Yesterday I spoke about how much I disliked the National Treasures rookie patch autos, and I stand by that. Regardless of my feelings, they are selling as the most valuable cards of the year, and that doesnt surprise me. Panini put the focus on the size and content of the patch rather than the player photos or the autographs, and I sincerely hope it doesnt give other manufacturers the wrong idea about how to produce their cards. Although there are collectors out there who think that these types of patches are the best thing since the invention of the jersey cards, they are far from visually appealing in my opinion.
In fact, Panini did cater to the lowest common denominator so well, that there are more logo patches in this product than regular patches. A number of Cam Newton, Christian Ponder, AJ Green, and Jake Locker logos have already been posted, and they are selling for ridiculous prices:
Cam Newton Rookie Auto Patch Gold – Panther Head
Christian Ponder Rookie Auto Patch Gold – Viking Head
Jake Locker Rookie Auto Patch – Titans Sword
Daniel Thomas Rookie Auto Patch – Dolphins Logo – The price on this is crazier than the patch.
Torrey Smith Rookie Auto Patch Gold – Ravens Logo
My question has two parts. If there are THIS many logo patches in the product, are they really that special anymore, or is it a reflection of how many of these jerseys were worn at the premiere? With Panini Playbook also releasing this week, filled with jumbo patches as well, there are a lot of reasons not to spend the kind of money that is being spent on these ugly cards.
I have not quite come to terms with the fact that most of the collectors out there value the size and content of a patch over the look of the card. I dont know if I ever will. Considering that I am an autograph collector, not a card collector, that might be a big reason why my opinion differs so much from everyone else’s. It is also the reason why I love Five Star so much, as it is the only set this year that focused on the AUTOGRAPH and DESIGN over the other crap that doesnt make any difference in the look of a set.
Regardless of my vocal opinion, I still believe that Panini chose the wrong set to cut corners with. I understand that it is cheaper to do the things that they did with the base cards and cheap jersey cards that make up the majority of a box break. It should also be painfully obvious how hideous it looks in practice, and that is why I wont stand for it on this site. Panini chose to create 40 different subsets in this product, all of which have 100 parallels, a method that shows where they CHOOSE to spend their money. If they produced the product with less of a bloated checklist, they could spend the money to make the cards look better. Does Michael Griffin really need that many cards?
These logo patch cards will sell, and sell well. That is no secret, and it probably wont change. Sadly, I know that in the end, National Treasures and Exquisite with screen printed patches will sell better than a perfectly designed Five Star. All that means for me is that I get the best looking cards of the year cheaper than an over-valued logo patch from other sets.
its very simple. If these patches and jersey swatches are from the rookie premiere there is no way they should sell for this much. Im sure panini has the usual vague disclosure on the back about where or how they got the jersey.
But this has never been and never will be a rational hobby.
The fact that it is a on card auto increases the selling price but the jersey rookies shouldnt have much more value than an early year release with the same print run like Finest or Crown Royale
I have to post a couple experiences in support of Panini. Say what you want about them, they have a wide variety of sets to appeal to collectors. I may not be a fan of all their products, but Crown Royale, Contenders, and Limited fit my tastes in terms of design, value, and content. I also want to plug their customer service. Although I hear all the gripes about redemptions, Panini seems to be the one company that consistently delivers redemptions in a timely manner. I am STILL waiting on 2 redemptions from 2011 Inception that I applied for over 6 months ago.
Furthermore, I just busted a box of 2010 Crown Royale and hit a Jordan Shipley 1/1 auto that was pack-damaged. Panini’s process for sending in damaged cards was automated and easy. Granted, only time will tell if they make good on it, but their process was customer-friendly and efficient.
All in all, the more boxes I bust, the more I come to appreciate Panini products. I agree that Topps has some very well designed sets, but when Finest, Platinum, and Chrome all look basically the same, what’s the point??? I LOVE Topps but there is a place in my heart for Panini too, especially because of their customer service.
‘ Deliver redemptions in a timely manner ‘ ??? Maybe I need to bust more product. It is quite the opposite for me. Hell, every time Panini posts their ‘Redemption Card Update report’ on their Knight’s Lance blog, they get a flood of comments. The latest, Mar 29 had 76 comments, and most were not saying thank you for fulfilling or delivering the redemptions in a timely manner.
Now I understand they only can fulfill the redemptions after receipt of the card or sticker from the athlete or entertainer, but I hear all too often from folks waiting patiently for over one year plus, that the stickers should be used on the oldest redemptions however they somehow fall into newer released products.
Now that Panini recognizes this problem is out of hand, they have hired on a new Customer Service Manager to hopefully get things back on track. At least that is what they said in their 29 Mar report.
And 6 months, that is nothing, really. Try 15 months for my Plates and Redemptions, redemption from last year’s product… and with my experience with last year’s Upper Deck football, I received two redemptions quickly, and that is without busting more boxes with Upper Deck.
I do hope things in Panini land do get better with their new CSM on board, they are important to this hobby, no doubt about that.