So far this year, we have seen Panini literally release product after product, week after week. It would be one thing if the products were actually reasonably okay, but we have seen products so bad, that it might contribute to their 2016 calendar being one of the worst ever. This includes their 2011 calendar, which still remains one of the worst in football history. With the release of Infinity today (yes, they actually named a product Infinity), I honestly believe there needs to be an award for releasing a slate of products THIS shitty.
When you click to see the cards, just be prepared to shield your eyes. The posed pictures, the giant boxes for signatures, the terrible names, its so bad there isnt a combination of adjectives available that can put true context around my feelings of discontent.
2016 Panini Infinity Paxton Lynch Auto RC
2016 Panini Infinity Roger Staubach Exalted Auto
2016 Panini Infinity Matt Ryan Myriad Marks Auto – They must not know what Myriad means.
2016 Panini Infinity Will Fuller Infinite Potential /8
Im literally losing my mind here. Panini’s constant failure to produce sets that deliver even a smidgen of creativity or attractive content is baffling to me. First, they released Unparalleled, which naturally had a ton of parallels. It also looked as bad as Infinity does. Big boxes for signatures, goofy posed photos, all the same mistakes. Its like its a formula.
Then they released Gala, whose theme and motif was so forced and off kilter that the whole set bombed just like it did in Basketball. Yes, they actually named a set "action autographs." Im not kidding.
Continue onto Spectra, which remains the worst product series of the last 10-15 years. Its cards also look like a 1990s trapper keeper got wasted and barfed on some card stock. It makes me nauseous to think about ripping boxes of Spectra at 300 fucking dollars a pop.
Now, with Infinity, I am questioning their ability to deliver good products at any rate, let alone at a sustained enough clip to keep collectors interested in football. If you thought a lack of competition would be a good thing for Panini, you would be as wrong as wearing socks with sandals.
The only product worth a damn from Panini this year is the one they literally lifted directly from Topps. No changes, no adjustments, just Inception with a new name. Outside of that, one set is worse than the next. And to think! We still have to survive Phoenix, which hasnt been released yet.
It hurts, because I love football and have nothing left. Its been burned to a crisp by Panini’s inability to design good looking trading cards.
Panini dropping the ball with their NFL license just goes along with the trend of the NFL falling from grace. Questionable officiating, Roger being Roger, injuries, concussions, TV ratings slipping, political protests, domestic violence, etc. Ugly, lazy, unimaginative football cards just goes perfectly along with this trend.
P.S. I really miss Topps 🙁
I’ve all but quit collecting at this point. I get some old set needs here and there but there is nothing new for me to even begin to think about purchasing with only Panini putting out the garbage they are. It’s an absolute wasteland for anything new and that has bled into my collecting as a whole. We have mall shows here about once a month and I have a four year, Cal Ripken-like streak going for attendance and I won’t be going this Saturday due to the high chance it’s either gonna be new garbage or stuff I pretty much have (I collect Topps sets and Steelers). The shocked look on my wife’s face when I said I’m opting out of going was something to behold and it’s the same shocked look when I look at Panini’s output that I’m supposed to lay my hard-earned dollars down on. Fuck Panini. I refuse to be held hostage.
They can’t even sell out of their Panini Eternal short prints. What a load those cards are!
I agree with you that Infinity and Gala are garbage. I actually like Spectra, except for the price. I’ll need to read more of this blog but I hope you tell us what you actually like.