Every year, collectors wait for Contenders for a number of reasons. One is that the brand has produced some of the most iconic cards in the hobby. Another is that it features rookies that do not have many autographs from the rest of the card season. Contenders has always been the place where scrub rookies get the spotlight, and this year is no exception.

Because the set has such a loyal following, there are a lot of collectors who try to put the ticket autograph set together each year. Over the last few years, some of the tickets required for completing the set have become increasingly tougher to come by, and this has lead to ridiculous prices for the super short prints.  Panini has held off on releasing the list of print runs until later on in the release, and it has led to rampant speculation on which cards make up the rarest of the rare.

Check out some of these prices:

2011 Contenders Aldon Smith RC Ticket Auto SP

2011 Contenders Prince Amukamara RC Ticket Auto SP

2011 Contenders Jeremy Kerley RC Ticket Auto SP

2011 Contenders DJ Williams RC Ticket Auto SP

Speculation isnt the problem, I actually think its a good thing. The issue is that Contenders should have a retail element to it, and many of the cards that look to be extremely short printed may just be saved for those boxes. Last year, there were some cards selling above 200 bucks, only to drop to below 10 once the retail packs hit shelves. Collectors speculating on the SPs are trying to hit the lottery at this point, and I actually believe that it might be very hard to find out which of the cards are rare without a confirmation on what will be on Target’s shelves in a few weeks.

Cam, Locker and others aside, there will be cards with value that is completely derived from something other than production on the field. This is actually a great thing for value in the packs, but I think that collectors should watch out before dropping a rent payment on one of the cards that is possibly a rare one. Of course, some people may value the ability to complete the set over waiting for a lower price and missing out on a super rare SP.

If the retail packs do contain autographs that are supposedly SSP and selling for huge money, there may be backlash similar to what there was last year. I doubt Panini really cares, as Contenders is always one of, if not the top selling product of the year. Horrid design aside, there are a lot of people who will chase these cards. I would probably be one of the people who buys in high if I collected the set, but I think its important to realize that all the necessary information to speculate isnt there like it normally is.