Absolute is live on eBay as we speak, even though for some reason, Panini thinks it’s a good idea to prevent internet retailers from selling it until next Wednesday. My comments from previous posts on its lack of effort, innovation, and general visual appeal apply ten fold, now that we see how bad it really is. Do I think that on card autos help a very small portion of this set? Yes. Do I feel that this set is better than it was last year? Kind of. Is it still far below the expectations many collectors have, especially when we see how amazing the cards from Topps have looked? NO DOUBT. Absolute is hodge podge of poorly designed cards, crappy 2 dollar jersey cards from second string players, and not much else. As I said previously, the War Room subset may be the most boring looking card designed in the last few years.
Here is what is up so far.
Christian Ponder NFL Shield Patch RPM 2/5 – Talk about devaluing the NFL logos. There are five of these pieces of crap? Waaaaay too many, player worn or not. Even worse when you see how hideous this card looks without the auto. That shield is in no-man’s land up in the corner.
Blaine Gabbert Jumbo Swatch RPM – Yuck. Just yuck. The 11 needs to be smaller and moved closer to the player, and the player needs to be MUCH bigger.
Deangelo Williams Tools of the Trade Patch – Sucks these cards went vertical. Completely disproportionate. More floating swatches and another shitty jersey card that wont be worth anything. Step right up! Buy a 40 dollar pack and get a 2 dollar hit!
Jake Locker Jumbo Swatch Auto RPM – There is so little effort, that they dont even die cut this swatch. Just cut a square hole because, honestly, who cares? No matter that it looks terrible.
Ryan Mallet War Room Jumbo Patch – Seriously, what are they thinking with these? Even Mallett looks bored with this card in the picture. “No, DONT USE any of those action shots we took at the premiere! Go with those awesome mug shots.”
Jordan Shipley Tools of the Trade Jersey – I would be PISSED if I spent the pack price and got this card. Nothing like a hit that wont sell for a .99 cent base starting price.
Seriously, anyone who thinks this is a top notch effort by Panini, is clueless. Its complete crap. Complete and utter donkey poop. I say this every year, and yet, people still buy. Not sure why anyone would spend the money. Oh wait, if you are buying off the internet, you CANT spend the money until next week! PERFECT!
i have to agree with u that the war zone, tott, and other sub sets look awful. but i am in love with the rpm set. who cares if its a square instead of a die cut or should be pushed over closer to the player, they still look badass! for once, i think this panini product is pretty nice. but who am i to say anything, im not busting any of this. im only collecting the rpm cards for my pc guy.
3 yrs ago I spent a lot more on cards and there were more dealers at the local flea market. Now there is one guy selling 90’s wax and it way better than this junk. I spend my money on video games because there just isn’t as much to collect for the average Joe anymore. I probably spend less then $20 a month any more on cards. How can someone spend 1 large for a case when its all ugly junk?
Panini is doing their partner hobby shops a great service by giving us a week advantage to help our customers. You can always wait a week and buy it online, you just probably get as much for your cards if you are flipping your singles on ebay.
Mike, I get why its good for you, a shop owner, but I dont see the point for the regular joe across america. You guys are, admittedly, a dying breed. Just like a number of retail outlets like book stores and other retailers whose industry is mainly internet based. Due to this fact, very few collectors actually have access to a GOOD shop anymore, and therefore, it becomes impossible to justify this practice.
As I have said before, there arent many shop owners out there who actually know how to run an effective operation. Most of them refuse to adapt, mainly due to ignorance. This just gives those people the excuse to sit on their ass because they have a captive audience for a week. I would say if you REALLY want to help the shop owner, its about education in an evolving industry, not giving them this type of stupid program.
Gellman says: “I say this every year, and yet, people still buy.”
Babbaloie replies: Really, you must think quite highly of yourself if you’re getting upset with folks for buying product when you say it’s…hang on…I need to get the exact quote…..”donkey poop”.
🙂
I actually like Absolute. Sure, it’s not Inception, but there are some really strong looking cards this year. I agree that Panini’s design is a major step behind Topps (this year), but I’m not sure that “donkey poop” is quite what I’d call it.
Fortunately for card stores, you can’t download a box of 2011 Absolute to your Kindle in under 3 minutes (with a good connection of course). I will regret that posting of course should that one day become possible.
I wonder how the internet sellers will price their boxes when there are many fewer LCS to work against. My guess is that they won’t be as deep with their discounting when there is that much less competition. TBD I guess.
I looked at one large internet seller and my customers will enjoy much better pricing on this release than their currently advertised price, AND will be saving up to 7 days to boot.
How bout ‘expensive donkey poop’? The Gold Plated, polished variety.
I have no issues. The on cards are nice. The “absolute patches” set is sweet as always and they have game used 1/1 shields. Unlike Adam I love me some foil board. There a re a couple things to dislike but all in all look forward to grabbing some.
Even MORE Jordan Shipley jersey cards?
You said it best Gellman… makes you wonder if they really have ‘given up’.