Im not a fan of sticker autos, something that many of you should be very aware of just from reading this blog over the last few years. With on card autos being a focus for rookie content later on in the season, there is a lack of preparedness that is usually in place for the beginning of the year. The question becomes, with Inception coming early next month and Prestige coming after a delay in two days, which has more potential.

Sticker autos signed at the rookie premiere are and can be used the entire year, and allows for a lot of flexibility in the production of the cards. However, they are relatively unattractive in my opinion, and there is no documentation what will happen to them years down the road. Additionally, the signing of stickers may be necessary for early on in the year, but there is a proven track record that many of the products can be done without rookie stickers once the first signings are scheduled post-premiere. On top of that, it takes a level of prep and planning that im not sure is present at every level of the calendar, if not only because too many products are required.

Prestige has been delayed, delayed again, and delayed some more. A product that was usually reserved for right after the draft, is now hitting at the end of June. That is so far removed from its usual release date, that it is technically moving into a different market segment. Although it has hard signed elements, the majority of the rookie content is on sticker. As a result of the massive delays and no need to wait for rookie signings, the cards can feature NFL uniforms with the correct player numbers. The NFL became a stickler for using the wrong uniform or college numbers, and Panini may have played their “cards” just right on this one. Either that or they decided to break quite a few rules.

Inception on the other hand, is completely on card, with the exception of the rookie patch auto cards that Im sure will be a part of the product. As a result, not all rookie uniform numbers were assigned at the time of printing, and 00 cards were necessary on some of the signers. I don’t understand why the NFL was okay with 00, but not some of the other stuff (like college numbers) if necessary. I think that these cards will ride the awesome design work from last year to success, but the on card autos may have hurt instead of helped this time around.

The base rookie cards and autographs from both sets are well designed and look great. Its going to be a matter of which box the collectors will identify with. Although I want the stickers to lose out to a commitment to hard signed cards, im not sure they will. That is unusual and shocking considering what that means for this part of the calendar. Prestige has a lot of brand loyalty to boot, but I have to say that Panini’s delays didn’t hurt them as much on the hobby side of things as Im sure some people thought they would.

As we move through the year, I have to believe this is not a microcosm of what will be the norm. But its scary to think that on card autographs are not as desirable as cards that were never touched by the player.