The Big Evils - Are We Looking At These Things The Right Way?

I want to write about something here that I have spent a lot of time covering on this blog, mainly the aspects of the industry that I cant stand. Rather than going into long winded rants about why these things suck, I think its about time to discuss why they exist in the first place. If you have further insight, please let me know, I am in the business of learning here, and you can help.

Event Used Jersey Cards

Man, if there is one thing I hate, its these cards. Basically paying the players to come by and do a try on session with about 1000 jerseys, some of them not even they're own. Most of the time, collectors don’t seem to mind and still pay through the nose for the logos and everything like it, but have any of us really thought about why they exist?

When it comes down to it, I want jersey cards of my favorite players, and so does most of the hobby. The problem is, with most companies wanting to produce the jersey cards AD NAUSEAM, there just isnt enough material to go around. If you conceive a plan for the jersey cards produced in a year, there are in upwards of 200 per player. Many of those cards are numbered as high as 1500, meaning that there is a shitload of material needed. With each rookie only playing in 16 games if they are lucky, we can expect that few jerseys will be available, if any. Add in that there are 3 companies competing for them, as well as collectors with deep pockets, and you see where I am going. In reality, without event used cards, we may get 5 cards per player, and Exquisite and NT would not be possible. That is not acceptable to me, so my anger about them is a little misplaced, maybe. Does this mean I will go and mortgage the house to buy the lot of them? No, but as long as the event used footballs disappear, maybe I will be less focused on it.

Sticker Autos

We all hate sticker autos, we just do. Its been around since the earlier part of the decade, and it has become a staple of getting a product out. Its become so bad that Topps hasn’t produced an on card high end set for 2 years (material signed cards don’t count).

Why do they exist? Well, planning and means tend to be the answer, and here is why. In order to get cards signed, you need to have the cards, period. Most sets arent produced early enough to be signed by the players, and that means that they need a backup plan. Think about it this way, do you think a player has time to sign his cards during the season? Probably not as much. For baseball this leaves a minimal time to get things signed, and football a little more. You also need to have a rep at each signing, or at least someone to witness all the sigs. Yes, this is what it has come to. If you combine both of these things, you can understand how hectic it may get. Add in the economy, and all of a sudden SPA and Exquisite become much more impressive, and NT becomes less of an issue.

Redemptions

Another of the big evils of the industry. Most of the time these cards are filled, but more often then not, it takes a ridiculously long time to do so.

We all pretty much understand why redemptions happen, but maybe our hatred should be focused towards the athletes AND the manufacturer rather than just the manufacturer. Now, UD has taken a lot of flack for their redemption process, but at least they have done a ten fold better job then topps when things get fucked up. That’s the good thing. The bad thing is that most people don’t really understand how far in advance the cards have to go out. It’s a long ass time, and if you consider the time frame that the season runs through, it becomes ridiculous. Really, as with stickers, planning usually takes things to the next level, which I applaud UD for taking control and really getting their shit done.

Maybe one of the things we need is a more updated way of getting the info. Instead of "Athlete committed to signing soon," give us a time frame for the signing - if there is one. If the player hasn’t scheduled one, let us know. Transparency is the gift of the gods, lets use it.

Patch Databases

Oh my god, what I would give to have an online patch database. Company A could scan each patch to be available for all collectors to avoid fakes. DLP has taken a step to institute marking the cards, but you cant see that before you buy on eBay.

In reality, even getting this done for Exquisite is next to impossible due to the way the product is manufactured and packed out. The people who would scan the cards are in a different state than the people who make the cards, which makes it very hard to get it sorted out. Add in that with some sets, scanning 400,000 different cards can be crippling to any workforce. It should just be a practice of those in the know to educate as much as possible about fakes, and pass along this mantra: "IF ITS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT USUALLY IS." Plus with eBay having multiple versions of each card usually available, you are pretty much guaranteed that an acceptable one will come along eventually.

Customer Service

One of the biggest complaints of most collectors is a lack of customer service. Things don’t get fixed when they should be, and when they do it takes a long time.

Customer Service for any company is usually a focus, but most of the companies who succeed are gigantic. People like Disney, Google, and Apple, the leaders in customer service, have hundreds of thousands of employees. Companies like UD and DLP do not have enough manpower or money to invest tons of time and resources into customer service from what I imagine. My company has probably a quarter of the base that UD has for their customers, and yet our customer service takes up a whole building. Add in the growing number of problems from the secondary market, and you can imagine how a lack of people and resources will take its toll. Im guessing there is 25 people who work in customer service pre-drop, and now much less. We will just have to understand that it’s a tough time for everyone, and to give them a chance.

You guys all must be wondering why I decided to take the sides of the people who have shown continually that money is the only interest they have, but in reality I am starting to realize that my rage may have been pointed in the wrong direction on some of these issues, not all, but some. Besides, I wouldn’t say I am not any less angry about any of these things, just a little more open minded. Maybe having the ability to take on the question in your mind is a good enough start.

Designing A Winner

I have said on many occasions that the design of the card can make or break a product, more-so to me than any other element of the card. To me, it could be a 1/1 NFL logo Adrian Peterson autograph, and I would pass if it looked like a piece of shit. Personally, I think card design has become a lost art, and that companies, especially Topps, have focused more on how they will pack more autos into a set than more well designed cards.

Look at Triple Threads, my all time most hated product. It is packed with cards literally packed with jerseys and autos, and I think it is the worst possible thing you can invest in. I have not bought a single Triple Threads single in the last few years, and most of it stems from the ridiculous designs and color schemes. To me, the sole purpose of the set is to give us as many low numbered cards with as many pieces of jerseys and autos as humanly possible. This means that things like design and photos of the players take a back seat to make the douchebags who don’t know any better jizz in their pants. Because of the jam packed set up of the cards, the product HAS to be considered high end, despite the fact that none of these cards are appealing to 90% of privileged portion of collectors who take pride in the way they look at the hobby. Those other 10% are die hard player collectors who live by a different creedo.

