ESP VS Select or something else

[Delta]

Not sure if this has been discussed before but all have their pros and cons. Would be interested in what people think about each card manufacturer.

 

[troy titans douglas]

My opinion is for a team collector (which I am) ESP is better.
They often try to do an even distribution of most subsets which has made case shares a lot more enjoyable.
With select unless you supported the top teams with the superstar players ie Lockyer, JT, Smith, Slater, you were often left wanting more.
E.g titans from 2006-2012 (end of select) the only thing above a 1 per box hit rookie sig to chase was:
2 case cards, 2006 and 2010
Gold and Black league leaders in 2012 That's it.
Since ESP (2012 onwards) there's been:
2012 Jersey card (technically indigenous not titans and not game worn)
2013 young gun
2013 future star
2013 league sensation
2014 young gun
2014 league sensation
2014 1/1 redemption
2015 young gun
2015 all star /100
2015 mojo set
2016 SAS sig
2016 mojo ruby
2016 mojo sapphire
2016 YG
2016 LS
Plus 3 retiree cards
Plus there's probably some I've missed!
It's a no brainier!! Esp spread the love

For maintaining value and collectivity SELECT
and for master set collectors Select would win on most there sets (centenary, dynasty, classic etc)

As far as consistency select also wins
And for innovation ESP.

It's to hard to say one clearly is better but I'll go ESP.

 

[Brendan_B]

Personally I still lean toward Select and that is mainly because I rate Centenary as the greatest ever Rugby League release. I also like the way Select cards hold value as opposed to ESP (I can't work out how a /600 Star Signature from 11 Champs goes for as much as a /130 League Sensation from 13 / 14 Elite). Another prime example of this is the Black League Leaders v Mojo sets. The BLL is just a parallel of the GLL numbered to 50 and 2 per case. The Mojo is /40, one per case and generally sits at $150-$200 per team set as opposed to a single BLL, go figure!

Select were quite repetitive at times, particularly in their Champs releases but I did like the way they continued certain themes throughout also. I was a big fan of the Predictors but again after 2009 being for the top try scorer they needed to change that theme but didn't.

Based on initiative ESP win hands down but I feel at times they have tried to do to much to quickly. I know the market was already set up by Select but they slowly built up their releases, it wasn't until 05 Power we got a second set in a year.

Aside from Centenary I am not a master set collector, I am predominately team based and generally chase a base and low end insert set. To this end ESP has been good as I have been able to get many more Raiders cards. particularly signatures that I never would have with Select.

From what I can see though if this years Elite is as good as it looks on the sell sheet then ESP will bump up significantly IMO

 

[MC_D]

I have to agree with Troy I love the fact that ESP have sig's for each team and seem to be different players rather then the same ones over and over again! However I'm up to 3 ESP Thaiday's now and never got a LS Hodges which should have been last year instead we had crapy club leaders?

Select were awesome for master set collectors and value for money that's for sure. Centenary and Dynasty were easily their best.

I must say I still love the base sets from Scanlens favorites are 74 and 81.

I know we all sledge Dynamic but the first master set I ever had was the 94's they were revolutionary for their time until it went pare shape really badly in 97 "Fatty"!

 

[stormernumber1]

I think for this you need to consider Select in how they have changed the AFL sets over the last few years for comparison. This could be due to the competition from ESP, however I think more likely it is the feedback they have been getting through social media and starting to take notice of what collectors want. ESP seems to be doing this too, although a lot of people complained about the 1/1 and they specifically came out and said they learnt and wouldn't do it again, however this year they backflipped on that so I'm a bit confused on their vision - personally I like the 1/1 but I know others are heavily against it.

Look at series 1 releases of AFL/NRL this year from Select/ESP respectively. Personally I hated ESPs traders release, whereas I loved Select's FootyStars release and I dont even follow AFL, however I have collected a few of the subsets in their release and have kept exactly 0 cards from the NRL release. Select used to be repetitive as has been mentioned, but if they still had the license I couldn't see that happening, I mean 2012 was an excellent set and something different and it was their last one before ESP took over, so its a difficult question to answer really.

However my point of view is that the license should be open and not exclusive to give real competition between select, ESP and who ever else wants to throw their hand in the ring, I could see tap and play giving it a good shot