Your are not alone in your thoughts and Panini are not without their faults, but I personally think the hobby is in great hands. Panini are improving, the number of releases will decrease next season I'm sure, remember their distributors and stores lost big time with no sales during lockout.
They pay the athletes and no one can argue they have a far more sustainable approach than Upper Deck had, which put the hobby in such a hole.
It's an expensive hobby yes, but it's not the only one and it's cheaper than an Ice habit hopefully panini continue to improve, Topps gets it's act together and Oz Group Breaks brings value case breaks to a new level
#shamelessplug
Good debate Jonathon!