Tag Archives: Upper Deck

Update: 2015 Contenders Draft Picks Previews

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I thought that there was a huge opportunity to do some major damage in draft sets for Panini, especially with Upper Deck being forced out of the college game. Its an exclusive that may not make them a bunch of money, but it could bring more people to their products if used correctly. Instead of using retouched photos like their competition will have to use, they get the full breadth of the spectrum, including non-rookie players. Now that we are getting more of a clear look at their flagship product, its safe to say that they fucked up big time.

We knew early on that Prizm was going to be stickers. Its par for the course with that set anyways. We also knew that Contenders was going to have stickers for the older players – which has always been the way Upper Deck approached this part of the year as well.

To this point, in order to compete with other companies, they needed to match the success of these on card examples:

2015 Upper Deck Inscriptions Jameis Winston Auto RC

2015 Upper Deck Inscriptions Marcus Mariota Auto RC

2015 Leaf Ultimate Draft Amari Cooper Red Auto /5

2015 Leaf Metal Draft Melvin Gordon Red Refractor /5

Even though other smaller sets have featured some really nice cards, Panini did not change course on their publicity. They refused to address whether or not the rest of the rookie stuff would be on card to compete with the other companies who have already put out some pretty awesome stuff. Today, it looks like Contenders is going to be stickers as well as Prizm.

So, lets lay it out there:

  • New license
  • New opportunities
  • Old design?
  • Sticker autos?
  • Competition looks better?

How do you not put your best foot forward in this situation? How do you not want to start your brand off right? This is an exclusive license that could add some flavor to your products in the coming years and instead of going balls out, you want to use an old design and sticker autos? Cmon. Really?

I mean, Upper Deck's Inscriptions product will lay waste to this shit, and Leaf Trinity is going to make both look like inferior turds. It has been a great looking product for years. If your competitors and their tiny operations are going to make you look like bush league amateurs, that is not the way to start your line. If the license’s start date puts a limitation on the way your products can be built, adjust your calendar or dont risk the biggest brand in your arsenal. Horrible decision making.

Personally, I would say Elite Extra Edition is ripe for this territory. Its a new brand for football, it doesnt damage other brands if it tanks, and Elite Football can be pushed back to allow for a buffer zone. I dont get Panini’s plan here one single bit.

If you are looking for a draft product to buy, I would highly suggest Upper Deck Inscriptions or Leaf Ultimate Draft. Both have great looking cards with on card autographs. Dont waste your time and money on a set that offers nothing special. In less than 2 months, there will be pro products on the shelves, and college stuff will drop. If you have to open something, at least find a box that offers unique content. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota will have THOUSANDS of sticker autos all year. These ones from Contenders and Prizm wont even make the top 100.

On the Radar: 2015 Panini Prestige

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Over the last few years, Prestige has been one of the worst looking sets that Panini has put out all year. With the advent of Score as their top pre-rookie premiere product, the team has left Prestige to rot on the vine. And rot it has. Prestige has housed some of the ugliest cards I have ever seen, and it seems to get worse with age.

Check out the dumpster fire that Prestige has become:

2014 Panini Prestige Johnny Manziel Auto

2013 Panini Prestige Leveon Bell Auto

2014 Panini Prestige Odell Beckham Jr. Auto

2013 Panini Prestige Cordarrelle Patterson Auto

Now that Panini has secured a CLC exclusive to use NCAA logos and uniforms in their trading cards, their pre-premiere products have gotten a shot in the arm. Up until this point, Upper Deck has had the exclusive since 2010. After seeing the previews for Prestige, the question becomes whether or not that shot in the arm was healthy or hurtful. So far, we have seen that Score will feature NFL logos on cards with college jersey pictures. That's the way it was done historically as well. I am completely fine with that, especially over using airbrushed shots like years past. Nothing looks worse than a helmet off, airbrushed sideline shot with a sticker auto.

Prestige, however, looks to be a bit different, unless they decide to change things up from the mockups provided. Instead of going the direction they took with Score (the right direction), they look to have decided to go full NCAA with many of the cards for Prestige. I think this is a terrible decision, especially if they decide to use stickers for the autographs. This product will come out around or after the rookie premiere, some months after players declared for the NFL draft. Considering that they are already going to release NFL logo cards for Score, I sincerely hope they dont go this direction for the majority of Prestige’s checklist. Its the wrong move.

