Feedback for Select Australia - Please Read.

Guys,

I wanted to open this up as a chance for anyone who buys Select product to share their feedback as to what they really like or what can be improved with their product.

Now I will state this very clearly, ill be monitoring this thread and there will be no personal attacks on anyone if there is, action will be taken. This is simply a chance for you to share your feedback about the Select product.

As everyone is aware, no release from any manufacturer in any sport is perfect, however you can provide some constructive feedback, that i am sure it will help the manufacturers like Select understand whats good and not so good about their product or services.

Lets hear what you have to say!

Cheers
Matt

Good idea, maybe put one in the AFL section as well after Infinity are released.

Don't know if it would hurt to have a 'private poll' as well? Although you said you will be monitoring for personal attacks, as there seems to be so much negativity towards Select, there may still be some who don't want to speak up at all. Just a suggestion...

I think that if people put forward there views in a calm rational manner, Select may listen. I have to agree there is a high level of negativity towards Select and I am hoping that this thread could provide some of the constructive feedback without this negativity.

Cheers
Matt

Firstly i think we need to address is this their product or the company itself. because the product i have no dramas with aside from the whole recycled ideas thing

however some of they things they say on their facebook ticks me off completely

They need to share the high end cards around. Teams like Canberra, Cronulla, Gold Coast and Warriors always seem to miss out.

I like how the award winners are numbered as they should actually hold their value and wont get lost like in 2008 when TCFS are worth $40+ and Immortals are $15 yet they have the same ratio. I do not like them as a whole though as i think they came at the expense of our 1:2 box insert.
I dont like how there is 12 Boxes to a case when there is 16 Top Prospects and 16 Predictors. A 16 box case makes way more sense.
I like the looks of Club Players of 2010, Award Winners, predictors and the Signature redemptions. They look nice inhand but the rest arent really that flash.
Why cant NRL get signed case cards /50, Afl has been getting them for years, NRL collectors get slugged with the same price yet there is always more thought put into the AFL.
Serial numbers on the predictors are needed and when you send them in, whatever is the serial on the winner is the set you get. I do hope it isnt like 2009 when the Top Try scorers have no serial.
Fresh ideas are needed, the same inserts year after year and it is getting really old. New teams on the signature redemptions!, it doesnt really work for anyone. Eg A sharks collector is spewing there is never anything good to get for the PC and a Dragons collector would be spewing that he has another $500 to fork out if he wants his PC upto date.
I think Sig redemptions at 1:10 boxes works better as there is no chance of 2 in a case at 1:12. Therefore dealers hit the sig and there is no chance they are missing out if they sell off their boxes (@retail price i might add). Add this to no 1:2 Box insert or 1:6 and the incentive to bust the rest has disappeared.

Lastly Select need an attitude adjustment, Collectors keep them in business yet we arent allowed to say anything negative. It is a little bit precious. Even though i have felt like going nuts, i have always worded my concerns carefully and without emotion and thats still "pushing it".
At the end of the day it is never personal i would just like an improvement in NRL cards. Year after year of the same stuff is not an improvement, Just the same cards in a new box.

Series 1 this year was pretty ordinary on the quality side but it was the first overseas run & Select did learn and found a better printer for this series & the quality seems a lot better on this series. There is still some damaged cards but nowhere near as many as Series 1. The numbers on the back of this Series has to be the best ever for sorting base sets so a big thumbs up for that 1 Select. I do agree that some Clubs do miss out on the big Signatures but money has a lot to do with that so I dont know how to fix that one.....

On the whole I would much prefer Select to be the company producing the cards instead of good old HONEST Dynamic......

Well thats my 2 cents worth.....Cheers Glenn

goldcoastcards said:

I do agree that some Clubs do miss out on the big Signatures but money has a lot to do with that so I dont know how to fix that one.....

Click to expand...

Please explain...

