So, Im a bit surprised. Panini has decided that its important to release a super premium set prior to the rookie premiere, and include a contingent of veteran signers who have added to the allure. The problem is that all the rest of the rookie stuff is sticker, in NCAA uniforms and the price is so insane, I question how this becomes worthwhile to keep on the calendar.
Here are some of the cards that are already up:
2017 Panini Majestic Jerry Rice On Card Auto Gold
2017 Panini Majestic Marshawn Lynch Auto gold
2017 Panini Majestic Mitch Trubisky Auto Patch /25
2017 Panini Majestic Christian McCaffrey Auto Patch Logo
College branded products have become super saturated thanks to a highly questionable strategy of diluting product brands throughout the season, and it has been incredibly rare that high end and college have ever worked together in any remote fashion what so ever. Adding veteran NFL cards and signatures may help the product from completely tanking like every other set with NCAA branded cards, but this wont stand the test of time with such a weak checklist.
As a whole, the hard signed veteran cards are really nice. Really really nice. The problem is that when you see the rookie bullshit that cant hold the jock strap of the NFL cards, its a major problem. Adding to the issue is that more single color player worn swatches from the 2016 rookie class are also included, and boy are they terrible. Panini doesnt fucking understand that player worn non-autographed relic cards are worthless in just about every sense of the word, and yet, here we are again and again.
Seeing how poorly Panini managed their calendar last year, scrambling to resurrect products no one cared were gone, Im curious why they think a tired format and high end price tag will solve their challenges around building lasting product lines. If anything, this set is basically Panini Black with a new name, which was already a direct ripoff of UD black. This isnt new, it isnt interesting, and as a rule, Panini needs to pull their heads out of their ass and get to fucking work. They need better ideas, and rehashing the tired bullshit of past years is not the way to go.
It’s pretty obvious that Panini just want to cash in after the draft. The product doesn’t even remotely justify the price tag, but they can use the draft hype to clear the warehouse, that’s the strategy hear.
Well, we’re used to these strategies by Panini, so it isn’t shocking and we can already expect that they’ll run 2017 the same way they did it with 2016 (good luck with that Panini, not sure if Trubisky will safe it this year!)
What is indeed shocking is that the people (especially group breakers and gamblers) are buying this product, as it delivers absolutely no value or incentives. Why to buy a 375$ product to get maximum a Legend Signature worth 50-100$?
I don’t get it, all those NCAA rookies, are no “True” rookies and they never will, so there’s absolutely no chance to get any value out of Majestic now or in the future.
I used to love me some Topps Chrome football. Heck I loved a lot of Topps stuff just because their designs were quite a bit more daring than Panini’s. I get that Panini usually did a better job with customer interaction, although I waited 5 YEARS for my Julio Jones auto. But, as soon as Chrome was I gone I was done. I bought a box of Optic because I got a good price and it was the closest thing to Chrome I found. However, the amount I spent on football last season due to Panini having the exclusive was about $100. That’s a small fraction of what I usually spent in previous seasons. My regular card shop has been absolutely devastated due to Topps being out of the game now. I can honestly say that I hope the NFLPA chokes on all their Panini money. I’ve moved on to hockey and the NFL only has themselves to blame!