I can't remember the last time I watched football games waiting for the next great play to be made and fully expecting a rookie to be involved. Before the NFL Draft the talk about Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf was enough to get people excited waiting for their initial football card releases. I, on the other hand, am a realist, and I knew that these rookie QB's, no matter how good they were in college, were not going to take over losing teams and make them great in one season.
While I was right about the Colts and Bolts, I definitely didn't scout out enough of the other possibilities this NFL season had in store for us. I knew about guys like Randy Moss, Fred Taylor, and Robert Edwards, but it was too easy to get caught up in Leaf/Manning Mania. Put this great rookie class together with some great looking football releases and an NBA lockout and we truly have Football Frenzy. This week we'll be looking at not only the hot new sets we've seen so far, but some of the rookies that fill these sets.
| Randy Moss has quickly become the man to collect this year and his Upper Deck issue is already bringing prices as high as $50. | |
As we go to press this week the release calendar is loaded with more football releases through the month of November. We'll look at what has already been released and maybe update this feature in a month or so.
1998 Ultra Football
As an early release Fleer got us started with Ultra and the popular, short-printed rookie cards. Add in Gold parallels, Platinum parallels numbered to 66 and some great photography and they had a hit.
| 1998 Ultra Football |
| Top Priced Single | Moss, Manning, Leaf are all $50 |
| Top Priced Insert | The same three are at $300 in Platinum |
| The Numbers | 25 cards at 1 per 3 packs 13 are $6 or more 7 are $12 and up |
| Missing in Action | Batch, Ahman Green, Griese, more but series two is coming soon! |
1998 Score Football
They started off with a tease (Rookie Preview) where we got to see just two rookies (Manning and Leaf of course), but then things got interesting. As Pinnacle Brands declared bankruptcy it was uncertain if we'd ever see the rest of the set. Now as retail chains started getting their cases Score has taken the 99 cent pack to new heights especially with the unannounced autographed rookies (I know of at least 24 different players who signed).
| 1998 Score Football |
| Top Priced Single | Moss, Manning, Leaf are all $20 |
| Top Priced Insert | Moss autograph is $150 |
| The Numbers | 20 cards at regular odds, but Manning and Leaf are tougher 14 are $3 or more 6 are $8 and up |
| Missing in Action | Batch, Avery,Holcombe, Dwight, and more, with no series 2 in sight. |
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It sure was a shock to pull one of these beauties from SPx Finite since they weren't announced or listed on the packs. |
1998 SPx Finite Football
Upper Deck didn't really announce the they would have rookies in their debut of SPx Finite Football, but it sure was a nice surprise. The numbered card idea is wearing a bit thin on many people, but when it comes to rookies, numbers are in.
| 1998 SPx Finite Football |
| Top Priced Single | Manning and Leaf are both $100 |
| Top Priced Insert | Leaf, Manning Radiance are $350 |
| The Numbers | 10 cards at tough odds and each each card is numbered to 1998 all are $20 or more, 6 are $40 plus |
| Missing in Action | Moss, Batch, everyone else! could have left out the 4 minor rookies |
1998 Finest Football
Thirty rookie cards made their way into the first series of Finest Football and at one per pack it's tough not to enjoy opening one. For some reason Topps didn't make regular refractors of the rookies, but you can find a no-protector refractor at double the odds to make up for the missing regular refractors.
| 1998 Finest Football |
| Top Priced Single | Moss is up to $30 |
| Top Priced Insert | Moss' no-protector refractor is $240 |
| The Numbers | 30 cards at 1 per pack 11 are $8 or more, 6 are $10 plus |
| Missing in Action | No Batch as usual |
1998 Topps Football
For the second straight year Topps livened things up by seeding their rookies at 1 per 3 packs and it really makes a difference. When you might have to open three or four boxes to find your favorite rookie it sure does make that card more valuable than recent years when each box would have two or three of the rookie you collected.
| 1998 Topps Football |
| Top Priced Single | Moss, Manning, Leaf are all $15 |
| Top Priced Insert | All 3 have autographs valued at $125 |
| The Numbers | 30 cards at 1 per 3 packs 17 are $3 or more, 11 are $5 plus |
| Missing in Action | Batch just didn't make that photo shoot but otherwise a decent job |
More hot football cards on page 2
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