Exciting Panini News: Your feedback please!

I had an email from Simon (one of the Marketing guys) this morning and they have been checking out our site!

We have sent them a link to this thread and I hope to hear more from them shortly!

So far Panini have been a dream to deal with and its refreshing to experience such great customer service and prompt responses to emails!

They are light years ahead of the other companies!

Cheers
Matt

Hi, couple of points from my end, most of the stuff has been covered previous, but I'll put my 2 bobs forward anyways:-

1. BETTER INSERT CARDS, like the Jambalaya (GU cards are getting boring)
2. Keep numbered cards, as I think this keeps the integrity of a card, knowing how many are acutally out there on the market
3. Heres a long shot-Rare LCD cards with game replays, highlights etc of a player or team team
4. AUTOS like the "AKA UD" AUTOS, more than just a plain old signature, make them fun to read
5. Rookie Cards Numbered. ie check the value of a Kobe RC from the 90's!!!!, worth didly squat, since they introduced
the #'d RC's, cards have kept there value and a worth more to collectors

All:- Lets hope Upper Deck and Topps do not do a ""FLEER AUCTION"

Thanks and hope all goes well with the new product.:v:

Lea

Hello Sir/Madam,

I am eagerly anticipating the release of your upcoming NBA products, i have high hopes and expectation given your position worldwide and your quality products previously.

As this is a suggestion forum where i may express my thoughts on the hobby and on NBA cards in particular, i feel i might make a few points.

Although i only returned to card collecting as a hobby throughout 2008, i had felt the overall products being offered were in fact stale.

The hobbys biggest draw was a retired player, and wars were being fought for "exclusive" signing rites for top players. With the announcement of Panani as sole manufacturer i am grateful as what little i buy can now be put into products, knowing that i may recieve an insert from my favourite player instead of having to buy multiple products specifically for the signing rites.

I also had a big problem with the use of Game Used or Relic cards, the vast majority of these, although high quality cards, were not well recieved by enthusiasts, in fact im sure a vast majority are gathering dust in a cupboard. The problem here is that the game used insert card was too common, devalueing what should have been a worthy addition to someones favourite player collection, patch inserts became popular but still did not address the basic flaw that game used were now worthless unless from one of possibly the 4 or 5 best players.

Another issue i had was with ultra high end cards.

Im sure Panini has been examining ebay, this site and other sites where collectors can trade, and you will see that a lot of cards are terrible, and worthless. Collectors spending hundreds of dollars or even thousands and being dismayed when they do not recieve a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James autograph.

This must stop.

Another problem in my eyes was the amount of different products, this process needs to be slimmed down to possibly 3-5 products, so it is clear to both casual buyers and hobbyists exactly what they are buying. Examining the market at the moment, there is too many low to mid range products, the result being that there are too many sets to buy if you are a collector of a singular player or team.

If you are still reading, please research carefully, and deliver products which will make collecting more rewarding, while still catering to hobbyists.

The future of NBA card collecting will depend on it.

Thanks for the great feedback!!

4. Place limited cards in packs that state you are a winner, and prizes can be signed player worn jersey or player worn shoe's signed even signed basketball sky's the limit.

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As an international company I would hope you understand that if you did do anything like this to please not restrict it to US/Canada only.

what i like to see is less stickers and nice on card autos with full signatures
i am sick of game used cards i prefer to see muliti colored patches
also the odds need to be good when buying a box
i liked to see mj and Kobe and bron autos make these more rare

Hi!

I'm from Switzerland and my english isnt so well but i'll try to write some things.
First thx to OZCardTrader for this opportunity to leave feedback for Panini!

I'm a great UpperDeck fan and collecting since 15 years now. For me the best years as a collector was the 1990's: many nice/rare inserts, first numbered card was released, also it was very exciting to know you can find a few autographics!

Till 2000 the Market is overfulled with autographs (i recently saw a Tmac Au card/20ex. with bv 30$ on beckett.com....what a shame ). The numbereds didnt have any real value like in the 90's, and the cool inserts with real values are gone...also jsy are like common cards, we all can find them like grass on the floor.

Panini has just to know that we're card collectors, i say this caus' i dont like all their stickers stuff/Booklets. I hope that they will have a level of products like UpperDeck or better (technologies).


At the moment they are a few main problems that Panini has to know, and find solution for:

- to much jsy and Au. cards = values of cards goes down, down, down...also this is the reason why i dont collect anything about K.Garnett (i collect him since 95/96), every year there are hundreds of new KG jsy's/Graphs. The joy of collecting KG is a little bit gone its true...

- redemption cards = the real "kick" is to find our cards directly in our packs that we bough, no?!? How many people are waiting on redemptions, and sometimes the athletes didnt sign and we receive replacement ! Please, let the Athletes sign first and then put these cards into packs!

