Unfortunately, while the cards were great in theory and looked awesome, the execution was a little sub-par. First of all, the checklist was lopsided and a little weak. Most notably, Russell Wilson autographs were missing from the product. Many NFL teams were not even represented on the checklist at all. The price for a hobby box was way too expensive too. Even presently, at a very reduced price of about $130 a box (via Blowoutcards.com), I think it's still too expensive to break for only two rookie autographs, one veteran autograph, and one patch card. That's about $43 per autograph, or about $32.50 per hit. Finally, way too many of the cards suffered from really really REALLY bad corner and edge damage.
I was really hoping to see Valor return in 2013, but it didn't. Perhaps Topps was taking some time to re-think what they wanted to do with this product before bringing it back in 2014.
Well, it's 2014, and Valor is back. How does it look? The first previews have me concerned.
The 2014 mockups look way different than the 2012 cards. Change isn't always a bad thing, so long as it's for the better, but I'm not so sure this is for the better.
The first thing which jumps out at you is the background image. Now instead of a fairly blank background the 2014 background will be the team logo on a checkered design. This change wouldn't be so horrible if it stayed within the whole gladiator theme, but I don't think it does. The 2012 cards had a very subtle sky and coliseum background image on the cards which -- in my opinion -- did induce mental images of ancient gladiators, swords, and awesome movie scenes from the movie Gladiator. This logo and checked background doesn't make me think about gladiators at all.
The second thing which worries me are the sticker autographs. Maybe Topps will get the players to sign on-card and the stickers in the previews are there just as a precaution, but one of the great things about the 2012 Valor set were the on-card rookie autographs. Topps needs to continue the on-card trend.
The patch autographs look awesome. You can clearly see the whole gladiator shield design element working well with this cards.
The gladiator theme continues very nicely on the patch cards. While the patches do look very reminiscent of Supreme patch cards, the design element is nice and ancient Roman feeling.
Perhaps the biggest change to Valor will be the pack-out format. Instead of one tin of only six cards, it's now going to be a 20 pack box, four hits per box (autograph, autograph relic, jumbo relic, and patch card), and the base set will now be a whopping 200 cards! This change seems to signal Topps' intent to make this product more of a collectible middle-end product rather than a high-end product. I'm not against this move but I hope Topps continues to focus on the quality of the product. The 2014 base checklist should include all 32 NFL teams. It should have hits for every NFL team. All the top 2014 rookies should have autographs in the product. The price point should be cheaper. And the cards need to be packed in better manner such that they don't all suffer edge and corner damage.
The Valor product line has huge potential, in my opinion. Topps needs to address the problems which kept so many people from buying it in 2012. If they're able to do that, then I think they'll have another successful product to add to their already impressive list of successful products.
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