If it was up to me, I would always want better designs over more content. I love awesome looking cards, regardless of what company makes them. There are certain criteria I need to be true, like how I hate college jersey in the picture cards, but most of the time I base my want on how the card is put together. If a company uses sticker autos, but they are well done and well placed, it doesn’t matter to me. Look at SP Rookie Threads from this year, another set designed to pack as much into a product as possible. The difference between Triple Threads 2008 and SP Rookie Threads 2008 is that one set is well put together, nicely done with a cool theme, while the other focuses on all the wrong things, including printing plates with no player names and tiny player pictures.

SP Rookie Threads was designed around the look of a jersey. All the cards look like they have been sewn together like the numbers and tackle twill on a normal jersey, and I really appreciate the cool theme and idea for the set. Hell, they even made a set based on the NFL logo part of the jersey, which I thought was awesome. I bought the Peterson.

Look at Exquisite for this year, its done in an ornate and almost regal design, and the whole set follows suit in its picturesque glory. Exquisite also features more Jersey than Triple Threads in their RC Autos, and they still managed to fit in a large picture and a signature. Hell, the duals and triples were even done in a way that makes the Triple Threads ones look shameful. Large player picures and no die cut swatches to confusingly spell shit out. I love it.

If you want less high end examples, look at the way DLP did Classics the last few years, or even better, the way UD does SP Authentic EVERY year. For 100 dollars a box, UD has made Triple Threads and other poorly designed sets irrelevant. One other thing about sets like Classics and SP Rookie Threads is that they use sticker autos, but use them in a way that makes them not as noticible. Topps thinks they need to destroy the look of every card with GIANT foil stickers, or even the transparent, but not transparent foil stickers. Yes, they still stick out even when they are supposed to be clear.

Recently, Topps has put out a product that was solely designed to dump their entire store room of basketball stickers into a set before Panini takes over. This means that the set was actually somewhat necessary to utilize thousands of ugly foil stickers in the stockroom, but it is no excuse for the result. Now, we all know how much I fucking despise Topps' design moves over the last few years, and this set is no exception. Because it was so quickly put together, you can expect that the design would suffer, but jesus, the set is fugly as hell. Add in the fact that each card is numbered to 9000, and you have a donkey turd on your hands.

The one thing that the nostalgic focused modern haters have right is that design used to be better. I agree 100%. However, I do think you can have the content that each product MUST have to survive and also the design to appease the people like me. I have seen the custom card designs out there, so I know it isnt impossible to design a nice set. Hopefully the manufacturers wont save the good stuff for the expensive sets exclusively, and will let it trickle down to the low end stuff too. When cards are designed with care, everyone wins. Take notice quickly, Topps.

Donruss Becomes The Official Card Of The NFL Draft

Whatever the hell that means. Either way, here is the official statement:

Officials at Panini America have reached an agreement with the NFL to become the "Official Trading Card of the 2009 NFL Draft." This year's event will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York, April 25th and 26th. Through the sponsorship agreement, Panini America will have access to photography from the event, as well as officially licensed NFL Draft memorabilia worn by the players.

"Rookie cards are key to the success of our trading card programs," said Panini America Vice President of Sales & Marketing Mike Anderson. "The relationship allows us to be the first trading card company to have access to the top picks. The growing popularity of NFL Draft day is incredible exposure for trading cards and our company."

The agreement will give Panini America the NFL jerseys and hats the players wear after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell calls their name. These unique items will be incorporated into future trading card programs.

"We felt the memorabilia from this events would be a great way to enhance our programs throughout 2009," adds Anderson. "These jerseys and hats are special, they are the first time the rookies get to wear their new colors - so its going to create some some very unique collectibles."

Officials from Panini America will also be on-hand producing and distributing cards of the top picks (with their new teams) as their names are called.

Umm, so they want draft worn hat cards? Huh? So you give them a hat, they put it on, and take it off? This is totally lame. I already do my best to avoid event used jersey cards without autos, I will avoid these like the plague.

h/t Groat

I Hate Nostalgia In The Hobby, But This Is Too Good To Resist

Back when DLP was still in the baseball market, things were going well for the collectors that focus on the sport that started it all. There were good sets, there were nice cards, and the stuff that was put out every year was built on the foundation put in place from the year before. I loved a lot of what DLP put out, but I forgot what was possible until I saw a card on a message board.

See, normally, we just get a message on the back of each card that certifies the jersey was used in a game. That’s all we have to go on most of the time, and McWilliam has even removed some of the language on the back of the cards to prevent further liability. It’s a reality that millions have come to accept, that their jersey cards are wholly authentic because some president of a company leaves a message on the back of a card. Hell, even DLP has taken a step back along with Topps and the rest, because liability and transparency are thought of as the enemy. The less we know, the more we will buy. I have gotten countless emails from UD employees, Topps employees, and DLP employees, indicating to me that the stuff I have written about is a tame representation of what actually happens behind closed doors.

It wasn’t always this way. In fact, the card I saw actually had a picture of the jersey it came from on the back of the card. Amazing that these type of things never caught on. Of course, there is never a guarantee, as we have found out, that the jersey IS authentic, or that the swatch is from the pictured jersey, but it’s a step up from a stupid message on the back of the card.


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It used to be that game used jerseys were the exception to the rule instead of the rule itself, and things have definitely changed in this hobby since 1996 when they first appeared. I really do like the way most of the cards are done today, but I cant help but feel like sometimes, the wool is pulled over our eyes, wrapped around our head, and painted black. One day, someone will have the balls to come out and tell me what I have always wanted to know, or in more simpler terms, what have we been missing?

Is Panini Buying Donruss?

Well, looks like the football market just changed considerably. I dont have a legit source yet, but it is expected today that Panini will announce the acquisition of Donruss. If this is the case, the NBA card line should get a major boost with the facilities to produce both NBA cards, MLB cards, and NFL cards in the US. Up until now, it was pretty much expected that the NBA cards that Panini is producing would suck beyond belief.

If the announcement comes some time today or tomorrow, that idea goes out the window. Everything is fair game with the ability to continue to make the typical cards, as well as being able to cater to the people who collect high end basketball. That is probably the biggest problem I see that would be solved with this purchase of DLP. Basketball is pretty much a high end sport because of the international ties, and the way that people collect the players. Exquisite has a cult following of people all over the world, and it shows on eBay. When Panini bought the license, I saw the basketball card industry wither and die. Im not sure if that is the case anymore.

