I know I know more Panini talk

[hugehitter31]

So I'm not really one to stress I guess about what happens in the hobby. I find some players and I collect what I can and if a set catches my eye I'll give it a whirl. I liked a number of Paninis releases and was a little upset when they were gone but it is what it is.

But...

it just dawned on me that every set I'm trying to complete (still) is from Panini

11-12 NHL Ink
12-13 elite intensity
13-14 rookie ticket recall
13-14 Prime Colors

products from all different years but all caught my eye enough for me to collect. And now, It makes me miss Panini more than than when they left for what they brought in uniqueness and design.

Just thought i had had to get that off my chest haha

thanjs for the rant

[creasecollector]

I agree, man. Exclusives in any industry can take away from the competitive nature, which results in less unique products and more recycling of the same stuff (not that I'm not a fan of the current selections, I very much am). But I feel the pain. I have nothing against UD, just wish their were more cards to go around. It makes it much, much more exiting as a consumer to see more choice available in the hobby. Hopefully we see Panini (or another company) gain an NHL licence in the future so we can see more competition (and cards) as a result.

[TRDouble]

I thought the earlier Panini stuff was terrible. I did eventually discover 11/12 Contenders, but that was in late 12/13, early 13/14. And the price was cheap at the time!

I always felt like Panini hit its' stride in their last year, 13/14. It seemed like they finally got it when it came to hockey, only to have the license taken away.

To be fair, some of my favorite Panini brands weren't even a consideration at the original price -- $180 for 12/13 Classics Signatures? No way! But again, in 13/14, they seemed to get the price right for a quality product. It was just too late.

I did not enjoy Upper Deck's exclusively licensed NHL product last year, but their 15/16 product hasn't been that bad. I still buy more old boxes of Panini and ITG product than I do anything new though.

[odjickfan]

It would be nice to have a competitive market with the following companies having a liscence: UD, Panini, Leaf, Topps.

[creasecollector]

It would be nice to have a competitive market with the following companies having a liscence: UD, Panini, Leaf, Topps.

This would be great in my opinion! :)

[EliasDevil]

I thought the earlier Panini stuff was terrible. I did eventually discover 11/12 Contenders, but that was in late 12/13, early 13/14. And the price was cheap at the time!

I always felt like Panini hit its' stride in their last year, 13/14. It seemed like they finally got it when it came to hockey, only to have the license taken away.

To be fair, some of my favorite Panini brands weren't even a consideration at the original price -- $180 for 12/13 Classics Signatures? No way! But again, in 13/14, they seemed to get the price right for a quality product. It was just too late.

I did not enjoy Upper Deck's exclusively licensed NHL product last year, but their 15/16 product hasn't been that bad. I still buy more old boxes of Panini and ITG product than I do anything new though.

Completely agree. Panini struggled out of the gates and never fully recovered. I remember opening 3 boxes of Score the first year and the rookie cards in each were virtually identical which put me off for a while. But their last two seasons they put most UD stuff to shame. And of course my opinion may be swayed a little bit by the cheaper boxes when one time $100 got me a box of 11-12 Contender and RA and both boxes had hard signed RNH autos that I managed to trade for two beautiful Devil cards.

Was just thinking last night about how the last season and a half my Devils PC became a Henrique and Schneider PC because it was only Panini making Greene/Larsson/Josefson/Zajac cards

[RGM81]

Can never have enough talk about the good times we have/had in the hobby.

Panini made a ton of awesome cards. If you look through my PC from the years 10-11 to 13-14 there are so many great cards that they made. A lot of stuff they did was under-appreciated and I think we're still seeing their influence in UD's products this year...Contours is pretty much UD's take on Crown Royale.

They took some risks, some worked and others didn't. With all the deals that can be had on their products now, some of those products are getting new life on LCS shelves.

[odjickfan]

Can never have enough talk about the good times we have/had in the hobby.

Panini made a ton of awesome cards. If you look through my PC from the years 10-11 to 13-14 there are so many great cards that they made. A lot of stuff they did was under-appreciated and I think we're still seeing their influence in UD's products this year...Contours is pretty much UD's take on Crown Royale.

They took some risks, some worked and others didn't. With all the deals that can be had on their products now, some of those products are getting new life on LCS shelves.

To me, Panini was the Pacific 2.0. Products focused on creative designs and fun. Yes, some of their early products were not great, but many were very fun. I love the discounted 13-14 stuff with the loaded rookie class.

[Drunken Monkey]

One of the things I liked about Panini was that they actually featured players that UD doesn't for one reason or another. I don't think UD has shown any love to Yvan Cournoyer (one of my main PC players) since the 2008-09 Canadiens Centennial set.

[RGM81]

One of the things I liked about Panini was that they actually featured players that UD doesn't for one reason or another. I don't think UD has shown any love to Yvan Cournoyer (one of my main PC players) since the 2008-09 Canadiens Centennial set.

This is true. I did a quick search through the inventory and there's not one UD card of him for at least the past three years.