Has Panini bested the likes of Upper Deck, Topps, Fleer etc??

[drobfan8]

I've been thinking this for a little while and would like to discuss further, especially with so many newbies entering the "Hobby" :D

Panini has had a stranglehold for quite a while now. Have they overtaken the other card companies overall for our expectations of what cards should be like?

The money changing hands currently is ludicrous, laughable for a small time guy like me even. 10s of thousands of dollars are being paid over and over for guys that may not ever achieve anything like those All time greats sitting in the 5th to 20th rankings.

I have been pretty happy with what Panini has put out as a whole, but I do wonder why they don't have a particular product that is generally considered their best, a la Upper Deck Exquisite.

Is this on purpose?

I am still yet to see Panini produce the quality of the Exquisite range, yet we are 17 years on from the 03 release.

Base, Autos, scarcity, marquee names..

This is coming from a guy that likes Eminence, Flawless and Immaculate currently.

[Duncancollector]

Hi.

I never was a big UD Fan, but loved Topps Stadium Club and Fleer and Skybox.
I can explain why:

I love having only 1 to 2 parallels of a base card.
I love buying a box when I know, every Autograph is a hit, because it is difficult to pull one, and then I am more happy if I pull a Star Autograph.
I love rare cards, especially non numbered cards with high odds. 1:96 or more is perfect.


These aspects were not really excisted at the end of the 00's. Upper Deck and Topps over produced as much as they could.

Now I add to my other preferred searches nice Upper Deck cards. They do not produce anymore and they have really nice stuff until 08/09. Their college stuff and retro stuff was awful.

All these points can't or don't want to be fulfilled by Panini.

I give Panini a big A+ for producing Autographs of players who haven't signed before. And they do from time to time some design work.

But:

Flawless looks the same for years now. That is really boring.
Eminence was really cool, although I don't own any card of it, because it was a SP Onetimer.
NT is cool with its rookie autograph patch cards. Love it. And still I don't have one.

But how in the world can you put sticker Autographs in xxxx$ box? That is very lame of Panini or UD in the earlier days (exquisite Pippen Auto Patch).

As long as Panini produces, there won't be any real rare cards (Except Prizm Gold 12/13) or Signers. Look at Barkley. I love Panini for bringing out Autographs of him in a suns and 76ers jersey. That was cool and maybe necessary. But producing 10000000 autos of him....mhhh...no.

I think Noir is nice but could be brilliant Set. The design is very good. But: why is there no text about the player on the back of the card? A gold pen for the Autograph is perfect. But why so thick? A thin pen would make the card more excellent.


I understand if people like the panini design more than others. It is about taste and so everybody has a different opinion. That is fine. But in general: Too many products of panini out there and the quality and quantity could be much better in many cases. And as long as there is only panini out there, their cards are OK but definitely not super- except some rarities. The same would be if it were UD or Topps instead of Panini. But it is Panini now.

[Myerburg311]

two completely different eras of cards..

UD was around in a time when photography and base set design was supposed to drive sales, not the autographs jerseys and low numbered items

Panini doesn't have an "Exquisite" brand because they have multiple high end sets, whereas UD had only Exquisite as the high end.. Ultimate being the closest thing to it..

comparing UD to Panini is apples to oranges

[MJ23Collector]

In my view, you can judge a company by it's innovation. Most of the other companies have over the years brought innovations to the market (parallels, numbered cards, memorabilia, autographs…). Panini now has a complete stranglehold on the basketball card market and obviously doesn't feel any incentive to be innovative. Frankly I've been thinking and I can't find a single innovation for which Panini is responsible.

[pingbling23]

In my view, you can judge a company by it's innovation. Most of the other companies have over the years brought innovations to the market (parallels, numbered cards, memorabilia, autographs…). Panini now has a complete stranglehold on the basketball card market and obviously doesn't feel any incentive to be innovative. Frankly I've been thinking and I can't find a single innovation for which Panini is responsible.

Panini has tried. Real precious metal cards, cards with gemstones, and digital video cards off the top of my head.

[JeffG1954]

Open a pack of 2019/20 Upper Deck NHL and open a pack of any Panini product....the answer will be obvious. Would love to see some competition in the market by getting rid of the exclusive contracts....make the companies earn my business by being better than the others.