As for the football part of the hobby, I think I am done with Panini as a card brand unless there is something major to move me. I just dont see National Treasures being the same without DLP at the helm. If DLP continues to put their name on it and remains in power creatively, this could turn into a huge boost for a company that was slowly losing its grip on football.

I know I was hoping for DLP to get their baseball license back after the success of Prime Cuts this year, and with new ownership, it becomes a slightly better chance that it will happen. However, I think its still a longshot.

Overall, this couldnt be better for the industry, and promotes DLP's involvement in the hobby as much more likely to flourish with more money behind them. As always, time is the only true test of a company's staying power, but we will see what kind of chops they have if this goes down as expected.

Here is a very interesting look at the deal.

First Look: 2009 Donruss Classics Football

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Okay, this is where the meat and potatoes are, as this is the preview for the first post RC premier set of 2009. The problem is that it hasnt changed at all from last year, and is actually a downgrade in my opinion. The floating swatches are back, as we see here, and it seems like there just arent any resources to make these products good. Im hoping this is just sell sheet junk and that the actual cards are much better.

I think that this set has potential, but so did LCM last year. I am praying that football cards make it through 2009, as it doesnt look too good right now. Thats just my opinion though.

First Look: 2009 Playoff Prestige and 2009 Donruss Elite Football

Im not going to say much about these sets because they are just the products to tide you over until Classics is released after the rookie premiere. The sets are pretty much exactly the same as they were last year, and it looks like they will still have the ridiculously high original price tag that will ultimately drop after the season starts.

Ill keep an eye out for more interesting fare and let you know when we get some stuff worth talking about.

Final Look: 2008 Football Product Awards and Failures

For football cards, 2008 was a very interesting year. There were some high points and some very, very low points, to say the least. I want to take the time to talk about my favorites and also the worst things I have ever seen, not because I havent mentioned them before, but just to get one last pat on the back or kick in the ass in for those winners. It also seems as though with the end of the 2008 card season, we will be very aware as to where things may be headed in terms of the economy's affect on the hobby, and really, it can be quite scary if you truly consider what could happen.

Best Product of the Year - Low End

Topps is the master of low end products. Although base topps and crap like that have become useless as the hobby shifted more towards high end, Topps Chrome still remains as the hobby's top low end product. I bought a number of boxes at around 35 dollars a piece, and for that price, you cant beat it. The autos are actually well done on those ridiculous foil stickers that Topps does, and even though the photos left something to be desired, Topps Chrome was the best of the low end this year.

Best Product of the Year - Middle End

Although there are a number of people who disagree with me, I think SPA is the best of the year, with Limited a close second. To me, the cards are the best looking, the best put together, and the lack of ridiculous parallels makes me happy beyond belief. With the focus of 99% of the products produced in the last 3 years being RCs, SPA is the top of the mountain. To add the fact that the entire set's autos are on card makes this product that much better. I liked a lot of the additions to the product from last year to this year, and if the set weren't so packed with redemptions, it may have been even better.

Best Set of the Year - High End

I cant quite give this award to National Treasures because Exquisite has yet to be released. Im guessing that NT will have a good competitor in a revamped Exquisite, even though last year, NT was a runaway favorite of mine. I really like the NT design this year, but I think Exquisite is more aptly designed in both the RC patches and the basic sets. I also think that the new Exquisite gold cards and the overall quality of the break will be that much better this year due to some new collation rules, but who knows. Also, it looked like some of the autos may be hard to see this year, so that may hurt things. Plus, of course, hopefully Beckett doesn’t get any boxes.

National Tresures was very good, dont get me wrong. The different additions to the set, the addition of some more color and subsets, and the better design of the on card RC patch autos have made it an amazing win for DLP. I love the Masterpieces like look to it, and I think it is one of the better NT sets of the last three years. The presence of stickers on the vets and stars is really disheartening, even though it was done tastefully, and that is why NT may not eclipse the granddaddy of High End.

Worst Set Of The Year - Low End

As good as Topps and Bowman Chrome was this year, Topps and Bowman were that bad. Why even have these pointless additions to the calendar when its obvious that they are a bad way to spend your money? I am selecting Bowman over Topps because Topps is and always will be around as long as Topps is making football cards. Bowman is just a cheap version of chrome, and the fact that they include some of the bowman chrome rookies but not all is fucking ridiculous. The set is crap and should be axed along with some of the others I am about to talk about - almost all Topps Products. Wonderful.

Worst Set Of The Year - Middle End

Leaf Certified Materials was great last year, one of the better sets of the entire release calendar. This year, it was crap. Floating windows, sticker autos, and a poor design made this product suck. Plus, the whole stamp auto thing I never understood. I think this wasn’t necessarily the fact the product was a horrible offering, but just the sheer disappointment in the finished product. It looked rushed and poorly designed, plus half of the set had event used footballs in them. Fucking disgusting.

Worst Set Of The Year - High End

This is a dead heat between three of the most awful products ever to be produced in the history of football cards. One of them is Topps Lettermen, one is Topps Stadium Club, the other is Topps Triple Threads. Those three products were so awful that I cannot comprehend why anyone would even think of purchasing any of it, let alone as much as some people did.

Topps Lettermen was a disgusting abortion of a product that I would rather force my head up a pregnant elephant's vagina than buy even a pack of. It is that bad. Sticker autos on manufactured letters and patches? What the fuck were they thinking? Its like they were seeing how fucking low they could go before they couldn’t sell any. Sadly lettermen wasn’t low enough.

Topps Stadium Club had major potential as a low end or barely mid end product. Instead they decided to charge 20 bucks a pack for poorly designed base cards and RC autos, combined with ridiculously ugly jersey cards and parallels. I was so surprised that this product was given the green light considering how much of a pile of diarrhea it was.

Topps Triple Threads continued the foldout legacy with some of the SICKEST MOJO one person had ever seen in his life. It is the favorite of idiot collectors everywhere who don’t mind paying 170 dollars for two shitty hits.

