Threads is live as of now, and from the looks of what is showing up, it is exactly the same as every other Panini set that is released during the middle part of the year. Over the last few years, I have bought exactly 5 packs of Threads, and it was only because of the full game photos on the base cards than the hit content of the box itself. The last time I actually bought a box of Threads was 2007, back when manu-letters that had no team affiliation still had some novelty to them.

This product is almost built 100% around a concept that has not been fresh since 2007 SP Authentic BASEBALL. The manufactured letter craze is so played out, that it has started to affect the value of player worn signed letters that are inserted in a number of products. When the 1/1 style letters, signed by the players are only pulling in 150% of the price of a box, YOU SHOULD NOT BUILD A WHOLE FREAKING PRODUCT AROUND MANUFACTURED ONES. Oh wait, I forgot, these arent even in the style of the jersey that players wear, its just white letters sewn on pieces of black fabric. Wow, now THAT is a card I want – SNORE. I have no clue as to why these cards are still produced for as many sets as they are, because its easy to see that they should not be box hits in any way shape or form. When you also see that the player photo is about the size of a Penny, what is the point of even making these cards?

Secondly, we are also getting another steady dose of the normal box configuration that makes me want to grab my pillow and fall asleep. For 90 bucks, you will get one of the aforementioned letters that arent worth anything anymore, another shitty auto that wont sell for five bucks, and two jersey or patch cards that wont break four bucks. A few people will get lucky and pull one of the ugly subset autos that will not sell for the price of a box, and this is only the beginning. Even though it is live on eBay and live in card shops that are becoming increasingly hard to find, it wont be live on internet retailers until next Wednesday. At that point, you might as well just take whatever money you were planning to spend on this junk, and buy a good product like Finest is looking to be.

We are also getting quite a bit more of these rookie cards that use combine photos or other photos instead of airbrushed college photos. I still don’t understand this practice, especially when it decreases the overall look of a quality product. I know the one thing I always want on my favorite player’s rookie card is a Panini T-shirt on their back. Perfect, especially because of how football connected they look in their picture. These guys might as well be NFL hat wearing bouncers at the Panini nightclub. It’s a joke. As I said earlier this week, and as evidenced by the photography on the base cards, Football is a sport that lends itself EXTREMELY well to dynamic pictures. Yet, for most of the rookies in this set, we see nothing but posed studio shots that shy away from action and motion. Why is this okay?

The big white boxes and rainbow foil from the horrendous display in 2011 Elite are back, and this time the horizontal orientation doesn’t do it any more favors than it did for the previous sets. The cards look terrible, even though the normal base design looks pretty good. I don’t know how you can sit around a conference table at Panini HQ and say, “Yes, this looks awesome, print these cards.” The product just doesn’t make sense to me, as it honestly is more forgettable than ever. What makes Threads special, as obviously the manu-letters have lost every last sparkle of luster with the people who collect.

Here Are Some Highlights of what is up so far:

Christian Ponder Letter Auto

Fred Jackson 1 color patch card /99

Terrelle Pryor “Just Heading to the Gym, but Ill Still Take This Pic” RC Card

Kyle Rudolph “I HATE THIS CAMERA GUY” Patch Auto

Santonio Holmes Auto 3/5