The first major product of the 2011 card season is here and from what has been posted on eBay, im definitely surprised as to how cool some of these cards look. I guess with how many of the unlicensed cards that have already been released without logos, I forgot how cool it looks with team affiliation listed. Although I am not a college collector by any means, if I were, I would literally be salivating over these types of cards, as they will be the only ones for a while that will designate a college affiliation. Luckily for those collectors, they look great.
There is a lot of rookie content, as expected in this set, and I really like what I am seeing so far. Upper Deck has consistently shown that they are always going to be at the top of the design game, and regardless of licensing or financial status, it is the one thing that has never been an issue. I think the rookie letter autos look as good as ever, and the rookie autos with the full game shots also look very cool. There are also Ultimate cards inserted into the product, signed on card, and they are truly awesome in the way they look.
The big story for this product will obviously be the Upper Deck Evolution video cards, and though I dont really think they are all that big of a deal with digital video being as advanced as it is, other people are going to freak over these cards. A few have already popped up, and from what it looks like, they come like box toppers or something similar. I think it would be a completely different story if they were autographed, or even had some sort of player focused addition to the card other than the actual video. Personally, I think these cards are about 5 years too late, as my iPhone does exactly what these cards do, and I dont have to pay anything for the video besides my cell service. Maybe if that option wasnt available, these would be cooler than what they are.
As for the other parts of the set, I think the throwback cards from 1991 Upper Deck are literally awesome. I know they arent going to be the most valuable, but it is one of the best designs ever. I love it, and its too bad there arent going to be NFL versions of this type of card.
Its not all peaches and cream with this set, as there are definitely some drawbacks to the product. First, it looks like there are a lot of redemptions that seem to be all over this stuff. Im still skeptical about the way Upper Deck has been running things with customer service aspects of the business like redemptions, so that scares me a little. Also, the Evolution cards have some distinct added weight, which makes those boxes easier to find. From what initial reports are saying, they are cut out in foam, and could possibly be felt through the packaging. MAJOR problem there. On top of the above issues, I think its pretty well established that this set will remain a premium version of something like previous year’s Press Pass sets. The first opportunity that collectors have to buy NFL cards, these will drop, and I think that is where Upper Deck is going to need to figure out what to do. Exquisite cards are holding, but Exquisite is Exquisite, these are not anything close. Hopefully we will see a lot more opportunities to see the direction Upper Deck is looking to take, and maybe build their brand close to where it used to be.
Here are some of the big auctions so far:
Upper Deck sealed Evolution video card
I think if you look at how our cards from 2010 value out compared to the “NFL” licensed market….there is no reason to think the value of these or any UD cards will fall like Press pass, Sage or Leaf will……we are not those 3….watch the value of these once Prestige and Rookie Rising hit and you will see
$400 for that video card, good luck getting that. Why do people post these ridiculous auctions? Are they cool? Sure, but not valuable really.
…And of course, one of the video cards shows up in the box they sent to Beckett.
haha look at this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTvoxapnxsU
The cards dont even come charged, and you need a specific USB plug to charge them up!
The on-card auto Ultimate set is awesome, unfortunately the checklist is kind of small, as there are 1st round draft picks not included. The sticker rookie autos are ok but not great, better than this years press pass and SAGE, that’s for sure. They’re not as cool as the older, licensed Press Pass on-card autos though – so don’t try and tell me they are. Letter-autos are boring but some of the inserts in this set look kind of cool.