State of UFC card market in 2023?

[rms13]

Judging by activity in this forum it seems like there isn't much interest. I regularly visit many forums here and the MMA is the only one where several days or week go by without any posts. Do people just hate the Panini products?

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[sthoemke]

I lost interest in buying UFC when Topps blasters skyrocked from $10-$15/box to $80-$100 per box. Since then, Panini UFC has been scarce at retail. I don't think it currently has the collector base compared to other sports.

[Noles939913]

Originally Posted by rms13

Judging by activity in this forum it seems like there isn't much interest. I regularly visit many forums here and the MMA is the only one where several days or week go by without any posts. Do people just hate the Panini products?

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Yes Topps had way better UFC products than Panini. With Panini you’re hard pressed to find an on card auto. There are some in National Treasures and Immaculate Collection but still tons of sticker autos in those products. The rest of their products are ALL sticker autos and look quite cheap. Topps obviously had some sticker autos too but not nearly to the extent of Panini. Cards looked better too in my opinion.

[rms13]

Originally Posted by Noles939913

Yes Topps had way better UFC products than Panini. With Panini you’re hard pressed to find an on card auto. There are some in National Treasures and Immaculate Collection but still tons of sticker autos in those products. The rest of their products are ALL sticker autos and look quite cheap. Topps obviously had some sticker autos too but not nearly to the extent of Panini. Cards looked better too in my opinion.

I'm really a fan of a lot of Panini products across all sports but I think refractor/prizm color variations is where they shine. The high end stuff with on card autos are nice but ridiculous expensive. I am not a fan of sticker autos. I have a few Topps on card autos from Rashad Evans and Mighty Mouse and they are beautiful. I have sticker autos of both and they definitely aren't as good. Rashad's signature in particular is great when he has the space to make big looping R which you can't do on a sticker.

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[glen87]

i bought / collected a lot of topps ufc (boxes, a few cases, singles, sets)

since panini got the license, i have bought one single card.

[rms13]

Originally Posted by sthoemke

I lost interest in buying UFC when Topps blasters skyrocked from $10-$15/box to $80-$100 per box. Since then, Panini UFC has been scarce at retail. I don't think it currently has the collector base compared to other sports.

Collector base is definitely smaller but I thought it was a rabid base but maybe not so much anymore. I also feel like there isn't as much star power now as their used to be. There are some hype guys like Paddy and Suga. And great Dagestan fighters but I don't think they'll ever have star power of Connor, GSP, Jones, Brock, Rousey or many of the og guys like Iceman, Tito, BJ etc. With that said it's hard to find retail of any sport where I live but recently have seen a lot of UFC Optic blasters sitting on shelves with Hockey that nobody buys

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[Noles939913]

Originally Posted by rms13

I'm really a fan of a lot of Panini products across all sports but I think refractor/prizm color variations is where they shine. The high end stuff with on card autos are nice but ridiculous expensive. I am not a fan of sticker autos. I have a few Topps on card autos from Rashad Evans and Mighty Mouse and they are beautiful. I have sticker autos of both and they definitely aren't as good. Rashad's signature in particular is great when he has the space to make big looping R which you can't do on a sticker.

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I never liked Rashad because I was Team Rampage and because of his crotch grabbing nonsense against Forrest Griffin but he certainly has a cool signature. I have his autograph on a full sized poster from when he fought Glover Teixeira and his signature is absolutely massive so that’s pretty cool.

Mighty Mouse on the other hand may very well be my favorite fighter ever and I have a bunch of his stuff but his autograph does kind of suck.

[ThatGuyPal]

No stars, Ronda left, Mcgregor left, Jones is finally coming back after like three years, Nunes lost

It's all about timing, if this was prime UFC those cards would have value and thus be popular. When cards are down AND you have things like this weeks PPV headlined by a 43 year old and co-main two guys no one cares about you get this result.

People saying it's Panini are lying, products right before they took over were super cheap or on clearance due to the same issues stated above

[Noles939913]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyPal

No stars, Ronda left, Mcgregor left, Jones is finally coming back after like three years, Nunes lost

It's all about timing, if this was prime UFC those cards would have value and thus be popular. When cards are down AND you have things like this weeks PPV headlined by a 43 year old and co-main two guys no one cares about you get this result.

People saying it's Panini are lying, products right before they took over were super cheap or on clearance due to the same issues stated above

-Rousey retired after two brutal knockout losses back to back.

-McGregor didn’t leave. He snapped his leg which obviously takes time to heal properly.

-Nunes actually regained her title against Pena and had lost four times prior to the Pena loss. It’s not like she was unbeatable.

Let’s at least pretend you know what you’re talking about here.

[Crashingwaves]

I only collect MMA items, so I might be biased.

The UFC card collecting community was a tight, small group when Topps had the lic. Sure, we bitched about them but I feel Panini has been a major factor in the drop by overestimating the market, pure greed with minimal effort and over production.... and they have not come up with that many interesting cards aside from a few rookies.