Prior to 2010, there were elements of college licensing in many early sets, but the focus was always NFL. Panini seems to have a raging boner for using their newly acquired license, even at the detriment and dilution of their NFL branded sets. Listen, I know I want to wear my new shirt the day after I buy it too, but you cant wear that same shirt all week just because its new. You have to go back to your regularly scheduled wardrobe, or people would be looking at you like “AGAIN?!?” Same thing here.

If Panini invades their previously NFL brands with college logos everywhere, this is going to be an even longer year than I expected it to be. If they decide to take this path, it becomes more clear to me that their team does not understand the way the card collector market works. NFL is the top billing, and always will be. There is a reason why CLC never really made the kind of money for UD that they expected it to. NCAA cards are still a niche market, and there is zero reason to cater to it in a sport like football.

I remember back to 2009, when Upper Deck released UD black with College jerseys for the rookies. Because the cards were hard signed, they didnt have the turnaround time to get the pics on the card with pro gear. People came close to boycotting the set as a result. The NFL is why we are here, although we will forgive the use of college PICTURES in lieu of something else. Logos are different, as it adds a schism to the set’s branding.

That being said, I do like the look of the base rookie, with a border-less presentation that looks very appealing. Everything else pretty much has the theme of 2012 Playbook with college jerseys. Not very good at all. The autographs look especially horrible.

Again, we will have to hold back judgment to see if they shift from their mockup design to pro-uniforms, but until then, I question their hobby intelligence and business plan.

On the Radar: Panini Prizm Draft Picks Football

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Starting in 2015, Panini’s plan for Hobby world domination takes another step, with them taking over the exclusive license for all NCAA logo trading cards. From 2010 through the beginning of this year, Upper Deck has owned the exclusive, and done well carving out a niche over the last five years. After releasing a few GREAT football products already this year, Upper Deck has left NCAA, and Panini is ramping up.

Panini just released some extensive previews from one of their new collegiate brands to be released before the NFL rookie premiere in May. Although I HATE that they have managed to lock down another exclusive, there is merit to what it can do for their products, picturing players in college jerseys. This space is where its definitely the most valuable.

Too bad Prizm remains the dog it always has been, and this preview really didnt do much for what I affectionately call “Chrome Zero.” I would call it Diet Chrome, but I dont think it even deserves that.

In a market where almost EVERY SINGLE product has on card autographs, Prizm is launching their new brand with stickers, something that I just cannot understand. Because every set that serves as their competition will feature hard signed autographs, Prizm wont be able to measure up in the least. Although the design is better than any other Prizm set to date (I know, not saying much), the usage of stickers could kill any potential it has to be successful.

Remember, this is NOT a part of the year that is devoid of great looking products, including a few we have yet to see. If Panini thinks they can waltz in and win the battle, they will fall flat on their stupid faces. College collectors are few and far between, but its different this time of year. Because so few sets have been released, many pro collectors will take a gamble out of boredom. Panini has almost ensured that the crossover collectors will choose an alternate route.

Even though this is only 60 bucks a box, come the first pro-release, these wont be worth the cardboard they are printed on. Unless something is special, most pre-draft type releases dont continue to hold their value, and Panini is playing with fire there. This goes double if things dont measure up. Of course, they dont really know their ass from a hole in the ground, so I cant blame them for being dumb about this.

Prizm is already a joke and a half, and this will further devalue an inferior brand. Regardless if the design is nicer than it normally is for this dumpster fire product, they have guaranteed that collectors will continue to give them the stink eye with each new thing they decide to try. Hey, at least this set gets some work, as they could not be bothered with Contenders to even come up with a new design. Ill give them that, but with everything else? Who cares. Cant wait to see how many packs are being offered for buying this junk at the National?

2014 Exquisite: Upper Deck Football’s Last Stand?

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Last week, amid the drama of National Treasures and the simultaneous release of Five Star, Exquisite Football was also released. It is likely going to be one of, if not THE last licensed CLC football product from Upper Deck, something that is going to sadden a number of people who loved the brand. That isnt saying the brand is done for good, but maybe just not sticking around in the same way.

Check out some of the top hits:

2014 Exquisite Marcus Mariota XRC 1/1

2014 Exquisite Jameis Winston XRC /125

2014 Exquisite Teddy Bridgewater Rookie Auto Patch /75

2014 Exquisite Blake Bortles Rookie Auto Patch /75

2014 Exquisite Odell Beckham UD Black Auto

I have always been a huge fan of the Exquisite brand, especially in its days as the premier high end product for any of the sports it was produced in. These days, it still has tremendous value, and has birthed some of the more interesting cards of the last few years. It continues to be a fun set to chase your favorite players, including some of the big rookies for 2015, which accompany this year’s crop.

