Limited and I go back a long time. It was one of the first boxes I have ever bought, and back in 2007, it was the first time I spent a ton of money on a card. Over the last few years, I dont think Limited has really added anything to its brand, instead becoming stale and played out. It may have had some really nice cards along the way, but it has really had some struggles establishing a high end brand identity.

Phenoms Rookie Patch Autos

These are the cards that everyone chases from Limited, and last year, they werent horrible. They really werent all that great either, as the on card autos didnt do much to add value. This year they moved away from both on card autos and from die cutting anything into the cards. Its not a bad thing to be ditching the diecuts, but a big square swatch doesnt really add a lot of dynamic appeal.

Last Year:

2012 Limited Robert Griffin III Auto Phenoms Patch BGS 9.5

2012 Limited Andrew Luck Phenoms Auto Patch RC

2012 Limited Doug Martin Phenoms Auto Patch RC

This Year:

Letterman Auto Patches

I dont think I have to reiterate how much I hate signed fabric cards. Letters are even worse, because most of the time the player has a miniscule area to sign. There is also no place to put a picture or anything to add a nice look, and that spells disaster for the aesthetics of this set. They arent really that special anymore, as there are many letterman style cards offered throughout the year. The goofy ass studio pictures this year on the left side are horrendous, I cannot understand why Panini keeps using them.

Last Year:

2012 Limited Michael Floyd Auto Letterman 1/1

2012 Limited Lamar Miller Letterman Patch Auto Lot

This Year:

Base Design

I liked the base design last year, which was a white dominated design with a very space age style presentation. This year, I dont even know how describe the diarrhea I am seeing in this regard. Its just a big border with no real content around the player, and I think it might as well have been done in MS Paint.

2012 Limited Adrian Peterson Base

2012 Limited LeSean McCoy Base

This Year:

Game Day Swatches

This goes back to 2011 Timeless Treasures, where Panini thought that adding a date stamp to where the swatch came from would add value to the card. It didnt, although it is an idea that is topical in today’s hobby. There are a lot of people questioning swatches from Topps because of legalese they are forced to add to the back, but we consistently establish that it doesnt really make a difference in the long run. Im pretty sure that although these cards dont look all that bad, the date stamp wont be a big deal.

Previous Years:

2011 Timeless Treasures Peyton Manning Gameday Swatch

2011 Timeless Treasures Sam Bradford Gameday Swatch

This Year:

Limited Cuts

I cant stand these cards, as there is no way to distinguish who the person was. Panini and other card companies do this to save money on licensing, and it shows in the final product. At this point, I dont think these cards really have that much value to begin with, and I hope that they eventually are phased out of normal products like this.

Last year:

2012 Limited Cuts Otto Graham Signature

This year:

Looks like another Panini product that I will be avoiding, as I dont see any special reason why any collector needs to buy this stuff, unless they find some sort of reason to collect every card during the 2013 season. Looks like more of the same when it comes to mid end Panini crap, with worthless relics and sticker autos. Really disappointed in this one.