Best Event Of The Year

The best thing I saw all year was the continued success of the blog bat around. 30 people responded via blog with 30 awesome posts and showed that Beckett may not be the number one authority on anything but doucheyness - the blogs are quickly becoming the new king of hobby info. I may have birthed the first bat around idea, but your continued participation made it a man. It was so much fun to read every response, no matter the affiliation with this blog, and I hope it continues again with Dinged Corners this month.

Worst Event Of the Year

The worst events of the year were every box break done by the dirty vag patrol over at Beckett, hands down. Every time they broke a box, it was as if they took out their little baby dicks, and took a baby sized pee in the face of every collector who buys a box the right way. I know that my bitching doesn’t do much to stop the crooked people at the manufacturers from sending boxes over there, but that doesn’t mean we have to stand for it in principle. Beckett and the people who support them make this hobby an even shittier place than it already is, and hopefully my rants can convince even a small portion from being that guy. If one person is swayed, that’s all I care about. Fuck them.

Hobby Rookie of the Year

Matty Ice took on all comers and surprisingly knocked em all down. I have said he was the rookie of the year before on here, and he was voted the offensive ROY in the NFL. He is, without a doubt, the hobby ROY too, with most of his autos breaking the 100 dollar mark now. Some of the guy's cards are going at Peterson level clips of money, and I think if he backs his shit up next year with a good season, things may go higher. I can only imagine what his logo cards will bring from SPA and Exquisite.

Hobby Failure of the Year

I am going to give this to Larry Johnson and Plaxico Burress in a combined win for them both. Larry Johnson was suspended indefinitely for off the field accusations of abuse and other problems, and immediately his cards hit the floor. Plaxico perpetrated the worst off the field event in the history of the NFL for a player who makes a difference on contending team. His cards also bottomed out. What total pieces of shit.

Worst New Signature of the Year

Chris Johnson could have taken a dump and wiped his ass with every card he signed and it would be better than his signature is right now. It didn’t stop people from paying out their ass for his sig though.

Best New Signature of the Year

It’s a close race between Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco in my opinion, with each taking the time to write out a good portion of their name. I really like Ryan's overall presentation, as it looks cool as well as written well. Flacco has a signature that reminds me of Batman's logo for some reason, and his sig has definitely looked good in dark black and blue marker. Lets call it a tie.

Best New Gimmick of the Year

Man it was really tough to think of a new gimmick that was acutally good. I liked the idea of the Rookie Leatherheads signatures in SPA, but the execution wasn’t there for me due to the pictures. I also thought the retro rookie autos in SPA would be good too, but the design element was lacking in my opinion. Im going to give this to the Classic Cuts set out of Donruss Classics, because there isnt usually room for a cut subset in an early year set, not to mention one with an 80 dollar MSRP. I really liked the designs, and to get Stram, Payton, Grange, Baugh, and Thorpe(!) into a set like that is nuts. And yes, I know that Limited also has cuts, but that checklist was awful, and the design was awful.

Worst New Gimmick of the Year

The worst new gimmick of the year was definitely non autoed manufactured letter cards, fold out cards, or better yet, fold out cards with manufactured or an overabundance of patches. The two prime culprits to this ridiculous idea was Topps lettermen (non-autoed manufactured patch booklets with sticker autos - yes that is not a typo, this actually happened), and Topps Triple Threads ( Foldout cards with 24 different jersey windows, that spelled out something that most people couldn’t understand, plus a tiny, tiny pic). In fact, Topps sucks at high end so badly that many people just don’t acknowledge the sets all together. I just don’t understand why people buy them, other than immediate flipping to the retards who buy the singles. Funny enough, multiple people on Beckett commented how both of the ideas I just gave examples of were the coolest things they had ever seen. Joe Collectors, ASSEMBLE!

Well, that’s all I have for now, if I think of more categories, I will post them here for sure. Feel free to post anything that I missed. I was trying to rack my brain for the last two days, and this is what I could come up with. Im sure there was stuff I missed, yet I do think I hit those "worsts of the year" with the biggest mallet I could think of. Really, it’s the bests of the year I need more work on. I think that says something when its tough to find a best.

Product Review: 2008 National Treasures

When National Treasures' sell sheet was released, I was pumped, and then subsequently disappointed with the way cards looked. To me it seemed like it was basically the same set as it was last year, the RC patches looked the same, the base cards were generally the same, and to be honest, I thought the sticker autos were still ridiculously out of place. I wont say this is my favorite set of the year, but so far, it is one of the only ones I would buy singles of.

The Good

I love the painted look of the player portraits and full size player pics. They have a masterpieces like look, and I think it’s a great Idea to stray from the "lets slap a pic on these cards" ideas of how to produce cards. What it creates, is a great way to include pictures of players who played before the invent of color television and photography, and it gives a more worn and worthy aura to the cards.

I also like the new sets they have included into the product, mainly the heisman cuts, the college materials, and also the different RC subsets I have seen. There are some I hate, but we will get to those later.

A few days ago, I showcased the Emmitt Smith card that I saw previewed, and I was shocked at its awesome beauty. The card looked amazing. They had full pics of the players, awesome placement of stickers and patches, and it had actually improved on a previous year's release. That RARELY happens in this hobby. I think that most of the card from that set are amazing in appearance, and if I were to collect one set in this whole release, it would be that. Just well done in general. Too bad they couldn’t get their shit together for on card autos.

As for the RC patch autos, I am going to file most of them under good. They have done their best to include amazing patches, and the on card autos are always a plus. I love the tapered windows this year, as that was a vast improvement over the big ass block patches from last year. Even the non-on card autoed RC patches with the two windows look 10 times better than last year. For some reason, I just didn’t like the oval windows with a stickers, and I really like the squares with the designs around it. Very cool. Even as far as the 1/1 logo patch autos for all the rookies, they got them all on card, which is AWESOME. The forte is up right now, and you can expect that every high end collector is keeping an eye on it.

Mainly, when it comes to this set, you know why DLP saves it to the end every single year. Its just a well put together product.