To release this set on the same day as National Treasures is not really the decision I would probably go with, but I understand they are limited by Panini’s usurping of their exclusive license. At the same time, I have stood by the fact that a product like this would SEEK AND DESTROY early on in the calendar year, as no other high end products are really released until halfway through the season. Because this is college licensed, the production can begin as soon as the rookies declare, with planning done months before that.

Either way, most of the cards look great. My favorites are definitely the dimensions jersey autos, which have taken a page from the past versions of the card, mix in a little bit of the tweaks made by Strata, and added some Exquisite flare. I also think the puzzle type art cards are pretty interesting, as are many of the HOF autographs from across the release.

Im not as much a fan of the rookie auto patch design this year, as the foil embellishments intrude too far into the cards surface. It leaves very little room for the player to sign, and creates a tough visible area for them to be seen unless the player is wearing a light jersey. Its not the worst its been since 2010, but its far from the best.

Additionally, the price of the product is significantly more expensive than the other two that were released over the course of last Wednesday, and that was a complaint I heard a lot of people making. However, from a group break perspective, this is a much more moot point, as people were able to divert the extra cost that way.

If this is indeed Exquisite’s last licensed year, I think it ended well but not in the insane way that it started. I think this was Upper Deck’s chance to really make a splash and show people how much they could be missed, but instead, it felt like just another year of a product that has been around since 2005. Considering so many of the cards still looked really good, UD should consider that part a victory, but I cant help but feel some potential was wasted.

SCU Go-Live Report: 2014 National Treasures Football

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Today is quite the day for product releases, and judging by the level of hype surrounding all three products, I think we are in for an interesting go of it. National Treasures is the first of the big releases to hit eBay in mass, so I am going to start there. From what we have seen in the previews, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about it, but there are some massive reasons to be beyond frightened as well.

Here are some of the big hits so far:

2014 National Treasures Odell Beckham Colossal Auto Patch

2014 National Treasures Tom Brady Auto 5/5

2014 National Treasures Kelvin Benjamin Panther Head Rookie Patch Auto /10

2014 National Treasures Blake Bortles Rookie Auto Patch /99

2014 National Treasures Brett Favre Auto Patch

First off, the design is better than it has ever been. The cards look great, the design of the main hits is really nice looking, and for the most part, the enormous dud designs that have plagued this product in the past are less of a focus this year. Dont get me wrong, there are some horrendously designed cards that are still a part of NT, but it wouldnt be a Panini product without those.

Considering how fucking awful some of the main sets have been (Contenders is at the top of that list), I consider it a relief that NT isnt in that same vein. I love the rookie auto patch design this year, which in the past, has been one of the weakest parts of the product. The simple design, with big area to sign, coupled with a large player picture, all play to what I love.

My other favorite part of this set – the notable nicknames inscriptions also look pretty good, despite being a vertical card with a separated area for the signature. Some how, some way, Panini made it work, and it looks better than expected.

The booklets are back again, this time with a twist, and I think this is where the set starts to become a bit tenuous in the way it looks. The normal horizontal booklets look great, but the new vertical booklet look forced, and have those shitty pictures where the player is literally sliced off at the waist. Its funny how something so simple can derail a card.

All this under consideration has one tremendous fucking drawback, and it is a big one. A BIG ONE. Where Exquisite and Five Star are both all on card in the same price arena, Treasures remains littered with stickers. Not just stickers of players that are hard to get autographs from, but rookie stickers – a lot of rookie stickers from guys with on card other places in the set. To say this is inexcusable isnt giving the correct amount of gravitas to the situation, especially when you see how much a box of NT still costs. Im also not sure I agree with this as a choice for the checklist of Green Bay Greats.

Add in that there could be a brewing Russell Wilson scenario with Odell Beckham Jr being a redemption, that might not be filled in the near future, and this product gets murky at best. Teddy Bridgewater looks to be a redemption as well, but his cards have already been posted on their blog as completed and in house. Not sure why Topps was able to get their stuff done, but Panini has not for the last two sets.

If you are satisfied with the risk of opening a box, and not coming even close to your investment, pulling a Asa Watson or Michael Sam as your main hit, then have at it. This type of risk is inherent to all products of this nature, but at least with Five Star and Exquisite, there are no stickers from the first few looks we have gotten. I think Five Star is the better looking product, but its obvious that Treasures has the legs. Its really unfortunate that we dont reward the product that does it the right way. Sad really.