2005-06 Topps First Row Basketball
What I pulled--
Short Prints, Parallels and Inserts:
Rookies and SPs - Andrew Bogut (#337/549), Johan Petro (#224/549), Jay-Z (#135/549)
Gold Parallels - Carlos Boozer (#178/325), Kobe Bryant (#298/325), Daniel Ewing (#105/325), Yaroslav Korolev (#11/325),
Johan Petro (#235/325), Paul Pierce (#277/325), Amare Stoudemire (#191/325)
Black and White Parallels - Carmelo Anthony (#104/225), Chris Bosh (#173/225), Larry Hughes (#53/225), Jarrett Jack
(#191/225)
Sepia Tone Parallel - Jamal Crawford (#16/25)
Center Court - Elton Brand (#113/149)
Center Court Silver - Richard Jefferson (#99/99)
Charity Stripe Dufex - Fred Jones (#102/149)
In The Post - Quentin Richardson (#134/149)
In The Post Silver - Antawn Jamison (#39/99)
Relic Cards and Autographs:
Direct Effect - Deron Williams navy blue shorts (#123/200)
Dual Relic - Dirk Nowitzki red All-Star jersey/white jersey (#17/140)
Signature Dunk Autograph - Peter John Ramos (#48/190)
Signature Dish Autograph - Martell Webster (#172/190)
Review:
Talk about a box giving you your money's worth. Topps First Row is a new mid-range priced basketball set
that packs a lot of punch in one box. Sixteen packs, 24 inserts or parallels. That, my friends, makes this a
box worth opening.
The design of First Row is fairly simple. Large, full length photos dominate the card, will all of the player's
pertinent information in a foil bar contained on the right side of the car inside a color bar. It is simple, yet
effective and eye catching, with the focus squarely on the player, where it belongs.
Once you get past the base cards, this box really takes off. The various levels of parallels are simple to
understand and stand out on their own and the pebbled design on the sepia card is an extra piece that
makes that card pop even more.
The bread and butter though, is the inserts. Both the Center Court and In The Post sets are printed
on a different type of material that feels almost wood-like. It is a nice way to make the cards feel a
little special (aside from the low numbering, of course) and makes them one of my favorite inserts
of the year, in any of Topps' releases in any sport. These sets also come with even
lower-numbered parallels.
From there, Topps gives us Dufex, which is always a popular feature among collectors. Topps
doesn't break the Dufex out often, and I wish they would a little more often, because these cards are always gorgeous.
Of course, no quality non-base product would be complete without relics and autographs, and this box gives you two of each.
The player selection is top of the line, as always, although my autographs weren't exactly the most exciting. I love the dual relic
Dirk Nowitzki card I pulled, however, with one of the pieces being from his All-Star jersey.
What is there not to like? I'm having trouble finding anything. First Row isn't the cheapest product in Topps' catalog, but
certainly gives you your money's worth. I find it very tough to give a box this much fun to open a grade lower than..........
A-
