Current state of AFL Card market....
- Thread starter mike666
- Start date
AFL card collecting as a hobby is pretty much dead right now, all thanks to Select. I buzz I used to get when I brought a box of new series 2 cards has completely gone. Haven't even brought any from the last 2 years. Just buying the ones I need and chasing older cricket cards from Futera.
Speaking from my perspective, money is tighter. US sports take precedence over AFL and with the exchange rate the way it is singles and boxes hit the wallet harder.
Select isn't doing much to help either. Champions is stale as all hell, Honours was a dud if you didn't follow the VFL, and the shine has worn off Future Force now that people are wary of being stuck with sigs of undrafted kids.
Teamcoach lost my interest when the inserts became more and more kiddie junk.
Select isn't doing much to help either. Champions is stale as all hell, Honours was a dud if you didn't follow the VFL, and the shine has worn off Future Force now that people are wary of being stuck with sigs of undrafted kids.
Teamcoach lost my interest when the inserts became more and more kiddie junk.
I think all Australian sports are down at the moment. In AFL the lack of innovation is awful.
But again Steve Wang knows what we all want to collect so we just have to collect it and put up with it.
Honestly, I wish there wasn't a monopoly of licences in this country. Imagine if others had the opportunity to create licenced cards.....
But again Steve Wang knows what we all want to collect so we just have to collect it and put up with it.
Honestly, I wish there wasn't a monopoly of licences in this country. Imagine if others had the opportunity to create licenced cards.....
Not sure we want to go back to the time when AFL 'cards' started appearing in chip and bread packets like it was a few years ago, but the current offerings are just a case of press reply from the previous years. The new teamcoach inserts are so aimed at kids its a bit ridiculous, but that is their market.
The new entrant to the card market has added little, but trading cards are going the way of LPs and CDs. The kids are more interested in digital content, unless of course we get Woolworths to do something like their blue and green animal series.
So time for Woolworths to be granted a licence? Couldn't do any worse!
The new entrant to the card market has added little, but trading cards are going the way of LPs and CDs. The kids are more interested in digital content, unless of course we get Woolworths to do something like their blue and green animal series.
So time for Woolworths to be granted a licence? Couldn't do any worse!
No innovation from Select, has made buying the latest releases unenjoyable.
Champions is a dud, and when compared to Teamcoach, they really need to lift their game and offer some variety.
Future Force is getting repetitive and needs a revamp. A 1:2 box insert would make busting boxes more interesting.
It also doesn't hurt to engage with your customers and have some sort of presence. Using ESP as an example (and not personally collecting NRL cards), at least they engage with customers on OZCT and attend card fairs, and look to take constructive feedback on board. The same can not be said of Select, and after Steve Wang's outburst on here, it reflects poorly on the AFL card industry.
Champions is a dud, and when compared to Teamcoach, they really need to lift their game and offer some variety.
Future Force is getting repetitive and needs a revamp. A 1:2 box insert would make busting boxes more interesting.
It also doesn't hurt to engage with your customers and have some sort of presence. Using ESP as an example (and not personally collecting NRL cards), at least they engage with customers on OZCT and attend card fairs, and look to take constructive feedback on board. The same can not be said of Select, and after Steve Wang's outburst on here, it reflects poorly on the AFL card industry.
Champions is just a non-event for collectors.
Future Force has had an absolutely shocking year. The risk is too great with all the potential undrafted players that are signing these cards, the value of this years cards is diabolical. It's too much of a risk to buy a case etc when you could end up with 12-15 sigs of undrafted kids.
Series 2 is the only hope but even then things are just being recycled to an extent. How hard is it to do memorabilia cards? game used? It is actually getting beyond a joke now and the entire industry is suffering due to this restrictive monopoly. Had an absolute gutful and Wangy (as the nations leading retailer) is so out of touch with collectors it's not funny.
Future Force has had an absolutely shocking year. The risk is too great with all the potential undrafted players that are signing these cards, the value of this years cards is diabolical. It's too much of a risk to buy a case etc when you could end up with 12-15 sigs of undrafted kids.
Series 2 is the only hope but even then things are just being recycled to an extent. How hard is it to do memorabilia cards? game used? It is actually getting beyond a joke now and the entire industry is suffering due to this restrictive monopoly. Had an absolute gutful and Wangy (as the nations leading retailer) is so out of touch with collectors it's not funny.
Haha rumour is that wangy and select have teamed up and are bringing out the first ever trading card movie......... "How to lose customers and alienate people" =p. Apparently it is Half documentary and half dark comedy.
Recent reviews are not good, stating movie was repetitive and lacked crrativity. Also lacked that high value actor who had consumer appeal!!!
Recent reviews are not good, stating movie was repetitive and lacked crrativity. Also lacked that high value actor who had consumer appeal!!!
Despite our grizzles I guess we should be grateful that the price per pack hasn't increased for some years and the number of cards per pack seems to have stayed fairly consistent.
I stand to be connected here, but the prices for the first of the yearly releases has been the same price for some years - Select Champions (8 cards for $2.99) and Teamcoach (9 cards for $2.99)
So still fairly good value for money when compared to the recent Match Attax World Cup cricket release with 5 cards for $2.50, or Tap n Play's cricket release with 10 cards for $3.99.
So with inflation creeping into all other aspects of our lives, I guess we can be grateful that there is still significant sales volumes to cover the increasing costs incurred by the manufacturers without the need to increase the price per pack, or reduce in the number of cards per pack for the same price.
But I have no doubt that time will be coming.
No doubt product innovation is do-able but would come at a higher price. Are the mums and dads buying packs for their little Johnnies and Johnettes Auskickers prepared to pay more for that innovation?
