Pack Break - 2014 Topps Football Jumbo

My Braves have begun their second half of the season downfall and while I'm not completely giving up hope for the NL Wild Card spot just yet, this time of year also means that the new NFL season is right around the corner!  What better way to celebrate the start of the new season than with a fresh new pack of 2014 football cards?  The past 2 years I've really loved Topps' effort with their football set.  Will I feel the same about their 2014 cards?  Let's see!

Jumbo packs as they now call them (they are still rack packs to me) contain 36 cards and retail at your local Target and Walmarts for $4.99 each.  I grabbed one pack to see what was up this year and honestly I'm on the fence here.  Let's look at a base card for starters.

Is it just me or do these cards look extremely busy?  I can usually digest whatever Topps throws at me in terms of card design, but not this year.  Team colors are represented which I like, but there is just too much border.  BTW, I selected this card because my Carolina Panthers failed to represent in my pack, so my NC State alum Philip Rivers will have to do.

The backs have the same hot mess the front has, but at least I can look at the back without getting a migraine.  Notice the blue and orange columns?  Those are for Fantasy Football!  The blue represents Philip's position rank while the orange represents points per game.  I've gotten into playing fantasy football the past few years and found it to be a lot of fun so this is a nice little addition to the normal player stats.

It wouldn't be Topps if there wasn't a smattering of new inserts and parallels to chase after as well.  Here are some of the examples that were in my pack.

Gold parallels return yet again, seeded 1:3 jumbo packs.  They of course are serially numbered to 2014 in the tacky black foil we all love to hate.  A.J. Green here is #'d 1432/2014.

Continuing with the Fantasy Football theme, Fantasy Focus cards zero in on the player's 2013 fantasy rankings.  Design full bleed design and at least it's something different and new from previous years.  These are seeded 1:2 jumbo packs.

Fantasy Strategies...yup, more fantasy themed cards.  OK, now maybe Topps is pushing this angle a little too hard.  I guess if you could care less for playing fantasy football then here is another insert set you could pass on.  Seeded 1:2 jumbo packs.

Greatness Unleashed (ratio numbers not listed on the pack?) look pretty cool, but didn't they do something like this with 2013 Bowman football?  I'll be interested to check out the checklist to see if any Panthers are represented because this Dirty Bird just ain't cutting it for this Carolina fan.

Here is another insert set I couldn't find listed on the pack.  The card obviously is called 1000 Yard Club, but the pack says there is a 4,000-Yard Club.  I'm confused.  Nothing to write home about here.  The back of the card shows Michael Floyd's entire 2013 receiving stats broken down per game.

Not sure what these mini cards are called, but they have a distinct "old" look to them.  Very similar to what Topps has done with other products like Magic in the past.

Overall my feelings about this years football effort are mixed.  I'll buy a Panthers team set and any inserts they may appear on, but as for completing the base set or any of the inserts I'm taking a pass.  These cards shown here are headed to my eBay store since I don't have a lot of readers that ask to trade for football cards.  Thanks for stopping by.