Tag Archives: Panini

SCU Go Live Report: 2014 Black Gold Football

Posted on by
2

I remember back when Panini first started previewing Black Gold, and how impressed I was with the cards that were similar to the Clear Cuts from Strata. Now that the product is live, I see why they led with those cards. So much of the product looks absolutely terrible, that I am shocked at how awful it turned out. I understand why people would like the cards, but I see it in a situation that is very similar to Topps Triple Threads. As we continue to see, people dont care enough about design, and only care about things related to patch content.

Sizable Signatures

I absolutely love these cards, at least the ones that are on card. Although the sticker versions arent even close to as cool, the overall concept is the best of the product. As I have said before, if you are going to rip off a concept, do it as good or better than the original. Compared to the Strata Clear Cuts, which look to be the inspiration here, they did that and then some. There are a ton of parallels, but the rarer ones definitely are pretty cool in just about every way.

2014 Black Gold Mike Evans Nike Swoosh Sizeable Signatures

2014 Black Gold Teddy Bridgewater Sizeable Signatures Auto Relic

2014 Black Gold Kelvin Benjamin Sizeable Signatures Auto Relic

Verdict: WINNER

Veteran Patch Autos

Like we saw with sizeable sigantures, the on card content in this set looks really good. I like that they signed over the swatches on acetate, as it gives the appearance of a signed swatch without the mess of an actual signed swatch. This is copied directly from a few sets that Upper Deck has done in the past, but they are clearly on par.

2014 Black Gold Demarco Murray Signed Patch Acetate

2014 Black Gold Ladanian Tomlinson Signed Patch Acetate

2014 Black Gold Terrell Davis Signed Patch Acetate

Verdict: WINNER

Triple Relics and Dual Relics

It is obvious that Panini spent a ton of extra money on technology for this product, but it only worked out in about 30% of the print run. These cards look really nice, and actually have a pretty interesting layout that works very well. Unlike some of the other relics, I like the design. The use of the dual layer presentation really works well in many cases, and I think that if Panini had been able to correlate this to the terrible parts of the set, I wouldnt be as disgusted with Black Gold.

2014 Black Gold Sammy Watkins Triple Relic Mother Lode

2014 Black Gold Dez Bryant Dual Relic

2014 Black Gold Derek Carr Triple Relic Mother Lode

Verdict WINNER

Hood Ornament Team Logos

I hate these cards. I hate just about everything about them. Dont get me wrong, the concept isnt bad. Manu-relics are proving to be a viable replacement for single relic cards that sell for nothing. However, the way Panini did these are fucking horrendous. First off, the logos are too small, so it leaves a TON of empty space on the card. Its even worse on the vertical versions, where Panini inexplicably chose to cram the player on the top of the giant window.

2014 Black Gold Richard Sherman Hood Ornament Logo

2014 Black Gold Andrew Luck Hood Ornament Logo

2014 Black Gold Aaron Rodgers / Davante Adams Dual Packers Hood Ornament

Verdict: LOSER!!

Rookie and Veteran Acetate Sticker Autos

There are a bunch of different versions of the stickers on acetate, and each one is worse looking than the one before it. For the reasons we see here, companies rarely design products with dark backgrounds unless they are going to be hard signed. Panini thought they could sneak one past the design goalie by creating windows of dual layer acetate to house the sticker auto. Boy did they mess this up. 2014 Black Gold Odell Beckham Jr Base Its more reminiscent of the infamous 2008 Topps Lettermen train wreck than cards worth anyone's time Card. But as we are seeing, the sheep will buy anything.

2014 Black Gold JJ Watt Acetate Sticker Auto

2014 Black Gold Derek Carr Acetate Sticker Auto Patch

Verdict: LOSER

Rookie and Veteran Paper Autos

I didnt understand these cards when Panini did them in Immaculate, and I DEFINITELY dont understand them now. These are printed to be hard signed, not signed paper inserted like a cut autograph after the fact. Why? Someone needs to explain to me why Panini thinks this looks good? It is so visually disastrous that I dont even know what to say. If it werent for the quad relics, these would be the worst cards in the set, but they are definitely the worst of the autographs. Panini should be ashamed of themselves. These cards are hot garbage.