[Stackfan]

I don't think i'd use the word "bested" but i'd say they are respectable in certain terms.

I think for the most part, the products are good that Panini produces. When they first got the NBA license, people hated their products. It took a few years to get into the flow to what people like. Not to say Panini is perfect, but they have a wide range of products in price/quality. Personally i'm annoying the prizm/optic are now "high end" products but i'd rather that be the case, they extreme over-printing. Which I think we are getting close. They seem to introduce new products every year, and remove the less popular ones.

I'd certainly say their products are respectable at this point. In comparison to the 90's brands.... the competition was nice, because all the sets felt unique. Clearly more affordable.... new/exciting at the time. (#'d, auto's, jerseys). I think it truly comes down to personal preference. I'm sure some like UD, Topps, Fleer and Panini are their fav brands.

[Sticks33]

Open a pack of 2019/20 Upper Deck NHL and open a pack of any Panini product....the answer will be obvious. Would love to see some competition in the market by getting rid of the exclusive contracts....make the companies earn my business by being better than the others.

100% agree on this. Panini has no motivation to push the envelop and be creative. Instead, they make "new" colors of cards and introduce more scarcity instead of creating something that is unique and therefore desirable.

If UD were in the b-ball market too, it'd be great for the hobby.

[Arianny_Fan]

Let UD, Topps, and Panini have a basketball license all at the same time and let's see what happens....

[Kobefan]

Let UD, Topps, and Panini have a basketball license all at the same time and let's see what happens....

Then Upperdeck would win cause its exclusive contract with MJ and Lebron.

[Kenflin]

I think Panini has done what it could to replicate what customers have loved. It really hasn’t done anything innovative as far as basic card design that it can put its own stamp on. It has basically taken what other companies have created and made a carbon copy of it. IMO, UD revolutionized card collecting. They even introduced the high end card- Exquisite (which I thought was insane at the time lol). UD was also the first to introduce the $1 pack of cards (which was expensive back then) and you actually felt like the quality matched the product. It was nothing like seeing that hologram logo on the back of your cards.

[DUCKanay]

100% agree on this. Panini has no motivation to push the envelop and be creative. Instead, they make "new" colors of cards and introduce more scarcity instead of creating something that is unique and therefore desirable.

If UD were in the b-ball market too, it'd be great for the hobby.

What do you you want Panini to do? There's not much you can change or be creative about when the only two things a sports card requires is a photo of a player and a possible space for an autograph.

Topps has had the Baseball License forever, outside of the framed cards, what innovations have they come up with? Upper Deck has had the hockey license since the 90's, the Young Guns are still their most iconic set, outside of that, what is fresh? The Black Diamonds relics? Or maybe the Patch Autos that each other company has for their exclusive licenses?

[Kenflin]

What do you you want Panini to do? There's not much you can change or be creative about when the only two things a sports card requires is a photo of a player and a possible space for an autograph.

Topps has had the Baseball License forever, outside of the framed cards, what innovations have they come up with? Upper Deck has had the hockey license since the 90's, the Young Guns are still their most iconic set, outside of that, what is fresh? The Black Diamonds relics? Or maybe the Patch Autos that each other company has for their exclusive licenses?

Innovations that come off the top of my head that revolutionized collecting from card companies (IMO):

Topps- Refractors
UD- card stock quality, card design, photography, autographs
Fleer- subsets, inserts
Sportsflix- 3D card
Skybox- digital tech
ProSet- 3D imposed cards

[mindcycle]

My main gripe with Panini is sheer amount of product they put out has lead to so many parallels within those sets (Prizm had 41 this year!) that it's hard to keep up. I stick to only certain sets and parallels. More to keep myself sane really, lol, but I would never attempt a complete parallel set at this point as its gotten ridiculous. The last time I tried was 14-15 Prizm and even that was difficult at like 10 parallels I think.

So yeah, if anyone asks me if I think we're in a new junk wax era i'd say yes. It's just shifted a bit. Nowadays it's more scarce rarity (10 different /10 parallels for example) rather than just overprinting the same base cards. Clever move. Kind of like the jersey cards from the 2000's. Once manufactures realized you didn't have to use a game used jersey, and could just get any old random jersey and tag it "player worn", production of all that stuff skyrocketed. Outside of a few big names you can't even pay people to burn most of those jersey cards for you nowadays.

