2015 Topps Triple Threads Football Cards

Product Review

2015 Topps Triple Threads Football Product Review

Reviewed by Trey Treutel

Good: Some quality patch options, booklets are nice, all relics and autographs serial numbered, four hits per master box.

Bad: Stickers as far as the eye can see, too many one-color jersey pieces, little innovation year after year.

The Bottom Line: Topps Triple Threads Football is stuck in a rut and does not see any reason to change. While there are big hits, the product is a true gamble and it is hard to get behind a high-end format that relies heavily on stickers and event-worn jerseys.

Card Design: 3.0/5.0

Always on the ornate side and featuring good stock, the base design is a swing and a miss for me this year. Brown, gray and black combine with gold foil to make a bizarre canvas and the dark scheme prevents the player image from standing out as much. The base parallels do not help things and it seems odd that they pick such random print runs like 232 for the Purple.

In comparison to the base cards, I find the hit designs more appealing thanks to a lighter background. The primary rookie card design with the triple relic layout is the strongest of the bunch, in my opinion, but the sticker is disappointing as always. However, the rookie-but-not-the-main-rookie autographs feature many of the same subjects and showcase one relic piece and a sticker over gold foil. These do not work as well and can muddy the water about the official rookie cards from the set.

Because it is TTT, there is also the standard mix of relics with various die-cut slogans and nicknames. I have never quite understood this and when you pull a card numbered to 27 that has three different relics, it would be nice if they were not all one-color jersey swatches.

Checklist: 2.5/5.0

The 2015 Triple Threads checklist is like most of the products these days. Heavy on rookies across the board, there are still key veterans to pull but they are very rare. One thing that is more unique to Triple Threads is the way the cards are allocated. Instead of one hit card numbered to 300 or 400, TTT goes with two to three versions of the same player in one subset that each have a lower print run and multiple parallels. While the lower amount gives the impression of rarity, it is really not that limited. The good thing is that you know exactly how many cards that each player has. The bad news is that that number is ultimately much higher than the 99 or less on each auto/relic card.

Value: 2.0/5.0

Value versus cost is really out of whack in Triple Threads. A box that runs in the $150-175 range means that a lot has to come from the four hits and that is even more difficult given only two are signed and all signatures are stickers. Every product has their fans and I am sure some consider TTT Football a good value, but unless you hit a booklet or the handful of key rookie autographs, there is no way that most collectors will come close to matching the box price with their hits. At this price point, we are beyond just collecting to collect and there has to be a minimum acceptable level of value produced by each box.

The Fun Factor: 3.0/5.0

As the last Triple Threads Football edition for the foreseeable future, I can’t honestly say I will miss it. When a product becomes more about keeping the status quo than filling a hobby niche, it becomes harder to enjoy. I constantly found myself thinking, “I wish they had done this differently.” For me, Triple Threads took a step back in what could be their final offering and the overall fun factor suffered as a result.

The box used for this review was provided by Topps.

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