Now that National Treasures has been out for a few days, we are already starting to see some of the bigger hits in the product starting to pop up. Obviously, with four logos and multiple ridiculous patches per player in the set, in addition to extreme veteran content, this product is definitely shaping up to be the best offering ever put forth by National Treasures during its run.
Here are the biggest hits posted so far:
2012 National Treasures Andrew Luck NFL Gear Logo Auto 1/1
2012 National Treasures Robert Griffin III Auto Patch 10/25
2012 National Treasures Doug Martin Auto NFL Logo 1/1
2012 National Treasures Ryan Tannehill Auto Logo Booklet 1/1
I cant say enough times that the Colossal design or the NFL gear design should have been the RPA design for the big rookies. I think both of these designs turned out better than they ever have, and I also think that they are complemented by a lot of the veteran content as well. I have already picked up more cards this year than in the previous six years combined, and also busted a box for the first time ever.
There are not many things I dislike about the set, as Panini is finally taking the right steps to make the cards look visually appealing. Rather than using a base design that looks like they forgot to put the stickers and swatches on
, as they have in previous years, they adjusted the design as they went from swatch, auto, auto jersey, and others. The results are nothing short of beautiful
– even with the continued use of sticker autos for the veterans.
Similarly, there arent five million subsets of crappy jersey cards that no one ever wants any more, which leaves a lot less bloat to the checklist. That’s not saying there are some ridiculous inclusions on the enormous list of players, but lets face it, there could be a lot more. With the addition of the booklet patch autos, most likely my favorite rookie cards of the set, there is a lot to love when opening a box. There are sure some cards that should be cut up
, burned and disposed over a large body of water, but there arent as many this year.
Although its obvious that a 600 dollar price tag is steep for what you eventually end up with, this is the best it has been.
Im still amazed at the prices people think these cards should get based on the BIN prices they are posted for…
Would you rather play the lottery and shell out for a box of NT or buy one of Luck’s best rookie autos either the Chrome on card or Contenders and have $$ left over??
A closer look at some of these fake swatches that are in the cards just remind me that few in the business are really paying attention…
It looks like there are a lot of patch pieces that didnt come from the rookie premiere unless the players wore a bunch of different jerseys with alternate numbers like this…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-NATIONAL-TREASURES-ANDREW-LUCK-PATCH-AUTO-BOOKLET-49-ROOKIE-JUMBO-/151026690972?pt=US_Football&hash=item2329e46b9c what event did Luck where a jersey with an 8 on it?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANDREW-LUCK-2012-NATIONAL-TREASURES-ROOKE-JUMBO-PATCH-AUTO-BOOK-6-49-COLTS-/111052506301?pt=US_Football&hash=item19db3ec4bd must be the other half of the magical Luck #8 jersey
Same for Griffin looks like pieces of a #8 to me
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-National-Treasures-Robert-Griffin-III-Rookie-Jumbo-Patch-Auto-34-49-Book-/111051104283?pt=US_Football&hash=item19db29601b
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROBERT-GRIFFIN-III-2012-NATIONAL-TREASURE-BOOKLET-JUMBO-PATCH-AUTO-25-49-/181121944215?pt=US_Football&hash=item2a2bb58a97
Seen these yet?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Andrew-Luck-Auto-Rookie-Shield-1-1-National-Treasures-2012-/271187511736?pt=US_Football&hash=item3f240909b8&nma=true&si=RH%252F4ihoXS9dPjVwZApHdK%252BJgrsA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
I guess it all depends how you define fake. Were these jerseys supplied by the NFL? Yes. How many jerseys per player does this event produce? A lot more than two or three. Were these jerseys ever intended for use in a game? Likely not. Do they use whatever jerseys they have laying around, no matter the year or markings? Yes. Were any of them used in a real game? No. Were they all even touched by a player? Hmmm, the famous pic of Mark Ingram is probably a best case scenario.
http://cbsdetroit.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/markingramfat.jpg?w=300
There is a lot of grey area when you start invoking the “event worn” title. All of these jerseys defy the traditional reason for including a patch in a product i.e., game-used. Now, we get a piece of material that may have been in close proximity to the player they are supposed to represent, but were never “their” jersey in any real sense. These jerseys are essentially no better than manu-patches and it’s not a huge stretch to call the patches fake. It’s all semantics at this point.
One second thought, I don’t doubt that some of the jerseys may have been used in a game, but they would have been worn by a scrub rookie. I imagine the rookie premiere as a way for equipment managers to clean house and let card companies attribute their leftovers to new rookies.
All of the Rookie Premiere jerseys are generic and ordered from China somewhere. They all have numbers like 88, 80, 00, these numbers make for the best patches. Then on the back instead of the players last name it says ROOKIE. It is cheaper this way for them to order a huge batch with no customization, and they can also any use extra jerseys in the future. This is why sometimes the rookie jerseys have a different coloring then the team’s current color scheme.