Also, going back to gripes I have an additional one, which also ties into too many sets produced. At the rate they're pumping this stuff out you also get issues like this..

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2017-18/Panini-NBA-Hoops---Base---Blue-Checkerboard/148/Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=76985e9e-823b-49b9-ba74-79f436e2ba04&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Prizm-Mosaic---Base---Gold-Autographs-Autographed/49/Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=3d0c6878-30df-4b70-a683-f3521bb1f3bd&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Preferred---Base/240/Unparalleled---Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=e4a4d3c7-729b-414d-a691-ab7bc0dd1425&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Select---Base---Silver-Prizm/135/Premier-Level---Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=ffcbff21-6cd6-4121-bb41-d45b2e2f01da&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Studio---Base/281/Sketch---Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=93348eda-83c1-4eff-9a0b-3ecdb6438514&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Threads---Base---Century-Proof-Holo/190/Rookies---Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=f70ae56d-5702-49d9-9747-7d21317c20fd&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Studio---Breakout-Signatures/5/Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=f3b0a91e-a7f0-42ab-8ea8-e890ac36c57a&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Gold-Standard---Base/365/Golden-Debuts---Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=02265be2-be4d-4473-a83d-852733da2fca&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2017-18/Panini-Prizm---Sensational-Swatches---Starburst-Prizms/SW-JH/Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=8ddac66d-f620-4005-977d-ad673b866029&size=biggerthumb

https://img.comc.com/i/Basketball/2016-17/Panini-Limited---Unlimited-Potential-Materials/40/Juan-Hernangomez.jpg?id=bad241b3-204f-4f8d-95d4-2a52c04c1fa8&size=biggerthumb

[mindcycle]

As a follow up. I still like a lot of the stuff that Panini puts out. I think Revolution has been a nice original product, and Prizm is pretty cool if you just stick to a few of the nicer more established parallels. Silver, mojo, and gold for me. But yeah, lack of competition has led to some complacency I think and some of their stuff just seems pumped out too quickly without much thought put into design or photography.

[8collector34]

I do not collect much Panini, but do follow the hobby trends for my own entertainment. Back when I was busting wax, late 90's to early 2000s, I remember the excitement each year around the new products and new technologies, revolutionary ideas the big 3 came up with each season for the collector. You could have never guessed what was going to come. That is a lot different today. For the past 5 years, every season is the same. Waiting for the same Prizm, NT, Flawless to drop. The only thing bringing excitement into cardboard is the rookie class each year, which has nothing to do with Panini at all, and are more for the investor. Even something as old of a trick as making a foil version of a paper card (Optic) seems revolutionary today. Inserting gems, precious metals into cards, and the gazillion parallels cannot even compare to the innovative ideas like game used jerseys in cards (UD 1998), or short printed RCs (Ultra 1998), and the list goes on. It is like everything that can been done, has already been done in cardboard, or just Panini not trying hard enough? So as far as brand design the Panini era is trash compared to the era of the big 3. IDK about the other stuff, because I do not bust anymore. Stuff like collation, customer service, bang for the buck, condition sensitivity, etc. The latter was really bad for some 90s sets. Which in return created scarcity and helped popularize sets like PMG, if I want to be honest.

Although Panini did not invent logomans, they did set a trend for them, and the silhouette cards are really next level game jersey shiznit. So there's that. I guess cardboard is like life. The big 3 era was your late teens, when every year is just way more exciting then the previous, and so much is happening everywhere. And the Panini era is the 20s. Went by fast as if nothing happened, and you don't remember much of it.

[8collector34]

I think Panini has done what it could to replicate what customers have loved. It really hasn’t done anything innovative as far as basic card design that it can put its own stamp on. It has basically taken what other companies have created and made a carbon copy of it. IMO, UD revolutionized card collecting. They even introduced the high end card- Exquisite (which I thought was insane at the time lol). UD was also the first to introduce the $1 pack of cards (which was expensive back then) and you actually felt like the quality matched the product. It was nothing like seeing that hologram logo on the back of your cards.