Series 1 was boring, same ideas, even the same name for the series - with the reusing of "Champions" again. Quality wise, the first set was poor, i will admit this time around they have found a better printer - however out of my box a few commons were damaged (mainly corner damage). I know they replace any damaged cards - but seriously, i should buy a box for close to $200, and get top product and not have to send anything back. Idea wise is what is letting select down, it is all the same old stuff each time around - they need some fresh ideas - for example: state of origin subset, Jersey piece cards, signatures of the poor clubs who get nothing (aka sharks, warriors etc), better designs on the cards in general, maybe dual autos, club legend autos (for example think Greg Alexander for the panthers etc), there is quite alot of stuff that has never been done. Select you have the whole market at the moment, take advantage of it, collectors will jump at the chance to collect something NEW so make it and you will sell boxes

Firstly they need to address the ongoing production issues they are having since they moved card printing to China. These problems are not uncommon for companies moving production OS but the attitude of "just send us the cards and we will replace them" is unacceptable. When i pay good money for a product I think its reasonable for me to expect it works and is undamaged.

Secondly - how about an original idea for a sub set every now and again. Can it really be that difficult. Stop being so lazy.

Thirdly - how about some value for money? A 10% price increase on packets this year and I dont even get a parallel series (but i do get a bunch damaged cards). I have no problem being charged more for something however give me some value for my dollar (that im putting in your pocket). This is just driving more & more collectors away from the hobbby.

Fourthly - credit where its due. IMO Select has outdone itself on the Hawthorn Premiership Commemorative set. Would like to see more of this stuff in the future.

Lastly - time to pay us collectors that keep you in business a bit of respect. We are just trying to make you better and make the hobby better. If you want to know the consequences of not showing some respect to collectors please refer to Dynamic Marketing.

Victor The Viking said:

They need to share the high end cards around. Teams like Canberra, Cronulla, Gold Coast and Warriors always seem to miss out.

Click to expand...

Personally I don't mind no top end Raiders sigs in recent times. Now if we put a couple of top 6 performances back to back and still got no love I'd see an issue!

The Warriors will never have top end sigs because there is no market for trading cards in New Zealand, so it doesn't make sense. Titans have been hard done by though.

I'm quite happy Select have done away with all the side ventures and concentrated on cards this year. If they can sort out their production issues and add a bit of innovation in coming years then I'll be very happy (the innovation is highly unlikely though).

I can't really comment on any PR as they've always been good when I've had dealings.

Hi Justin,

Basically the big budget clubs are getting the big Signature cards year after year but as per the way the NRL has run the Business of Rugby League since they took over (it is run as business today, not a sport) money dictates who makes what and what clubs get what merchandise. From 1994 until 2003 i owned 2 shops on the Gold Coast & Brisbane selling Rugby league & Aussie Rules merchandise called Supporters Paradise including the great Dynamic Marketing attempts at trading cards, and we were heavily involved with the marketing company Sports Direction who used to market the State Of Origin & ARL (Pre Super League) so I seen quiet closely the effect money had on the merchandise side of things, quality was sacrificed in the pursuit of the mighty dollar and probably will be for a while to come.

So that is basically what I meant by that comment.

Cheers Glenn

Alot of teams.. Sharks... Raiders....... Warriors.. Don't get the credit they deserve.. They are part of the league.. And they have a fan base!!!.. I know NZ Warriors haven't gotten much recognition at all.. Probably JUST because they are an OS team.. However.. There are ALOT of NZers that live in Australia.. I.. Myself am a kiwi.. I follow the Cowboys because I live in Townsville and have followed them since they were Est in 1995.. And I also have a collection of Warrior cards.. Simply because I am a kiwi.. I'll follow the NZ teams for that reason.. As for Sharks.. GALLEN sig.. That's all I am going to say.. I'm not saying give us a sig from every team every year.. But shake it up a bit..

Hold a poll.. Hold a comp.. Ask who we want to see on our cards!!.. Most avid collectors will collect the autos from EVERY team anyhow...... So that shouldn't present an issue.....

Promos........ Cowboys have had 2 since 2000.. And 2000 doesn't count because every team got one that year.. Titans have 3 if not 4 already and they only came into the league in 07.. Again.. Just not even in those areas.. I know you can't please everyone all the time.. Sometimes it seems like you're not trying to please anyone at all..

