So in relation to my discussion with the ESP rep yesterday there were a couple of interesting things that came up:
1. First we discussed the Jersey Signatures and I was told that all the jersey signatures were hand made in AUS and all ESP cards were printed here also. The rep agreed that the on jersey signature was not the way to go for future jersey cards and would be better to have them signed on the card. The printed cards were then sent to China for boxing.
2. The first release for ESP is in Feb 2013 and will be the NRL Traders, no further details other than it will be an entry level release similar to what Select intended with the Champions. 36 packs to a box with packs priced at $3.99
3. The second release for ESP in Mar 2013 will be the NRL Powerplay CCG. These cards will be targeted at the 6-10yo age bracket. It will be modelled along the lines of Teamcoach and will be launched in conjunction with a website where our young collectors can keep a digital copy of their collection.
The rep indicated their research indicated that kids collected cards to a certain age then left the hobby with some returning in their 20's, ESP want to release product to encourage collectors of all age so as to ensure the future of the hobby. The ESP rep indicated that the recent release was 'them dipping their toe in the water' and they have learnt a lot from this release about the manufacturing, marketing etc of NRL cards.
I feel very positive about the future of NRL trading cards and I encourage all collectors young and old to write to ESP with their thoughts both positive and negative about their releases as I really think this company wants to take NRL cards to a whole new level.
Dave
EDIT: The ESP rep just commented on my post via email, I got one thing wrong folks, the Jersey Cards were hand made in AU, all others were done overseas, my apologies for the stuff up.