What Will You Miss Most About Panini?

[Gallinator]

I'm not angry at UD for getting a monopoly once more, but I do question the NHL/NHLPA's judgement (or absence thereof). It's clear that they don't give a *clearing throat* about us and I plan on boycotting all licensed NHL products through any market other than secondary next year.

I must admit I am leaning towards this the more I think about it. I've spent a LOT on hockey cards since 2010 (most ITG and Panini products) and it might be time to pull back a little and fill in those sets instead of participating in a rigged system.

Anyway, regarding the topic at hand - I'll miss Dominion the most, whose design is far above The Cup in my book. I'll miss Prime for the innovation and fun box break. I'll miss Prizm because, as stated by someone earlier, hockey needs some friggin' CHROMIUM cards like Prizm (and Finest) and UD for some reason can't seem to rise above holofoil. As also stated above, I'll miss the accessibility, blog, webcasts, previews and general attempt to cater to the collector, whether such attempts succeeded or not. At least Panini TRIED most of the time, whereas it feels like UD just mails it in.

[MW Connection]

Let's try not to rush to judgement on Upper Deck until we see new products and price points on 14-15 releases. They may just surprise some people with the quality and content of their products.

[Fatty McGee]

You're new here, aren't you?

Why do I feel like an old man whenever I remind people about 2005/06 and UD's SP Authentic disgusting rip-off with Wave 1 and Wave 2, that they claim never existed, but the very next year was proven when they claimed to have found a bunch of cards, "Hidden in the back of the warehouse hidden away".

UD will do everything to rip everyone off. They've done before (Heck, they built their business on it!! -> See the book, "Card Sharks"). It's just very sad that the entire sports card collectibles market has pretty much crashed and now it's just a core group of people who keep buying up the product. Times have moved on, but for some reason we can't.

But to answer the original post, I will miss Panini simply being an alternative that had different sets and designs. I may be the only one here, but I loved Dominion and Luxury Suite was one of my favourite sets.

Let's try not to rush to judgement on Upper Deck until we see new products and price points on 14-15 releases. They may just surprise some people with the quality and content of their products.

[30ranfordfan]

They're not going to surprise anyone with quality or content. If you honestly believe there is even a remote chance of that, you must not have collected hockey cards at anytime in the last 10 years. Nobody in this thread rushed to judgment on UD.... they're basing those comments on years of seeing the same thing over and over and over again.

Let's try not to rush to judgement on Upper Deck until we see new products and price points on 14-15 releases. They may just surprise some people with the quality and content of their products.

[eliteco3]

I will miss the chance at the Panini reward point cards instead of redemptions. This would have given us a chance at a $1 jersey card for 150 points instead of a hit.

[KingKuba]

Let's try not to rush to judgement on Upper Deck until we see new products and price points on 14-15 releases. They may just surprise some people with the quality and content of their products.

Prices all the same.
Products all the same.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Why try when people will buy it anyway?

I don't expect anything revolutionary.

This 25 year anniversary, you'd think series 1 would be WOW but it's going to be the same old.

[japhi]

With regards to the quality/quantity thing, the card market hasn't exactly flourished with all the new releases and innovation the past 25 years. More folks collected cards when there was just OPC hockey. There is way too much noise today to attract large numbers of new collectors IMO.

If the goal is new collectors I have to think less is more.

[eliteco3]

Prices all the same.
Products all the same.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Why try when people will buy it anyway?

I don't expect anything revolutionary.

This 25 year anniversary, you'd think series 1 would be WOW but it's going to be the same old.

If it ain't broke why fix it? The cards are collectible and hold value. What more do you want as a collector?

[KingKuba]

If it ain't broke why fix it? The cards are collectible and hold value. What more do you want as a collector?

Its broke.

What cards hold value?

YG'S go down after months, after a year even more.
SPA barely worth more than YG'S, selling cheaper than ever..
Showcase, nice set but after a month singles are worthless.
Cup retains Ok value for rpa's if patch is good but everything else down down..

Long term will get worse..

10000 YG'S
999 spa's
249 cup

There's not enough collectors for all of these...

Think how bad the hobby is. Not even 999 people in the world collect spa FWA's. ..

It's great if you like picking up autos of star players/rookies for $7.

I just picked up 15 autos for $20. A disgrace...that's a lot of "hits"

YG initial value is good for the number produced but then they just get flooded from all the retail.

I like cup and ultimate. Overall.

I have a card from every set but what does hold value these days????

[eliteco3]

Its broke.

What cards hold value?

YG'S go down after months, after a year even more.
SPA barely worth more than YG'S, selling cheaper than ever..
Showcase, nice set but after a month singles are worthless.
Cup retains Ok value for rpa's if patch is good but everything else down down..

Long term will get worse..

10000 YG'S
999 spa's
249 cup

There's not enough collectors for all of these...

Think how bad the hobby is. Not even 999 people in the world collect spa FWA's. ..

It's great if you like picking up autos of star players/rookies for $7.

I just picked up 15 autos for $20. A disgrace...that's a lot of "hits"

YG initial value is good for the number produced but then they just get flooded from all the retail.

I like cup and ultimate. Overall.

I have a card from every set but what does hold value these days????

What do you propose they do? Abandon retail.