Box Breakdown: 2005-06 Topps Big Game Collection
With Big Game Collection Basketball Topps is putting all ¿0aits cards on the table – as it were – to show Upper Deck they aren’t going to ¿0abow down to their supposed dominance in the high-end card market just because ¿0aFleer is no longer around. Five cards in a nice tin – is it worth it?
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The Cards and The Odds
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Topps did things a little differently here. With only ¿0afive cards in the tin they decided to let you know exactly what you are going to ¿0aget. What is that? Guaranteed: 1 rookie card, 1 veteran base card, 1 parallel, 1 ¿0arelic card, and 1 autographed relic. Not bad.
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There are 110 veteran cards, so that means you would have ¿0ato buy at least 110 tins to complete a base set, if you so inclined. Obviously ¿0athis isn’t the way for set builders to go, but likely one could pick up the base ¿0acards online for a nominal cost. Each one is numbered to 179, so there won’t be ¿0avery many of these sets around, if any. The base cards feature white borders ¿0awith a metallic finish. The team logo is in the lower right and the card also ¿0afeatures a given career-high for the player featured. ***image3:right***
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There are 30 rookie cards and 5 celebrity rookies (the ¿0asame as in basic Topps: Jay-Z, Christie Brinkley, Jenny McCarthy, Shannon ¿0aElizabeth, and Carmen Electra). These are numbered to 529, making each rookie ¿0athree times as plentiful as a base card.
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There are three levels of parallels: Red, numbered to ¿0a129; blue, numbered to 33; and gold, numbered to exactly 1. Again, these are one ¿0aa tin.
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Five different relic sets make the list of possible cards ¿0apretty long. There is the All-Star Rally subset, which doesn’t necessarily ¿0ainclude All-Stars (Earl Boykins) but does include a very nice mix of veterans. ¿0aThere is the Big Game Collection featuring mostly young stars, but also features ¿0aa nice Reggie Miller insert. Final Score has each player who suited up for the ¿0aNBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons. Draft Day Moments ¿0afeatures some of this year’s draft picks with a piece of their draft day hat and ¿0aa piece of basketball. Picture Perfect features rookies with a piece of jersey ¿0aor shorts from the NBA Rookie Photoshoot.
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All of the relics are numbered to 199 or lower.
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The autographed relics have five different sets as well. ¿0aAll-Star Rally includes some of the veterans from the regular relic set, ¿0aincluding Amare Stoudemire and Dwyane Wade. Big Game Collection includes many of ¿0athe same names from the relic set as well. Final Score is four players from the ¿0aNBA Finals – Tim Duncan, Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Beno Udrih. Draft Day ¿0aMoments features most of the same rookies as the relic version, as does Picture ¿0aPerfect.***image2:right***
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All of the autographed relics are numbered to 199 or ¿0alower.
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The Breakdown
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Since there are so few cards to break down here, I’ll go ¿0acard-by-card instead of the normal breakdown. In the coming couple weeks keep ¿0ayour eyes open for Topps Bazooka and Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects – those ¿0awill follow the style you are used to.
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Card 1 – The Veteran: Jason Kidd, #/179. ¿0aAppropriately Kidd is dishing a pass in the picture, since the key here is his ¿0abig game was on February 8th, 1996 when he dished out 25 assists in one game. I ¿0awonder if Scott Skiles was watching that game and getting worried?
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Card 2 – The Parallel: Desmond Mason, Blue, ¿0a#/33. Notice the number – in the sell sheets Topps said these were to be ¿0anumbered to 39, but apparently that changed. This card features Mason – a Slam ¿0aDunk Contest veteran – rising up above his former team (Seattle) for a dunk. His ¿0abig game was April 8, 2002 when he scored 36 points.
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Card 3 – The Relic: Charlie Villanueva, Picture ¿0aPerfect, swatch of purple shorts, #/129. I could tell you about Villanueva ¿0aand how well he’s been playing, but I’ll leave that to Basketball News Services’ ¿0acorrespondent in Toronto, Darren Andrade:
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***image1:left***"I like Charlie Villanueva. Here’s a kid who, despite ¿0abeing hounded by the mass media as a likely bust as the seventh overall pick in ¿0athe 2005 NBA draft, is on a path to prove his critics wrong.
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¿0a"He was the leading rookie scorer during the preseason and earned enough ¿0aconfidence in Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell that he has been on the floor ¿0aduring the crunch time of some close regular season games. He’s the first big ¿0aman off the bench on most nights, this from a kid whose main knock coming into ¿0athe league was that he wasn’t always a hard worker and tended to disappear in ¿0agames. So far he’s been the opposite.
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¿0a"He does have some work to do in the rebounding and defense departments but ¿0athat’s rookie year stuff. As I’ve said, he has already shown signs of being able ¿0ato adapt. It’s crazy the way he’s changed people’s minds so quickly. All those ¿0apolls ranking him as the most likely to bust look silly now.
