Over the last week, we have gotten previews from both Panini and Upper Deck regarding their respective video based collectibles they will be putting into products in the near future. Pot shots were taken and companies were talking trash back and forth, but in the end, does any of it even matter?
Upper Deck will have the first of the video cards out with the release of 2011 Upper Deck football, but it seems as though their video screen will, in fact, be smaller than the ones on the Panini versions. They will call it Upper Deck Evolution, and it will be a fold out booklet like card with a small screen imbedded in the card itself. I call it a collectible, because this kind of extends beyond trading cards, and really, im not really all that impressed with its ability to “change the hobby forever.” If this were five years ago, when very few people had mobile video sitting in their pocket, that would have been a different story. These days, with the iPhone offering full HD video at the touch of a button, WITH a rechargable battery, its not as much of a novelty to have one small video avialable on a card you can pull from a pack.
Secondly, with both Panini and Upper Deck now using electronic elements in their cards, what happens when the battery expires or the video stops playing? Unless there is some way to repair broken units or batteries, this thing is a one and done technology that has no usage for the long term built in. Panini did say theirs would have a player autograph on it, so there is some redeeming value to it, but speaking of redeeming, theirs looks to be redemption only from the size and plausability of its design.
When I heard that video cards now were being released, I was excited. But after I actually thought about it for a while, I dont really see it as an exciting improvement to what is already out there. Im just a whole bunch of blasé about the whole thing.
Although we all get that companies are looking for the next big thing like memorabilia cards were back in 1996, we also need to understand that there may not be anywhere to go but down. I have to think that the next logical step will be actual pieces of the player, like blood, sweat or fingerprints, but that concept is more gross than anything associated with a card ever before. Personally, I would much rather see well thought out concepts and designs rather than the search for the next big thing, as right now, the design and look of cards is definitely on a steep decline in the industry. Don’t get me wrong, innovation is a great and necessary thing, and should be explored at some point, yet I would think that both Panini and Upper Deck should focus on the myriad of problems they already have before they start churning out new ones.
I mean, Panini is the company that produces cards that look like this one and like this creepy one
. Until that gets turned into cards that look like actually passable, they should change the list of priorities.
Here we go card companies…this one is free.
QR Codes…yes that is right integrate QR Codes into the card (on the back please for aesthetic reasons) if you want to do the “video thing”, but why don’t we step it up a notch….one of the QR Codes on a card leads to a webpage where the person is informed that they have won an “experience” with X player which includes like say 5 options (lets say it is Michael Jordan: (1) 1 on 1 game (2) Round of Golf (3) Bobcats Game in Owner’s Box (4) UNC Game (5) Dinner and all come with the ability to have 1 item autographed.
Just an idea…but please the video cards are not good in anyway…the technology can’t approximate what I could get for free on the internet and therefore adds nothing to “my collection”
Why don’t they just stop wasting money on crap like that that will be 1 in every 50 cases and just get more HOFer, on card autographs? The answer to declining interest seems so obvious. All we want is well designed product with great autographs. It’s not difficult, really. It just seems that way because all the companies are worried about is getting video cards to market.
Fantastic. Let me guess…. 75% of the product teams were dedicated to getting this crap to market. That should make for some really shitty, even more than usual as of late, products later in the year.
Want to put a video in a card? Find full game footage of Super Bowl I and put that in a card. Now there’s something I can’t get on the smart phone I already own. Or, any NFL archive for that matter….
I am firmly against anything that is not the standard “card” size. These remind me of the Motion cards from Skybox back in 96 or 97.
I agree. They should try to get better value for what they already do instead of trying to come up with the next big thing. How about more on card auto’s? How about more game used jerseys? How about more money on designs that look good? How about less crap and cheaper cases? The list of things I would like to see before “electronic” (autographed or otherwise” cards is long…
This reminds me way to much of the Power Deck cards UD made back in the 90’s. They thought it was the future of cards back then and it was a total fail. Lasted 1 year at the most. I will be damn surprised to see if this lasts the same amount of time.