I am very much in line with the last sentiment.

[ninjacookies]

What exactly has Panini revolutionized?

Not being facetious, it's an honest question.


The only thing I can possibly come up with were those HRX cards (with the mini LCD screens built in with a highlight tape), which died a quicker death than Rebecca Black's career.

The rest are just renamed rehashes of UD/Fleer/Topps releases.

[GeechQuest]

What exactly has Panini revolutionized?

Not being facetious, it's an honest question.


The only thing I can possibly come up with were those HRX cards (with the mini LCD screens built in with a highlight tape), which died a quicker death than Rebecca Black's career.

The rest are just renamed rehashes of UD/Fleer/Topps releases.

Not much innovation card wise (although I do think they’re the only company to do laser cuts on the interior of cards).

They have revolutionized different ways to purchase cards:

FOTL direct to consumer
Panini Rewards
“Blockchain” (or purchasing a card direct from the manufacturer)

At this stage it’s hard to really do a new thing design wise, though they have done that and have some stellar designs as well.

[ninjacookies]

FOTL direct to consumer
Panini Rewards
“Blockchain” (or purchasing a card direct from the manufacturer)




Valid points. I'd say FOTL has been Panini's greatest gift to date, but of course that got bastardized by the Travis Scott Supreme mob.

It's interesting that Immaculate was intended to be the successor to Exquisite, yet the value never caught on in the secondary market.

[GeechQuest]

Valid points. I'd say FOTL has been Panini's greatest gift to date, but of course that got bastardized by the Travis Scott Supreme mob.

It's interesting that Immaculate was intended to be the successor to Exquisite, yet the value never caught on in the secondary market.

Absolutely.

I don’t think people have quite grasped how much FOTL has driven the hobby. Panini basically subsidized MILLIONS OF $ that went right back into the secondary market and I’d bet 5-10 years down the line when you look back you’ll realize how much making product accessible and giving people the means to flip and then put the money back into the hobby has really been one of the driving factors as to why we are where we are today.

[ninjacookies]

Absolutely.

I don’t think people have quite grasped how much FOTL has driven the hobby. Panini basically subsidized MILLIONS OF $ that went right back into the secondary market and I’d bet 5-10 years down the line when you look back you’ll realize how much making product accessible and giving people the means to flip and then put the money back into the hobby has really been one of the driving factors as to why we are where we are today.


If they somehow found a way to throttle bot activity or actively refuse hoarding directed to certain addresses, it'd be damn near perfect and have no need for dutchboi philanthropy.

But, as with all things capitalism, it's only a matter of time before the apostle catches onto the disciple and wants their piece of the pie.

[pingbling23]

What exactly has Panini revolutionized?

Not being facetious, it's an honest question.


The only thing I can possibly come up with were those HRX cards (with the mini LCD screens built in with a highlight tape), which died a quicker death than Rebecca Black's career.

The rest are just renamed rehashes of UD/Fleer/Topps releases.

Hey now, Rebecca black has turned into a pretty good singer and is a millionaire. But yeah, hrx cards didn’t last long at all.

[ninjacookies]

Hey now, Rebecca black has turned into a pretty good singer and is a millionaire. But yeah, hrx cards didn’t last long at all.

It will be a cold day in hell before Friday ever becomes the new Monday. Her place in history is forever cemented.

[Bosco]

I'm here to agree that Panini is not innovative.

To kinda pivot the conversation... Is NBPA exclusive with Panini right now, too? If not, both Topps and Upper Deck both have licensing with certain franchises where they should consider doing some cross-type products with NBPA. I'm fairly certain they could be a hit without the NBA license. Probably a mess to navigate legally, but depending on execution and popularity it ultimately force the NBA to reconsider exclusivity with Panini.

[ninjacookies]

I'm here to agree that Panini is not innovative.

To kinda pivot the conversation... Is NBPA exclusive with Panini right now, too? If not, both Topps and Upper Deck both have licensing with certain franchises where they should consider doing some cross-type products with NBPA. I'm fairly certain they could be a hit without the NBA license. Probably a mess to navigate legally, but depending on execution and popularity it ultimately force the NBA to reconsider exclusivity with Panini.


