Has Contenders matched SP Authentic?

[jonpop]

I think they may have matched them in price point. That's it.

[bojohnson]

I think they may have matched them in price point. That's it.

at least contenders released when the hockey season was on
sp authentic will be out in baseball season, after hockey is wrapped up

but congrats to ud for the three month delay on sp authentic
sp authentic might be a better product, but im not waiting until july to find out

the early bird always cathces the worm
snooze you lose, ud missed the train

[Fred Bear]

I mean, you know what UD is going to come out with. SPA hasn't really changed for years. You can expect all of the same things.

Panini stepped it up big time. I think it's reasonable to compare both products for this year. It doesn't matter how long a product has been out, you need to see what each company is doing right now. Contenders is great and if UD doesn't change anything...do you really think that UD is still that far ahead? Not at all. Those who would still think that are blind to what is actually going on. Open a box of both products (when SPA comes out) and assuming SPA stays the same, tell me how far apart they are. It's actually going to be quite close and closer than everybody thinks.

I look at this question in almost the same way, but my conclusion is 180 degrees from you...

SPA is the definition of consistency. Collectors know what they are going to get and what to expect. UD has actually increased the 'additional' content in the last few years with Marks of Distinction and other sub-sets. This is one of the most anticipated releases of the year for a reason. And the consistency is a HUGE POSITIVE.

What exactly did Contenders step up? Are you comparing Contenders 11-12 to Contenders 10-11 or Contenders to SP Authentic?

Contenders 11-12 to Contenders 10-11 is a pretty good jump in perceived value over a case. You definitely get more in 11-12. As a 'simple' collector, I think that's great. As a 'critical' reviewer of a product, that's terrible - it's essentially a new product with no basis after 2 years of production and it opens up a lot a questions. If Panini was able to put that much more 'value' into a product and maintain the price point... why did they try to rip us off last year? What should I expect next year? Will they change again? Collectors seem to prefer consistency and Panini hasn't demonstrated that over 2 years with this product...

Contenders vs SP Authentic is a bad comparison in my opinion. If you want to make that comparison, you probably immediately realize that Contenders looks a lot like an SPA knock-off... Numbered, hard-signed RC autos... RC auto/patches /100... It's the same, but a little different. I don't expect Panini to re-invent the trading card, but slight variations to a mid-range product isn't new or innovative at all. In fact, the 'tickets' they dropped this year would have been a great way to distinguish their product.

In fact, this is probably my biggest criticism of Panini to date... In 2009-10 UD produced everything... what, like 20-25 'different' products? In 2010-11 UD dropped half their line-up and Panini 'created' the same number. But... instead of 20-25 'different' products, we got 2x 12 products. There are a couple of examples of 'new' or 'different' products entering the mix so it really wasn't all duplicates, but really... Limited/Ultimate, Contenders/SPA, Certified/Artifacts... the same products with some minor variations. I think for Panini to really take hold, they need to do something different and challenge UD - not just 'compete' with them - put out a better product at a better price point, replace a popular dropped product, or fill a hole in hobby. I mean, really, what do I need with 2 SPA sets? Personally, I love what they did with Score - push Victory on price point, OPC on content, and UD1 with SP RCs (name if not value). I see a lot of untapped potential (and we know UD isn't going to do anything with it)!

But, if you really want the original comparison, think of this way...

In the worst box of SPA, you'll find buyers/traders for all your no-name FWAs - after two+ years. Will you be able to do the same with your no-name Calder Contender autos or whatever they'll be called in 2 years? I'm not convinced yet.

[adamslogik]

I love how everyone is going to say that SPA is better BEFORE IT IS EVEN LIVE, lol!

You have to at least open some before you make a decision, otherwise your opinions are uninformed and just show your bias against Panini.

You might as well just stand there with a sign that reads "Anything Upper Deck Comes out with is better than Panini just by virtue of having the Upper Deck Brand attached to it".

[cammy118]

I love how everyone is going to say that SPA is better BEFORE IT IS EVEN LIVE, lol!

You have to at least open some before you make a decision, otherwise your opinions are uninformed and just show your bias against Panini.

You might as well just stand there with a sign that reads "Anything Upper Deck Comes out with is better than Panini just by virtue of having the Upper Deck Brand attached to it".

I consider 10/11 SPA better than 11/12 contenders.

