Once upon a time, back when a pack of football cards that cost even $10 a pack was unthinkable, Stadium Club was Topps' high end brand. Things are a bit different in 2008, but Topps is hoping that by marrying the super photography that was the brand's trademark with the decidedly modern twist of a relic (memorabilia) card or autograph in every pack, the hobby will be ready for a triumphant return.
Hobby boxes of 2008 Topps Stadium Club Football contain six-card packs. Each box should yield five relics, five autographs, ten numbered rookie cards and ten parallels.
Base Cards and Parallels
During Stadium Club's heyday, it became known as the home of the best action photography Topps had to offer. That spirit is alive in its new incarnation, with crisp photos - utilizing both vertical and horizontal layouts - that bleed off of three sides of the base cards. Team color bars at the card bottoms contain all player and team information.
An even 100 NFL veterans make up half the base set, followed by 100 2008 rookies on cards numbered to 1799. The vets get 1st Day Issue parallels with a foil stamp that are numbered to 1499. All of the base cards have Photographer's Proof parallels that can be identified by a foil film strip and come in regular (#'d to 199), Gold (#'d to 50) and Platinum (1-of-1) versions.
More than half of the rookie cards have autographed variations that will be covered in more detail in the next section.
I opened half a box (five packs) of 2008 Stadium Club to review and found 15 veteran base cards, plus five 1st Day Issue parallels. Rookie content included four regular RC's and a Photographer's Proof card of cornerback Leodis McKelvin.
Autographed Cards
As mentioned above, a majority of the rookies included in the set signed variations of their rookie cards, and with signatures falling 1:2 packs, the odds of finding a few are good. Signed stickers are used, but they look good placed in a cut-out in the middle of the cards.
Regular rookie autos are unnumbered, with Foil versions numbered to 50, Gold versions numbered to 25 and 1-of-1 Platinum versions also in the mix. Topps says each box should yield a top 10 draft pick autograph.
A retro element comes in the form of Beam Team Autographs, which feature 30 NFL players on the 1992 insert design. The checklist is a mix of rookies and veterans, and the cards can be found in the same parallel levels as the rookie signatures.
Topps also pays tribute to the most famous Stadium Club football card of all (and one of the most famous spelling errors in hobby history) by inserting signed 1991 Brett Favre rookie cards. These buyback cards are hobby exclusive and randomly inserted in what one expects would be a very limited quantity.
My five review packs produced two rookie autographs: a base level Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a Gold Joe Flacco numbered 25/25.
Relic Cards
Beam Team Relics show off the same 1992 design as their autographed counterparts but substitute a small game-worn swatch from one of 25 players. The much larger memorabilia set is Stadium Club Impact Relics, which boasts a large checklist and cards that come in single, dual and triple versions.
Three single Impact Relics graced my review packs. Cards of DeMeco Ryans and rookie Matt Forte were numbered to 1499, while a Marshawn Lynch card was numbered to 549.
The Last Word
The new version of Stadium Club Football is an interesting experiment. The stellar photography and the large number of relics and autographs should appeal to a wide range of collectors, though the relatively high price (boxes should run $140 or more) means some people who want to put together the whole set to enjoy the photos could be priced out. Still, it's great to see this brand back in action and it should have its share of fans, old and new.