When I saw the feed update pop up, I freaked out a little bit. Over the last few launches, there had never been a preview where we could pull the actual base cards ahead of time, and to see this be an option for Huddle was great to see.

For those of you who arent Huddle indoctrinated, all 32 teams received a 2015 base card that is available in the preview packs. If you can collect one of the cards, you will receive a special pack containing a random parallel of that card when the new build launches in a few weeks. Pretty cool.

Design

Topps released the 2015 Football Design a few months back, and upon seeing it for the first time, all I could think was that it was perfect for Digital. Its very futuristic and has a lot of cool elements to it that fit very well with Huddle.

Head Shots – We get it, this isnt what we were hoping to see. That being said, we are still in the beginning stages of 2015’s roll out, and we have NO idea what could eventually happen. At this point we should prep for head shots, but if the end of the season and the offseason is any indication, hopefully it wont be 100%. The Huddle design team, in my opinion, is the best of the four art teams, as they do so much with so little. It is impressive beyond belief. They will make it work some how some way – even if 2015 turns out a lot like 2014.

Logo – What a great looking change to the Huddle logo. Its very Madden-ish, and that triggers a lot of great nostalgic feelings for many users. I dont think its a coincidence, and the game will look better because of it. My only plea is to make this logo the splash screen and leave the cards for the game. My nitpicky claim is to change 2016 to 2015 or at the most – ’15-’16. Im not sure if the Topps Huddle team knows that football cards are categorized by the year the draft takes place, not the year that the Super Bowl happens. Eh, little things.

Background – I love that they brought back the stadium background. If we are going to be head shot central again, the stadium background at least makes them stand out a bit more. Last year’s cards were done post haste, so all had a stock gray sheet behind the player. This is different, and it does make a lot of difference.

Borders – Like we saw with Bunt and SWCT, there are going to be different parallels of each card, much like 2014, with each parallel having a different boost level. The preview cards are showing the base design, but its likely the colors will change around the outside. I cant wait to see the other cards, because the Gold is going to look awesome.

Preview Format

I absolutely love the format of the preview cards here. The pull rate is tough enough that not everyone will be able to get a ton of the cards. If the odds and paywall are in tact for 2015 Huddle as they were for 2015 Bunt and SWCT – Gold cards are going to be in SHORT supply. This means that a free shot at a nice Parallel for the top player on 32 teams is a really good thing. Its worth going nuts over, despite what non-believers may want you to think.

At the very least, I hope these cards are transferred over to a new 2015 filter on the sheet, so they stay visible for the year. Give the people who stuck around for the offseason a badge of honor to show their support. Hopefully the team does not doom these cards to 2014 oblivion.

Players

The checklist of the cards is VERY interesting. You would expect that the teams face would get the top treament, but it looks like they might have been chosen with a different direction in mind. Players like JJ Watt, Odell Beckham, Rob Gronkowski, LeSean McCoy, Andrew Luck, AJ Green and company are the clear cut right choice for their teams.

Others like Kam Chancellor, Jason Witten, Mike Wallace, Joe Haden, Torrey Smith and company are guys I would have rather seen come later. Hopefully this isnt the only batch and guys like Dez Bryant and Marshawn Lynch get the royal treatment.

The fact that Lynch wasnt chosen for the Seahawks is interesting, considering he is the spokesperson for the game. Does that mean a change is in order? Its funny the theories that pop into my mind from the littlest things.

We also get our first taste of the rookies OFFICIALLY with their new teams. We got a lot of content for the Rookie Premiere, but this is different. Mariota, Winston, Parker and Cooper were all chosen, which was cool to see.

Regardless of who eventually ended up on the card, I am SO happy that each team got a card. This is a greatly favorable approach, and gives every team collector a way to get something for checking in early. Based on the way things were going on the fan feed, it turned out to be quite the chase for a lot of people.

Countdown to 2015

With this release, the train is a rollin’ towards kickoff! The season officially starts September 10th, and if I had to bank on things, the game will be live a day or two before. Its clear they have already started putting work into things, and I hope that some of the things learned from 2015 Bunt will carry over.

I am so excited I cant even put it into words. FOOTBALL IS BACK.