Basketball fan with a question about football cards
 

I currently only collect basketball cards. I'm from the United Kingdom and, therefore, my knowledge of American football is pretty poor.

However, I'd be interested in buying a small set of football cards to help improve my knowledge of the stars of the sport past and present.

Therefore, I am looking to buy a nice looking subset or insert set featuring the best players ever.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Maybe a set I could put together for around $50 or something. Definitely no more than that. Obviously pretty low end. But I'm fussy about card design so it would need to look nice.

Any suggestions?

These are not mine but here are some nice design, cheaper sets on ebay:

1. [URL="http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-Topps-Platinum-Football-Gold-Parallel-Set-Manning-Brady-Rodgers-/160655396305?pt=US_Football&hash=item2567cecdd1#ht_500wt_1204"]2011 Topps Platinum Football Gold Parallel Set[/URL]
2. [URL="http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-Score-Football-All-Pro-Complete-Mint-Set-Manning-Peterson-Brees-Rice-Revis-/130577140931?pt=US_Football&hash=item1e67010cc3#ht_669wt_956"]2010 Score Football All Pro Complete Mint Set[/URL]
3. [URL="http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-TOPPS-FACES-FRANCHISE-FOOTBALL-20-CARD-SET-/300601176676?pt=US_Football&hash=item45fd39f264#ht_500wt_1204"]2011 TOPPS FACES OF THE FRANCHISE[/URL]

Very cool, welcome to the NFL! There's a lot to choose from. Topps Finest always looks great. Platinum too. There's also an interesting lower end product coming out Oct 12th: 2011 Topps Gridiron Legends. It'll have a mix of legends/vets and RCs too. [url=http://www.blowoutcards.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_23&products_id=5817]2011 Topps Gridiron Legends Football Hobby Box - $75.95 : Blowout Cards - Sports Cards and Trading Cards Wholesale Online Store[/url]. The base cards are white card stock, with a cloudy kind of background. Could look nice?

[QUOTE=g1l1fvp;1694207]These are not mine but here are some nice design, cheaper sets on ebay:

1. [URL="http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-Topps-Platinum-Football-Gold-Parallel-Set-Manning-Brady-Rodgers-/160655396305?pt=US_Football&hash=item2567cecdd1#ht_500wt_1204"]2011 Topps Platinum Football Gold Parallel Set[/URL]
2. [URL="http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-Score-Football-All-Pro-Complete-Mint-Set-Manning-Peterson-Brees-Rice-Revis-/130577140931?pt=US_Football&hash=item1e67010cc3#ht_669wt_956"]2010 Score Football All Pro Complete Mint Set[/URL]
3. [URL="http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-TOPPS-FACES-FRANCHISE-FOOTBALL-20-CARD-SET-/300601176676?pt=US_Football&hash=item45fd39f264#ht_500wt_1204"]2011 TOPPS FACES OF THE FRANCHISE[/URL][/QUOTE]

Thanks for the links, I like the 1st and 3rd sets better than the 2nd. I will take a look at the checklist. I'm hoping to find a set that features as many of these players as possible: [url=http://motownsportsrevival.blogspot.com/2008/05/top-100-football-players-of-all-time.html]Motown Sports Revival: Top 100 Football Players of All-Time[/url]

[QUOTE=alexlazarevich;1694222]Very cool, welcome to the NFL! There's a lot to choose from. Topps Finest always looks great. Platinum too. There's also an interesting lower end product coming out Oct 12th: 2011 Topps Gridiron Legends. It'll have a mix of legends/vets and RCs too. [url=http://www.blowoutcards.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_23&products_id=5817]2011 Topps Gridiron Legends Football Hobby Box - $75.95 : Blowout Cards - Sports Cards and Trading Cards Wholesale Online Store[/url]. The base cards are white card stock, with a cloudy kind of background. Could look nice?[/QUOTE]

Yeah those do sound nice.

I'm preferably looking for a set (or subset) that [i]only[/i] features superstars (past and present).

Sorry for consecutive posts...

What do people think of the 2008 UD Masterpieces? That seems like a good option. Let me know if you can think of anything similar/better that I should consider.

I'm a huge fan of the masterpieces set especially if you're looking for past and present players. The artwork on the cards is awesome!

golfinglegend67, how thick are the Masterpieces cards?