Panini vs. Upper Deck

[Fatty McGee]

Now that Panini has an NHL license and ITG doesn't, what do you guys think? Personally I can see why the NHLPA and NHL went with Panini; they saw how they did with Basketball, Panini has the ability for international distribution, they are able to sell mass quantities to Wal-Mart, etc.

So I ask this; will you still buy ITG? Why? Why not? How about Panini? UD? For myself personally, I haven't really bought any ITG since 2005 because I hate their card designs. So boring and uninspiring and they all look the same year to year. I've gotten out of the card collecting hobby, BUT I am curious about the Panini cards. Might buy a couple here and there just to NOT support UD for once LOL. What do you guys think? To me, these are exciting and interesting times for hockey collectors.

[fdp79]

i will be looking forward to what Panini will do with the National Treasures brand for hockey....primarily i will pick up singles of my canes players. not sure how much i will bust though

[bidds55]

I think Panini has distribution channels open to them from their years producing stickers, that no one else has. In the end it was smart (from a business perspective at least) for the NHL and NHLPA to license them.
As for ITG, I still think they produce some of the best card in the hobby. It looks to me like at least another 5 years without a license for ITG, which is going to continue to make it an uphill battle for them, but they have done very well over the last 5, under the circumstances. ITG is very fortunate to have a group of very dedicated clients - many of whom buy only their products - and many of whom are UD "refugees". With a new competitor in the mix, I will be very interested to see how those collectors specifically spend their hobby dollars.
Personally, I will continue to go after singles I want, regardless of who produced them - and that certainly includes some cards produced by ITG.

[30ranfordfan]

Really easy for me. There's a few things that I primarily collect:

- Bill Ranford: If you make it, I will buy it. Don't care who you are.
- Upper Deck Series 1 & 2 sets. Will continue to do it.
- Edmonton Oilers RCs & Autos. Over the last few years, ITG has done a much better job of including Autos of players I'm looking for. I've bought their prodcuts because of it.

I have a hard time buying any boxes that don't have a fair amount of cards that I actually want to keep for myself. UDS1, UDS2, Heroes & Prospects & Between The Pipes are the only 4 products over the last few years I can say that about. (The $75-$100 per box is where I top out on spending - not going to do packs of sets like Ultimate Memoribilia or The Cup). I don't imagine Panini will change that.

[HammerHawks]

As long as they make Bogosian, I'll be buying!

[SkyFire47]

make a card a like and i'll buy.

[FrankToronto]

Naturally, I'll continue to buy ITG. Every single set they produce is not just another set, but actually has relevance to hockey and the hobby as opposed to simply being product churned out.

I welcome Panini to the landscape and just as with UD, if they produce a great product then I'll buy it. What I suspect though is that with the total number of products released becoming higher overall what's going to happen is there will continue to be over saturation of product and surely many of those will be a mix of either garbage or too much of a good thing.

[Prime B]

I'll always buy ITG. They are the only company dedicated solely to hockey and it shows, whether you like their designs or not, they give collectors what they want. (with what they have to work with)

UD. I am taking a wait and see approach on them. They have been in a steady decline as far as quality of their products the past 20-30 months. It has become dry, boring and monotonous. They only things they have done that even register in my mind from the past 2-3 years is the.............nevermind, nothing's changed as far as the cards. Same sets, similar designs, yawn, yawn, yawn. UD needs to do better considering they're licensed.

I will say this about UD: their customer service department has gotten a lot better. Unfortunately the redemption issue is still a glaring problem. I think they need to say if it packs out, that's your set and not do anymore redemption's.

Panini. I am actually pumped for them. I think they will bring back some awesome sets I used to really enjoy from under the Donruss and Pacific brands. I know alot of people hate what they've done with other sports but I give everyone a fair shot. And in turn, hopefully the UD hockey design/brand team will have to get off their lazy rumps and actually DO something different to EARN their dollars instead of force feeding people what they decide as far as licensed cards go. I am looking for some great insert sets and hopefully some neat memorabilia pieces.

It's a shame ITG doesn't have the $$$ Panini does because they would be back in and making great cards. It's all about business and coin these days so I understand how Panini got in and I do hope it helps the hobby.

[Fred Bear]

For me, I will continue to spend the majority of my budget on ITG products (can't wait for Superlative II and I'm already looking forward to Ultimate Memorabilia 10, of course). I will continue to not buy Upper Deck except for a couple singles here and there.

I will look at what Panini does and make an evaluation based on that. From the early indications, it appears to me that they are going to rely on nostalgia too much for my taste (I do like the old brands, etc. but it can get overdone quickly). I would also prefer to not see a 'high-end' product with 15 parallels. We'll see what they do and go from there, I guess...

[nic11]

I have a question for you guys ... how will Panini make jersey/patch cards from older player? I think that ITG and UD have lots of jerseys from differents years, but since Panini is new, they will have less jerseys from older player but lots of new-player jerseys?