Well, the rookie premiere is here and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Although many collectors have a pretty negative view of the event, a feeling I originally shared, I have done a complete 180 in the past few years. If you arent familiar with what the premiere is all about, its an event put on by the trading card companies to stock their libraries with pictures and relics for the year’s products. The top marketable rookies from each draft class go to Los Angeles once a year, set up in the Los Angeles Colleseum, and take pictures and sign cards for the first time in their NFL uniforms.
The negativity comes from the fact that each of the companies uses upwards of 20 jerseys per player, many of which are only “worn” for a few seconds before being tossed in a box. Because the jerseys have little connection with game action or the player themselves, a lot of people see this jersey tactic as a scar on the face of the industry. Don’t get me wrong, I completely see where the people are coming from, and it’s the reason I don’t buy non-autographed rookie jersey cards. I just don’t see the point for that specific reason. On the other hand, I know there are a lot of other people out there that have a different view, and because its impossible to get enough rookie GAME jerseys to fill out a product calendar, I UNDERSTAND why the practice is necessary.
Unlike previous years, social media has really taken a driver’s seat for this premiere, as just about every player is walking into the event with a cell phone to tweet live pictures to their followers. This provides bloggers like me with some awesome previews of upcoming sets, as well as some pictures that Im not sure the card companies want their consumers to see.
The first set that we have really gotten a good look at is Topps Inception, the first real hard signed product for the rookies of the year. From the looks of the pictures we are getting, I have to give Topps credit for making due with the situation they are in. Aside from the awesome use of my favorite “painted” picture look, they have had their designers shop in the NFL uniforms for each rookie. Because the rookies are not assigned numbers yet due to the lockout, college numbers were used for the cards. Personally, I think these examples look utterly amazing in the simplicity of the design, as well as the painted picture look that I have always fawned over. These may be the first of many pictures that we are going to get, but Inception is looking like the early set to get. Panini has a lot of work to do to reach a level like this, something that will be even more evident without Cam Newton and Mark Ingram autographs in their products.
Lastly, we also saw Taiwan Jones and Mark Ingram tweet pictures of what I have deemed the “Jersey Coat,” and it hasn’t really gone over well with the bloggers on twitter. Im sure there will be many more examples of things like that all weekend, but its interesting the way things are working for a lot of the rookies.
UPDATE: Panini has also just posted a bunch of pictures on their blog that shows a ton of reasons why I literally loathe the products they put out. Ridiculously lame manupatches galore and a bunch of those played out Letterman autos from threads. They are also looking to be doing signed leather cards like they did for basketball last year, and I cannot be more disgusted with the fact that they think they are a good idea for football. Then they will have the nerve to call them “hard signed” cards because they arent stickers. Just when I think I cant hate Panini crap any more, right? BLECCCCCCCH.
UPDATE 2: Panini is now posting pictures of rookies taking photos at the event for them. They are wearing jerseys with “00” on them instead of their college numbers as reported earlier on ProFootballTalk.com. I was okay with College numbers because of the situation, but I think “00” is just above NO NUMBER on the jerseys in terms of shittiness. Maybe others wont care, but that is just plain dumb to me. Ingram may have worn a jersey with the number 80 on it in the pictures below, but that was not for pictures, and as said above, it probably says “Graham” on the back. I have heard reports that the particular player was chosen because of the similarities in the letter content of the names.
Ill post more pics as they come in, check back all this weekend.
While I would definitely prefer jerseys and patches to be “game used,” how on earth could they do this for rookies? Most rookies don’t get out on the field right away (and some not at all the first season). Add to the fact that some of the best products launch before the season starts (Topps Finest comes to mind), how on earth are they supposed to get relics for rookies?
I wouldn’t mind them using college patches and jerseys, but some people probably would. Although I’ll be honest. I’d be willing to score a few less ‘hits’ per box if they were better designed and game used rather than pull a bunch of cruddy looking jersey cards that resell for $5.
When are you going to change the name of this blog to the Unobjective Panini hate fest ?
This is why relics have lost all their appeal to most collectors…quite simply they are no longer scarce or special. Items worn or used by players in actual games were once considered to be very special because of their rarity. I mean, having something worn by Hank Aaron or Joe Namath in an actual game is both scarce and pretty cool.
Nowadays, however, relics have become just another item manufactured to try to stimulate demand for otherwise lackluster products. Having a piece of a jersey worn by somebody for ten seconds at an made-for-the-hobby event just isn’t quite the same as having something that was actually worn during a game. And never mind the fact that since a single jersey probably yields 1000+ individual swatches, they aren’t very scarce either.
I tell you what I do love…those Topps Inception cards…beautifully done…particularly the blending of the hard-sign autograph area….
I see we have another “CJ or CZ” on our hands…..crappy signature and dreads….is it a sign that the Packers scored a boon and are going to get a 2K rusher?
I thought the same thing about the CJ thing.
Those Topps Inception autos are beautiful cards. The rest of the pictures show a couple of the reasons the hobby has went down the drain. “Worn” jerseys and signing on stickers/patches while mass producing making non rookie/star autos/jersey near worthless and base/others worthless as well.