2014 Black Gold Jeremy Hill Paper Auto RC

Verdict: BIG LOSER!

Rookie Jumbo Patch Sticker Autos

Every part of these cards are inferior to the sizeable signatures. Sticker autos instead of on card. Rookie photo shoot player pics instead of game shots. Terrible design instead of a good design. To start, its now March, there is no reason you need to continue to use photo shoot pics. Game shots are readily available. Secondly, these stickers were definitely signed just for these cards, so why not just get them hard signed? Lastly, the vertical orientation, with the player crammed at the top looks fucking horrid. Jumbo patches NEVER work with vertical cards. Stop trying to make it work, its not going to work Panini.

2014 Black Gold Teddy Bridgewater Vikings Head Logo Sticker Auto Patch

2014 Black Gold Johnny Manziel Jumbo Patch Sticker Auto

Verdict: LOSER

Rookie Quad Relics

Not only did Panini AGAIN try to use the vertical presentation, but they used some of the GOOFIEST fucking pictures I have ever seen. Seriously, look at the pics of the players. Its almost like Panini thought they could sneak them through because everyone would be looking at the relics. I cant stand that. These are easily some of the worst cards in the product, and that is saying a lot. When your picture choice inspires a caption contest, something went horribly wrong.

2014 Black Gold Johnny Manziel Quad Relic

2014 Black Gold Blake Bortles Quad Relic

2014 Black Gold Teddy Bridgewater Quad Relic

Verdict: BIGGEST LOSER

Base Cards

I really like the base card design. However, this is a high end product, and base cards really dont matter all that much. The dual layer approach works really well.

2014 Black Gold Odell Beckham Jr Base Card

Verdict: WINNER

Overall Black Gold had so much potential to be one of the better products of the year. Instead it turned out to be more dud than anything, and Panini’s stupid decision making is to blame for that. Half of the cards in the set would be a million times better if they actually knew what good design work consisted of, but as always, they prove they know nothing. Too bad, because all those thousands of extra dollars put into the technology are wasted.

With a great looking Five Star set released next week, and National Treasures the first week in April, no one should waste their fucking time with this horse shit. Both Treasures and Five Star will be FAAAAAR superior singles set, and these cards will drop like the dense poop they are. Im still in shock that Panini will be the only choice for licensed NFL cards in 2016. That should scare the crap out of everyone.

On the Radar: More Info on Contenders Draft Picks Football

Posted on by
2

Despite the fact that Contenders has produced some of the worst looking modern cards I can think of, it has a legacy as the first product to really focus on RC autos. Collectors have a nostalgia attached to the product, and Panini has already taken the opportunity to exploit that legacy for the first product of its NCAA exclusive.

Yesterday at the Panini adver-talk at the Industry Summit, they previewed some of the cards from the upcoming product. To say I was shocked by their decision making is something that should not come as a surprise. Not only did they decide NOT to create a new design for the set, but they chose to go with stickers from what it looks like. This is after Upper Deck had already released a stellar product in UD Inscriptions that was live before the summit began.

Check out these UD cards:

2015 Upper Deck Inscriptions Jameis Winston Auto RC

2015 Upper Deck Inscriptions Marcus Mariota Auto RC

Compare to what the Contenders mock ups look like, at what seems to be an identical price point:

panini-america-2015-contenders-draft-picks-football-season-ticket-preview-9panini-america-2015-contenders-draft-picks-football-season-ticket-preview-41Capture

In my opinion, Panini has lofty standards to meet when releasing pre-draft products while competing against companies that offer nothing but on card autographs. Seeing that this product could potentially be stickers for the rookies is a disaster. Secondly, they could have made a statement by creating a bold new look for the first of many NCAA collegiate based products, but instead they pooped out a retread of one of their ugliest versions of Contenders to date. Someone (or many of the people) at Panini just doesnt fucking get it.

We already saw some incredible work from Upper Deck and Leaf with their first products of the 2015 draft class, and we havent even seen previews from 2015 Trinity yet. To see that Panini isnt taking this seriously is a slap in the face to all the collectors who loved Upper Deck’s college products over the last five years.

