I need to get this on the table before I get into this preview:
SP Authentic is one of my favorite products of all time. It is the benchmark, usually, by which all other products are measured.
That being said, those days of SP Authentic have died.
Upper Deck released the sell sheet for 2011 SP Authentic football over the weekend, and from the looks of it, they may be in the middle of a situation signalling that all is not well over in California. We knew things were bad before, but they still had the wherewithal to release a five product football calendar last year, in addition to what they did for other sports. This year, it looks like Sweet Spot and SP Authentic may be their only products, unless Exquisite is able to be made again.
Instead of doing SPA, Sweet Spot, SPX, and whatever other plans they had, they lumped in SPA with the highly inferior SPX and Rookie Threads with the hope of either A) saving money on production, marketing and release or B) because they felt they needed a little more “oomph” in the line that was once their best of the year. Its like we are witnessing all the “Lions” from UD’s line forming together in one “Voltron” style product (Yes, I realize I am a huge nerd). Im guessing it’s a combination of both, because SPA’s market share definitely took a HUGE hit with the loss of the NFL license. Production and availability of last year’s set was low enough to drive some sense of value in the cards, but I don’t think it was anywhere close to where it needs to be.
Upper Deck will most likely come on this site and comment about how much collectors are loving their stuff, but actions speak louder than words. First off, the quality of the products has dropped from top of the mountain by a mile, to near Panini’s level. Secondly, not allowing everyone to sell your product is a horribly short sighted move on their part. Lastly, if things were really doing THAT well, SPA would not need to be combined with a brand with as much history as SPX.
In terms of design, there are definite ups and downs. Despite the fact that I really like the retro early 90’s SP feel that the SPX jersey autos have, I absolutely HATE the SPA Patch autos. They look terrible. For a set that has NEVER disappointed with the simple beauty of the box hit Patch Autos, this is a nightmare.
The rest of this stuff is just noise, as they never will carry the weight that the two aforementioned cards do. The signature threads are a borderline “meh” from me, and I am not sure if they are doing stickers over the swatch, or what these cards will turn out to be. The rest of the product looks to have given up on SPA’s commitment to on card signatures, and that is pretty disheartening to see how the mighty have fallen so hard.
To close out just how odd this set really is, they have included USA football stuff among the other normal cards. I have no idea what USA football is, as it is NOT an Olympic sport, and there doesn’t seem to be any World Football Classic like they have in baseball. If I have no clue what it is, the normal collector wont either, so that makes no sense what-so-ever to acquire this license.
Really, im just disappointed the way this is all turning out after the BANNER year that UD had in 2009. How quickly the tides of this industry change, right?
I’m really looking forward to this product and I have waited a week for your comments on SPA. I’m astonished, that you don’t like it that much. USA Football for example looks really nice and I will try to collect this subset for my son. With (lots of ) luck one of these highschool stars will make it in the nfl…
The USA Football inserts are high school kids. They played a Team USA vs. the World back in February.
http://www.usavworld.com/2011/team-usa/
Yeah, but this is football, not baseball, these types of things seemingly have no place in current football products, even as added content. You cant prospect football like you do with baseball guys.
Wow, how could the design folks go that far off with this years patch autos..
Every year (even 2010 with the NCAA uniforms) this is the product I save up for and try to set build. Based on this preview alone, I will definatly steer clear.
In the Past I did not mind pulling even low tier cards because they look so amazing, this year… Not so much.
USA football features some of the top recruits among the top College Programs..how is that not relevant? Also, last years product performed extremely well based on not only consumer feedback but because the card values remained on par with NFL Licensed products….NCAA isn’t for everyone and we understand that…but I have always respected your point Gellman…..but dont compare us to Panini….credibility is important to you
Also, the addition of the SPX base and rookie auto jersey are just a way to keep a brand alive without putting another on the market…..SPX rookie auto jerseys has always been pretty popular even when the product fell short
and furthermore, the patch size for 2011 will go back to the years when we were NFL prior to last year……this may not be everyones cup of tea but lets get the product out there and see….if no one likes it then we will break it down and see what went wrong
wow, just wow. unnecessary arrows, boxes, geometric patterns, patterned textures, double and triple lines everywhere. Hey at least they still have the fade to white pattern, although it is on every object!!!
