could make a more interesting whole.
I'm glad I started collecting Topps Total in 2003, and I'm glad the line returned in 2004. Topps Total is the best chance for some good, but lesser known, players, including rookies, to find themselves included on a card. Making some changes, though, might help to ensure Total's future viability. Competition has been a fact of life in the football card hobby since Score and Pro Set first made football cards in 1989. The right changes have helped Topps and Score to survive. The rosters of NFL teams are, by far, larger than the rosters of any other major American sport. I know it's not possible to include a card for every player in the NFL, but Topps, once again, is the most inclusive with its Total line. With sets like these, I wonder why some collectors find any attraction in smaller sets with higher prices. As far as I can see, they offer little besides an often decidedly higher price. I enjoy football cards, but I enjoy them on a budget. Topps Total is the best buy for any collecting budget. Much of the rest of the football card hobby is just repetition. In the case of Topps Total football, I say that less means more.
Recommended:
Yes
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pmills1210
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Member: Pat Mills
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