For the umpteenth time, Panini has used daddy’s money to bully their way into an exclusive they didnt deserve, which only hurts collectors in the process. I hate exclusives, but at least if you make the best products and get it, its better than making inferior products and receiving the reward. Panini’s stuff is already looking like a watery pile of shit, and its only going to get worse when their NFL exclusive kicks in before the 2016 season.

Hopefully they can get some butter to lube up the opening, so that someone can forcefully remove their heads from their own asses. Im guessing that will be someone from UD or Topps that they can lure away to design better looking cards, and not make horrible decisions in regards to the company’s most important brands.
=

Upper Deck Scores Major Win With Long Term Deal for Michael Jordan

Posted on by
1

Over the last few years, Upper Deck has done pretty well creating products under their exclusive for the NCAA. Since 2010, most of their success in basketball has been tied to one of two things – the first is their brand names, which are the best in sports, and the second is their long standing exclusive deal with Michael Jordan. Even though Panini has held the exclusive in the NBA for years, they cannot reach their full potential without the biggest name in all of Sports Cards.

Here is what Michael Jordan is capable of:

2009-10 Exquisite Michael Jordan Auto Patch /15

2005-06 Exquisite Michael Jordan Auto Dual Patch /23

2006-07 Exquisite Michael Jordan Auto Patch

2007- 08 UD Black Michael Jordan NBA 50 Greatest Auto

It doesnt stop with cards, as UD Authentic can still sell Bulls Jerseys and other licensed gear:

UD Authentic Michael Jordan Signed Jersey

UD Authentic Michael Jordan Signed Game Used Floor Piece

The Industry Summit has a deserved reputation as a colossal waste of time, but Upper Deck did make the most of it this time around. Today, they announced that they have managed to complete a new long term deal with Michael Jordan, something that I was personally shocked to see. Rumors had been flying around that Jordan hated signing autographs, and that he was ready to put down the pen and not sign for anyone any longer. Now that Upper Deck has found a way to keep him around, what does that mean now that Panini has taken away their exclusive?

Upper Deck has overused Jordan in recent years, mainly because he was worth so much to the success of their products. Coupling Jordan with their concurrent exclusive deal with Lebron James, and using them ad nauseum in their products is going to be a winning formula, especially considering how enormously unsuccessful Panini has been in cultivating brands of their own in the basketball space compared to UD.

Now that Jordan is back in the mix with autograph content, Im curious if this is a way to get the fish back on the hook in a potential sale of the company and its assets to Panini. Right now, Panini has only managed a few marginally profitable years in their run as the exclusive NBAlicensed trading card company, and it has a lot to do with collectors choosing to stick with Upper Deck, even if it means buying and selling only older products.

If Jordan is part of Upper Deck’s assets, getting him, the Exquisite brand (among others), and Lebron James in a deal for the company would be a humongous addition to the over-payment they have committed to the NBA for the exclusive deal in the first place. Jordan has not had an officially licensed new NBA card for almost 7 years, and collectors are literally foaming at the mouth for new stuff. If Panini could make that happen, all of a sudden they become much more able to market to people who have since sworn off their terrible looking and horribly conceived basketball products. Even existing Panini collectors would kill for officially licensed Jordan cards, and that makes this long term deal even more important.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Upper Deck has found a way to keep themselves relevant in a new era without any licensing. For as long as I can remember, Upper Deck has always produced some sort of licensed card during the year, but this is now a different era. Even though Panini does not produce the best cards in any sport, they will soon own the exclusive in all but 2. Now thanks to this deal, they will have to do it without their biggest target.

I am someone that despises exclusive licenses, and I still think part of the solutions to the hobby’s woes is encouraged competition among all brands for all players. But I completely understand why this deal is important for UD.

SCU Go Live Report: 2014 Panini Spectra Football

Posted on by
1

Usually, when Panini releases a shitty set, there is some redeeming factor that makes it worth cracking a pack or two. This year, there have been a lot of those, and some that are even worse. Hot Rookies, Totally Certified, and others were so bad, its not even worth opening a single pack. Spectra is so far beyond that because unlike the previously mentioned products, its one pack for 275 dollars. Let me say that again – 275 dollars. Good fucking god.

