Collect call: 2009 SPx Football

Posted Oct 10, 2009 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Oct 10, 2009 at 05:37 PM

The biggest advantage of SPx football is that there is a hit in every pack. The downside to these game-used or autograph cards is the design of the big sizzle cards. There is too much wasted space.

But first, some kudos for those cards that were well-designed. The Rookie Materials and Winning Materials game-used cards boast large pictures on the left-hand side of the card (the photo on the Rookie Materials card takes up nearly half of the card). The dual swatch cards take up a nice chunk of the right-hand side, and the Winning Materials cards balance the game-used material with the team logos quite nicely.

The background of those cards — a light brown — could have been more dynamic, but it doesn’t really detract a whole lot.

The hobby box I sampled (10 packs, four cards to a pack) contained a pair of Winning Materials two-swatch cards and one single swatch card, and also one Rookie Materials double swatch card.

A triple-swatch card and autograph of Tyson Jackson is handled well, and the bright red material of the Kansas City Chiefs uniform is bold.

An Xfactor signature card of Quintin Demps and a Rookie Signature card of Andre Smith also had nice large photographs.

So why am I complaining?

The biggest cards that were pulled from the hobby box were the Winning Combos game-used. The subjects were great — a bluish-silver card featured patches from Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez (numberd to 25), while a gold card had jersey swatches of Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco (numbered to 35).

But the players’ photos and the game-used material was cramped on the left-hand side of the card. The right-hand side of the card is wide open.

I understand why this was done — for those cards that have autographs, it is the perfect place for a sticker. I’m just thinking that perhaps a balance could have been struck.

A dual autograph card of Packers teammates James Jones and Donald Driver was numbered to 50. This was a vertical card, so the open spaces did not look as bad.

The most coveted card in the set will be the Shadow Box, which has been drawing rave reviews. People I know who have pulled the card have called it one of Upper Deck’s best designs. Those cards are probably seeded one or two per case, making it an even more desirable card.

The base card design is nice, with the player’s photo dominating two-thirds of the front side.

Again, the lure of a relic or autograph in each pack is the biggest selling point for SPx. If you can get past the design, it’s not a bad set to buy.