I think your longing for days that are well behind the hobby.
You are probably right.
The problem with inserts, I am a completist and I can't complete sets. At least in the old days, once you had all 150-180 cards, you had the set. Plus bubblegum. Yes...I know, I am a dinosaur.
And it's not like I don't collect inserts, I just find it frustrating. And they don't even list 'em all on the checklists as if it's some sort of secret.
For mine, I'd chase something really, really special. Something they haven't done before.
Would def love to see some
top end cards like (whether or not I could afford / collect them, well, who knows) :
* Premiers cards - like they do with the AFL - each year, Grand Final team photo.
* Longing for an Andrew Ettingshausen signature card (cause that guy was a GOD when I was at school and even after). Greg Florimo, Cliff Lyons, Preston Campbell, Hindmarsh, Civoneceiva...
* Proper crafted IMMORTAL sig cards
* NSW and QLD, AUST and NZ rep cards (1 in 6 packs type).
* Season highlights cards (SoO, Test, Finals (or just grand final) card at the end of the common set.
* A parallel set with different player pics.
* Better player selection if only 12 cards per team, and no club card.
* Better selection of Top Prospects, even if there is only 6-8.
* U20s Rookie per club common card.
* And maybe instead if Top Prospect, why not Gladiators, a 10-12 card set of players who played 200 games or so, maybe a few Origins, but aren't your Fittler, Johns, Raper Immortal / Legend level - like a Mark Coyne, Jamie Ainscough, Les Davidson, or Martin Bella or Gary Larson, Billy Moore...
I def don't want to see any more acetate / gem cards for a while. Or holofoil type stuff. Or rookies. Brett Finch 2010 - LOL!
I apologise if some of the things I posted as 'humour' didn't go down well with the 'hobbyists'. I do hope ESP really succeed with this, otherwise we're all f***ed, aren't we?