Check out how much of a disaster this shit is:

2014 Panini Spectra Blake Bortles Gold Auto Patch

2014 Panini Spectra Peyton Manning Auto Relic /5

2014 Panini Spectra Kelvin Benjamin Auto Relic

2014 Panini Spectra Derek Carr / Jimmy Garoppolo Dual Laundry Tag 1/1

It would be one thing if the cards looked good. They look awful. It would be another thing if you can buy a pack and walk away if you need to. Nope, just one pack. It would give it some value if the on card veterans were back and looked good. Nope, all stickers. This product is a fucking dog, and Panini should be ashamed of themselves.

The rookie patch autograph cards are easily some of the worst rookie cards Panini has done this year, and that is saying something. They must have modeled the design after 2010 Topps Finest, because they look almost identical. Even worse than that, 2010 Finest was a joke all by itself! To start, the relic covers up a lot of the player, and the rest of the card is covered up by a separated signature area and nameplate. Even moving the swatch to either side would be an improvement, but to have both the centered relic and the opaque signature area covers up over 60% of the surface area.

As if that wasnt bad enough, they took it to another level with the horizontal version. Instead of the player being covered up vertically with the signature area and the swatch, they did the exact same thing in horizontal fashion. So much of the card is obscured, that the player is jammed into a tiny box at the top. Someone needs to be fired, its that bad.

The other autos in the set are just as poorly designed, including a veteran set named "Leading Men." No, this isnt a way to describe the male lead in a chick flick, its for football cards. I just dont get how these things make it past the conference room where they are suggested.

I hope you guys all love this set, because your shops will be forced to order cases of it to get Black Friday packs and Fathers Day packs. Its going to rot on dealer shelves until someone gives up on it or it drops to under 100 per box. Thats where this is headed.

At least in 2013, they had hard signed autos of a number of different veteran big named players. They also had a design that wasnt great, but it also wasnt terrible. People could buy a 50 dollar pack and get something reasonably worth getting. This year that is all gone. Even the veteran autographs that are stickers induce vomiting on many levels.

Awful product. Just fucking awful.

The Panini Showdown: 2014 Flawless vs 2014 Immaculate Football

Posted on by
1

There is no denying that Panini has really taken high end very seriously this year, albeit with some very mixed results. Some of their stuff has been quite impressive, while other stuff has been far from mediocre in the way it looks. But, without a doubt, their two biggest high end sets of the year have been Flawless and Immaculate, and its time to break down who did what better. Because both sets are a direct port from Basketball, it shouldnt be too hard to see how they made the transition. I have often said that Flawless lacked the punch that Immaculate had, and I guess this is the opportunity to compare side by side.

Base RPS Rookie Autos 

Im not really interested in comparing scrub vs scrub, because Flawless really didnt have any of the non photo shoot guys. However, they did have relatively the same slate of rookies when you get higher up, so we should go that direction.

Here are Flawless’ Base Rookie Autos:

2014 Flawless Odell Beckham Jr. Rookie Auto /25

2014 Flawless Teddy Bridgewater Rookie Auto /10

Here are Immaculates Base Rookie Autos:

2014 Immaculate Odell Beckham RC Patch Auto /25

2014 Immaculate Teddy Bridgewater RC Patch Auto /25

From a visual stand point, I think Flawless is more clean, but I definitely dont necessarily believe that being clean actually sets it apart here. Immaculate definitely has a more dynamic look to it, and that almost always leads to a better looking card. I dont like that either has a separated area for signatures, but unlike Flawless, Immaculate makes it part of the design. Huge difference in look.

The rarity of Flawless’ base autographs for the rookies should be taken into consideration, but it doesnt matter enough to sway my vote. So many cards are rare these days that it is no longer the attractive situation it used to be.

Verdict: Immaculate 1, Flawless 0

Rookie Insert Autos

Flawless and Immaculate really have a lot of insert sets for rookies, and I think they did a really nice job in both sets making the cards look really good. Immaculate does have an advantage in some ways because of how many swatches they used, but that doesnt always mean its going to be a runaway victory.

