When you do what card companies do, including tens of thousands of autographs in products over a caledar year, sometimes you end up with an abundance of autographs that were signed on stickers, and never used. Players either didnt pan out, or the product needs were far below what was in inventory at the time.
This leads to the need for what we affectionately refer to as “sticker dumps” where products are created solely for the purpose of unloading stickers that would be laughable in better products. Topps had sets like Magic, Upper Deck had SP Signature Edition, and now Panini has Donruss Signature Series. With previews today, its becoming clear that the upcoming release might end up being the worst sticker dump we have seen in a long time.
Here are some of the previous sticker dumps of the past 5-10 years:
2010 Topps Magic Football Autographs
2012 Panini Prime Signatures Autographs
2009 Upper Deck SP Signature Edition Autographs
2009 Topps Signature Basketball Autographs
Even worse, is that with a pending NFL exclusive that requires 30+ products, this could end up being one of manysets they need to build. Unloading these type of autographs is not only completely necessary to cut costs, its also pretty cheap to do. From the article today, Panini might even be trying to hide the fact that this is a huge sticker dump behind a higher price tag, and booklets of multi “signed” cards.
The preview they posted today is likely trying to put lipstick on this pig, as its clear that they are trying to keep the true nature of this product under wraps until unsuspecting consumers start ripping into boxes.
Bottom line, just pulling an autograph isnt really that big of a deal any longer from a secondary market perspective, and they are hoping that the collectors who buy that dont really get what is really going to happen when they open a box. Contrived scarcity is going to be in play from the get go, as Panini is already advertising a low numbered card /10 or below per case – even if that person ends up being Titus Young of Lions washout fame.
My only advice is this. Although the design is a direct rip off of Topps Supreme, WAIT TO BUST THIS OR PARTICIPATE IN GROUP BREAKS. Watch the first few rips and get a good idea of how infrequently the nice cards are pulled. If it turns out that they come more than I am expecting they will, fine. If it turns out to be exactly what we fear, you saved yourself a bunch of money.
The cards do not look horrible, and the set COULD be fine. Everything I have seen about this product leads me to believe this is going to be a fuckload worse than what Panini is showing us.
It’s not fair to call 2010 Topps Magic a sticker dump product. It had a really well contrived checklist with SPs sprinkled throughout the base set, a really cool stamp aspect for both historical figures & players, and a deep auto checklist with many players who don’t usually have autos in products. With 3 autos at a retail of $70-80 when it came out, it was a really fun product to rip.
Worst shields ever!
When I see products like this I feel like giving up, I really do.
Who collects sticker auto’s?
This product is live now, and the cards look as bad (maybe even worse) than what you thought. Sticker Dump, they name is Donruss Signature Series.
Well written… It is as though you’ve been around the block a few times! Ha-ha! This product is terrible, literally returning about 20% of the MSRP in value. Checklist looks solid, until you realize there have to be 10’s of thousands of the c, d, and e grade names on base cards about to flood the $.99 eBay circuit. Each 8-box inner I’ve seen might have 1 card that will sell over $50, with probably 80% of the product being full-on whammy fever. The production quality isn’t great, but it could be a fun product at $50-60/box where it should have opened, and even better at $39.95 where it will inevitably fall.
I am not opposed to the occasional sticker dump… An opportunity for companies to produce a readily affordable product with a high hit count. However, when you release it as a $2,000, 64-card case, I reserve the right to feel betrayed.