FFA A - League Football Trading Cards 2015/16 - Review

Scooterboy · Jan 31, 2016

FFA Football A - League Trading Cards 2015/16

Base set 200 includes Silver & Gold Parallel sets, Australian Men's & Women's teams including insert cards and A League Team Captains Midfield General, Sharp Shooters & Rising stars.

Please evaluate cards and provide feedback & discussion. What would you rate set out of 10.

What would you like to see for Tap N play next release - post suggestions

Review video live at: View: https://youtu.be/hBXNQa8hRts

NBUnited · Jan 31, 2016

I would like to see the rear of the cards have a little blurb about each of the players instead of the score/ratings.

Scooterboy · Jan 31, 2016

Yes a simple few lines may be useful like they do for new players who have no A League stats refer the back of Newcastle Jets card for Andy Brennan

Like the way club cards have date club established, Championships and number members etc..

Mike_K · Jan 31, 2016

Nice work @Scooterboy

This release is 1000% better then last year. Did like the Franjic comment in the video

Some comments:

Folder/checklist
Good to have a checklist available early, but I really would like to see the checklist inside the folder/album.
No disrespect to those associated with TnP who provide the PDF/excel version of the checklist, but something like a sale sheet with details of the cards on the back would just look a little bit more professional & having it inside the album would be ideal.
I know some releases have the checklist provided on cards within the set, but I'm not a big fan of that approach.
The folder price is still a little high & you should at least get a free packet of cards with it as well.

Folder card
The folder card is a good approach & whilst having it loose inside the packaging does make it visible to see which card you are getting, it does make it more susceptible to damaged corners.

Size of the release
200 base cards is a little over the top. The TnP cricket release with 180 base cards was a nice size. Despite the size it was good that the collation was pretty much spot on & you could get a complete set of base cards in a box.

Availability
Very good to see the resellers get on board with this release it has made it so much easier to collect the cards this year. @Diggaz TC has been great with his group breaks.

Delayed release
Not a criticism of TnP as they were the victim of circumstance, but the delay has made in very hard to get ip signatures, particularly now with the release of players in the January transfer window & the fixturing means that some teams have already done their away trips to Perth for the season.

Signature cards
Shame that some of the intended players are no longer available to sign, and the lining up of replacement players does appear to be taking some time. Again probably not TnP's fault.

Parallel inserts
I'm not a big fan of the silvers & golds in their current format with just the same picture on all versions of the cards. I know there are licensing issues with the use of images, but if it's just to be the same image, then just make it one or the other - silver or gold, not both. But I would prefer that the parallels be ditched altogether (including in the cricket release) and just have a base set with more focus on higher end inserts that supplement the base set.

Team Captains/ MF Generals / Matildas celebration cards
Good cards but a little plain for a higher end insert card imo. The background used for the MF General cards was a little odd. Maybe foil cards of these cards?

Matildas cards
Good to see TnP continuing to promote women's sport in this country, including the Southern Stars in the cricket release. This year we have really seen the Women's Big Bash (WBBL) really sharpen the focus in that regard. That doesn't seem to have translated into the W-league to the same extent as yet, but maybe at some point we will start seeing seperate team sets for WBBL & W-League team included within releases.

So just some thoughts & I'm sure others will share their views.
But just happy to have cards available this year, and not having to spend countless hours trying to track down a complete set of base cards.

NBUnited · Jan 31, 2016

I'd have to agree with mike on a number of these points the main one being the parallel cards. I think it would be better to just have the one set and change the image if possible.

NBUnited · Jan 31, 2016

Also having the images used for the cards to be those of the strips that the club will use for that season. The use of the FFA cup strips to fill the gaps is great.

I definitely think for a insert card it should be a different image than on the base.

Mike_K · Jan 31, 2016

NBUnited said:
I'd have to agree with mike on a number of these points the main one being the parallel cards. I think it would be better to just have the one set and change the image if possible.

Well as we know Todd - 'Great minds think alike' - or alternatively 'fools seldom differ' haha

NBUnited · Jan 31, 2016

NBUnited said:
Also having the images used for the cards to be those of the strips that the club will use for that season. The use of the FFA cup strips to fill the gaps is great.

I definitely think for a insert card it should be a different image than on the base.

I would be happy if that meant the cards coming out after the season started. As an exanple the Jets have played in 5 different strips this season (FFA Cup and A-league) but in the cards 8/16 of the base cards are in last seasons strips.

Matt26 · Jan 31, 2016

NBUnited said:
I would be happy if that meant the cards coming out after the season started. As an exanple the Jets have played in 5 different strips this season (FFA Cup and A-league) but in the cards 8/16 of the base cards are in last seasons strips.

The thing with images is that if the set is out at the start of the season (which it was meant to be and you need to maximise sales) you are going to have all of last years images anyway.