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¿0a"He comes from a demanding University of Connecticut program where he won a ¿0anational title under coach Calhoun, and is well composed on the floor and with ¿0athe media. The most impressive thing is that he looks comfortable with the NBA ¿0agame, despite the expected rookie bumps."
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Currently Villanueva is third on the team in scoring at ¿0a12.7 a night, despite not starting any games and being fifth on the team in ¿0aminutes. He’s also grabbing 6.6 boards a night.
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As far as collectability goes Villanueva is going to have ¿0aa tough time. Obviously he has talent and he plays well, but how many minutes ¿0acan he really get when he plays the same position as star Chris Bosh? Neither ¿0aone is a center or a small forward, so something may have to give. Also, expect ¿0apeople to lose interest as the Raptors continue to falter when it comes to ¿0awinning games.
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Card 4 – The Autographed Relic: Luther Head, ¿0aPicture Perfect, swatch of red shorts, #/199. Conveniently enough I can do ¿0athe same thing here, and turn you over to our own Rocket Guy, Bill Ingram:¿0a
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***image5:left***"Luther Head has been a pleasant surprise for the Houston ¿0aRockets early this season. He didn’t look ready for the NBA through summer ¿0aleague and preseason wasn’t much better, but when the games started counting ¿0aHead really started playing. He brings energy, a deadly three-point shot, and ¿0athe kind of defense that will keep him in a Jeff Van Gundy lineup for the ¿0aforeseeable future. His on the ball defense is outstanding, and he’s great at ¿0aplaying the passing lanes and forcing turnovers. He was getting roughly 14 ¿0aminutes per game through the first three games of the season, but he has so ¿0aimpressed Van Gundy that his minutes have increased to more than 20 per game ¿0asince then. He needs to work on his two-point game, but he’s shooting 43% from ¿0abehind the arch, where defenders often leave him in favor of doubling either Yao ¿0aMing or Tracy McGrady. With Bob Sura recovering from surgery and McGrady in and ¿0aout of the lineup with nagging injuries, Head may turn out to be a significant ¿0afactor for the Rockets this season."
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Things have started to go very well for Head indeed. He ¿0anow has four starts under his belt and is fourth on the team scoring 9.7 a ¿0anight. Since he moved into the starting lineup he has scored 29 points once, ¿0apulled down 10 boards in another game, and dished eight assists in another.¿0a
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Head’s stock is definitely going up, especially if he ¿0astarts helping Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming win some games in Houston. If that ¿0ahappens and this rookie leads the Rockets to a playoff berth, his value could ¿0askyrocket.
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Card 5 – The Rookie: Julius Hodge, #/529. ¿0aSorry, no guest spots here – all you get is me this time.
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***image4:left***Hodge has had a tough start to his NBA career. He had an ¿0aunwarranted assault charge against him that was dismissed, but he hasn’t really ¿0agotten any respect from collectors. Of course, if he got on the court maybe they ¿0acould change their mind. Hodge has only played in one game this season and ¿0adidn’t record a single statistic.
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So why should collectors care about Hodge? This guy is ¿0asomeone who loves to be under the gun. At North Carolina State he played his ¿0abest ball in the ACC tournament, scoring 31 points in a game in 2004 and 22 in ¿0aan upset of Wake Forest in 2005. The Nuggets need a shooting guard and that’s ¿0awhy they picked this guy – he can hit shots and score points. Unfortunately ¿0aDenver Nuggets Coach George Karl hasn’t given Hodge a chance to showcase his ¿0agame in the League yet.
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Hodge will likely end up being a solid rotation player – ¿0asomeone in the vein of Juan Dixon, I believe – so his cards will probably never ¿0ago through the roof, but it’s still way too early to tell. Hold onto him for ¿0anow.
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The Conclusion
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Grades are given on a five-point rating scale – five¿0abeing the best.
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Basic Card Design – 4.5
¿0aRookie Card Design – 4
¿0aInsert Card Design – 4
¿0aBig Card Chances – 5***image6:right***
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Overall – 4.5 stars
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It’s surprising to me how exciting a box of cards (or in ¿0athis case, a tin) can be when you know going in there are only five in there. ¿0aTopps did a great job in making this tin fun to open and made some very nice ¿0acards. Most people will buy this strictly to see what rookie relics and ¿0aautographs they can get, which is fine, but don’t sell the base cards short.
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And surprisingly, prices for this product aren’t that ¿0abad. Prices range on the net from $55-$70 plus shipping, so that’s hardly ¿0abreaking the bank considering how much some boxes are. Of course, you may get ¿0amore than five cards elsewhere, but then again you could end up with a stack of ¿0acardboard you never look at again.
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For the relatively inexpensive price, Topps Big Game ¿0aCollection is a nice pickup.
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