Back in 2016, when Impeccable was first released, I wasnt a fan of Panini’s sets in the slightest. The cards they made were hammering home every pet peeve I had with design, and seeing a product released that actually encompassed what I liked was nothing less than astonishing. Now that Impeccable has come to WWE, and we are seeing some awesome stuff in the product with First Off the Line boxes releasing yesterday, I can already see a number of cards I want to chase. The awesome approach that drove this product’s inception seems to be in play for this release, too.
Ive said this before on Twitter, Impeccable is one of my favorite sets that Panini makes from a look and feel perspective, and I dont think that will be changing now that we are seeing this in action. Because many WWE collectors havent had an experience with Impeccable, I want to discuss my list of five things that people should be watching as the set is released on 10/19.
Number 1 – Will the Price Exceed the Value Expectations of Collectors?
Ever since the release of Prizm, WWE collectors have been cautious about diving in fast on these Panini products. Even though this product is almost entirely different than anything we have seen in the new era of wrestling cards, I get it this time. Super Premium products at Panini are a lifestyle, but not one that is devoid of risk. There is a HUGE risk here, especially because FOTL is releasing an entire week before the main product.
Right now, initial prices on singles are quite high, and box prices remain in the 500 dollar range. Im also not sure how the wax prices will fluctuate, which is even more of a focus now that we saw the FOTL boxes hit the floor on the dutch auction, but have been filling in breaks at 1500 per box on Whatnot (I am not exaggerating, this actually happened).
This brings up a very interesting and weird point in WWE cards, because we are seeing something happen that actually makes sense for once. Wax prices seem to be going down, but the chase worthy singles prices seem to be going up. Usually, both increase exponentially together. I also feel this is a good thing for a population of collectors who love ripping wax, but want to see more bang for their buck. If the best cards in the product are still valuable, but everything else is affordable, huge win all around.
Of course, this is a high end product, so things are going to start VERY high, and come down considerably if the card being sold is readily available. Seeing Stone Cold Steve Austin on card autos that have 98 copies? I cant say Im going to be paying Transcendent prices for those. Does that make the cards any less cool? Maybe from a value side, but the look is awesome. Making big names more accessible is something a lot of collectors have wanted to see for a long time, and here we are. On the flip side, this could mean some challenge for people hoping to hold on to these unique autos that were rarely available en masse for other Topps products at a price point that was prohibitive for 98% of the market.
Number 2 – Will On Card Autographs Make a Difference in Product Reception and Value?
Panini has released 4 sets so far, and all three of the main roster sets have had sticker autographs as the only method of signatures available. Impeccable is the first main roster Panini product with hard signed cards, and it definitely makes a difference to a lot of different people out there. Ive been collecting in the mainstream areas of the hobby for close to 30 years, and the introduction of sticker autos remains one of the more controversial aspects of collecting. Nothing will change that. However, seeing a sticker auto sell for more than an on card auto continues to be a disorienting experience. The reality is that with all the complaining, many hobbyists have come to accept stickers as a necessary evil.
Similarly, Panini took over this license at the beginning of the year, and timelines were exceptionally tight to get Prizm and Select out with no major delays. Because chrome stock cards take forever to print and pack out for signature, its understandable why stickers are the drug of choice for the card companies. It doesnt make it any less frustrating.
I do believe that WWE collectors are cut from a different cloth, and for almost two full years, Topps avoided sticker autos in their wrestling product lines. Not only that, but they did it with boxes that cost 1/5th the cost of Impeccable, and less. This reality is the only reason why I feel like there could be a bump in value with hard signed cards for this product.
If this were aligned to one of the major sports, where on card autographs are available more frequently, I would say that the value increase would be negligible. It could be a similar situation here, but one I am very interested in seeing outcomes.
Worth noting that in the entire history of Topps WWE, there was only a small handful of on card auto relics. Most recently we saw the Sting Bat Cards in Transcendent, but outside of that the choices are very sparse. Fully Loaded has become the only recent example where Topps was able to execute on card relic cards, and the value didnt really shake out well overall. Impeccable has multiple subsets of these cards, and its curious to see if the issues with Topps are going to continue here.
Number 3 – Is There a True Chase Element to Drive Collectors Crazy?
For as long as I can remember, chase cards in the hobby drive a product’s impact. In the NBA, the Logoman is the standard. In the NFL, the shields are insanely valuable. In WWE, I think its exceptionally more complicated and exceptionally more challenging to establish a chase for people to want to dive deep into a product enough to keep wax high.
