I stand by the statement that the jersey card is dead. Although card companies want you to believe that it is still alive and kicking, its not. Its filler at this point,even more evident by more and more cards trying to go a different direction in the structure of their “hits.” Because the quantity is so great, collectors have lost interest in paying good money for jersey cards, with one major exception – one type of jumbo style that I am very upset about.

If a relic has some crazy patch and is oversized, the collector base goes bonkers. It doesnt matter if the card is just a half inch border on a large piece of material, or if the relic is worn for 2 seconds at the Rookie Photo Shoot, people want it.I am sad that we have gotten to this point. Here is what I am talking about:

2014 Limited Odell Beckham Jumbo Patch RC

2012 Platinum Drew Brees Jumbo Patch Auto /5

2012 National Treasures Roddy White Jumbo Patch /4

2013 National Treasures Le’veon Bell Hats Off Jumbo Patch Auto

2014 Immaculate Baseball Bryce Harper Jumbo Letter Patch

The scary thing is, with the relic cards looking the way they do, the card companies dont even have to put much work into the look and feel of the card. They dont even have to make the card look good as long as the swatch is huge and has a ridiculous patch. I have always been someone that gravitates towards the players on the cards, as I feel as though there really is no reason to celebrate a card where the subject is not the focus. What is the point of buying a card of your favorite player if they are crammed into a corner?

Panini has been previewing a product stuffed to the brim with cards like this in 2014 Immaculate football, and it only goes to show where they are trying to place our attention. Despite the fact that the autograph cards are looking as good as any Panini product (or Upper Deck product if you saw my previous post) has ever looked, Panini is leading us to believe that their under-designed oversized relic cards are a bigger deal. It is beyond disappointing to see that they are actually correct in a lot of ways.

I know me bitching and moaning on here is likely not going to change the mind of the general public, but I hope that everyone can see my perspective here. We are literally rewarding the card companies for putting in less work, and letting them off the hook on creating ugly cards with no redeeming part other than the content of the patch. Card companies should separate themselves by finding awesome ways to do both, similar to what we see in Silhouette style presentations. They will say those cards are too expensive to make, but I think they SHOULD be worth the investment. Instead the sheep migrate towards the Panini style of showcasing a patch off of one of the FIFTY – yes you heard that right – FIFTY jerseys used for each player at the shoot.

People, I urge you to demand more. When Panini takes over the NFL license in 2016, they will no longer have the incentive to be creative as the only game in town. Speak with your wallets and show that you do not want to put up with this shit. That’s my two cents.