Monday, July 26, 2010

Taking Two Leaps Backwards With 2010 Absolute Football

I think that if you read my previous post about suggestions for moving forward in the industry, Absolute is the one set that infringes on just about every single one of those rules. Aside from the fact that the product hasn’t changed design-wise at all in the last however many years, Panini never seems to get how poorly the product holds up against others in the same price range. What used to be a fun product with innovative cards has become stale, overpriced, and poorly designed to say the least. I would even go so far as saying that this is the one product that Panini needs to axe or revamp, because right now, it’s a dinosaur compared to what it could be.

Now, I will say that this year's offering looks better than last year's horrid excuse, but it still has not veered from that same old design that never offers anything worth collecting in my opinion. This product will again be riddled with damage evident foilboard on EVERY card, sticker autos across the product, subsets that are paralleled to hell in the typical panini way, and cards that are so weirdly conceived that I don’t even know where to look. When you hearken back to 2005 and see how cool and popular Absolute Baseball was, this is a vanquished shell of that former greatness. Really too bad.

Here are the preview cards:





4 comments:

  1. Good lord if those got any busier they'd earn overtime.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha, nice, havent heard that one before.

    *adds to personal repetoir*

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stickers aside, I like the Emmitt, but it looks like Classics. I mean, how is that NOT Classics?

    I also love the Brady. They should do this card with ONLY vets, and ONLY patches.

    I got no use for Icons or War Room. I guess icons is for more recognized names that aren't in Canton. Wow, sounds great. Next will be a set called 'Clipboard Warriors' and it will consist of QB's that spent their prime holding clipboards for those in Canton.

    War Room is just sad. I know every card can't be a patch. I know. Doesn't make that card right though.

    RPM's are well, RPM's. No major changes in years. And they will still be very condition sensitive due to foil and die-cuts.

    When does Chrome come out?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had similar complaints with the basketball Absolute Memorabilia. I think Panini has done a pretty good job across the board with many of their products, but Absolute is NOT one of the for either football or basketball.

    You're right SCF, it is time for a major over hall. I don't really like the overall look of the product, but I'm sure there are some fans. The major issues here is the price. For that amount of money, I expect no sticker auto's, sweet giant patches (it is called "Absolute Memorabilia" after all) and superior, fresh design. I like many of Panini's products, but I don't think there's any question that Absolute Memorabilia football is a personal foul.

    ReplyDelete