- Product quality = please make boxes/cases available for Kids, but also high ends products wich are more expensive (like exquisites or Ultimates).

- Stop stickers autograph's! Why must the hobby goes so unpersonaly? Let the athletes tuch our cards and sign them

- why not work with UpperDeck?!? (maybe they do?!? I dont know...) Upperdeck has so much experience and knowhow

Thx for your time!
regards,
Laurent.

So here is what i'd like to see.

- on cards auto
- refractors

Was a collector back in the 90's, have tried to get back into it but there is just to much product out there now & too many inserts.

IMO I think Panini need to look at the following;

* Too many product designs per year. Between Topps & UD, they make about 40 different varieties , Bowman, SPx, Chrome, Hardcourt, Finest, Luxury, Ultimate etc, etc... Quality & not quantity is what is needed!

* Too many inserts per product. This is an example from 08/09 UD SPx;

Autograph/Autograph-Memorabilia Cards
- Super Scripts
- Signature Block
- SPx Endorsements (# to 25)
- Dual Scripts (# to 50)
- Triple Scripts (# to 25)
- Six Scripts (# to 6)
- SPx Rookie Auto/Jersey Radiance (Home & Away) // (# to 25)
- SPx Rookie Auto/Patch Spectrum (Home & Away) // (# to 1)
- Winning Materials Auto/Jersey // (# to 10)
- Winning Materials Auto/Jersey-Patch // (# to 5)
- Winning Combos Auto/Jersey (# to 5)
- Winning Trios Auto/Jersey (# to 3)

Memorabilia Cards
- Winning Materials
- Winning Materials Triple
- Winning Materials Patch Triple (# to 25)
- Winning Combos
- Winning Trios
- Winning Combos Patch (# to 25)
- Winning Trios Patch (# to 15)
- Freshman Orientation
- Freshman Orientation Patch (# to 25)

Inserts and Parallels
- Regular Cards Radiance // (# to 25)
- Regular Cards Spectrum // (# to 1)
- SPx Rookies Radiance // (# to 25)
- SPx Rookies Spectrum // (# to 1)

Regular Cards and Rookies
- Base Set - 90 Cards
- SPx Rookies Lvl 1 Home (# to 99)
- SPx Rookies Lvl 1 Away (# to 99)
- SPx Rookies Lvl 2 Jersey/Auto Home (# to 299)
- SPx Rookies Lvl 2 Jersey/Auto Away (# to 299)
- SPx Rookies Lvl 3 Jersey/Auto Home (# to 599)
- SPx Rookies Lvl 3 Jersey/Auto Away (# to 599)

Do people seriously want to collect this many inserts, let alone have the cash to do it? Limit the insert varieties to about 10. Not 30+ as per the above example.

* How about some Series 1 (beginning of the season) then a Series 2 (mid to late season) product. Naturally, Series 2 is an extension of the Series 1 product, with mid season trades.

* Limit auto/signature cards to 100 or less & to be signed on the card only.

* When auto/signature cards are penned in blue (say 50) & then there are some penned in black (say 10), well really there are 60 cards in total. It's just that 10 are in a different ink colour. BIG DEAL! If the card design is the same then you really don't add value. This applies to other card designs too! If it is basically the same card design, yet 1 lot is number to 499, the next to 299 & another to 99, well then it is really the same card except it has been machine stamped with another number. Where is the real value there????

* Some hologram inserts would be nice.

* No redemption, unless you make the redemption period a minimum of 5 years & you make it easy for international collects to redeem.

* Far too many patch & jersey inserts.

* All patch & jersey inserts should be game worn. List which game it was worn in, for example;

LeBron James vs Memphis Grizzlies 24/2/09
15pts, 5rbs, 8ast

or

LeBron James vs NY Knicks 4/2/09
55pts, 9rbs, 11 ast

Naturally if the jersey came from a game where the player excelled in, then that would add additional value to the card.

* More cards with "All Star" player pictures.

* Limit the number of high end products. $400US for a box of cards is way out of the reach for the average collect. All you are doing is turning it into a lottery contest to see if you end up with a card worth $500 or one worth $5.

I know what I've said has probably been said by others already, so basically I'm just re-inforcing the point.

Quality & not quantity is what the average collect wants.

I love the fun and excitement in trading cards. I would like to see a even playing feild so
everyone can be happy. Trading cards you can meet new freinds and enjoy a sport.
Lets support a way to enjoy trading cards and have a even playing feild.

Thank you
wenda

Hi guys,

My biggest issue of buying cards is with boxes. I myself have bought over 15 boxes ranging from cheap to mid range. Whats the best card I got you ask...... that would be a Travis Hansen SPX rookie card which was redemption and already expired. In lower end products even the worst players have game used jerseys and lets face it there is only a few top players so you have much higher chance of getting nothing then gettting something. 2 nd biggest issue would have to be the use of sticker autos, I myself cant stand them, if I peel a sticker auto off a card and put it on my coffee cup does that make it worth something? Lastly letter cards..... man it is getting hard to find game used letters not manufactured,,, nice idea to start with but have taken over.