The Bad

I mentioned earlier when I reviewed Playoff Prestige way back at the beginning of the card year that DLP had major fucking issues with weirdly placed jersey windows. This set has them too, and they are really fucking annoying. If a base card parallel has a jersey window but no auto, it looks lopsided. If a "Champions" subset card has a jersey window but no auto, some of the time, it is placed WAAAAAAAAAAY over to the right. That is completely inexcusable. I have said numerous times that a card needs to be designed separately for the autos and the jerseys, or designed to focus more on the jersey window placement rather than keeping that space for the auto window.

Secondly, the triple relic cards are ridiculous. The patch diecuts are horizontal and the pics are vertical? Who had that stupid ass idea? Its almost like on a grade school test when you had a column of vocab words and a column of their definitions next to each other, and you had to draw a line to connect the word with the correct definition. Total crap. Put the players next to their swatch.

The Ugly

If it werent at all aparent that they were using event used gross ass jerseys that were worn for 3 seconds at the RC premiere, they have like 8 different logo patch cards for each RC, and 25 brand name patches. Considering how many other logo patches they have used this year, I am done with RC logo cards. At this point in the year, AFTER the NFL season is over, we should have at least 1 GUed jersey to use for this product. I say the same thing for Exquisite, but for some reason, it cant happen. Now, when you have an updated pic in Leaf Limited from week one, you can have a game used jersey in NT.

I think it is ridiculous to have the Leaf Rookies and Stars Patches in every box. I know you needed to use them up, but save it for a product I don’t care about. It is fucking ridiculous to see such a crappy excuse for a card in National Treasures, when they have already been in Playoff Fucking Prestige at like 2 dollars a pack. This is completely bat shit crazy to think that we would support this inclusion in a SUPER high end product, let alone at 1 per pack. Its like having another scrub auto to go through every single box.

Lastly, the upside down auto stickers are the dumbest fucking mistake I have ever fucking seen. Get some QC people on the fucking ball and FIX IT. I swear to god, a little part of me dies every single time I see one, not only on this product but on others too. The biggest deal here is that all these cards are hand fucking packed.

Overall, this product makes the grade for me, despite its short falls. I think it is still the most fun product to break, but with Exquisite revamping itself this year, we may have a new competitor in this category. Although the cards arent worth as much as UD's super high end offering, they definitely arent crap. I love national treasures, and I look forward to seeing some of the awesome cards that are inevitably going to be discovered in the coming weeks.

A Look At High End: Where Does It Fall?

Now that Topps and UD are out of the Basketball market, I am also assuming that high end basketball is leaving with them. That leaves football's 3-4 products and hockey's 2-3 products as the only high end products left. I assume that UD will focus a lot more energy on making their products better in those sports, but I doubt the difference will be noticible for a few more years.

I have noticed a few people over the internet hailing the switch to Panini in Basketball as a good thing as it will bring the hobby back to producing "cheap fun sets." Guess what? Basketball collectors could give a shit about cheap sets. If you look at the Basketball market, its all about high end, especially internationally. In fact, I would expect Exquisite basketball outsells Football 2 or 3 to 1 - mainly because basketball collecting isnt worth it if you collect cheaply. In my opinion, this will not only cripple basketball cards, but signal a bidding war over licenses in other sports so that only one company has the ability to produce. That fucking blows.

What is funny, is that even after all of these high end products, we still do not have (non rookie edition) Exquisite baseball in the form that Basketball and Football have it, and I don’t think we will get it. I believe that Prime Cuts and (gah!) Topps Sterling and Triple Threads will sadly continue to be Baseball's only "high end" products at 170-200 dollars a box.

As has been discussed before, right now, its pretty much impossible to produce a high end baseball product with an MLB liscense, mainly because of the over-ridiculous price it takes to obtain the autos, and the need for historical players to drive a product in contradiction to MLBPA rules. Does this mean Exquisite baseball will never happen? You bet your ass.

Even after all the price problems, the central issue is not the cost of making the product, but rather finding people to buy the product at normal Exquisite prices. I mean, look at the way Football and Basketball (RIP) drove the markets. Both had a crop of RC players that never had problems garnering huge values due to immediate playing status, and even the retired and current players still had a good handful of people who demanded a lot of money for their cards without contrived scarcity involved.

That just doesn’t happen in baseball. Even the most accomplished superstar players are hindered by their city's market, which means if you arent Derek Jeter, A-rod, or Albert Pujols, you probably wont get 100 dollars for an auto that cost the company 200 dollars to obtain. Hell, even David Ortiz, pride of Red Sox Nation, usually doesn’t get that much for one of his autos, and he is the most popular player in the biggest market outside of NY.

I discussed before that baseball collectors are not the same as the rest of the sports. Baseball collectors have been forced into a hobby life of set collecting, mainly because there just isnt anything else to collect. Before Prime Cuts, there hadnt been a box over 100 bucks worth buying since 2005. That is a fucking long ass time, if you ask me. In the mean time, thousands of new collectors have come to the sport and seen a world without worthwhile products to bust for needs other than set collecting, so naturally they went the other direction. People on the blogosphere will argue that a limited budget and lack of willing to spend on high end is the reason they went the way they did, but really, its not possible to adopt a different philosophy.

Ill give you an example.

I came back a few years ago into the hobby with VERY little cash and NO cards. I immediately started to look for the coolest cards I could find, but I quickly found out that the hobby had changed quite a bit since I left. Exquisite Football was the king of the mountain now, and I immediately swooned at the amazing cards it produced on a yearly basis. I could not believe my eyes. I rapidly jumped on board with mid-end products like Limited, Absolute and LCM so that I could build a collection worthy enough of selling in a high end market. After a few years, I had enough cards to accomplish that. Set collecting was the furthest from my top priority as it could get, because that is not how football functions.

Then, when I tried to take the same mentality to Baseball, I found that the other collectors were thinking about collecting in a completely different manner. Only recently have I come to the realization that there really isnt much else they can do. You could cite Sweet Spot and SPA as successful mid end products, but even the mid hits in those products cant break $50. SPA and Sweet Spot in Football has 3-4 rookies a year that break that barrier, plus a generous handful of retired players, current players, and others that break it. Its also a hell of a lot cheaper to produce, though the price for football autos has been on the rise as well (Matt Ryan was the most expensive rookie auto I had ever heard of).