I have so much more to say…but at the end of the day you have a job to do and so do I…..so I will leave it at that…usually you have a pretty good insight into how things are in this wonderful hobby I have been involved in for over 25 years….and sometimes you are far off base. There are some things we can debate but that seems silly because people like what they like…its that simple, we do the best we can
I will still buy you a beer in Chicago dude!
I was just happy to see a VOLTRON reference! To Heck with the cards!
So if a series uses the same design as last year you are not satisfied. If it uses a new design you are not satisfied. If it uses new ways (prospecting, video cards..) you don’t like it. You don’t like Panini because of the design. You don’t like Topps (except Chrome) because of the sticker autos. Now you don’t like Upper Deck because of design and College Uniforms. I have followed your blog and your comments on different web addresses for more than 2 years now but probably you have to rethink if collecting cards is really the right hobby for you.
Ha, you are on.
Yeah, I get that its top high school recruits, but I think football is very different than baseball, and I had no idea there even was a USA team. I guess its “relevant” but I honestly dont think these cards would matter in the grand scheme of things. People go nuts over the USA baseball stuff because prospecting is crazy in baseball, that isnt true with football because almost all the valuable rookies are valuable from the day they are drafted.
I actually really like these cards, not sure why they didnt get their own set. As mentioned above, this feels like you guys just lumped everything in with no regard for brand recognition. Its like Warner brothers releasing Superman, Green Lantern, and Batman all in the same movie spliced together. It would be awesome if they did it all within the same movie, but not if they just took the parts of the others and combined them to make one big superhero movie. They are all related, but not in a way that works if you just throw it all in one movie without explanation or a running narrative.
Complex analogy, I know, but I think if you had figured out a way to combine them all seemlessly, it would have worked. They all have different themes and concepts, and VERY different designs. Its choppy.
Yeah, sorry Gregg, hate this design for the first time in SPA’s history. Looks poorly done. Patch size has nothing to do with it.
also about SPX, the cards will be in special bonus SPX packs 2 per case….so they will not be mixed in so to speak with the SPA cards
@gregg
I hope the spx packs will be in a spa box, so that no one can see in which box they are ?
@ gregg again
How will the Threads cards be mixed in ?
And when will SPA be released? I have heard different information: Q4 2011 or Q1 2012 ?
Wow,
Great info, thanks Gregg for answering up as a rep. MOderator’s opinion aside (which I feel is right on), how could the folks in San Diego go so far away from a traditional flagship design and screw this amazing line up?
I sunk a grand into the first NCAA line via box breaks, and would have easily done so again this year if the patch autos maintained their simple but fantastic design.
This years preview looks like a 6 year old threw as many colors and lines as possible onto a card.
I am sorry I feel that way but in a year when the NFL is already damaged goods and upper deck is reducing product quantity I would expect better as a consumer.
See you in Chicago as well.
Jeff
Actually, I believe there is a “World Football Classic” of sorts. Search for IFAF World Championship of American Football and its there. The most recent event was held during 2011 in Austria with the US defeating Canada for the gold medal.
I have also been a long time fan of SP Authentic. S a matter of fact, I have every SP Authentic Raider RC card from 1990-2009. However, I didn’t collect SP Authentic Raiders in 2010, and I will not be collecting SP Authentic in 2011. If I wanted to collect college players, I would buy the lower end garbage. I purchased the 2010 Raider RC in Donruss Classics and I was able to get all the RC’s in the Autographed version. I am undecided, which card I will purchase in 2011? However, I think Playoff Contenders will probably be the best product? I guess I will have to wait for January 2012, to chase after the best card produced in the 2011 season?