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I fucking hate Triple Threads. Other than maybe moments and milestones or Topps Sterling, it is the worst product ever. Its stale, its boring, and most of all its got sticker autos, slapped on ridiculously stupid cut outs, printed on rainbow neon foil, with a million parallels. I dont know how there could be a worse product out there. On top of all that, it costs a shitload per box, and you only get one auto and one jersey card.
If Triple Threads were a car, it would be a Hummer. Big expensive car with no other purpose than for idiots to show off that they have one. The Hummer hasnt changed much since its release, and neither has Triple Threads. The cards look exactly the same as they did last year, the cutout swatch windows are some how harder to follow than last year, and the only improvement they can boast is that the Rising Stars cards you get 8 per case of are signed on card. Yippee. Glad they finally determined that the crappiest part of the product is the only part that is going to be on card. Other than that, its foil sticker autos that are BUILT into the fucking design. Yup, its just as ugly as ever.
Not only that, but they are bringing back all terrible booklet cards, even expanding some to stickers as well as the jersey patches and bat barrels. Yes, because the only thing those cards needed is a foil sticker that covers half the player. Nice fucking job. Hell, even the worst cards in the entire fucking hobby are back with their 24 weirdly placed relics on a booklet card. Im so happy that I can now have a card that confusingly spells out entire sentences!
You know what the saddest part is? This product costs more than just about any other product that comes out during the year. At $150-170 a box, you are guaranteed an auto and a jersey, but the quality and design of the cards are so poor that they hardly ever live up to value. Then when you think you have a special card, you realize there are five million just like it with different ugly neon colors in the background. When just about every product at or below 100 dollars offers better cards with hard signed signatures, this price tag seems ridiculous. Ill give you an example. Ultimate Baseball had an MSRP originally below 100 bucks a box. It offered better looking cards, hard signed signatures, and similar ridiculous patches. Not only that, but there was no foil board, and there was no stupid fucking swatch window cutouts.
Even worse than that, Topps fucking loves this product. Their brass thinks this product is the best thing on the fucking planet, and I hope they wise up to their horrible fucking viewpoint. They need to figure out that instead of re-releasing the same god damned product every single year with the same ugly design, they need to revamp this whole bitch and hire a design team that actually has the power of sight.
I talk bad about a lot of products, but nothing gets me fired up like High End Topps sets. They are just that bad. When you look at how good their low end stuff is, it really makes you wonder how they could fail so badly at their expensive stuff. The gap between the two ends of the spectrum is even worse in football, and yet people still give them a pass most of the time. Triple Threads personifies that drift, with so many people either loving it or hating it. I have noticed that since SCU began its personal vendetta against this product, there are a lot more people that are wising up to the worst product of the year. Im in no way meaning to insinuate that I had anything to do with it, I just think that more and more people each year start to get that vomit taste in their mouth whenever they see this preview.
Topps posted a ton of pictures, you can see the rest here.
10, 20, 30 years from now, will card collectors be able to delineate 2010 Triple Threads from 2009, 2008, or 2007 TripThread?
ReplyDeleteI would HAPPILY pay $175 to pull that Sabathia auto.
ReplyDeleteSIKE. This product blows my mind. It's crazy expensive, and nearly ALL of the autos/relics are worthless. I bought a Cueto jersey auto from 09 TT on COMC for $7 and just laughed at the sucker who pulled it from a $200 box.
im sorry to say, but this stuff looks awesome this year! believe it or not, it is a big change for triple threads, they are starting to do some on card autos (the hanson shown above) and some of the dual foldouts too. And with the sticker thing, to me its not a big deal, they do a good job with the way they do it in TT and i dont complain, an auto is an auto. Great job topps!!
ReplyDeleteThese turn my stomach. I hate jersey swatches spelling out phrases. Especially when it's stupid shit like Brew Crew Knock Out.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone like booklet cards aside from their scarcity? Blech. It's almost as if Topps is saying "How much tacky shit can we shove in a card and charge $100 a pack for?"
And with the sticker thing, to me its not a big deal, they do a good job with the way they do it in TT and i dont complain, an auto is an auto.
ReplyDeleteSo, instead of camouflaging it and making it seem like the sticker isnt there, you like that they try to draw your attention to it? Why? Its like screaming right in our face that the card isnt signed by the player.
it is a big change for triple threads, they are starting to do some on card autos (the hanson shown above) and some of the dual foldouts too
The on card sigs are only for the rising star autos, which are usually the shittiest pulls in the product to begin with.
