Of all the Panini products that came out last year, one of them was completely dumbfounding. Prominence took all the "signature" parts of past products, and combined them into what was put on shelves. However, rather than choosing the parts that are actually cool, they chose all the lame ideas that werent that special to begin with. Panini obviously thinks highly enough of these horrid concepts to give them their own product, which is ridiculous to me. ITS OKAY TO LET THESE TURDS DIE!

Check it out (even the original content was ugly and boring):

2012 Prominence Andrew Luck Jumbo Patch Auto /80

2012 Prominence Alfred Morris Auto RC /499

2012 Prominence Russell Wilson NFL Field Auto

2012 Prominence Trent Richardson Manupatch Auto

Whether it was the field insert autographs from Gridiron Gear, the generic and ugly black and white letter autographs from Threads, or even the disgustingly overplayed manupatch autographs used throughout the year, it was all bad. Panini probably thought that they could take these elements that they thought people liked, and make them into a new set, and everyone would love it. Instead, from what I saw, it was one of the worst performing products of the year. In true Panini fashion, why not bring it back? Right?

This year, they added new elements from other sets to make this year that much more craptastic. The Gridiron Gems pull out rookie autographs were added, and though I know they are popular, I think they are a terrible idea. Signed fabric never transfers well, and though they seem to be player worn or event worn, they are not. They are just swatches of fabric sliced up to fit in a card. At that point, they serve no purpose what so ever.

They also added the rubber helmet autos from Prestige, which dont actually look all that bad in this year’s set. In past years, these were all signed on card, and offered before team logos could be done any other way, thus making them special early in the year. Now that we are further along past the premiere, they are no longer that special. Hell, we see that some of the rookies didnt even get the benefit of the rubber helmet being included!

Here is the bottom line, and I dont understand why more people dont get this. With such a weak class, there is no reason reproduce products that dont sell well. Prominence DID NOT SELL WELL in 2012, and there is no indication that this year will be different. Why bring it back? If Panini is so strapped for ideas to fill the void – there are a lot more problems than a product like this. I sincerely hope that they have something better up their sleeve than mashing a bunch of failed brands together to create a new(er) failure of a brand. That is not good business sense, and thus, we are in this position every single year.

How frustrating.