Contenders vs. SP Authentic

[Craig2]

These two products are both mid-range releases from their respective manufacturers, and they tend to be compared quite often. I'm just curious which you think is the better release this time around.

I've always been a big fan of SP Authentic, and generally prefer Upper Deck products. However, while I still like the SPA triple/quad/higher autos that they put out this year, I really think Contenders overall was the better product when factoring in design, sets, rookie autos/non-autos, and value. It will be interesting now to see how Prime/Dominion match up against Ultimate/Cup.

I'm just interested in how others feel.

[Habitforming]

The crzy 8's autos and the likes (4,5,and 6's as well) are a huge draw especially when you can throw Orr and Gretzky on them, but hitting one is like winning the lottery, with the same odds.

Overall Contenders beats out SPA in my books.

Are there actually less redemptions in panini's contenders than SPA?

[pur3strpker0]

I've bought my fair share of both products. I'm going to take out the sticker autos for the higher amount of autos since they are inevitable. What I like about SPA is that anything with 3 or more autos is numbered. The contenders quad booklets aren't numbered which is kind of a bummer since there are a fair amount of autos in one card/booklet. Both do offer the similar amoun of patch case hits( I think) and both have the dual auto case hit. I do think SPA has an edge due to the Chriograpgy, immortal inks and showstopper subsets as opposed to just the NHL ink from contenders but contenders this year really stepped it up from last year.

[Canucksftw19]

I prefer SPA.

For this year in particular...

- SPA is as nice of a set as they have produced. Asthetically, SPA wins by a mile.
- Current Secondary market favors SPA (this may change down the road, with future releases)
- As far as content goes I think its pretty close, and will call it a tie (both have a lot of dud-packs, but offer a lot of hardsigned autos)

[flopfish]

I was REALLY hoping SPA would've delivered. Both products have collation issues however. Contenders you get duplicates of NHL Ink and RCs, SPA you have boxes outdoing cases, with updates from 2010/11 counting for hits. Contenders you got 5 patches on average and a booklet of at least 4 autos per case. Also Contenders had a way stronger rookie checklist because of the rookies who had on card autos, not to mention it was out 2 months before. SPA is 2-3 patches, a dual auto, and a ton of rookie hits, maybe (should be) an /50 auto or lower of a semi-super star. Both products have equal amounts of redemptions it seems like too.

As far as which one is better overall, Contenders is for me. Not only is it cheaper, the rookies have a shorter print run, there are more patches per case, and there are inserts dedicated to current players, not all rookies (with the SP Essentials being an exception) that are numbered. Design wise, I prefer Contenders, the SPA base just does nothing for me, and the Future watch autos feature a photoshop brush, not to mention the blank space in the middle of the card. Consistency wise I prefer Contenders. There is a bigger hit potential with SPA, but it's a like finding a needle in the haystack. For the price, Contenders is a way better buy. There is a better chance of hitting a current player patch or auto or insert along with better rookies for autos.

I think if the price were to drop for SPA to the same as Contenders, they'd be about equal (other than release date), but they both have their problems and upsides. You can't go wrong with a 1/12 shot at a booklet for $100, but it's nothing like an 8 way auto. Secondary market wise, it's actually fairly close. Considering when Contenders was released and how many product were around that time, it faired fairly well on the secondary market, considering it is a Panini product. SPA will fall off in a bit. The first RNHs were selling around the same.

To me, if Contenders kept all the subsets they did last year, hands down they are the winners. However, they didn't, but it's still solid. Going to give this to Contenders mainly for release date, patches, price, booklets, and rookie checklist.