It's sad...

[GilbertArenas0]

Everyone was freaking out and saying how weak this class was gonna be, and therefore was happy that Panini was left with a crummy class. Things came to bite back, huh?

Panini stepped in at the wrong time, and had to follow the formula that sold to the majority of collectors(not the smartest or true collectors though), more bang for the buck. I do like the retired player GUs and autos, and even though at times the designs have been iffy, they have done good amidst the super criticism, mostly conjured up by major nostaglia and the like.

I do like the older cards from the 90s, although alot of the designs were bland or outright horrendous. Remember the 1990 SkyBox cards with the colorful diagonal lines and geometrical shapes? Or 1991-92 UD design? (which was redone last year and drew major criticism, although I liked it.)

[duplechien]

OUCH!! Why did you have to bring up that 1990 Skybox??? I still have nightmares of that set:) Looked like a kaleidoscope threw up on those cards!

[GilbertArenas0]

OUCH!! Why did you have to bring up that 1990 Skybox??? I still have nightmares of that set:) Looked like a kaleidoscope threw up on those cards!

I kinda like them actually, they start to grow on ya once you can get your eyes adjusted to them from shock:)

I guess this is why I haven't had much of a problem with Panini's diagonals so far. "DIAGONALS?!?! YA WANNA SEE DIAGONALS?!?!?"

[kornbreadchild]

Amid the criticism and what not, I give Panini credit for bringing back the joy of non auto/gu inserts. The inserts compare to UD of the past and I think are much better than what I have seen over the past few years where everyone focused on GU and etc....
so kudos to them for that. I do believe that people will appreciate the Prestige set more and one thing is that while there have been a ton of sticker auto's, Panini is trying their best to do more on card auto's and while the lettermans are so high numbered, at least they are autographed instead of just being a single letter by itself.

[GreyDawn]

One thing I like about Panini is all the excellent patch cards. With upper deck you had to spend like $125 on a box just to get one decent patch card. And sets like SPX, SP Authentic, etc., the odds of getting anything decent in the box were so low, if you did then ok awesome but so much more often then not prices were high and the lure was gambling/risk on the very outside chance of a Jordan, Lebron auto, etc.

With Panini what you get for a $75 box is much better value. Compare to an SP A box for like $120 where you'll only get 2 hits and very likely to be junk players.

There are some things I don't like, such as the manu-patches (especially the 'jersey' letters), the fact that I've been shorted a few hits, and the absence of base rookies from all the sets since Prestige, but I don't see how it's a total train-wreck.

[whalechaser]

I honestly wouldn't mind the diagonals if it's just in one or two products, but the fact that Panini puts them on EVERY product that's the most frustrating part.

I kinda like them actually, they start to grow on ya once you can get your eyes adjusted to them from shock:)

I guess this is why I haven't had much of a problem with Panini's diagonals so far. "DIAGONALS?!?! YA WANNA SEE DIAGONALS?!?!?"

[whalechaser]

Amid the criticism and what not, I give Panini credit for bringing back the joy of non auto/gu inserts. The inserts compare to UD of the past and I think are much better than what I have seen over the past few years where everyone focused on GU and etc....
so kudos to them for that. I do believe that people will appreciate the Prestige set more and one thing is that while there have been a ton of sticker auto's, Panini is trying their best to do more on card auto's and while the lettermans are so high numbered, at least they are autographed instead of just being a single letter by itself.

I thought UD did a really good job with inserts on some of the base products these past few years. Especially with Starquest 08-09, All Star Class 08-09, I also like this year's Masterpiece, now appearing, and 3D stars inserts.

Upper Deck do lack quality inserts in their higher-ended / mid end products though!

[kornbreadchild]

haha oh man, I remember meeting Rumeal Robinson and Blair Rasumussen..
i guess diagonals makes it look flashy? instead of the Times New Roman block letters in the Prestige inserts..

[GilbertArenas0]

I thought UD did a really good job with inserts on some of the base products these past few years. Especially with Starquest 08-09, All Star Class 08-09, I also like this year's Masterpiece, now appearing, and 3D stars inserts.

Upper Deck do lack quality inserts in their higher-ended / mid end products though!

That's because the mid/higer-end products are for the big pulls/flipping :)

I liked the Elite stars inserts in Elite, they kinda remind me of those SkyBox rubies inserts of the past. Starquest and the Masterpieces were some nice ones too, was glad because at first they made the Basketball Masterpieces only for Chronology.

[GilbertArenas0]

haha oh man, I remember meeting Rumeal Robinson and Blair Rasumussen..
i guess diagonals makes it look flashy? instead of the Times New Roman block letters in the Prestige inserts..

lol at TNR!

Well it looks very professional