In relation to different images on Parallels, it will never happen due to cost.

Say the cost to design a card is $50 per card and the image rights are on top of that. The images need to be contoured which takes time and to double up, would be double the cost.

So you go from $9000 design (180 cards x $50) to $18000 design only and then pay an extra licence fee on top for the second image.

For the Signature cards of the players who have left (Lee & Koren) after chatting with Neil at TNP, last week, Lee was scheduled to sign and the next thing he had heard he had already moved overseas.

For Koren a signing was being organised but he left the club and won't be signing. I understand that both replacements have been finalised and new cards are being printed at the moment for signing.

The PFA agreement this year had delayed the release for nearly 2 months and TNP wasn't able to approach any players until it was signed.

Cheers
Matt

Mike_K · Jan 31, 2016

Some good points @Matt26 to put things in context.

The issue with stripes is interesting - Newcastle Jets are certainly keeping BLK busy with the number of stripes.

But Todd's comment does make an interesting point in referencing the FFA cup, and some cards in a future release referencing that series and some of the local teams that made it through to the finals, not just the a-league sides, would be a interesting inclusion. Also maybe a case or folder card for the winner of the FFA cup. But then again maybe all the rights to that cup are owned by Westfield & there are licensing issues with that??? Anyway, just a thought & something else to throw into the mix.

Scooterboy · Jan 31, 2016

Mike_K said:
Nice work @Scooterboy

This release is 1000% better then last year. Did like the Franjic comment in the video

Some comments:

Folder/checklist
Good to have a checklist available early, but I really would like to see the checklist inside the folder/album.
No disrespect to those associated with TnP who provide the PDF/excel version of the checklist, but something like a sale sheet with details of the cards on the back would just look a little bit more professional & having it inside the album would be ideal.
I know some releases have the checklist provided on cards within the set, but I'm not a big fan of that approach.
The folder price is still a little high & you should at least get a free packet of cards with it as well.

Folder card
The folder card is a good approach & whilst having it loose inside the packaging does make it visible to see which card you are getting, it does make it more susceptible to damaged corners.

Size of the release
200 base cards is a little over the top. The TnP cricket release with 180 base cards was a nice size. Despite the size it was good that the collation was pretty much spot on & you could get a complete set of base cards in a box.

Availability
Very good to see the resellers get on board with this release it has made it so much easier to collect the cards this year. @Diggaz TC has been great with his group breaks.

Delayed release
Not a criticism of TnP as they were the victim of circumstance, but the delay has made in very hard to get ip signatures, particularly now with the release of players in the January transfer window & the fixturing means that some teams have already done their away trips to Perth for the season.

Signature cards
Shame that some of the intended players are no longer available to sign, and the lining up of replacement players does appear to be taking some time. Again probably not TnP's fault.

Parallel inserts
I'm not a big fan of the silvers & golds in their current format with just the same picture on all versions of the cards. I know there are licensing issues with the use of images, but if it's just to be the same image, then just make it one or the other - silver or gold, not both. But I would prefer that the parallels be ditched altogether (including in the cricket release) and just have a base set with more focus on higher end inserts that supplement the base set.

Team Captains/ MF Generals / Matildas celebration cards
Good cards but a little plain for a higher end insert card imo. The background used for the MF General cards was a little odd. Maybe foil cards of these cards?

Matildas cards
Good to see TnP continuing to promote women's sport in this country, including the Southern Stars in the cricket release. This year we have really seen the Women's Big Bash (WBBL) really sharpen the focus in that regard. That doesn't seem to have translated into the W-league to the same extent as yet, but maybe at some point we will start seeing seperate team sets for WBBL & W-League team included within releases.

So just some thoughts & I'm sure others will share their views.
But just happy to have cards available this year, and not having to spend countless hours trying to track down a complete set of base cards.

As always love your feedback Mike

You are constructive and offer a wide range of knowledge - I need to spend a bit more time in my to produce quality card reviews will have more to follow

Folder are insert sleeves - top quality for long term collectors

Parallel Inserts - Agree needed to be Silver or Gold or limited to Captains or Team cards etc...

Team Capt / Generals yes would also like to see them evolve

Sharp Shooters / Rising Stars would like 1 in 26 packs

Archie Signature / Jersey card breaks new ground for Australian team cards on back of Brett Lee cricket Jersey card

And thanks to Neil @ Tap n play that has taken on this feedback and will continue from OZCT like Mike, Todd & Forum - much appreciated Mike so much, Matt what quickest way to become / sign up as OZCT supporter

Sergb · Jan 31, 2016

Agree with all comments. Much better all round. I would also add

A. Replace silver with just gold cards
B. Maybe some action cards from World Cup qualifiers as special inserts and numbered
C. Maybe a ffa semi finalists. The link to a league and old nsl. Was a big write up recently
D. Some sort of other release apart from album? Will a tin work for the kids

Of course licensing dollars etc unknown to me but it just needs only small evolve for next year and hopefully no hiccups like this year

But great job all round and great response on the forms

Matt26 · Jan 31, 2016

Scooterboy said:
As always love your feedback Mike

You are constructive and offer a wide range of knowledge - I need to spend a bit more time in my to produce quality card reviews will have more to follow

Folder are insert sleeves - top quality for long term collectors

Parallel Inserts - Agree needed to be Silver or Gold or limited to Captains or Team cards etc...