Basically it comes down to this: If you want to make a successful Baseball product, you either fill it with rare jerseys of pre-war players and tons of cut autos for a reasonable price, or you make a product with a huge and cool base set for people to collect at a really cheap price. Other than that, you have no chance - there is NO in between.

National Treasures Is Looking Better By The Day

I hate small pics, I fucking hate them. Why even make a card if there is no picture on it. I dont care about logos, but I DO care about pictures of the players. That is what makes or breaks a card for me some times.

The problem with National Treasures in the past has been that the pictures have never been that big. It was usually a face shot or a little tiny pic by the auto or jersey on some of the subsets.

This year, along with their painted picture styles, the sets look to have huge fucking pics on them. I love it.

National Treasures: Dreams and Nightmares

Sometimes when a set comes out, you just know its going to be awesome. I have that premonition right now about National Treasures. Personally, I dont even mind that most of the set is on stickers, and I even like the vertical orientation of the base set - something I was worried about. Now, after seeing more of the cards, I have an even better feeling due to the Masterpieces style player art, and the 1/1s definitely reflect that.

Check this out:



However, that doesnt mean that everything is coming up Millhouse for this set. After going through the 1/1 slideshow on Donruss digital, I did find a troubling instance of stupidty that reared its ugly head in the form of a huge, HUGE, mistake. This is one of those things that just shouldnt happen, especially on a 1/1. I feel bad for the Greg Jennings fans.



I really hope this is a VERY isolated incident.

2008 National Treasures: The Great, The Annoying, & The Rejects

National Treasures to me is one of the most exciting products for football. It is a product that offers a chance at some really great looking cards and some really great pieces of history. The 2008 Edition is due to release on January 28th and many football collectors are excited I am sure (even at the IMHO gouging price of $400-$500). As the collecting world waits, Donruss has started to release some more images that look great, but also point to something really annoying that should not be happening in the high end products of sports cards. Let me break down my opinion

THE GREAT









I always love the chance of getting a cut auto. This year the Historical Cuts are amazing once again and the aesthetics of the cards is unbelievable. Mother Teresa would be an amazing pull. This year the addition of the Heisman Cuts is great. It is a chance for football fans to pull some cuts from some of the greatest "yearly" college football players.

THE ANNOYING







What's that you say? All those cards look awesome. You are correct. They are beautiful cards and I commend DLP for once again having some amazingly sweet looking cards. However, on to the annoying aspect. Each one of those Tony Romo cards is a 1/1!!! That is right each one of them is a 1/1. I know Gellman has written on this before, but when this crap starts dropping into National Treasures, then I start to get really annoyed. At least in the past runs of NT they have changed the foil embossment for the different print runs. And with "laundry tag" and other such "premium" patch cards they usually have been in a run of #/10. Not here though. We have three 1/1 auto cards and the only difference is what piece of the jersey they plopped in the "material" window. Not even a change of picture or embossment foil color change. This is annoying to me. If the only thing you are going to change is the piece of material, then for the love of everything sane and logical would you please number the above cards #/3!!! Don't play us like idiots. (Side question: Does anyone else feel like this is just a manufacture equivalent of the Ebay 1/1 sellers? There the sellers say the numbering or the "patch" make it a 1/1 because there is nothing like it. To me it seems like that is just what DLP is doing here except they legitimize it by "stamping" 1/1 on the back. I ain't buying it!) Annoying, but that doesn't even compare to the following "horrible" reject product that should cause box busters everywhere to puke.... Ladies and Gentleman I give you the following:

THE REJECTS









That is right folks. Manufactured Patch Autos! Never should DLP reuse a concept from a mid-end to low-end product in their "premium" set. Manufactured Patches are horrible in my opinion. As you can see some of the autos look alright, but as you can also see above some of them look horrible. Nobody likes sticker autos, but this can end up even worse then those annoying sticker autos because the autograph looks horrible. DLP has taken a pretty cool concept in "nickname" autos and paired them with one of the most pointless manufacturer moves in creating manufactured patches. These do not belong anywhere near the National Treasures set. As a side note, is it just me or does it seem that "manufactured patches and/or letters" are becoming the new "sticker" auto? This allows them to get the autograph before production like stickers but it seems that the vast majority of collectors think these are somehow better than sticker autographs and I don't know why. At least on the stickers the autographs can look bold. HORRIBLE!

All this being said, I am still excited for National Treasures because it has some really great looking cards as always, but DLP somewhat has disappointed with some questionable manufacturing production.

Hopefully Looking Forward: My Blog Bat Around Submission

Thanks to Dave at Fielder's Choice for putting on the Blog Bat Around this time. I wish I had more time to work on this, but things have become very busy lately.

***********

When I looked forward into to 2008 last january, I was really excited. I knew that there were a bunch of awesome things on the horizon, and I thought that the year would be one for the record books. Then, as things started to materialize, it became painfully apparent how bad 2008 was going to be.

For some out there, set collecting is the end all and be all of cards. Those people, who are mostly baseball collectors, do everything they can to complete the base sets of the annual products they love. They love the hits when they get them, but mostly its about collecting their favorite sets to completion.

Ill tell you, I used to think these people were the dumbest people on the planet. And although I still think that buying retail is about as smart as buying a used car from UNCLE CLEO'S HOUSE OF LEMONS, I have come to understand that buying baseball mid and high end is about as pointless and stupid, unless DLP's name is on the box. The reason I say this is because there just arent many current players that are worth the price of admission, even on a mid end product. After that epiphany and realization, I stopped hatin' and started seeing baseball products in a different light. The problem is, even with this mentality in most of the sets, it doesnt excuse sets like Moments and Milestones, UD X, and Documentary.

So, if I were the one to plan out a 2009 card calendar, I would definitely put those three on the cutting room floor, and add more sets that are geared towards offering good hits at lower prices, as well as a good base set. SP Authentic can usually accomplish the feat in question, but the problem is that the price is usually too high to attract people who collect. Plus, if you look at the price range where SPA should be, the market is usually ruled by chrome, a set that focuses mostly on prospecting.