Here are some of Flawless’ Rookie Insert Autos:

2014 Flawless Johnny Manziel Jumbo Patch Auto

2014 Flawless Mike Evans Jumbo Patch Auto Logo

2014 Flawless Blake Bortles Inscriptions Auto RC

Here are some of Immaculate’s Rookie Insert Autos:

2014 Immaculate Mike Evans Jumbo Patch Auto

2014 Immaculate Jordan Matthews Auto Patch RC Acetate /81

2014 Immaculate Sammy Watkins Rookie Ink Auto

2014 Immaculate Odell Beckham Signature Patches Auto

Flawless again went with as clean a design as possible, and for the most part, it worked out very well. Immaculate has a few sets though that look better above and beyond, and its kind of insane that they were able to make Flawless almost look boring.

Flawless only has one type of rookie swatch with ink on it, and it was one of my favorite looks for the set. However, when you consider that all of the rookie relic content is event used anyways, it becomes more about making the card look good.

Immaculate has more focus on relics, and copying from Exquisite’s design archive makes the cards look pretty damn good. I think that in many of the examples, Immaculate made better use of the autographs and swatches to make the cards look better and more interesting.

Verdict: Immaculate 2, Flawless 0

Veteran Auto Content

Because the sets had different focuses it seems, this could be quite the contested category between the two sets. Both had a plethora of autographed veteran content, but I think its pretty clear which sets had the main advantage.

Here are some of Flawless’ Veteran Autos:

2014 Flawless Tom Brady Auto Jumbo Patch

2014 Flawless Peyton Manning Auto Dual Patch

2014 Flawless Andrew Luck Auto /10

Here are some of Immaculate’s Veteran Autos:

2014 Immaculate Tom Brady Auto Immaculate Moments

2014 Immaculate Peyton Manning Auto Jumbo Patch

2014 Immaculate Emmitt Smith Auto Pro Bowl

Bottom line, Flawless was all on card and had a very succinct approach in building checklists. Although there were some MAJOR duds on the list, getting them all done in the beginning of the year is almost worthy of a freaking medal.

Immaculate was hugely disappointing in seeing that some of the vets were sticker autographs, almost a complete taboo for a product that costs as much as Immaculate does. Though the jumbo patch autographs in Immaculate look better than Flawless’ design, the stickers just kill it. Most were on card, but Immaculate should have had the same attention as Flawless did with hard signed cards.

Verdict: Immaculate 2, Flawless 1

Patch Content

Here is the thing. Flawless had a shorter run than Immaculate, so there wont be as many subsets to create more boxes of the product. This is where it has a distinct disadvantage just in quantity over quality. Either way, its worth talking about it.

Here are some of the top patch cards from Flawless:

2014 Flawless Adrian Peterson Dirty Patch /25

2014 Flawless Emmitt Smith Patch /25

Here are some of the top patch cards from Immaculate:

2014 Immaculate Tom Brady Giant Logo Patch

2014 Immaculate Antonio Brown Full Steelers Logo Giant Patch

2014 Immaculate Demarco Murray Full HOF Logo Giant Patch

2014 Immaculate Sammy Watkins Helmet Shadowbox

Let me start off by saying that Flawless’ run of patch cards is more simple, but looks better than 95% of the patch cards in Immaculate solely because of the design. I know that isnt what collectors think about for some stupid reason, but I definitely bring it in for consideration.

However, that’s where the advantages end, as Immaculate has some crazy shit in it. Just insane patches all over the place, and they are not all rookies either, which is only more intriguing. The problem is that they just slapped a border on many of the cards, which I think is lazy and cheap. They should have done booklets, regardless of cost, instead of trying to pack the product with Nate Washington and Anthony Fasano crap.

The checklist for Immaculate is so diluted on the patch stuff, . Flawless is significantly more compact, and the checklist reflects that.

Also, the stupid content of hats, jackets, and locker name plates for rookies is just dumb. Stick to the stuff they play in – gloves, shoes and helmets. Lucky for Panini, those all turned out nice.

That being said, there are so many duds in this product, especially the signed rookie letters, which are about as stupid and lame as it can get. I should take away a point for how bad these turned out. Just a stain on this product, right next to the stain already left by the sticker autographs.