Team Capt / Generals yes would also like to see them evolve

Sharp Shooters / Rising Stars would like 1 in 26 packs

Archie Signature / Jersey card breaks new ground for Australian team cards on back of Brett Lee cricket Jersey card

And thanks to Neil @ Tap n play that has taken on this feedback and will continue from OZCT like Mike, Todd & Forum - much appreciated Mike so much, Matt what quickest way to become / sign up as OZCT supporter

Send @graham a message and he can help you out!

NBUnited · Jan 31, 2016

Matt26 said:
The thing with images is that if the set is out at the start of the season (which it was meant to be and you need to maximise sales) you are going to have all of last years images anyway.

In relation to different images on Parallels, it will never happen due to cost.

Say the cost to design a card is $50 per card and the image rights are on top of that. The images need to be contoured which takes time and to double up, would be double the cost.

So you go from $9000 design (180 cards x $50) to $18000 design only and then pay an extra licence fee on top for the second image.

For the Signature cards of the players who have left (Lee & Koren) after chatting with Neil at TNP, last week, Lee was scheduled to sign and the next thing he had heard he had already moved overseas.

For Koren a signing was being organised but he left the club and won't be signing. I understand that both replacements have been finalised and new cards are being printed at the moment for signing.

The PFA agreement this year had delayed the release for nearly 2 months and TNP wasn't able to approach any players until it was signed.

Cheers
Matt

Thanks for clearing that up, i can understand why it may not be possible to have different images for parralells / inserts. As for t her signatures i definitely blame the pfa/ffa and not TnP for the delays andnissues we are now seeing for them. As a Jets fan, if it was to be any team that would have the player not sign it was always going to be us.

Mike_K · Jan 31, 2016

Scooterboy said:
As always love your feedback Mike

You are constructive and offer a wide range of knowledge - I need to spend a bit more time in my to produce quality card reviews will have more to follow....

Credit, where credit is due, I just based my comments on the format that @Brendan_B uses with his review of NRL & TnP Cricket releases.
His TnP cricket review for this year's release is at
http://www.ozcardtrader.com.au/community/threads/15-16-tap-n-play-cricket-review.192668/

A different group of collectors but similar issues arising across both TnP releases this year.

Mike_K · Jan 31, 2016

NBUnited said:
Thanks for clearing that up, i can understand why it may not be possible to have different images for parralells / inserts. As for t her signatures i definitely blame the pfa/ffa and not TnP for the delays andnissues we are now seeing for them. As a Jets fan, if it was to be any team that would have the player not sign it was always going to be us.

...and of course it was always going to be the Jets that had the wrong player image on a card, just to continue the trend from last year

NBUnited · Jan 31, 2016

Mike_K said:
...and of course it was always going to be the Jets that had the wrong player image on a card, just to continue the trend from last year

3rd time lucky hopefully next release there will be no mistakes. The worst part is that mullen didnt even play for us last season and kantarovski is in last years strip in his photo, the jets and ffa missing that is ridiculous.

Mike_K · Jan 31, 2016

NBUnited said:
3rd time lucky hopefully next release there will be no mistakes. The worst part is that mullen didnt even play for us last season and kantarovski is in last years strip in his photo, the jets and ffa missing that is ridiculous.

Agree...Jets cards proof sheet needs to be sent to NBUnited to make sure

EDIT - just for those who have come in late - the Daniel Mullen card for Newcastle is actually a photo of Ben Kantarovski. Ben Kantarovski also has his own card in the set.

Brendan_B · Jan 31, 2016

Mike_K said:
Credit, where credit is due, I just based my comments on the format that @Brendan_B uses with his review of NRL & TnP Cricket releases.
His TnP cricket review for this year's release is at
http://www.ozcardtrader.com.au/community/threads/15-16-tap-n-play-cricket-review.192668/

A different group of collectors but similar issues arising across both TnP releases this year.

Thanks mate. I quite enjoy compiling the reviews and I think it really helps the hobby.

Paddy K · Feb 2, 2016

I would love to see a memorable moments set, much like the one in this years cricket release, feature also in the soccer set. Over all the cards a a huge improvement on last years set.

FFA A - League Football Trading Cards 2015/16 - Review

who would you like to replace the Koren as MC Signature card

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