That doesnt mean chase cards havent been created recently in WWE, though. In fact, I believe in the last 2 years, there are more chase cards available for collectors than ever before. In 2021 Transcendent, the autograph superfractors showed that a chase card can be possible. With Prizm, the black base 1/1s are incredible chases for many player collectors out there. Select had something that has never been available before in a WWE product – logo 1/1 autographs. Knowing this to be the case, I think there are a few potential chases in Impeccable.
One is focused around the case hits, which are the bar cards that have been in Impeccable since its original release. These cards feature stamped bars of silver and gold, and for some, are huge chases for their collection targets. Gold bars are 1/1, and given the price of gold right now, and the collectablilty of trading cards, these could be a chase. Similarly, Impeccable has shown that there are going to be some amazing relics used for the memorabilia cards, and there are multi-case hit jumbo relic cards that could deliver some INSANE swatches.
Given that Impeccable is designed to be a configuration that delivers the top level of collectible cards, I hope there are a few surprises that can knock the socks off of people and give them a reason to keep going back to the well the way Select did.
Number 4 – Is This the Right Time for a Set Like Impeccable?
For almost a decade, Topps released Undisputed WWE as its most readily available high end product. A premium product was only released once per year, and UD became the place where the top collectors flourished. Among the many issues that WWE collecting was saddled with, having a community driven by cheap thrills meant that sets like Undisputed were controversial. After many years of releases, most of that sentiment had gone away, leaving the examples from the set as a top collecting goal for almost everyone.
The difference was that most Topps products were released in WWE under 100 bucks, even after the boom period really got going. When 2020 Topps Chrome was released, it started as low as $65 – a product that eventually was a main component of the explosion of value in WWE cards near the end of 2021. Here, Prizm and Select are high end products around the same cost as Undisputed, despite having a flagship set configuration. Impeccable’s price point above $500 may be a challenge to maintain because there is no alternative lower end product that performs the way other low end Topps sets did back in 2020 and 2021.
Its also worth mentioning that Topps only put out a few wrestling sets per year, and Panini has released 3 since April, with Impeccable being number 4, and Chronicles coming mid-November. More importantly, the saturated market is likely going to see more products after Chronicles, which doesnt spell good things for a set like Impeccable that might find a problem with a card market on the decline. Even though this product has a LOT of unique benefits that arent available in other places, too much of the market is driven by perception in WWE.
Number 5 – Who is the Target Market for Impeccable?
I think we have seen some intriguing things happen across the release of Prizm and Select with the way collectors have reacted to the sets. Because of their history in NFL and NBA, I can also go back to the target market for each product, and see it play out identically in WWE. Prizm is an investor friendly product, driven by people looking to build portfolios in the hobby’s most profitable flagship brand. Select is aimed at the player collectors, with tons of cards to chase across 20 parallels. Impeccable is meant to be a big bang product, with chase-worthy super premium hits.
The reason this target is valuable in other sports is because the audience is huge. Collectors in the NFL, MLB and NBA have money, time, and resources to make their collections incredible. Some of that exists in WWE, but not at an audience size that is even close to the mainstream, or UFC even.
Given that is the case, will the bigger hits for the large checklist hold enough value to make this product a long term success? I think that is a big question that is still left to be answered. We all know that rare autograph cards from the top names will be valuable. What about the top cards from the midcarders who would still be valuable to a box price level in other sports? If you pull a 1/1 of a rando from NXT UK, I cant say I expect that the value is enough to make it a chase.
In fact, the checklist could end up being a detriment to the viability of the wax price overall. We saw this with Prizm, and though the list of names comprised a landmark accomplishment, it didnt do what I thought it would do for the wax. Instead, people continued to be frustrated pulling low end names from a box that cost $1000 dollars. In the other sports, people rip in groups and by the case, so a one box rip doesnt define a return on a break. In WWE, we saw a lot of smaller collectors try their hands with a single box, and walk away unhappy.
Overall, I love impeccable. I love the design, I love the way the completed cards turned out, and I dont think we have seen any of the main surprises yet. FOTL is an appetizer here, and so far, it looks like a singles buyer’s dream product. For someone like me, who only collects one person, it could be a challenge to find a reason to go to the shop and rip some of this wax. However, that doesnt mean I wont be refreshing eBay like a madman trying to find my singles I need. Im impressed with the way this worked out, much like my initial excitement when this first hit the NFL scene.