Your right about 11/12 not being out yet, but in previous years its pretty much the same except the rookies.

[adamslogik]

I consider 10/11 SPA better than 11/12 contenders.

Your right about 11/12 not being out yet, but in previous years its pretty much the same except the rookies.

Really, 10-11 SPA better?

I remember hearing COUNTLESS people complain about the lack of value in this product. The average box had 1 mid level FWA, 1 low level FWA and a SOTT of a player like Cogliano or Bailey.

2 player autos were a case hit, Patch cards were 2 per case and the Chase hits (Marks of Distinction, 3 or more player autos, etc...) were RIDICULOUSLY hard to pull.

Add that to a boring base set with some pretty awful looking inserts (essentials were brutal, and numbered to 1999) and you get a lame set.


This years contenders has nice looking RC autos, lower numbered.

It has NHL inks, which are very nice to look at, not to mention the doubles which are also nice, and the triples HARD SIGNED.

You have Rookie auto Patches and Veteran Auto Patches /100 which are a nice fresh design and look great PLUS they fall what seems to be 4-6 per case.

Booklet autos of 4 or 6 players, falling at a rate of 2 per case.

Great inserts and some nice parallels (the rainbow regular parallels /100, or the Black rookie parallels /100).

The base set looks awesome.


what more do you want? The value KILLS anything SPA has ever released.

[jonpop]

Really, 10-11 SPA better?

I remember hearing COUNTLESS people complain about the lack of value in this product. The average box had 1 mid level FWA, 1 low level FWA and a SOTT of a player like Cogliano or Bailey.

2 player autos were a case hit, Patch cards were 2 per case and the Chase hits (Marks of Distinction, 3 or more player autos, etc...) were RIDICULOUSLY hard to pull.

Add that to a boring base set with some pretty awful looking inserts (essentials were brutal, and numbered to 1999) and you get a lame set.


This years contenders has nice looking RC autos, lower numbered.

It has NHL inks, which are very nice to look at, not to mention the doubles which are also nice, and the triples HARD SIGNED.

You have Rookie auto Patches and Veteran Auto Patches /100 which are a nice fresh design and look great PLUS they fall what seems to be 4-6 per case.

Booklet autos of 4 or 6 players, falling at a rate of 2 per case.

Great inserts and some nice parallels (the rainbow regular parallels /100, or the Black rookie parallels /100).

The base set looks awesome.


what more do you want? The value KILLS anything SPA has ever released.

In one post you say don't compare when you haven't even opened the product, and in this one Panini somehow managed to kill anything SPA has ever released.
Let's get real here, SP Authentic is going to blow Contenders back to the drawing board again next year.

[adamslogik]

In one post you say don't compare when you haven't even opened the product, and in this one Panini somehow managed to kill anything SPA has ever released.
Let's get real here, SP Authentic is going to blow Contenders back to the drawing board again next year.

The previous thread that I was referring to was the one comparing 11-12 contenders to 10-11 SPA.

As far as SPA blowing contenders out of the water...we'll just have to wait and see. Not that I think it will make a difference to some people, Upper Deck could take a dump in the SPA box and all of the Upper Deck sheep would still buy it and call it the product of the year.

[2010CTyler]

Contenders is okay, hasn't quite caught up to SP Authentic yet in my opinion. However, if we see more boxes like last year, boasting Barry Melrose and Ray Emery autos, Contenders may catch up a lot sooner.

[koop]

From a design perspective, Panini gets a 10/10 on this year's contenders. We haven't seen the final live version of 11/12 SPA, but the mock-ups in the preview look boring. Just comparing the RPA in the two, the black and silver of contenders is just plain sick. I mean looking across sports, Bowman has a similar beautiful subset this year that they just numbered out of 25, so I think you're going to see these black RPAs in contenders really jump in value in a year or two.

But I agree, the consistency is what is killing Panini and to win over the Upper Deck fanboys they need to come up with some must-have rookie sets that collecters will want to hunt year after year. They did a good job of that with silhouettes, so I'm not sure why they jumped ship on the rookie tickets to copy upper deck's design from SPA in this year's contenders.

And I totally agree that you have to give credit for Panini for releasing this product on time compared to the constant delays that we are seeing from UD. Unless there are very little redemptions in SPA, the delays are really inexcusable.