It took Topps only a couple of months to come up with an entire set devoted to Barack Obama’s ascension to the White House, although it should hardly be surprising. After a year of plastering him and other politicians throughout their sports products, Topps happily embraced Obama-mania. And while one might think that a quick turnaround from election day to release day might lead to a lackluster set, that’s absolutely not the case. Combining iconic images with fascinating text, 2009 Topps President Obama trading cards is a set that mixes old-school simplicity with a few twists to keep modern collectors chasing.
The Set
The 90-card base set follows Obama’s journey from a young boy through his historic presidential victory. There’s plenty of intimate moments captured through the “family album” type photos that show Obama as a youngster through his entry into big-time politics. Then it’s a collection of his greatest hits on the campaign trail. You’ve got your speeches, your platforms and visits from Oprah and Bruce Springsteen.
Obama’s charming charisma is captured in the majority of the cards. These aren’t your ordinary generic snapshots. They capture his personality, or at least the one the cameras capture and the one that captured millions of minds. Obama’s rise is filled with iconography. It’s a time that we’ll be talking about to our grandchildren as they study it in their classes. The election coverage stands out particularly strong.
Each pack includes one of 18 stickers that combine Obama pictures, often Photoshopped, with catchy sound bites and slogans. There’s even some mash-ups with Martin Luther King. I’ve always been a fan of Topps’ die cut stickers and these are some of the best and most inspired they’ve done in a long time. A foil parallel version falls at a reasonable 1:4 packs.
The other main insert set is a foil stamp parallel. Although they’re pretty easy to find at 1:3 packs, with 90 required for the set it’s a tricky proposition to get them all. For the particularly picky, these parallels come in two versions (that I know of): gold and silver. I’m only speculating but I think the difference is whether or not they come from hobby or retail packs. My box had silver parallels and I’m pretty certain it was a retail box.
The two cards in 2009 Topps President Obama drumming up the most interest are a couple of super short prints. A high school basketball card showing Obama as a teenager and using a retro Topps design falls 1:192 packs. There’s also a Presidential Pup Redemption (1:384) that collectors can redeem online for a card of the First Family’s pet once it’s selected.
The Results
My box gave me exactly what I expected and a little bit more. Collation was excellent as I got one complete set, exactly half of another and eight parallels. I also got a set of the stickers as well as six foil stickers. To my surprise I also pulled the rare basketball card.
Overall, I’m very pleased with this set and the results from my box. President Obama is one of those sets that has a definite purpose outside of selling some product. From the sounds of things, it has sold very well. But then again so has everything with Obama’s face and name on it. It’s also nice to see the non-sport cards in a non-sport set rather than being added to the sports mix to get a little cheap publicity.
Topps has provided an excellent primer into Obama-mania and a fun and historical set for collectors, no matter your political leanings. Unless you see it as commercial propaganda. In that case, it probably doesn’t matter.
2009 Topps President Obama Box Breakdown:
Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 7
Total cards: 178
Cards in set: 90
Singles: 90
Doubles: 45
Triples+: 0
Inserts
Stickers (3:4): 18
Foil Stickers (1:4): 6
High School Basketball Card (1:192): 1
Presidential Pup Redemption Card (1:384): 0
Foil Stamp Parallel (1:3): 8