Upper Deck has already attempted this with their Supreme court card releases. The problem is that they don't have the rights to produce 'nba trading cards' (however that's legally defined). So they circumvented a bit by producing oversized 8x11 auto/patch memorabilia.

3x5 is a no-go.

[Bosco]

^
I was thinking exploring under the Marvel umbrella. Make original illustrated images including the likeness and actual name of NBA players but depict them in a surreal/exaggerated "super hero" pose without NBA teams or logos.

Could even take it a step further and do a series of graphic novelizations of star players route to stardom.

Another bad idea I got. NBA should force Panini to include WNBA players in their NBA products. Put your money where your mouth is.

And one last thought, who's making the Space Jam 2 trading cards?

[ninjacookies]

Leaf already does that. And they look like garbage.


Sketch cards are very niche and low demand. Wouldn't even be worth UD's time.

[drobfan8]

Hi.

I never was a big UD Fan, but loved Topps Stadium Club and Fleer and Skybox.
I can explain why:

I love having only 1 to 2 parallels of a base card.
I love buying a box when I know, every Autograph is a hit, because it is difficult to pull one, and then I am more happy if I pull a Star Autograph.
I love rare cards, especially non numbered cards with high odds. 1:96 or more is perfect.


These aspects were not really excisted at the end of the 00's. Upper Deck and Topps over produced as much as they could.

Now I add to my other preferred searches nice Upper Deck cards. They do not produce anymore and they have really nice stuff until 08/09. Their college stuff and retro stuff was awful.

All these points can't or don't want to be fulfilled by Panini.

I give Panini a big A+ for producing Autographs of players who haven't signed before. And they do from time to time some design work.

But:

Flawless looks the same for years now. That is really boring.
Eminence was really cool, although I don't own any card of it, because it was a SP Onetimer.
NT is cool with its rookie autograph patch cards. Love it. And still I don't have one.

But how in the world can you put sticker Autographs in xxxx$ box? That is very lame of Panini or UD in the earlier days (exquisite Pippen Auto Patch).

As long as Panini produces, there won't be any real rare cards (Except Prizm Gold 12/13) or Signers. Look at Barkley. I love Panini for bringing out Autographs of him in a suns and 76ers jersey. That was cool and maybe necessary. But producing 10000000 autos of him....mhhh...no.

I think Noir is nice but could be brilliant Set. The design is very good. But: why is there no text about the player on the back of the card? A gold pen for the Autograph is perfect. But why so thick? A thin pen would make the card more excellent.


I understand if people like the panini design more than others. It is about taste and so everybody has a different opinion. That is fine. But in general: Too many products of panini out there and the quality and quantity could be much better in many cases. And as long as there is only panini out there, their cards are OK but definitely not super- except some rarities. The same would be if it were UD or Topps instead of Panini. But it is Panini now.

Great post.

two completely different eras of cards..

UD was around in a time when photography and base set design was supposed to drive sales, not the autographs jerseys and low numbered items

Panini doesn't have an "Exquisite" brand because they have multiple high end sets, whereas UD had only Exquisite as the high end.. Ultimate being the closest thing to it..

comparing UD to Panini is apples to oranges

There's some massive holes in your post.

Are the eras really that different? Doesn't seem like it to me.

UD also had UD black, Premier, Trilogy to go with Ultimate.
Autos and Jerseys still drove sales for UD.

All I'm asking is, can we sit here and say that Panini is producing the best cards? They're at a massive advantage with the improvements to technology (although they consistently rip designs from the 90s and 00s) and they have little competition.

I know what I want to see from Panini, which hasn't been delivered yet. But is everyone else happy?

[SDcardguy24]

I'm here to agree that Panini is not innovative.

To kinda pivot the conversation... Is NBPA exclusive with Panini right now, too? If not, both Topps and Upper Deck both have licensing with certain franchises where they should consider doing some cross-type products with NBPA. I'm fairly certain they could be a hit without the NBA license. Probably a mess to navigate legally, but depending on execution and popularity it ultimately force the NBA to reconsider exclusivity with Panini.


I thought Topps was going to try something when those pics of Tyler Herro Topps Chrome autos were posted last year but no updates since then

[pokemaniac]

Leaf already does that. And they look like garbage.


