2005 Topps Pristine Football
What I pulled--
Parallels:
Uncirculated Encased Parallels - Isaac Bruce (#259/750), Matt Jones (#65/750), Dunta Robinson (#111/750), Demarcus Ware
(#388/750), Rudi Johnson white jersey relic (Uncommon - #87/100)
Die-Cut Parallel - DeShaun Foster (#109/115)
Relic Cards and Autographs:
Personal Pieces Common - Derrick Mason white jersey (#18/1000), Willis McGahee white jersey (#993/1000)
Base Relic Uncommon - Rudi Johnson white jersey (#496/500), Antrel Rolle white jersey (#160/900)
Topps 50th Anniversary Patch Relics - Maurice Clarett black one color patch (#26/150)
Personal Endorsements Common - Derek Anderson (#272/1500)
Personal Endorsements Uncommon - Heath Miller (#118/250)
Review:
High end products have always been a struggle for me to review. Do you base the review on the product or
the results of the break?
This dilemma comes into play with my box of Topps Pristine Football. I love this set. I love the whole
concept of Pristine. Of course, I also had a dud of a box, which tempers my enthusiasm slightly.
Let's start with the unique packaging for Pristine. This product is known for its pack in a pack in a pack
setup. And this time around, the first pack is a beauty. Each five pack box is actually five boxes. When you
open the individually wrapped box, out comes a tray containing the individually encased uncirculated card,
as well as a more conventional looking pack of cards. When you open up that pack, however, you find a
relic card and another pack. This inner pack is where you find the base cards and, in two of the five packs,
an autograph. Each five pack box also contains an individually wrapped die-cut parallel, as well.
So, for fans of busting packs, this product is a dream.
The actual base cards are fairly simple with white backgrounds that are almost a bit too white. The
first 100 cards in the set carry the "Common" designation on them and are just that, commons.
From there, the set moves on to 45 "Uncommon" relics, 22 "Rare" autographs and, finally, five
"Scarce" autos (the five names being Favre, Montana, Sanders, Brady and Marino - so good luck
pulling one of these).
The autograph and relic series also carry the four designated levels and are supplemented with a handful of dual autos and
the Topps 50th Anniversary Team autos, as well as some relic subsets, such as the Patch relic I pulled of Maurice Clarett
(lucky me - the player list for that relic includes players like Cadillac Williams and Kyle Orton).
So, how do I come up with a grade for Pristine? I had a blast opening this box up and did pull one card I really liked (the
encased Johnson relic which, coincidentally, was in the same pack as the second relic of Johnson). So, even though the
results were a bit underwhelming, the overall product gets a good grade from me...........
B