Lastly.. After years of the same Champion cards.. Which we all know is a set for the kids rather than for the high end collector.. I am quite happy with the Strike release.. I actually thought we wouldn't end up with a premium set again after last year.. I'll give credit where it is due.. Good job Select.. I am happy this year!!

Have to agree with the Promo comment Mirren, Promos are definitely something not dictated by money so why cant every team at least get a fair deal on those. But if they cant get a fair deal on those then it doesnt look good for high end signatures then.........

Guys good feedback so far keep it coming.

Cheers
Matt

I think Select should try another Game Used Jersey card numbered to 200?? and a Logo Patch card numbered to 20?? and have Auto variations numbered to 100? and numbered to 10?? respectively. I liked it when Select did it before and give up because it was to difficult after the first year.

Select definately need different inserts every year instead of the same old inserts every year.

I must say that the Strike series is a vast improvement on previous series. The quality is far superior than previously. The name is new, with X design which I don't mind. I like the new AW sub set and have always like the TP subset. In terms of high end sigs I feel sorry for those that feel they have been left out but team performance, fan base and $$$ will drive this one. CP and TY could possibly cease and be replaced by a NSW and QLD origin subset. Also I didn't mind (although in one way frustrating) the random nature in which cards were arranged in boxes. One box I opened of Strike was 28 cards short of a complete common set. I didn't mind as it puts the "trading" back into trading cards. This was even more evident with the SP subset of the Champions 2011 release. The previous 2-3 team representation in JDC's I did not like

In terms of PR I have never had any gripes when I have contacted select and they have been very swift in their response to my enquiries. I am however a little concerned at their postage methods in terms of protection of their product

I think the Champions Series (or whatever the first series is called) definitely has it's place - it's a great intro to the hobby with availability in newsagents. The second series is all about the hard core collector buying boxes.

I like the Strike cards but they tend to get stuck together a fare bit. This years inserts look great.

im gonna steal this from other people..... but

if we send in cards (eg: redemption) with toploaders and what not. could they please take the time to actually put the cards in the top loaders. there's a reason we send them in after all.

Personally I would like to see a much bigger set. With Strike, we only get 11 players per team, once you take out the logo. Not even a full side! I'd have thought without the parallel set this year, they could have had 18 card sets for each team? A bigger set = takes longer to collect = more packets sold, as well.

Player selection for teams, I'd love to see it go more on who played most games the year previous. Some of the choices are a little off (the Daily Telegraph cards seem to get a better choice of players). For example, no Wes Naiqama in the Knights set this season when he played almost every game last year, and is having his best season ever this year.

Top Prospects, it would be good if they got players who were regular first grade players - Joel Edwards rather than Likiliki would have been a lot better this year for the Knights. Or even Junior Sau - he's only been around three seasons, and is still a young player.

Sigs would be better if they were spread around all sides equally. Including the Warriors, as there are plenty of collectors here (just look at trademe to see that).

I'd love more interesting inserts each year. How about themed cards - origin, international stars, speed merchants, club legend (a retired payer), the ball players ... anything like that. If not as inserts, maybe a subset could be included? In Champions you could have season highlights cards from the previous year as a subset ... like Queensland win origin decider for Lockyer, Last minute Uate try seals Country Origin win, Dragons smash Roosters in ANZAC clash, Nathan Gardner scores incredible 100 metre try, Kiwis take out Four Nations, Knights win Grand Final (just got my fingers crossed the last two happen! haha).

And last of all and most importantly, more high end stuff! More sigs would be great ... would it have been possible to complete the sig cards in the Champions series in the Strike series this year? eg. having a sig for the remaining teams that weren't featured in series one?

Jersey piece cards I think are the dream of most NRL collectors on here ... honestly I would have bought a box if there was a chance of hitting jersey cards this year, and been happy with the price increase. As it was, I just bought the Knights cards off an ebay seller and that's all I'll be purchasing.

I love NRL cards so these are genuine suggestions that I feel would help improve the sets. I hope they get paid attention to. I think everyone on here loves the hobby and wants a brilliant quality product to collect - sometimes we get over-enthusiastic and angry about it, but we just want the best. I reckon most on hre would design the cards ourselves for free if we thought it would lead to a better product!