Though the Co-Signers name got its start as an autographed insert in various Topps brands of the past, it's had a chance to get its feet wet as a brand of its own in multiple sports. The 2008-09 basketball iteration attempts to add some new wrinkles to the established formula while retaining the autographed content collectors have come to expect.
Hobby boxes of 2008-09 Topps Co-Signers Basketball contain 10 six-card packs. On average, each box should yield two autographed cards, one of which will be a Co-Signers dual-signed card.
Base Cards and Parallels
Silver backgrounds have become the signature look for Co-Signers cards in any sport, and that trend holds true for the 100 veterans and 40 rookies pictured in the 2008-09 base set. The overall look is simple and clean, with a white sunburst pattern behind the player photo, the team name running along the left side and team and position info along the bottom.
The rookie cards are numbered to 2008 and should fall four per box. That's exactly what I found in a random hobby box I opened, along with 40 of the 100 veterans.
Seven levels of parallels border on overkill, especially since the numbering only ranges between 299 and one. Bronze, Silver and Gold levels are followed by lower-numbered "Hyper" versions of the same, all topped off with the one-of-one Hyper Platinum level.
The Hyper cards look really great, utilizing a unique pattern that really catches the light. I pulled a Hyper Bronze David Lee from my box plus five other parallels.
Autographed Cards
The top selling point of Co-Signers Basketball is its namesake set of dual autographs. This season the checklist is deeper than ever, with 70 different combinations of NBA players that run the gamut from rookies to legends.
The remainder of the autographed content in the set is strictly focused on the 2008-09 rookie class. Thirty newcomers signed variations of their base rookie cards that combine to fall one per box. In my case, it was an autograph of Memphis product Chris Douglas-Roberts numbered to 350.
Rare Tri-Signers cards can be found one per 20-box case and put four rookie autographs on one card. And as the name implies, Quad Signers goes one more step and squeezes in a fourth rookie signature.
The About.com sample box hit the five-percent chance and produced a Tri-Signers card. Numbered to just 36, it has signatures from Danilo Gallinari, Joe Alexander and Anthony Randolph.
Insert Cards
Though they used to be the parallels in Co-Signers sets, Changing Faces cards return here as inserts with a creative new gimmick. Each card is actually two mini-cards joined together - one card has a cardboard "plug" and one has a hollow "socket" - with one player on each card. The cards can be taken apart and any left side can be combined with any right side so collectors can customize their own inserts.
All of the Changing Faces cards come in the same seven levels as the base set parallels, though the numbering scheme is somewhat different. My review box yielded eight in all, the rarest being a Hyper Silver card numbered to 99.
The Last Word
This season, Co-Signers Basketball does what you'd like to see every set of sports cards do: keep what's best from previous versions and improve in other areas. The autographs remain the big draw, but the base cards look nicer and the Changing Faces inserts show off some nice originality.
Full boxes seem like the way to go to guarantee the autographs and should run between $75 and $85. Topps has made sure Co-Signers is more than just a one-trick pony, and basketball collectors should enjoy it even more as a result.