On the other end of things, DLP has done an amazing job (as usual) with their entry into the high end and mid end baseball product market. The issue that most people are coming to be familiar with, is that without limitations from the MLBPA, products like Prime Cuts can focus on the meat and leave the crap by the side of the road with their trash. They understood that Baseball cards is about two things - rookies and history - and made a few sets out of it. They flourished, and we all had some of the best products in years. In all honesty, I barely missed the team names and logos, and I for sure did not miss the abundance of Chin Lung Hu cards.

When it comes Topps high end baseball products, they have seemingly missed the boat so many times, that I have come close to swearing off their sets all together many times. Basically, anything with "Sterling" after it needs to be killed in a very painful fashion, as they dont seem to get that foldouts and diecut jersey windows do not make products worth while.

In terms of football, my specialty, its a completely different market. People dont collect for the sets because there are quite a few current players that carry a high price tag. They also dont have as awful of a limitation to deal with, due to the fact that RCs carry many of those high tags. This leads the products to head more towards the middle end and high end, while the low end products that flourish in baseball, usually flounder.

Based on this paradigm, 2008 was an okay year, if not only because Matty Ice and Joe Flacco had some of the greatest years in rookie history. As for the the designs, they were less than par on a few sets that I love, but vastly improved on some sets that were just okay the year before. Granted, we havent seen the blockbusters yet, but they cannot revive the year all by themselves.

In 2009, I would love to see Prime Cuts make the crossover and products like Topps Sterling, Topps Lettermen and Bowman Sterling get the big bloody axe. Those three products have and will be some of the worst in recent memory and I sincerely hope that Topps doesnt think that poor designs around awful looking foil stickers are going to fly round heeyah.

Hopefully, 2009 gives us something to keep us interested, as it is quickly becoming a chore rather than a joy to collect all the gimmicky junk that keeps coming out.

Product Review: 2008 Playoff Contenders

Every year, sets are flooded with no name RC autographs, and you can credit two things. First is the overjersification of the hobby, needing a hit in every pack, etc, annnnnd playoff contenders. Thanks to this set, people who were without cards now had auto cards in a regular set. It has produced some of the hobby's most expensive cards, and really, I think it is a good idea for a set, as long as it is the only one. Now, with the hobby focused on producing a card of every single fucking player, this set is pretty much forgotten.

The Good

Contenders is actually a pretty good value this year, as the auto content isnt as terrible as it was last year. There are many more autos of good players to offset the 5000 autos of Mr. Irrelevant, so you are more likely to make back your money with a decent box.

The price has dropped considerably from last year, and that is fucking awesome. I remember at 120 bucks for a box at release in 2007, I was screaming my brain out watching people bust it time after time. Now at 80 bucks and below, its a much better idea.

Believe it or not, I actually support the addition of college team RC ticket autos this year, not because of what they are, but more of what they produce - MORE AUTOS OF GOOD PEOPLE. There are now more Ryan and Flacco, and more of a chance to get nice stuff.

Also, major props on the photo picks this year. I hated most of the photos used from last year, but this year looks pretty good. The top RCs look like they are in top form, and I especially like the game photos they used on a lucky few.

Lastly, there is not a single relic in this entire product and I fucking love that. With both chrome sets and others heading the way of using event used, 5 second touched, no player connection jerseys in their cards, its nice to see that contenders is still all about the autos. I have a feeling its only a matter of time, though.

The Bad

This product's design is actually okay, although the idea to scrawl ROOKIE across the whole front of the fucking card is a stupid ass design idea. Imagine the way the cards look and then remove the giant ass ROOKIE text. Looks much better right? You know, its okay if you dont put that 72 pt eye sore on the card, we will still find out that they are a first year player.

I would also like to take the time to say to donruss that its okay if you dont have every single goddamned rookie in this set. We dont need an undrafted free agent card of a lifetime practice squader. You may miss a Brady type guy every once in a while, but thats okay to save us from more autos of worthless players who wont last a year.

The Ugly

Right now, this product is stale, really, really stale. Cards are heading in a different direction, which is fine, but I think it may be time to re-evaluate the status of this product in the lineup. I equate this product to the Ultimate collection of DLP. Check that shit at the door and think of something else.

We have yet to see an amazing mid end Vet and Star product that can drive a brand. At this point in the year, I am fucking sick to death of rookies, and starving for more HOFers and veterans. Please, please, please, boil a product like National Treasures down to its essence and release a similar product at 100 bucks. We will eat it up, I promise.

Product Review: 2008 Prime Cuts Baseball

Well, despite what Beckett did for their break of this product, I think it still warrants a review. Prime cuts was one of my favorite sets of 2005 and I think it takes Topps Sterling out back and kicks the fuck out of it. Though it has no license, I honestly don’t really notice it, as weird as that seems. There are some bad parts, but I think its inevitable with a product like this.

The Good

There are a lot of great things about this product, whether it be Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Rose and Shoeless Joe being in a high end product for the first time in a long time, or the cool ideas they had for the player combos, the checklist rocks when it comes to old timey guys. I think any set that focuses on players like the ones featured in prime cuts deserves a big plus, but to do it the way they did, makes me want to go buy a case.

The design of this set is great. I love it. The cards look wooden almost, and the whole layout of the horizontal double quad and triple relics bring out the buying beast in me. It just looks well put together in every sense, and makes you wonder why sets like threads even was put on the market. This stuff is ten times better looking and ten times better conceived. Also, to not include weird ass stat diecuts is a "thank god!" in my book, so kudos on that.

Encasing the big hits is awesome, especially with the tendency for cards to be chipped and damaged in products like this. I talked about it a while ago, saying that all cards should be like this in high end products, but this is a start. I especially like that they chose the magnetic style holders with corner protection for sure, especially because they are so nice and easy to display.

If you can find this box at 155, or less, I think it’s a really good buy for what you get. The big hit isnt it, and I like the addition of lesser hits so that the box isnt a complete waste if you pull something crappy for the biggie.

Basically, I think its long overdue to have Hank Aaron and Willie Mays in a set, and that will get me to run wild when you do. Its really too bad that we cant see them in a licensed set, but its awesome to still have high end cards.