I stand to be connected here, but the prices for the first of the yearly releases has been the same price for some years - Select Champions (8 cards for $2.99) and Teamcoach (9 cards for $2.99)
So still fairly good value for money when compared to the recent Match Attax World Cup cricket release with 5 cards for $2.50, or Tap n Play's cricket release with 10 cards for $3.99.
So with inflation creeping into all other aspects of our lives, I guess we can be grateful that there is still significant sales volumes to cover the increasing costs incurred by the manufacturers without the need to increase the price per pack, or reduce in the number of cards per pack for the same price.
But I have no doubt that time will be coming.
No doubt product innovation is do-able but would come at a higher price. Are the mums and dads buying packs for their little Johnnies and Johnettes Auskickers prepared to pay more for that innovation?
I think the Card market is at the lowest it has been in the 10 years that I have been seriously collecting for, I have seen a few ebbs and flows with the market but the mid to high end market Is nearly non exsistant at the moment. A fresh approach is needed, I don't know what that approach is I am no marketer but I would be all over a real premium release if there was a chance at some real hits of substance.
lolIn terms of premium releases didn't Select do a few releases a few years back with some Heritage releases (about 2011?) with legends of the game, and some sets based around individual teams, from memory Richmond, Essendon?.
How successful were those releases in the marketplace? or was the focus too narrow, only appealing to supporters of specific teams.
But I guess we are starting to move towards a 'Steve Wang' moment with this line of discussion.
How successful were those releases in the marketplace? or was the focus too narrow, only appealing to supporters of specific teams.
But I guess we are starting to move towards a 'Steve Wang' moment with this line of discussion.
Gone from buying several boxes of both Select releases and Teamcoach to not buying anything at all. Sold complete Collingwood collection a few years back and never regretted it. I understand Champions is for kids, but it looks trashy. I liked Teamcoach better, but that lost it's appeal. It's just the same stuff year in, year out and Select doesn't care about it's product, only $$$. We need a fresh face.
There's heaps of ideas - Norm Smith medal winners, Father/Sons, inserts based on positions, historical players etc. All of the Coleman medalists could form a set. They could just pick a random year and feature a card of all the premiership players. They could use acetate, different textures, different fonts, colours or designs.
Not saying these are great ideas, but the possibilities are endless.
But no, it's the same thing every single year.
There's heaps of ideas - Norm Smith medal winners, Father/Sons, inserts based on positions, historical players etc. All of the Coleman medalists could form a set. They could just pick a random year and feature a card of all the premiership players. They could use acetate, different textures, different fonts, colours or designs.
Not saying these are great ideas, but the possibilities are endless.
But no, it's the same thing every single year.
The market comes and goes, but it is definitely at a low point at the moment. The lack of quality product is certainly an issue, but I also suspect that the AFL are to blame with scheduling of games and other issues that make it hard for kids and families to attend games. The kids who get attracted to the game today are the card buyers of tomorrow. The Select / Wang alliance has done a lot to turn people away from the industry as well.
I'd like to echo the thoughts of a lot of you who have contributed to this thread regarding the communication from manufacturers in general (and Select in this case).
Panini and Upper Deck (like Select) have their many critics. In their favour however (in my opinion anyway) is the fact that they provide up-to-date, informative blogs relating to upcoming product releases, existing products and other fun collector-related information. I could spend hours reading the UD blog, for example.
While I think Select have attempted to improve their interaction with collectors through their Facebook page (posting "throwback" card images and asking for feedback relating to topical footy issues), I feel that a regular Q&A would be beneficial. To that end, we as collectors MUST use this constructively and not simply abuse the representative in the firing line. It is here where someone like @Matt26 has in the past facilitated information-sharing on this site from various manufacturers and the effort at least has been well-received.
As far as the releases themselves are concerned, I believe that there is always room (and need) for multiple releases throughout a season. I'm a kid at heart and think that there is definitely a market for cards or tazos in chip packets, bread loaves, weetbix boxes and the like that kids and adults could collect.
I guess the sameness each year of the Teamcoach and Select Champions releases tends to dampen the enthusiasm for what may come later in the season, although I thought that last years "Honours" was a good themed release, as opposed to the "wash, rinse, repeat" that we see in Champions. I think that signatures should make a return to Champions - the 2011 Star Signatures were amazing in my humble view. You can't tell me that a young child wouldn't love to get an autograph of a footy star, just as an adult collector does.
Panini and Upper Deck (like Select) have their many critics. In their favour however (in my opinion anyway) is the fact that they provide up-to-date, informative blogs relating to upcoming product releases, existing products and other fun collector-related information. I could spend hours reading the UD blog, for example.
While I think Select have attempted to improve their interaction with collectors through their Facebook page (posting "throwback" card images and asking for feedback relating to topical footy issues), I feel that a regular Q&A would be beneficial. To that end, we as collectors MUST use this constructively and not simply abuse the representative in the firing line. It is here where someone like @Matt26 has in the past facilitated information-sharing on this site from various manufacturers and the effort at least has been well-received.
As far as the releases themselves are concerned, I believe that there is always room (and need) for multiple releases throughout a season. I'm a kid at heart and think that there is definitely a market for cards or tazos in chip packets, bread loaves, weetbix boxes and the like that kids and adults could collect.
I guess the sameness each year of the Teamcoach and Select Champions releases tends to dampen the enthusiasm for what may come later in the season, although I thought that last years "Honours" was a good themed release, as opposed to the "wash, rinse, repeat" that we see in Champions. I think that signatures should make a return to Champions - the 2011 Star Signatures were amazing in my humble view. You can't tell me that a young child wouldn't love to get an autograph of a footy star, just as an adult collector does.