new technology isn’t always bad, I mean people loved the shadowbox cards. Keep making those! Make them better, deeper, crisper. Invest in technology that keeps people from faking patches. Make whole jerseys available for redemption. Just minors does amazing things with their jersey sets, perhaps try imitating that is some way. Finally just use exsisting technology better. We collectors love great design and shiny cardboard. Take advantage of that,and not by using foilboard or so help me…
Wouldn’t this be super easy to pack search for? I mean push on the top of every pack, and when one pack starts talking, open it. Seems dumb. And from what I’ve seen the UD one is over a 1/2 think, how could you not know its in the pack? If I wanted video highlights of a player, I’ll watch ESPN. Pathetic, in my book
The Upper Deck card has what looks like a mini-usb port on the top of the card, so that’ll solve the battery problem for a while. No idea what you’d do if the screen breaks.
Honestly, I don’t mind that these exist at all, but as a low-mid end, “just for fun” collector, they won’t ever be relevant to me. I don’t even really understand how you’d distribute them except as an insert in a high-end product, and if I pulled one I think I’d feel fairly ripped off unless there’s something beyond the novelty of a video to give it some value.
I saw this topic on another blog, and was waiting to see your thoughts Gellman, for me this is got to be the dumbest, product a company could put out seeing how everytime they try something with the digital age it fails. Someone mentioned the CD-rom cards a few years back, they are in the quarter bin, and topps did something like this in the early 00’s and it failed. Both companies need to focus on the collector aspect, auto’s that are worth collecting and I read full jersey redemptions, something I wanted back since 2001 fleer legacy. Going digital is like the topps million dollar giveaway, it worked, I think UD and Panni are trying to follow suit.
I know I am in the minority on this topic, BUT I do think there is some potential with this concept if it is financial feasible to have it available on the box level rather than the case level. I don’t think it will be effective in the hobby as much as it could be at retail. Does every 8 year old in the country have an iPhone or access to a phone that has access to video? I’m not being a smart ass, but I am seriously asking that question. Maybe they do….I don’t know. If not, this concept could mean something. Does it mean anything to the people that read this blog? Highly doubtful. Could it be *cool* as a box hit at retail outlets to a novice/new collector? Sure, it could and might even be a difference maker over time. That “could” makes me give it the benefit of the doubt. I’m not buying it hook, line and sinker, but I am not dismissing it either.
On one hand, these seem really cool, and it amazes me to see Panini actually have an idea for once. (unless Upper Deck came up with it first, and they just… never mind) On the other hand, it’s going to be hard as hell for this to be the revolutionary moment that changes the hobby forever when I’m guessing that most collectors will never see one of these in person. If you want to get me excited about your new technology, you can’t do it with a card that either comes at 1:587,000 packs odds or one-per-$500-pack or whatever. If you want people to stop just waiting and buying singles on Ebay or whatever and start buying packs and boxes, stop charging $120 for a box that won’t even add up to $65 in imaginary book value, just kill off event-worn cards completely, and fix the 5 or 6 base cards they know they’ll actually get if they buy a pack before you go all-in on the case hit. Then, you can make the crazy hi-def cards.
Also, after a few years of having my faith in all three companies stomped on repeatedly, I give it one year or less before someone pulls a huge, biggest-pull-ever-MOJO~! video card, only to find out that it’s one of the yearly “6th round skill position guy who doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell in the NFL, but we needed a few hundred thousand more Rookie Premiere jersey pieces” guys. Either that or Panini will start making video cards as a parallel to a regular card, possibly meaning an inch-thick booklet card that’s blank on the inside.
Last year it was the shadow box cards, they were all the hype, then died down, with the video cards I see it being big for the first couple of months, then going cold, if it is a case hit, it better be the most exciting thing since the introduction of game used.
I dont think the shadow box cards have died down at all. Still hot as hell, even the college ones.
They may be hot, looked on ebay a lot of BIN not to many really getting bids, what I was trying to say with that is, they just introduced them last year, they could have perfected them a little more this year, with the video cards, I would really like to know what the content is.
I brought this topic up on the old Beckett boards back when it was the place to be,before the stupid changes…I made a post about 4 years ago asking how long until we saw a TV screen on a baseball card..they laughed at me
I called the post “Excuse me,is that a TV on your RC?…everybody said it was ridiculous and would never happen and at the time it seemed far out…I guess it wasn’t that far out after all.