You just cant argue with Immaculate’s chase appeal to the general collector base, so it gets the point. It also goes without saying that the fiasco surrounding the authenticity of game used material used in Flawless should never be understated. Just a completely disgraceful situation that Immaculate has YET to face. Yet being the key word, right?

Verdict: Immaculate 3, Flawless 1

Base Cards

Both products decided to keep base cards in the mix, and I am actually surprised by how much people actually want these. To me, base cards in a high end product seems to be a dumb way to add more cards to the box, but they sell well, so whatever.

Here are the base cards from Flawless:

2014 Flawless John Elway Base /20

2014 Flawless Mike Evans Base /20

Here are the base cards from Immaculate:

2014 Flawless Andrew Luck Base /99

Personally, I understand why they wanted to go with base cards that had gems in them. Flawless illicit that type of context. However, that doesnt excuse how asinine of an idea it is to put diamond chips in cards. Adding in that the authenticity of the diamonds has been questioned on the forums, and diamond melee is REALLY cheap, I dont understand the appeal.

Immaculate’s base cards look awesome. Simple and dynamic just like the rest of the set. I almost dont need to say anything else because they look that good.

Verdict: Immaculate 4, Flawless 1

Chase Cards

This was always my main complaint. How do you put out a box that costs as much as Flawless does and not have any chase content. I mean, no shields, very few logos, and no multi-signed cards at all. It makes no sense.

Here are some of the chase cards from Flawless:

2014 Flawless Nick Foles Auto Jumbo Patch 1/1

2014 Flawless Drew Brees Auto Jumbo Patch 1/1

2014 Flawless Larry Fitzgerald Logo Patch 1/1

Here are some of the chase cards from Immaculate:

2014 Immaculate Dez Bryant / Demarco Murray Dual Shield 1/1

2014 Immaculate Kelvin Benjamin Auto Shield Logo 1/1

2014 Immaculate Blake Bortles Shield Helmet 1/1 Shadowbox

2014 Immaculate Earl Thomas Seahawks Logo Jumbo Patch Auto 1/1

When you bust a box of Flawless, you almost are paying for a better checklist, which is about as bad as it gets. Its sad that we have gotten to a point where you have to pay three times as much to get a better chance at a good hit. Content has really become an issue.

Immaculate has some insane chase cards. Logo patches, quad shields, shield autographs, logo 1/1s, the craziness is everywhere you look. Every other set has some really ridiculous cards in it, and people are going gaga over them.

It should be mentioned that watering the chase down with so many cards is an issue, but that’s why people buy high end. Im all about it.

Verdict: Immaculate 5, Flawless 1

Box Break

This is where it gets really dicey, as I think both products have a horrific box breaking format. You either pay through the nose and get SOMETHING or you pay less and get burned about 75% of the time, and come out poorly another 20% of the time.

Flawless has one of the worst MSRPs to ever been put on a product, but it delivers more times than Immaculate could in five times the cases. Even though some of the encased main hits were so bad that it made me want to barf, it came through with nice stuff frequently. Immaculate has points cards in it, which is a such a fucking slap in the face that it should be disqualified from even being considered for a point in this category.

Add in that when you bust a box of Immaculate, and one of your cards could be a 400 point card, your autos could be 2 scrubs, and you are still only going to get 2 other cards in the break, and its over. Flawless wins, and I cannot believe I am saying that.

Verdict: Immaculate 5, Flawless 2

Bottom Line

Im not saying that Flawless is a bad set in any way here, even though it had some huge issues. Flawless does have some really nice looking cards, but in the end, Immaculate has the more attractive cards that will inevitably outsell anything Flawless has to offer. The chase element HAS to exist in a high end set, and when you take that away in the name of a smaller checklist, that is bad for business. I shouldnt have to pay 1500 dollars to ensure I get a good card. Flawless should have the insane content that Immaculate has, and that is the deciding factor in many ways for me. If you cant give me something special for 1500, im not touching it.

All in all, both products have enormous holes that I dont expect Panini to have the intelligence to recognize or the willingness to fix. That’s the biggest price to pay, and I remain petrified for 2016 as a result.

Final Score: Immaculate 5, Flawless 2