Collect call: 2009 SP Threads Football

Posted Oct 24, 2009 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Oct 24, 2009 at 08:17 PM

There is plenty of symmetry in Upper Deck’s SP Threads Football product. Lots of triangles, so if you loved geometry in school, this set is really up your alley.

That symmetry is compounded with a solid bar behind the player’s action shot, using the team’s main color as the backdrop. Add plenty of gold foil to the card, and it makes for an interesting design.

There are 16 packs in a hobby box, with five cards to a pack. The base set contains 100 cards, and there are 100 more Rookie Future Watch cards. The box I sampled had 69 base cards and six of the Rookie Future Watch cards.
The inserts include die-cut cards called Super Stars. The box I saw had an interesting mix of stars, like Emmitt Smith and Don Maynard. The Maynard was a particularly nice-looking card.

On average, there are three memorabilia cards in every box, plus two autographs. The box I saw hit the average, with two Rookie Auto Letterman cards (Kenny Britt of Rutgers, numbered to 24; and Clay Matthews of Southern Cal, numbered to 15). The idea of manufactured patch cards has its fans and detractors; it’s really a matter of personal taste. Without the autograph, it’s a silly card; with the signature, it has much more value to a collector.

The memorabilia cards included Game Day Gear cards of Miami quarterback Chad Henne and Cincinnati wide receiver Jerome Simpson.

The final relic card was a Dual Threads card of the Colts’ Peyton Manning and Joseph Addai.

The design is simple and clean (oh yes, there are triangles on the backs of the cards, too), and it’s a nice-looking set. If I had to do anything different, I would have made the players’ names larger, along with the team names.