After a strong showing last year, this year should have been a banner year for one of Panini’s most widely collected sets. As usual, we are seeing exactly how the bush league design team is taking on this challenge, putting out cards that look like these horrendous eye sores and this design disaster.
Today, Panini further expounded on the impending fail that is this product by releasing more images from Elite’s extensive line of poorly designed insert sets. Although this one isnt as poorly named as some of the others (this one, for example), the design work continues to be exactly what people like me have been constantly complaining about for a long time. First off, the photos of the players that were used for this set look more creepy than I could have ever imagined. Cam Newton is looking at you and he LIKES what he sees, right? The Jim Otto jerseys dont do them any favors, something which I think should have been changed for BOTH Panini AND Topps. Secondly, that big black box where Panini is obviously going to put a swatch, looks ridiculous. Without a swatch there, its just a big fucking black box with no purpose. Maybe that will change between now and release, but even if they put the team logo in there it wont look close to being okay.
Personally, Im really disappointed that Elite is looking to be halfway to sucksville, because its going to be that much longer of a wait to have a set I will buy. Topps flagship doesnt hit shelves until July, and until then Ill have to make due with buying 2010 product or just saving everything.
Hey Gelman
Did you get fired from panini or donruss back in the day or something? How bitter for how many days, months, years can you be? What a beating / entertaining your site is. Uncensored generally means unbiased correct? Wow, you;re certainly living up to that aren;t you. Another question…..How come nobody ever challenges you and your opinions? It’s one big tit lick here at SCU. By all means you are entitled and you have many legitimate observations and criticisms but good god, day in day out, Panini design sucks, I’ve seen better design wirth crayons, fuck this, shitjob that, fail this and fail that. Why don;t you actually try to work in the industry and interject some of your expertise. Somebody, somewhere actually buys their stuff so whats with your incessant, never ending, same critique product after product??? I love the industry, the variation, all that goes with it. You never know what yer goona get, but you sure as hell know what yer gonna get when you come to SCU. I’ll keep coming back cause your right wing, crazy ass nazi site is still good for some laughs but an open mind, fresh take???? Hardy har har!! Dont see that happening
You seriously called SCU a Right Wing Nazi site? Wow, tough crowd.
I like that the swatch will be in this colored box that akwardly appears on all the cards regardless of no swatch being there. It’s the same problem again and again so I’m not surprised the comments and criticisms are the same… Ya nazi
Does that make Panini the concentration camp Jews? And if you find right wing Nazi propaganda humorous then what does that make you?
Gellman has given credit to Panini when it has been due. Unfortunately, it just isn’t due credit very often. Considering Panini has made ludicrous statements about target audience (and value/design conscious collectors not being part of that target) I think Gellman has actually been far less inflammatory and biased than he should be.
At lease they didn’t go as far as they did with Limited’s “initial steps” where they actually photographed the players at the bottom of a set of stairs. Can you imagine the “new breed” being the players heads morphed onto like unicorn or troll bodies? Come to think of it, that might be better than this crap…
Your right Gellman. These suck. Couldn’t agree more. They really need to knock off the variation crap. Inserts are inserts, relics are relics and autos are autos. They should EACH have completely different designs.
How according to Hackeler this happen
“Didn’t get Cam in time for Prestige, but his autos will be in the rest of our products going forward.”
However there is the panini pic for all to see?
http://paniniamerica.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/cam-reveal.jpg?w=553&h=589
He is holding prestige cards in that pic right rofl
I mean way to make a bad product worse leave out the #1 pic lol.. Could have at least had him sign 25 or 50 in the time frame to take the pic. make them sp… Something would have been better then nothing
I would guess that those cards came after the product was already packed out. If its on shelves now, it was packed out a few weeks ago. They didnt have Cam’s contract done at that time.
I am sure that will be there response 😉 They would never say otherwise. It is an embedded excuse
If you’re a regular reader you would know that this blog has recently softened its stance on Topps high-end products. Why? Because Topps actually started focusing on design and on-card autos. When Panini does the same I guarantee you they will be given credit here. Panini does some things well, but leaves a lot to be desired in many of their products.
If customers that appreciate value/design are actually not their target market, this explains why I rarely buy their products. Who is their target market anyways? “Somebody, somewhere” has too much cash to burn and no self-restraint. I appreciate that this blog tells it like it is ( I don’t always agree) and doesn’t praise every product like a certain Texas hobby magazine does.
I’d be curious to know your background Monroe. Who is this industry/variation loving, critical of SCU, defender of Panini with terrible punctuation and sentence structure, vocal commenter.
@ Brandon – I’m just a dude with a half ass background in art and design who is a giant sports nerd that loves cards, types fast and likes to attempt to make myself and others laugh. Gellman critiques and writes in a fashion that can poke and prod but seems to be the guy that cannot be poked and prodded in return (hence his reply to me). I guess thats what you need to be a professional blogger. I’m just a wannabe professional Shit talker who thinks Calvin Johnson is awesome and hopes Matt Stafford can stay upright for more than half a season so the NFL world can see how sweet those 2 could be. Too bad they have the cloud of Detroit Michigan (my home town) hanging over their head. Besides that I spose I’ll keep to the shadows and maybe pop in and out to read SCUs latest jabs and see if Panini can ever get it right in the eyes of the card worlds third reich. With that I vanish, whoosh!