I thought I would throw together a quick review for 15 Elite. I have also added a poll in relation to the price rise, like to hear everyone's thoughts.
Base set: The design is okay. I like the nine card team sets but would prefer the team emblem to be within that 9 card set. I would still like to see them mix up the base set with a common subset.
Parallels (silver & gold): To many parallels. One set only and please with a different image to the base set. I like the gold parallels so if one level were to go I would like the gold to stay.
Pennants: These are a nice looking card with a good player selection. Perfect for a 1:6 insert. The issues for me are 80 in the set and the tops of the card are often not cut straight.
Club Champions: These are a bit plain but have grown on me. I have always liked the Club Player and Team of the Year sets previously. These are good cards for team collectors which is what nearly everyone seems to be reverting to these days.
Young Guns: Without a doubt the best looking box hit ESP have produced. Good player selection, great design and feel really good in hand. As a box hit maybe 32 in the set is an overkill.
Young Gun Signatures: Initially I was hoping that the YGS would not feature in the YG set. Unfortunately this was not to be. The player selection is out of ESP's hands as we know but there are some great players. The blue is not so much an issue as the thickness of the marker used and as a result the signatures don't look great. Signing in that big white space almost looks like a sticker auto to me. Considering that there were no LS this release these signatures should have been something a bit special. The best signatures produced by ESP so far in my opinion were the 13 Traders YG's (shame they weren't numbered) and the 13 Elite LS and FS. The signature cards being produced by ESP now are too 'busy' and that really takes the focus away from the signature IMO.
Quads: I really like these. I don't mind some of the lesser players featuring on mid range inserts for starters, this is great from a team collectors perspective. The concept and design is good also and I think these will be quite sought after in years to come.
All Stars: The cards themselves are fine. Nothing really special but not horrible either. The player selection is a bit curious though. I don't know why you would have a Moylan jersey card, jersey sign and All Star. As this is one of the higher end cards it should have featured players from the teams that didn't get a jersey card.
Mojo Parallels: Awesome concept! It is great that you can jag a team set from one pack and the a nice low number also. Given the high end nature of this set though they should have been different player images at the least and maybe something else to make them standout. The player image or club logo raised or something along those lines. The fact that these cards are coming out damaged due to the hologram on the previous card is concerning. Perhaps these should have been via a redemption?
Jersey Cards / Jersey Signatures: Great to see ESP listening, the cards themselves look good but the player selection for such a high end card is not good. I am aware that there were issues obtaining a jersey from an elite player but to be honest I don't think a fan would care from which game the jersey was worn. Was there any reason ESP couldn't buy a game worn jersey from one of the elite players through auction?
Case Cards: For starters case cards need to be numbered, after all they are a decent hit being one per case. The Road to Immortality case cards look quite cheap IMO. I don't mind the concept, maybe as a 1:48 or 1:72 hit with other elite players. ESP's case cards really haven't been great across all of their releases so far.
OVERALL
I don't mind the product but I don't think that the product justifies the significant price rise. The high end AFL is still only $6 per packet and that release looks great with heaps of signatures and numbered cards. As a case buster you are safe with this release, it is the single box buyers and packet buyers who are getting hurt due to the price and the very real possibility that you will not get a hit better than an unsigned YG. This is the first release since I have been back collecting that I have not purchased a folder and put together a base set and at least one low end insert set. I have chased / am chasing the Raiders cards for my PC and that is it.
Love to hear everyone's thoughts!
Base set: The design is okay. I like the nine card team sets but would prefer the team emblem to be within that 9 card set. I would still like to see them mix up the base set with a common subset.
Parallels (silver & gold): To many parallels. One set only and please with a different image to the base set. I like the gold parallels so if one level were to go I would like the gold to stay.
Pennants: These are a nice looking card with a good player selection. Perfect for a 1:6 insert. The issues for me are 80 in the set and the tops of the card are often not cut straight.
Club Champions: These are a bit plain but have grown on me. I have always liked the Club Player and Team of the Year sets previously. These are good cards for team collectors which is what nearly everyone seems to be reverting to these days.
Young Guns: Without a doubt the best looking box hit ESP have produced. Good player selection, great design and feel really good in hand. As a box hit maybe 32 in the set is an overkill.
Young Gun Signatures: Initially I was hoping that the YGS would not feature in the YG set. Unfortunately this was not to be. The player selection is out of ESP's hands as we know but there are some great players. The blue is not so much an issue as the thickness of the marker used and as a result the signatures don't look great. Signing in that big white space almost looks like a sticker auto to me. Considering that there were no LS this release these signatures should have been something a bit special. The best signatures produced by ESP so far in my opinion were the 13 Traders YG's (shame they weren't numbered) and the 13 Elite LS and FS. The signature cards being produced by ESP now are too 'busy' and that really takes the focus away from the signature IMO.
Quads: I really like these. I don't mind some of the lesser players featuring on mid range inserts for starters, this is great from a team collectors perspective. The concept and design is good also and I think these will be quite sought after in years to come.
All Stars: The cards themselves are fine. Nothing really special but not horrible either. The player selection is a bit curious though. I don't know why you would have a Moylan jersey card, jersey sign and All Star. As this is one of the higher end cards it should have featured players from the teams that didn't get a jersey card.
Mojo Parallels: Awesome concept! It is great that you can jag a team set from one pack and the a nice low number also. Given the high end nature of this set though they should have been different player images at the least and maybe something else to make them standout. The player image or club logo raised or something along those lines. The fact that these cards are coming out damaged due to the hologram on the previous card is concerning. Perhaps these should have been via a redemption?
Jersey Cards / Jersey Signatures: Great to see ESP listening, the cards themselves look good but the player selection for such a high end card is not good. I am aware that there were issues obtaining a jersey from an elite player but to be honest I don't think a fan would care from which game the jersey was worn. Was there any reason ESP couldn't buy a game worn jersey from one of the elite players through auction?
Case Cards: For starters case cards need to be numbered, after all they are a decent hit being one per case. The Road to Immortality case cards look quite cheap IMO. I don't mind the concept, maybe as a 1:48 or 1:72 hit with other elite players. ESP's case cards really haven't been great across all of their releases so far.
OVERALL
I don't mind the product but I don't think that the product justifies the significant price rise. The high end AFL is still only $6 per packet and that release looks great with heaps of signatures and numbered cards. As a case buster you are safe with this release, it is the single box buyers and packet buyers who are getting hurt due to the price and the very real possibility that you will not get a hit better than an unsigned YG. This is the first release since I have been back collecting that I have not purchased a folder and put together a base set and at least one low end insert set. I have chased / am chasing the Raiders cards for my PC and that is it.
Love to hear everyone's thoughts!
. Purchasing a case @ the low-presale prices, its hard to make your money back - and if that's the situation moving forward, people end up just buying individual off ebay/forums and eventually distributors stop stocking up. Prices have already declined significantly (as expected, initial prices are always higher) and I dont see many cards in this series holding their value over time.