First off I have never liked Triple Threads. Way over priced for what you get. High end should not have stickers period. Ever ever EVER!!
ReplyDeleteBut:
The cards look better than past years.
I hate the dumb ass cutout spelled words but at least a few of them look ok. (like that Cubs HOF card you didn't post)
I like the bat knob card(s). Not a fan of foldout cards but they at least designed it to look nice and not gaudy
The Ichiro Patch looks fucking great. So does the Mauer. If you don't think so you need your eyes examined not Topps. (but we will probably soon find out they are manufactured)
Those are the positives. The negative is still that they are still way fucking over priced. Unless someone pulls that Cobb/Ruth or an equivilent cut auto they should just plan on bending over.
The reason Topps loves this product is cause the way it looks on the books. $150 a pack for a jersey and a sticker instead of the normal $50 of a regular product lines the pockets better. I know you hate it but if the public is buying this than Topps will keep making it. That is economics.
To continue your analogy, it should be pointed out that GM has ceased production of Hummers. Does this mean there's still hope for the death of this product?
ReplyDeleteWhatever, I can't afford either of them anyways.
Triple Threads and Sterling haven't been worth a damn since 2006.
ReplyDeleteAdamE is right:
ReplyDelete"I know you hate it but if the public is buying this than Topps will keep making it. That is economics."
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Yes, the price is high, but from a football persepctive (I know this is baseball) maybe you should do a comparison to 2009 Ultimate Football. For a box of Triple Threads football, you get 2 boxes of Ultimate football.
In the Triple Threads you will get one auto, one jersey. In Ultimate you might get 2 autos, 2 jerseys or 1 auto/1 jersey. 95% of the time you will get 2 jerseys or 1 jersey/1 auto, so Triple threads is either as good or better value per hit than Ultimate. On top of that, the checklist is much better in Triple Threads. More legends, HOFs, Superstars and High draft picks, whereas in Ultimate, if you are lucky enough to get an auto, there is a good chance it will be a low round draft pick. Does any of this make Triple Threads good value? No. But it is much better value than Ultimate football, which you don't rant and rave about. And that's not even comparing it to the single worst football release of all time, UD Black.
As for design - yes some of the cards look terrible. But some look good too. Just like Ultimate. For my mind the worst looking cards of last year were the Ultimate rookies - colorful, curvy lines going everywhere.
Really there's only word for both Triple Threads and Hummers and Roy used it already:
ReplyDeletetacky.
Love the way it looks!!! I actually dig that Munson. That Braun is filthy!
ReplyDelete-wheels
"In the Triple Threads you will get one auto, one jersey. In Ultimate you might get 2 autos, 2 jerseys or 1 auto/1 jersey. 95% of the time you will get 2 jerseys or 1 jersey/1 auto, so Triple threads is either as good or better value per hit than Ultimate."
ReplyDeleteSure, you're guaranteed a memorabilia AND an auto in one box of Triple Threads, versus the idea of possibly getting two jersey cards in two boxes of ultimate. However, when the resale value of your auto AND jersey card out of Triple Threads is barely more than the cost of the box, it's a moot point. I recently sold a six piece jersey card out of Ultimate for $90. $90 FUCKING DOLLARS FOR A JERSEY CARD. Granted the card had six HOF QBs on it, but still. But that's even further proof of the value of Ultimate over Triple Threads. If you were to get a 6 jersey booklet, it wouldn't even come close to getting $90, plus it's also more difficult to ship that piece of crap.
Here's another A/B example of this: I was new to collecting when 09 Triple Threads football came out and didn't know better, so when I pulled a Stafford triple jersey/auto numbered to 10, I was pumped...until it sold for $35. On the flip side, I pulled a Stafford auto out of Ultimate numbered only to 5, and I've seen the ones numbered way higher going for at least $100. That's not to say I'm in this just to resell. The main selling point for me is that the Triple Threads Stafford looked like something that was meant to be thrown in with a Yu-Gi-Oh figurine, whereas the one from Ultimate was simple, clean and ON-CARD. Huge difference.
I have regretted buying that one box of TTT for months and will definitely not be going back ever again. Ever ever.