Let me start by saying I was pretty impressed with Diamond Kings baseball, despite the fact that it was unlicensed by MLB and stocked to the brim with sticker autographs. At 65 bucks it was a fun break that had some really nice looking cards. When I saw they were going to try it with Football, I was intrigued, but ended up horribly unimpressed with the sell sheet. Now that I have seen it live in action, my unimpressed reaction seems to have been the right one.

Here are some of the cards already up:

2015 Gridiron Kings Marcus Mariota Relic Auto RC

2015 Gridiron Kings Ben Roethlisberger Stat Kings Auto

2015 Gridiron Kings Brett Favre Sovereign Signatures Auto Patch

2015 Gridiron Kings JJ Watt Stat Kings Auto Red Parallel

When all is said and done, Gridiron Kings will be as forgettable as any other product Panini has put out, save Donruss. Its odd, because I think Donruss was probably the best product they have put out this year. As for this, not so much. Hey, at least its not as bad as Spectra though, right? It cant be that bad can it? Well, maybe if they put the wrong player on the wrong card.

What will make this so forgettable is that this is ANOTHER Panini product without on card rookie content, adding to a laundry list of shitty products that might have been a tad better if Panini had put some effort into the planning and exectuion. Similarly, the design work features some of their typical facepalm inducing fails, including ignorant idolization of illigitimate illustrious idiocy in action. Huge typefaces and fonts, awkward posed photography, and alliteration based set names are all in play for this set, and that is just PURE Panini.

This could have been a great looking product that used a lot of great looking designs to succeed where baseball could not. Instead its just another throwaway. Dont even get me started on the Super Bowl autos, which seem to be wasted on a product like this. They dont even fit, and yet they are included because Panini obviously knows nothing in this set is really worthy of buying a box.

People have asked me more times than I can count on my hands and feet why the Football Market is so soft. Sets like this are a good indication of why the situation looks so grim. Uninspired examples of football sets, coupled with lack of execution will always lead to poor sales. To think, this is in a year where Panini doesnt even have to build that many more products to replace the pure shittiness of sets they canned last year. I cannot wait to see what they do when they have to come out with a new one each week next year to hit their minimum guarantees promised to the NFLPA on a deal they dramatically overpaid for.