Super High End - A Rebuttle From A Collector Of It

Since there is so much hating on high end stuff, mainly the price tag for Exquisite and National Treasures, I wanted to add my opinion since I actually like them both. To me, offering your opinion on these things is acceptable when you understand that those products extend a little bit past the price tags. I know that 500 bucks seems like a lot of money for 7 cards, regardless, but for some people its not about busting it for money. A lot of the people I see bust NT and Exquisite have money to throw around regardless of the state of the economy. Its understood that you can get the big pull when busting high end stuff, but you can also end up with our box that we got a few days ago. Most people understand that. If they make unsound investments when they don’t have the money, it wouldn’t make a difference if exquisite was around or not. NT and Exquisite are two fucking products on a release calendar that has 45 products and more. Do you not think that they would find something else to buy and waste their money on? I doubt it.

As for the complaining, I think its more than acceptable in my opinion. If you spend 500+ on a box and you get crap, you have are buying the right to complain. Of course, its only acceptable if you understand that its just a venting process and nothing will come of it. You took a gamble and lost, you have every right to feel shitty about it. I gamble 50 bucks on chrome sometimes, get nothing, and I will not shut up until I have appeased my inner demons. It’s a way to let off steam and disappointment. It doesn’t mean the product is crap and bad for people.

However, busting these products is not the only reason that Exquisite and NT exists. I love the cards, they are the best designed of the year, and most of the time they also have the best cards of one's favorite player from the entire season. If these type of products didn’t exist, I wouldn’t be as happy in this hobby because there wouldn’t be anything to shoot for. The reason is this. I know that for at least one set each year, the best of the best will be on display. I know that if the rest of the year's products suck, these will make up for it. I know I will at least be able to find one or two cards to measure things by, and it brings the rest of things into perspective. You don’t just pay 500 bucks for the cards, you pay for the brand and the presitige. Trust me, that goes a long way in a lot of people's mind. Then, if the cards look amazing in addition (which they usually do) it only adds to the mystique. If I had the choice between spending 250 dollars on a topps heritage chrome refractor retro black 1/1 and an exquisite patch auto, I take the exquisite. It looks better on my shelf and I am more proud of it. When people come to my place and they see those cards, they ooooo and ahhh like fucking kids. Its because everyone can appreciate that kind of thing - its universally accepted that those pieces attract the attention from the buyer who gets it, as well as people who see it. Don’t think I am in the minority for pointing this out. You all have photobuckets and you all display shit on your blog. Its not a bad thing, its human nature, and I thrive on that rush.

Now, onto the sticker autos in NT. It seems to be a discrepency in certain people's mind that a product cant be good if it has stickers for autos. First, if the product isnt upper deck, it probably has stickers, it’s a standard of expectation. Secondly, not all the cards in the set are sticker autos. There are on card RC patch autos, and those are the focus of the product. Thirdly and more importantly, its nearly impossible to do what upper deck does without the resources. I don’t think its possible for DLP to get all on card sigs, and for what they do produce with what they have, its pretty good. I love the design, I love the ideas, I love NT cards. Its not Exquisite, but its worth what you pay if you buy it right. If you are an idiot about it, you will get what you pay for, just like any other product regardless of price. For the record, most of us don’t like the stickers, but when they are done right (unlike topps' effort) they look fine to the people who understand the process. NT is one of those products that is done right. Again, not exquisite, but still good enough to be considered among the best.

Lastly, to say that high end has ruined the hobby, is to look at things with blinders on. Its like saying the Rolls Royce ruined the car industry. Bullshit. People buy what they like, and if they like the hondas, they have a car to buy. If they like to throw their money around, they buy a bentley. Its that simple. Nothing has been ruined other than the idea that cards are more than just pictures on cardboard. Personally, if they were, id stop collecting. It would be fucking boring. I left cards originally because I realized that I was a sports collector and that autos were much cooler to have on the wall. When I came back and saw that cards have jerseys and autos in them, I almost jizzed in my pants because my love for sports memorabilia and autographs had come full circle. When I then found out that the best of the best had crazy looking patches and amazingly designed autos, I fell in love. Some times a Camry doesn’t do it for people. Those people bust exquisite and NT, and they complain when they don’t get shit, but deep down inside they wouldn’t have it any other way. There is always another box to bust, and another chance at greatness. Trust me, they are just as worthy of being called a collector as anyone else.

EDIT: I have noticed that on every post that talks about high end as the worst thing to happen to the hobby, it is always comparing the high end football products like NT and Exquisite to low end baseball products. I have said numerous times that baseball and football are vastly different and it isnt a good idea to apply baseball rules to the football market. Its completely different, if not only because it is the only sport with 3 competing brands. Add in a profitable RC class EVERY YEAR, in addition to the high priced current stars like Peterson, Favre, Roethlisberger, the Mannings, Tomlinson, Reggie Bush, and Tom Brady, and you have a product all by itself. Then you factor in that all the recent HOFers like Barry, Emmitt, Montana, Rice, and others like Franco Harris and Starr are still living and signing, and you have the ability to put out a high end product and have it be worth it.

You dont have that in baseball because its Pujols, Jeter, Grif, and A-Rod, and thats it. You cant make the retired players the focus per the MLBPA, so Ripken and the other recent retired guys who sign cant out number the current guys who arent worth anything. Add in that Aaron and Mays are DLP exclusive, and you dont have a very large pool of guys to work with. See, in the NFL, exclusive contracts dont exist yet. Its a much different situation.