I have said on a frequent basis that Basketball cards function so much on high end that it is almost stupid to go any other direction. It is something that Upper Deck did better than any other company, and something that Panini has generally not succeeded at.

The one product that has garnered some collectability is National Treasures, but its success has been mostly due to the rookies in the product, rather than the product’s merits on their own. Panini recently touted the sale of a Blake Griffin 1/1 logo auto that sold for a price that makes the Strasburg superfractor sale look like the dollar menu at McDonalds. Personally, I am not only unconvinced that the sale is legitimate, but also that they are even close to being considered the player that UD once was.

Here is the auction.

Blake Griffin is an anomaly that should fall under the same category as Strasburg, Harper, and eventually Andrew Luck. These overhyped prospects could eventually live up to billing, but its unlikely that they will produce at a level that would be on the same level as the values of their cards. Griffin plays into a wide array of fans that happen to identify with his high flying above the rim dunks, combined with the fact that he plays in Los Angeles, all of which have created the perfect storm.

Look at these ridiculous prices people are paying for Griffin’s higher end cards:

National Treasures Blake Griffin Auto Patch RC

Panini Classics Blake Griffin Auto RC BGS 10

Totally Certified Blake Griffin Auto Emrald /5

I have a feeling that Panini’s assessment of the global appeal of basketball has an effect on the overall prices, but I also think it has to do with the precedent that Upper Deck has set with the enormous success of products like Exquisite and SP Authentic. Panini has done little to nothing to show that the structure, content or design of their products is on a similar level to what it would be with Upper Deck running the show instead of Panini. Although Panini has hired a few of Upper Deck’s old people, their approach to the way products are conceived and produced is much different. I have always talked about how Panini will shun quality production methods in the interest of saving money, and as a result, they have cards that look like this.

However, because licensing dictates a lot of what is and will be successful in all the sports, Panini will not have any issue staying on top of the mountain. However, as we have started to see in football, patience continues to wain, and I forsee a need for someone to step in as competition, even if Beckett and their butt buddies at Panini both want to give each other high fives for the arbitrary values that are assigned to the awful looking cards.