Before I start anything regarding this review, I think we should all be completely honest. Putting this product up against Chrome, head to head, is like sending a Honda Accord onto a NASCAR track and expecting it to perform. That being said, there is only one type of card in this entire freaking product that is even worth a damn. Outside of that, it might have better not existed. I honestly believe you could do Crown as a one pack product, and the pack can either be a blank dummy card or a silhouette patch auto. That’s about how shitty of a brand this product really is, silhouette or absolutely nothing at all.

Here are the best cards up so far:

2014 Crown Royale Johnny Manziel Silhouette Auto Patch /25

2014 Crown Royale Mike Evans Silhouette Auto Patch

2014 Crown Royale Teddy Bridgewater Silhouette Auto Patch

2014 Crown Royale Jamaal Charles Die Cut Auto /5

Lets start with the Silhouettes, because like I mentioned above, the rest of this product is horrendous. They are REALLY nice this year, and continue to be on card autographs, which I am fully in support of. Even though they separated out the card design again with a bar across the middle, I still think the cards worked. I would like to go back to the player in the middle of the patch instead of off to the side (like these were in 2010), but its a nit picky complaint that isnt too big of a deal.

As for the rest of the cards, this product is a huge fucking dog. The silhouettes are literally the only cards worth anyone’s time at all. This product is stuffed to the brim with crappy sticker autographs, most of which are so ugly that it doesnt matter they exist at all. I dont get the metal bolt motif either, espcially with the different types of foil that are used behind the player. Its almost like they had two designs for the silhouettes, and the ones they used for the base autographs was the reject. Instead of putting jersey swatches behind the player, you now have crazy foil patterns. I dont get it. Im not even going to start talking about the separated area for the sticker for the millionth time. Some of these cards are so bad, I dont even have words for them. I cannot fathom how a design team could sit around and plan this set out, and someone not raise their hand to talk about how horrid the cards look.

Here is the bottom line. Panini is almost starting to build entire products without consideration for the majority of the set. There is no equity left in many of their brands, and that is a scary thought for what they are doing with their exclusive license. Crown will be in closeout faster than Chrome, and there are 4000 too many cases of Chrome out there. That’s not a good thing.