1800 case release with around a third used for starters, album packets and promotions. Dealer wise it is hard to say but I know of a couple of the bigger eBay dealers who busted 20+ cases for stock. Retail level seems to be steady, most boxes I see around the place are gradually getting lower. A bigger newsagent in my area told me that they went through 12 sealed boxes in the first week and six since then
2017 Traders review
- Thread starter Brendan_B
- Start date
1800 case release with around a third used for starters, album packets and promotions. Dealer wise it is hard to say but I know of a couple of the bigger eBay dealers who busted 20+ cases for stock. Retail level seems to be steady, most boxes I see around the place are gradually getting lower. A bigger newsagent in my area told me that they went through 12 sealed boxes in the first week and six since then
There is still a market there and I would expect TLA (ESP) will have the licence for some time to come.
A couple of big issues for them (not of their doing) is that the NRL Minimum Guarantee is huge.
For them to make money, they need volume of product and hope it sells. I never fall for the its sold out routine...sold out by them means that its off their books and the re-sellers are stuck with the product.
My gut feel is that Traders, Xtreme (improved out of site this year) and Elite will continue, however you will see more "Niche" products that don't cost a lot to make, but have potential to sell out via re-sellers.
Think along the lines of the Sharks Premiership set, limited but expensive to buy.
One point here - Extreme needs to have a game site that is mobile compatible. That's something they need to have to ensure that products success.....
There are other challenges they are facing as well..... distribution is one, Gordon & Gotch who do it now for Australia are nowhere near as effective as network Services were in getting product to stores and replenishment.
On top of that, you have the main retail distribution point (Newsagents) struggling to survive.......if they didn't have lotteries to prop them up, I think newsagents would be a thing of the past.
Papers and Magazines are struggling big time and people aren't going into the newsagents.....if they don't go in there, they aren't going to buy trading cards on impulse.
I think there is still a market there.....I just think is has become smaller and we will see different distribution models happening in future.
Cheers
Matt
Thanks for the info, Matt.
Yep definitely a die hard market for smaller releases although they have the danger of feeling like you are buying memorabilia off infomercials rather than card collecting.
I guess like countless industries change is needed to keep up with the demands of the modern world. Hopefully the NRL does not become too greedy. The All Blacks killed the trading card game in New Zealand after 1997 with licensing demands and NZ cricket did its best too.
Yep definitely a die hard market for smaller releases although they have the danger of feeling like you are buying memorabilia off infomercials rather than card collecting.
I guess like countless industries change is needed to keep up with the demands of the modern world. Hopefully the NRL does not become too greedy. The All Blacks killed the trading card game in New Zealand after 1997 with licensing demands and NZ cricket did its best too.
@Matt26 i think one of the main reasons why extreme is so successful this year is having a signature card. If there wasn't any sig in this set, you wouldn't have got much sold. I have been buying extreme/powerplay since it has been released, like a few others here.
What I see wrong with it now, is slot of people have jumped on extreme product just for the sig card. I wouldn't be surprised if most won't go back and collect previous set.
should another extreme product comes out next year without a signature, you won't get the success as this year
Totally agree, the signature card lure has made me buy more of Xtreme this year than what I purchased last year. I think its a vast improvement and at a great price point.
I think the release could be a place where you put some of the "non" superstar players and have them signing in the release.
Fantastic review Brendan, And i think this series is quite nice. I have a base set and all the dogs inserts. Not chasing anything else.
On the sale of stock, The newsagents i have been to have sold all of their Starter packs and are trying to restock. However, a newsagent i have been to in the past week is selling sealed boxes at cost price just to get rid of them,
On the sale of stock, The newsagents i have been to have sold all of their Starter packs and are trying to restock. However, a newsagent i have been to in the past week is selling sealed boxes at cost price just to get rid of them,
#1 Eels fan
a 1 eyed EELS supporter
have you bought sealed boxes of 2017 traders from the newsagent?
if so did you have any luck?
Rocket1908
some guy who likes the rabbitohs
While the sig is a big boost Xtreme has done a lot right overall as a set too
Starter packs have bonus cards that are 1 per team (though they could've made them alternate colour or foil design so the in-set equivalent didn't lose value) and album card only has 3 variants, adding the flick cards and extra stats so kids can play more games with the cards, making the Super Hero cards foil, and I personally really like the Wild Power cards. they don't have much value as a game card but I'm a sucker for sketch and lenticular cards so I liked those.
As for Traders I haven't bought much this year but I'm hoping to make some pickups as there's a few inserts I'm still missing
#1 Eels fan
a 1 eyed EELS supporter
Nice
troy titans douglas
Nrl Titans Collector
I think having only 3 album cards is the way to go and more variants in the starter packs.
Most people will only buy 1-2 albums but stacks of starter packs so it makes more sense to have the variants this way around in both traders and Xtreme
Hi Brendan,
Great review as always, and I agree with what you've said.
My additional thoughts...
I love continuity - that's why I think the retirements are a good set - and I would have liked to see some master plan linking in some of the inserts, e.g. 2016 Power Forwards > 2017 Playmakers > into 2018 Outside Backs/Defenders/etc to highlight the different players and roles in the game.
I think a nice feature of these cards is the documentation of history and that cards like the Club Hero linked to actual club awards, and STR linked to player achievements are a real acknowledgement of the season - more than just player pics and profiles.
Also, browsing back over past releases; yes, the image quality has improved - but I am a bit over the 'ball out in front, eyes on the defensive line' pose of 99% of shots. I would like to see a greater range of shots - e.g. kickers kicking, tacklers tackling, try scorers scoring/celebrating. The easiest way to do this would be to include backgrounds.
Finally, my favourite card... Manu Ma'u base card - I reckon even through a zoom lens the photographer must have been terrified - awesome!
Great review as always, and I agree with what you've said.
My additional thoughts...
I love continuity - that's why I think the retirements are a good set - and I would have liked to see some master plan linking in some of the inserts, e.g. 2016 Power Forwards > 2017 Playmakers > into 2018 Outside Backs/Defenders/etc to highlight the different players and roles in the game.
I think a nice feature of these cards is the documentation of history and that cards like the Club Hero linked to actual club awards, and STR linked to player achievements are a real acknowledgement of the season - more than just player pics and profiles.
Also, browsing back over past releases; yes, the image quality has improved - but I am a bit over the 'ball out in front, eyes on the defensive line' pose of 99% of shots. I would like to see a greater range of shots - e.g. kickers kicking, tacklers tackling, try scorers scoring/celebrating. The easiest way to do this would be to include backgrounds.
Finally, my favourite card... Manu Ma'u base card - I reckon even through a zoom lens the photographer must have been terrified - awesome!
#1 Eels fan
a 1 eyed EELS supporter
He is a talent and a very scary looking man isnt he and like Paul said he is a fan favorite for sure
I believe it has already been renewed for a further 5 years and they weren't the only ones that put their hand up for the contract.
A New Zealand All Blacks Rugby release (Packets/Boxes) is expected to release later this year.
Rocket1908
some guy who likes the rabbitohs
I think they cut down on kicking cards because one of the more recent ones wasn't a great photo...
Here's something funny, I was having a look at the Tallis signature card from the 2017 Traders release and the picture they used looked far to familiar to me.
It's the bloody same picture as was used by Select for their Captains signature card lol:
Yes Gordie doesn't play anymore so pictures would be hard to come by, but using the same picture as Select, goes to show how much they care lol.
It's the bloody same picture as was used by Select for their Captains signature card lol:
Yes Gordie doesn't play anymore so pictures would be hard to come by, but using the same picture as Select, goes to show how much they care lol.
