Panini buying UD ?

[brian045]

Here's the link. Not too sure what to think http://www.sportscardradio.com/news/...ing-upper-deck

[rydlar99]

IMO

The only thing worse than an UD monopoly would be a Panini monopoly.... So it'll probably happen.

[subban7677]

That's one way to get your license back. Kinda like when the Canadiens purchased the entire Quebec Senior League, I think it was, just to secure Jean Beliveau's professional rights.

[theboxbreaker96]

IMO

The only thing worse than an UD monopoly would be a Panini monopoly.... So it'll probably happen.

I agree 100% It would be devastating to the Hockey market. I really really really hope this never happens.

[pwaldo]

I agree 100% It would be devastating to the Hockey market. I really really really hope this never happens.

Forget devastating to the hockey market. It would be devastating to the whole sports card industry. Basically making Panini the only game in town for years to come. They would then just have to knock off Topps and that would be it.

[KingKuba]

I told people this long time ago and they laughed...thus why panini didn't go after the license that hard. Don't need to.

UD is a little spec of dirt with not much left except gretzky/orr/jordan.....

Monopoly sucks but so do 95% of UD'S hockey cards. .

The crying would be funny if they kicked the cup the curb....can always release the Super Cup.... $2000... A tin...

[EliasDevil]

You joke about Super Cup but Panini makes a set very similar to that in basketball and football called Flawless

[Chev-boyar-sky]

Well anything beats what I've seen out of UD's exclusive effort so far, so I'd be fine with this.

[japhi]

Well anything beats what I've seen out of UD's exclusive effort so far, so I'd be fine with this.

Same here, the best hockey releases the past few years have been from Panini so I'd love to see them get the license back.

[RGM81]

I don't see how this would be a benefit to the hobby. We've seen already what happens when one company buys out another and continues to run their lines.

I like Panini a lot, but you need two independent and functional licensed producers in the hockey market to have innovation, competition, and a drive for continuous improvement. Having Panini as the sole provider of content using the Upper Deck brand for distribution doesn't qualify.

Hopefully there isn't anything to this.