Onto the hobby itself.

Sure basketball is nowhere near as popular as it was in the 90s over here but I think we hold our own. Things like this site has proven themselves to be one of the best trading places around. Ebay is doing pretty well but itis sometimes hard to buy cards from over seas because so sellers want upwards of $25US postage. I think card companies could concentrate on making better products instead of crap, better crap and the onto over $500 stuff. A kid who can only afford a $100 box should still have a good chance to get a nice card not a Keyon Dooling rookie auto as the best card from the box. Good luck Panini,,,, could be just what the hobby needs.....a shake up

1. I can't wait to see what they come up with.
2. PLEASE no stupid sticker autos! PLEASE
3. Hopefully they have nice, rare parallels like back in the day.

Thanks,
Brian

It amazes me the number of people who say "less GU and auto" and then "make box odds better". You can't have both people! If the box odds are better, then the product is more flooded with Autos and GU than ever and hence more flooded in the market and even more greatly diminished in value!

People won't warm to it immediately, but I would try and steer clear from GU and perhaps even autos all together for a product or 2 and then only insert maybe 1 GU and/or auto set into other products that are #d to only 10. Like I said, not many people will like it right away, but once people realise this is the way the hobby is now, they will once again start putting more money into insert sets that do not involve GU or Auto and BAM, the value starts to return to the hobby as the player collectors and set collectors now push to get all the different rare inserts and such for their PCs.

The catch is though that the product has to be Immaculate with a design and style that will last through the ages. A cheap looking set will not entice anybody.

Yeah it's my 2nd input, but hey

Regards,

Ben Smith - Melbourne, Australia

I hope Panini won't make the same mistakes as Upper Deck and Topps in the recent past...that's to say to release too many expensive collections, I understand very well the collectors have dreams with cards like Exquisite or Chronology, but I think the hobby absolutely needs popular collections, like in the nineties...for the children and collectors who don't have a lot of money...

Personally, I wish the subsets in the regular sets will be back !
Why not to see logo cards of the team in the new collections ! (like in the Hoops 94-95 serie 2)

And I hope there will be a collection (just one) with the whole roster of each team (do you remember Topps Total ? )...Since 3 seasons, there are 3 players by team who have many and many and many cards released, but the fourth player of the roster has a card sometimes and there's strictly no card for the other players of the roster, I think it's unfair ! (for instance for the team collectors)


I don't want Panini release autographed cards with stickers, a true autograph on card is definitely better (at least it means the player has caught the card in his hands)...not release too much parallels who have no sense (like Topps), 1 or 2 parallels it's ok, but not more...

no ugly collections, like Topps in the 2 or 3 last years


I would enjoy if the hobby take a new start next year, with more respect for the collectors...It's possible for Panini to earn money and in the same time respect the collectors

and lets face it there is only a few top players so you have much higher chance of getting nothing then gettting something.

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In a perfect world this would be ideal, but I think it's important that we keep a good selection of players in sets because we don't want the same players in the sets all the time, some people collect lower-end players & it would be good to have earlier year cards of "developing players" who may not just be star just yet.

A_Iverson_I said:

In a perfect world this would be ideal, but I think it's important that we keep a good selection of players in sets because we don't want the same players in the sets all the time, some people collect lower-end players & it would be good to have earlier year cards of "developing players" who may not just be star just yet.

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That is true, and who knows the low end play might become a superstar one day so, if you want to get some of his early cards or say nice rookies there will be non.

As for the world being ideal, I tend to shy away from the crap and live in my own world.

Nemesis said:

That is true, and who knows the low end play might become a superstar one day so, if you want to get some of his early cards or say nice rookies there will be non.

As for the world being ideal, I tend to shy away from the crap and live in my own world.

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Actually it's nearly the opposite. If you're a rookie in the NBA, Topps and UD lately have made 100s of cards of you even if you haven't played a game. Herbert Hill never played a regular season game, yet look at my collection. Jason Smith has double the rookies Hill does and he averaged 4 points in his rookie year. Rookies having cards has never been an issue for UD as they are very happy to produce 100s so that it filled out the product with more 'hits'.

nenjabin said:

It amazes me the number of people who say "less GU and auto" and then "make box odds better". You can't have both people!

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Great point! Some people tend to confuse me, at this time of the morning that isn't too diffcult mind you!

Take 02-03 season as an example. You were stoked to pull a gu let alone an auto!

Not sure if this has been said but if there was a way to produce patch/game used cards with a security measure to stop fake patches.

GoMoto said:

Not sure if this has been said but if there was a way to produce patch/game used cards with a security measure to stop fake patches.

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There was a suggestion of keeping a record of each patch/gu card produced, a photo maybe...