Panini sucks at making football products. They suck really bad
. I could go on and on about their suckage, but that would require too much effort.
As mentioned earlier, there is a reason why promotions like Father’s Day and Black Friday need to happen. They are so awful at creating a product that people will buy in a sustained matter, that they have to bribe customers to buy them after they complete the move to the bargain bin. Preferred Basketball is one of the only Panini products, that really presents the cards in a way that should move to football. In fact, it works so well in the design and on card autos, that it should be the template.
These cards can be pretty freaking awesome:
2014-15 Preferred Kevin Durant Silhouette Logo Auto /25
2014-15 Preferred Andrew Wiggins Silhouette Auto RC
2014-15 Preferred Jabari Parker Dynamic Debuts Auto /20
2014-15 Preferred Kobe Bryant Die Cut Auto
Right now, Panini's Football formula is so tired that people have all but given up on products not named Flawless, Contenders, or Treasures. Preferred presents some good looking cards, with a lot of chase value, and would make dog products like Crown Royale obsolete. Although some of the designs are the Panini par for the course horrendous, most of the cards, especially the silhouettes continue to be some of the best ones that Panini makes.
I would go as far as saying that Panini has recognized how important the silhouette style is, bringing it to a bunch of other products in a few different mediums. What I dont understand is the need to continue printing the Crown Royale logo on them, despite the fact that the product is dead in Basketball. It just shows me that Panini is so afraid of collectors running for the hills that they wont even brand the cards appropriately.
Something isnt working when it comes to Panini Football, and I am continually scared shitless when I see how many products they will have to build if Topps does end up getting kicked out of the market due to Panini’s pending NFL exclusive license. The bottom line is that brands that Panini can make in Basketball never transfer over in a meaningful way to football, leaving us with a 100 dollar box that has 4 hits and 1 sticker auto. We have seen preview after preview from Topps showing their prediction that they can do on card for most of the products they are releasing. So far, Panini cant even be bothered to have on card autographs when they have a captive audience to sign them at the premiere.
I like Preferred basketball’s designs, I like the chase cards, and I like that they are all hard signed. Panini Football needs to get off their ass, remove their head from between their cheeks, and figure out how to do something similar in a sport they are going to be overpaying much more for the license than they did in Basketball. Otherwise, we are headed for a bigger problem than which of Panini’s terrible sets should populate the latest Black Friday box dump.
I agree, 2014-15 Preferred Basketball is awesome from all respects. Just about everything Panini Basketball has performed well this year from the customer’s and retailer’s perspective. 2014 Contenders, National Treasures, and Flawless Football continue to perform great. And yes, 2014 Immaculate Football and 2014 Panini Black Gold continue to sell above original factory cost.
As for all other 2014 Football Products, profit performance has been disappointing. All, and I mean all Topps 2014 Football Products must be sold below original factory cost in order to move. However, the poor profit performance is not due to poor design but OUR over-estimating of the performance of the 2014 Football Rookie by everyone: manufacturer, distributors and retailers. We all asked for and bought too much product for a rookie class that didn’t produce as hoped.
The business side of the hobby is very hard to predict and plan. The relationship of supply and demand has always trumped product design in my 30 plus years of sports cards retail sales. While product design is important and helps increase demand, outstanding product design can not compensate for a poor rookie class performance and over-estimating product demand.
I applaud Panini for coming up with the best promotion packs in the hobby. Father’s Day Packs, Black Friday Packs and Panini VIP Packs (at The National) continue to be in high demand by sports card customers everywhere. They help sell product so retailers and distributors can make a profit. Customers will only buy a product when cost plus incentives make sense. Their buying during these promotions means they believe they are getting their money’s worth. The Father’s Day Promotion is a Win, Win, Win, Win for Panini, Distributors, Retailers and Customers.
While most of their other basketball sets are the same thing over and over, year after year, Preferred Basketball is the one really interesting set that Panini puts out. It’s the one that has the most diverse look and is the one that actually has me chasing jersey cards (Those 1 on 1 books are awesome). In addition, they seem to have opened up the autograph checklist on this one.
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