Upper Deck cards are and always will be my favorite, everyone knows that. I love their designs, I love the concepts and themes of the sets, and I definitely love the hard signed cards. I have yet to buy a pack of any 2010 Upper Deck products because of the NCAA jerseys, but I think that may need to change after seeing some of the prices the big hits are selling for. Anyone who has been in this hobby for even a tiny bit of time knows that college affiliation drives player value as much as draft position or NFL affiliation initially, but you would think that would die down once the rookies get on the field. From what I have seen, however, it looks like Upper Deck’s singles are selling well regardless.
There are a few reasons, definitely, that are contributing to this unexpected phenomenon, but it is definitely worth mentioning that big hits out of Sweet Spot and SPX are outselling their competitors by amazing amounts. The reasons are most likely due to the amount of product being opened, the rarity of these bigger hits compared to their counterparts, and design of the cards being nicer than any of the other cards this year. Still, even with those being the main factors, they still shouldn’t sell what they are selling for.
Check out what I mean:
Tebow/Clausen/McCoy/Bradford Quad JERSEY /25 – THIS IS A FUCKING QUAD JERSEY CARD. A JERSEY CARD.
I want to say that Upper Deck brand prestige and loyalty also has a hand in it, as there are a TON of collectors like me who are VERY pissed that UD is operating in the way it is right now. Even in basketball and baseball, the people who are calling for the return of sets like Exquisite and SP Authentic are growing after the sheer disappointment that exclusives have fostered. Although I will no doubt stand behind my opinion that UD made their bed and now they have to sleep in it, I will also say that I crave UD licensed cards like I crave a personal signing with the entire Vikings team. Its gotten that bad. Its not without a counterpoint that these cards’ success is based solely on the much more visually appealing design, but how long will collectors stand for cards that look like this and sell for peanuts?
Limited and Certified may be popular sets, but I have to say that a lot of it is built on brand history and nothing more. They may deliver patches galore, but you and I both understand that a 3 color patch isnt what it used to be. When the biggest non-rare box hit barely sells above the price of a box, its tough to justify opening any of their products unless you have the money to burn. Considering that the cards look as horrible as they do for just about every release, it becomes even more of a stretch. I constantly bash almost all of the sets that Panini puts out and a good portion of what Topps puts out because the visual standards they hold themselves to is a joke. You would never see a card like this
come out of Upper Deck, and you would never see a busy and horrendously composed sticker auto card like this
ever be a hit in Exquisite.
A growing number of collectors are starting to value card design as much as they value the patches or the autographs, and it can be seen in a number of different ways. The number is still too negligible to force Panini to actually put effort into their lazy way of creating their products, but if the industry doesn’t collapse, I would say that will change in the coming years. I have been told by insiders that Panini’s sole purpose of creating cards the way they do is to cut enough corners that profit is maximized, but im wondering if they would make that much more money if they did things right and ditched the hideous foil and floating swatch parallels.
My point is best illustrated by this email I got from a collector in Florida:
“Gellman,
I love your site and value the commentary you have displayed on the direction the industry is going. Although you bash enough products that the regulars at my favorite shop come in and talk about your points on why not to buy the boxes, I agree 100% that things need to improve on card design or the owner will be out of business faster than he is already headed. I am very very close with him after buying at his store for almost 20 years, and I don’t want things to go south. Earlier this year, he told me that he has noticed a trend growing within his customer base that is pretty disheartening. The sales on current products have dropped by almost 50% and the sales on past products has almost doubled. Funny enough, any time he gets in a box of SP Authentic or Ultimate from past years, its off the shelf as fast as he can put it up. I definitely think that UD produced the best looking cards and that is why they always sold the way they did. I was somewhat disappointed by the amount of value that was present in the boxes I bought, but the gambler nature in all of us knew that when we hit it big, we were going to be happy with what we got. A few days ago, one of my best friends pulled a Sam Bradford auto out of Limited that was numbered to 10. He asked me to put it up on eBay right away because he hated the way it looked. I never got a response like that before. He has always hung onto his big hits. In fact, the amount of cards I list from other customers at the store is becoming a huge time commitment for me. I like to say I have a inside view to the things going on here, and I have a feeling this shop is not the only one that is having these problems. Just saying.
Keep up the good work.”
Interesting, and I would agree with you too. Panini can continue breaking out the cookie cutter all they want, but the only thing they create is loyal collectors that have turned into rip and flippers. My design coup will eventually be a harsh reality for the industry, and if the manufacturers were smart, they would look back over the successes that Upper Deck has had this past decade and build directly on top of them very much the way Topps Five Star seems to be doing. I wont fault them for ripping it off from the base to 1-of-1. In fact, I would welcome it. They may want to get going on it before its too late.
Just saying.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I was just telling someone the other day, “I wonder how many folks are missing Upper Deck now?” Their business practices aside, no one can deny that their products were the best looking out there. I’ve been buying old Upper Deck football and basketball a lot this year because Panini’s stuff just looks boring. Panini hasn’t even released their base basketball brand yet and it’s almost January. Boy, I miss Upper Deck.
My I please co-opt the term “Rip & Flipper?” Thanks.
Sorry guys, I have to disagree with you here. First of all, Upper Deck totally sucks when it comes to customer service. When I had to deal with them, they were downright @$$holes and I never saw my cards back in some cases. On the other hand, my dealings with Panini have been awesome! They couldn’t fill my Kenny Britt redemption, so I told them I was a Buccaneers fan and they ended up sending me a Josh Freeman Rookie Ticket. Heck, they even took the time to personally respond to my emails. Upper Deck sent me a replacement auto once, and it was a POS Carl Crawford out of a much older set, and was nowhere near the value of the card they couldn’t supply. We have a trade group here, and about half have had bad experiences with the clowns at UD and their bad service and well below par replacements. The other half haven’t had to deal with them. As far as how Panini’s products look, give them some time (I actually like a lot of their stuff). Remember when Upper Deck got going, their card design looked basic and basically the same for years? At least Panini is trying new things. I’m glad UD lost the contract. Between their dirty dealings and crapping on the customer, they more than deserved it.