The Bad

I didn’t like the addition of rookie shit in this set, as there really is no reason to have them included. However, I know the players association requires a set to be like this, though Im not sure if this falls under that set of regulations. I would have liked to have seen the RCs be only the back focus of this product, but I do see some Gordon Beckham and Buster Posey showing up as the encased hits. That would be a huge disappointment to me.

As for the encased hits, I would have liked the sticker to be a lot less noticable. It sometimes covers up part of the card, and that really detracts from the awesomeness. Use a little sticker and make sure that the card is the focus.

Moving on to the autos, this product seems to have been in design for a long time, and Im kind of angry that we still are getting sticker autos for this type of set. Hank Aaron is notorious for having an awful signature, but to have it as sticker confined as it is can be really problematic. Get the living guys and the RCs to sign the cards, its not like you cant produce these things ahead of time.

The Ugly

If you look at some of the colossals, its again obvious that the cards were not designed in the right order. The plain relic cards look like there should be an auto on them, instead of the other way around. The swatch is way too far down, and nothing pisses me off more than a could-be wonderful card that breaks its own borders due to poor design. There is no excuse for this, as the set should be designed with the swatches being the focus of the swatch cards regardless of the presence of an auto.

Overall this is a pretty strong showing from DLP, I must say they did a pretty good job, even getting the CMG guys in there. The set has some things left to be desired, but that doesn’t mean it isnt worth trying a box or two just to see what you get.

2008 Threads Baseball Break

As for my Chrome FB break, I got more out of this video than I got out of my box.

Prime Cuts Boxes Have Been Ordered

Just an FYI, both boxes have been ordered and should be here three business days after the release of the product. Team random videos will be posted as soon as the second break fills. I have fronted my own money for the second box, so hopefully that will fill.

If not, the spots and teams will be mine.

2 spots are still left, paypal your 14 dollars for 2 teams to gellmana@gmail.com.

Playoff Prime Cuts Baseball - 2nd Box (4 Spots Left)

What: Box Break of Prime Cuts Baseball (2nd box)
When: Product is released around 12/26
How much per spot: 14 bucks
What you get: 2 random teams
Host: Gellman
Paypal Money To: gellmana@gmail.com
Where to watch: Youtube for randomizer and break
Items Per Box: 1 auto, 3 game used, 2 commons
highlights: Hank Aaron, Pete rose, Joe Jackson, Willie Mays, among others.
Procedure: Pay and you are in.

Spots:

1. Gellman (HOST)
2. Justin - (Paid)
3. Jordan (Paid)
4. Motherscratcher - (Paid)
5. Nennth Inning - Bailey (Paid)
6. Dan K (Paid)
7. Voice of the Collector - Rob B (Paid)
8. OldSchoolBreaks - John (Paid)
9. Heartbreaking Cards - Matt (Paid)
10. Heartbreaking Cards - Matt (Paid)
11. Motherscratcher (Paid)
12. Ian (Paid)
13. Fatcat (Paid)
14. Vinny (Paid)
15. Vinny (Paid)

IF YOU PAID FOR THE FIRST BREAK AND COULDNT GET IN, YOU HAVE A RESERVED SPOT ABOVE. PLEASE PAY AGAIN (SORRY) AND I WILL ADD YOU TO THE BREAK. YOU HAVE UNTIL TONIGHT TO RECLAIM YOUR SPOT.

Sorry for the caps.

Playoff Prime Cuts Baseball

What: Box Break of Prime Cuts Baseball (2nd box if desired).
When: Product is released around 12/26
How much per spot: 14 bucks
What you get: 2 random teams
Host: Gellman
Paypal Money To: gellmana@gmail.com
Where to watch: Youtube for randomizer and break
Items Per Box: 1 auto, 3 game used, 2 commons
highlights: Hank Aaron, Pete rose, Joe Jackson, Willie Mays, among others.
Procedure: Pay and you are in.

Spots:

1. Gellman (HOST)
2. Monfredo (Paid)
3. Psad (Paid)
4. Psad (Paid)
5. Psad (Paid)
6. Nennth Inning - Bailey (Paid)
7. White Sox Cards - Steve (Paid)
8. GCRL - Jim (Paid)
9. Dan K (Paid)
10. Hawaiian Lion (Paid)
11. Hawaiian Lion (Paid)
12. arfmax (Paid)
13. arfmax (Paid)
14. monfredo (Paid)
15. wheeler (Paid)
(OTHERS WILL BE REFUNDED, SORRY)

Details:

PRODUCT BREAKDOWN:

Commons (100) - #’d to 449.
Rookies Signatures (50) - #’d to 299 or less.
Rookies Materials Jerseys (50) - #’d to 199 or less.
Rookies Materials Bats (50) - #’d to 199 or less.
Rookies Signature Materials Jerseys (50) - #’d to 299 or less.
Rookies Signature Materials Bats (50) - #’d to 299 or less.
Century (150) - Insert with 3 levels, #’d to 50 or less.
Century Signatures (100) - Autograph insert with 4 levels, #’d to 99 or less.
Prime Cuts Bats (100) - #'d to 99 or less.
Prime Cuts Bats Signatures (100) - #’d to 49 or less.
Prime Cuts Jerseys (6) - 6 levels, including signature and prime versions. #d to 99 or less.
Prime Cuts Material Combos (100) - 3 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Icons (50) - 23 levels, including signature, material, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Icons Material Combos (50) - 3 levels, including prime and signature versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Timeline (50) - 19 levels, including signature, material, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Timeline Material Combos (50) - 3 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Timeline Trios Materials (50) - 13 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Timeline Quad Materials (50) - 6 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Colossal (25) - 16 levels, including signature, material, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Material Combos (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Material Combos Prime (10) - #’d to 25 or less.
Material Triples (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Material Triples Prime (10) - #’d to 25 or less.
Material Quads (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Material Quads Prime (10) - #’d to 25 or less.
Signature Combos (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Signature Trios (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Signature Quads (5) - #’d to 99 or less.
Souvenir Cuts (25) - #’d to 250 or less.
Souvenir Stadium Cuts (10) - #’d to 250 or less.
Biography (35) - 4 levels, including material, signature, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Leaf Limited Phenoms (25) - #’d to 99 or less.
Playoff Contenders Rookies (25) - #’d to 99 or less.