Sketch cards are very niche and low demand. Wouldn't even be worth UD's time.

They should try getting some actual good artists. The sketches, for Leaf, UD, etc., look like they were done by Ray Charles.

[ninjacookies]

They should try getting some actual good artists. The sketches, for Leaf, UD, etc., look like they were done by Ray Charles.


The Steve Harvey MJ variation is the crowned jewel of my clection.


But sports sketches just don't sell well. There's a small market for them.

It works with Star Wars and other releases...not so much sports.

[frisbeesteve]

Not much innovation card wise (although I do think they’re the only company to do laser cuts on the interior of cards).

They have revolutionized different ways to purchase cards:

FOTL direct to consumer
Panini Rewards
“Blockchain” (or purchasing a card direct from the manufacturer)

At this stage it’s hard to really do a new thing design wise, though they have done that and have some stellar designs as well.

Not here to bash nor support Panini (they've done plenty of good and bad things in my opinion), but they were not the first to do interior die-cutting.
Off the top of my head, 1995-96 Topps Stadium Club Beam Teams are the earliest example I can think of (see this https://www.blowoutforums.com/showpost.php?p=15239030&postcount=215 to a post in my Admiral thread where I share and discuss this interior die-cutting), with another example that comes to mind being the 1998-99 Metal Universe Linchpins seen here: https://www.comc.com/Cards,sc,=1998-99+Metal+Universe+-+Linchpins,ot,i100. I'm sure there are others that I'm forgetting or not even aware of, but thought I'd share these.

[pokemaniac]

The Steve Harvey MJ variation is the crowned jewel of my clection.


But sports sketches just don't sell well. There's a small market for them.

It works with Star Wars and other releases...not so much sports.

As an avid Steve Harvey collector, I may need to see this.

[drobfan8]

I guess I'm hoping we'll see an Eminence type set but with a non auto'd base set.

It's the closest thing to Exquisite Panini has come up with.

Maybe with Zion going off they'll release something special.

[M4YH3M1]

IMHO the quality of Panini's cards is inferior to what Topps or UD produced.

One only has to look at products like Topps Five Star NFL or MLB releases vs Panini's premium stuff like Flawless or Immaculate. The design and quality of the cards is far superior.
The foil printing is superior.

Also one thing that I loathe with Panini is their packaging for their high-end stuff, from Noir, Immaculate, Flawless.. all using those cardboard boxes that allow the card corners to get dinged up in transit. It's just cheap and lazy.

Remember the latter years of UD Exquisite came in those foam inlays that securely held the card in place and did not touch the corners at all. That's awesome.


I truly wish the license was shared and I even did a change.org petition a few years ago which got a semi-decent amount of love and some excellent comments.
https://www.change.org/p/nba-properties-group-share-the-nba-trading-card-license
But I know not all people feel this way and are happy with the status quo of Panini sh1tting all over the NBA card collecting hobby

[KhalDrogo]

I guess I'm hoping we'll see an Eminence type set but with a non auto'd base set.

It's the closest thing to Exquisite Panini has come up with.

Maybe with Zion going off they'll release something special.
I think that's a given. If they don't do an ultra high-end set, what are they thinking?

[ballhawkdawk]

As a follow up. I still like a lot of the stuff that Panini puts out. I think Revolution has been a nice original product, and Prizm is pretty cool if you just stick to a few of the nicer more established parallels. Silver, mojo, and gold for me. But yeah, lack of competition has led to some complacency I think and some of their stuff just seems pumped out too quickly without much thought put into design or photography.

There’s nothing original about Revolution. Everything in it was done in the late 90s/early 2000s. Even the product itself isn’t original... see Pacific Revolution. Panini has done a nice job with the Revolution designs and taking parallels and adding them in, but it’s all been done before. Galactics aren’t original. Probably 75% of the value of my PC is in Galactics. They’re awesome cards, but not a Panini design.

[drobfan8]

I think that's a given. If they don't do an ultra high-end set, what are they thinking?

I'm starting to wonder if Panini not having a go to no. 1 Premium release is all a part of their plans.

It keeps people interested and arguing about the pros and cons of each product.

I also don't know why so many of their best designs were in 12/13 stuff and then now 7 years on with the same product it's inferior.