2012 Topps US Olympic Team Box Break Recap And Review

Every once in a while a product comes along that offers the best of everything, great design, desirable subject matter, huge hit potential and a reasonable price point.  2012 Topps US Olympic Team cards is one of those products.  These smart looking cards cover all the big names currently representing the USA and a few of the greatest athletes in Olympic history.  If you are looking forward to the games in London, you owe it to yourself to pick up at least a box of these cards, if not more.

We classify Topps US Olympic Team as trading cards. Hobby Boxes contain 24 – 8 card packs with 1 Relic, 1 Commemorative Relic and 1 Autograph per box.  As a bonus, every other box comes with a second autograph.

Here are some of the cards we pulled from our hobby box.

Base Set

 Michael Phelps, front and back

 Allyson Felix, Misty May-Treanor, Missy Franklin

 Hope Solo, Nastia Liukin, Natalie Coughlin

 Ryan Lochte, Alex Morgan, Shawn Johnson

 Sue Bird, Jordyn Wieber, Maya Moore

 Paralympic Athletes - Jerome Singleton, Tatyana McFadden, Kari LaRaine Miller 

Medal Parallels

 Gold (1:4 packs) Kellie Wells, Silver (1:3 packs) Juan Aguldelo, Bronze (1:2 packs) Kim Glass

 Games of the XXX Olympiad

 Boxing - Rau'Shee Warren, front and back

 Archery - Brady Ellison, Canoeing - Carrie Johnson

Heritage of the Olympic Games

 1904 - St. Louis, front and back

 1896 - Athens, 1900 - Paris

Opening Ceremonies

 1968 - Mexico City

London 2012 Olympic Games Venues

 Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour, All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club - Wimbledon

 The Hits

 Mary Whipple Athlete Worn Relic, Hope Solo US Olympic Team Commemorative Patch

 Wrestling Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo Autograph

Six Time Medalist, (3 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze) Jackie Joyner-Kersee Champions Autograph

Overall Look

The use of high dynamic range photography makes these cards look amazing.  There is a nice write-up about each athlete on the backs of the cards.  The Commemorative Relics are really well designed.  The Champions autographs should serve as a template for future autograph cards in all sports.

Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.

There is a great mixture of hopeful and proven athletes.  The addition of athletes from the Paralympic Games is a fantastic move by Topps.  The insert cards work well.  It was nice to see an explanation of the photos used on the front of the Heritage of the Olympic Games cards.

Do the hits hold up?

No question here, these are highly desirable autographs to pull.  The patches, pins and medal relics are fantastic.

Will you want to collect them all? 

If you like the Olympics, you will want every single one of these cards. 

Rating

5 out of 5

You should pick up at least a box of 2012 Topps US Olympic Team cards before the London Games begin so you have them on hand as a reference during the competitions.