Panini has likely printed more UFC cards in 2 years than Topps did in 11 with the lic. A retired fighter like Liddell has more Panini cards than he does Topps. That over production and the associated high price was going to lead to burn out. Expensive oversaturation

Plus... I feel their releases suck. Nothing impressive compared to the types of cards Topps had in the 1st 2 years. They produce fake scarcity by hyping those silly named cards with endless bedazzled parallels... with no auto or relic. Just cardboard. Also, the fact they use the same names and graphics in other sports made it feel phoned in. Zero effort distinguishing the UFC cards... the UFC is not like other sports with seasons etc...

Another factor, Panini was lucky and got the lic at the start of the recent market boon... and that brought in these investor and speculator types (and way more scammers) that were not in the hobby before... those twats really tainting the simple pleasure of collecting. That happened in a lot of sports but the niche card sectors like UFC, Soccer and F1 got hit bad.

I am still collecting but I am focused my old Topps, Pride and Ring Kings sets.

UFC cards are not dead.... the sport and fan base are still growing, new stars will emerge. UFC and wrestling cards have a lot in parallel... they will be around... I hope. Fanatics getting the lic is going to be interesting.

Originally Posted by rms13

I'm really a fan of a lot of Panini products across all sports but I think refractor/prizm color variations is where they shine. The high end stuff with on card autos are nice but ridiculous expensive. I am not a fan of sticker autos. I have a few Topps on card autos from Rashad Evans and Mighty Mouse and they are beautiful. I have sticker autos of both and they definitely aren't as good. Rashad's signature in particular is great when he has the space to make big looping R which you can't do on a sticker.

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[Crashingwaves]

Love Mighty Mouse! FYI - He has 2 ONE FC cards.

By chance... have his 2013 KO Twitter auto? Need it for the set.

Originally Posted by Noles939913

I never liked Rashad because I was Team Rampage and because of his crotch grabbing nonsense against Forrest Griffin but he certainly has a cool signature. I have his autograph on a full sized poster from when he fought Glover Teixeira and his signature is absolutely massive so that’s pretty cool.

Mighty Mouse on the other hand may very well be my favorite fighter ever and I have a bunch of his stuff but his autograph does kind of suck.

[eb12057]

My UFC collection is 95% Topps. I have only purchased 2 boxes since Panini took over. I haven't added to my collection in quite awhile. Instead I sent in most of my UFC personal collection to get graded. Literally the only thing I am interested from Panini is the base rookies that I can't get otherwise.

[glen87]

Originally Posted by ThatGuyPal

No stars, Ronda left, Mcgregor left, Jones is finally coming back after like three years, Nunes lost

It's all about timing, if this was prime UFC those cards would have value and thus be popular. When cards are down AND you have things like this weeks PPV headlined by a 43 year old and co-main two guys no one cares about you get this result.

People saying it's Panini are lying, products right before they took over were super cheap or on clearance due to the same issues stated above

100% panini.

i was ok with topps and chasing a few parallels for the fighters i collected, but have absolutely no interest in chasing down all of these...

2022 Prizm UFC

PRIZMS PARALLELS: Green, Hyper, Ice, Pink Ice, Ruby Wave, Silver, White Sparkle, Red #/299, Blue #/199, Purple #/149, Orange #/99, Teal #/49, Pink Pulsar #/42, Green Pulsar #/25, Mojo #/25, Gold #/10, Lucky Envelopes #/8, Octagon #/8, Blue Shimmer FOTL #/7, Gold Shimmer FOTL #/5, Black 1/1, Black Shimmer FOTL 1/1.

Chrome started to get bad, and that is when i started to cut back. but when panini hit and all the parallels, that was the end for me.

[Noles939913]

Originally Posted by Crashingwaves

Love Mighty Mouse! FYI - He has 2 ONE FC cards.

By chance... have his 2013 KO Twitter auto? Need it for the set.

Sorry unfortunately I don’t.

[Crashingwaves]

That is just the base parallels too..... add in the
numerous inserts and their parallels and its ridiculous.

I thought it was hard to be a set builder.... but I get a chuckle when serious rainbow collectors cant even figure out all the stupid parallels.

I hope ppl know that Panini and the other card companies studied what attracted gamblers to gamble more... the flash, noises etc... the sensory cues that get in to our psyche.... and they adapted it to cards.

So, instead of working on more autos / relics... they got lazy and decided to go with just flashy bedazzled cardboard with silly names.... with manufactured scarcity and a twist of paid influencer hype and the mob ate it up. Future generations will look back on these releases and laugh that got collectors were so easily fooled.

Are there good Panini cards? Yes... some nice rookies, but need to be focused and drown out the stupid noise.

Originally Posted by glen87

100% panini.

i was ok with topps and chasing a few parallels for the fighters i collected, but have absolutely no interest in chasing down all of these...

2022 Prizm UFC

PRIZMS PARALLELS: Green, Hyper, Ice, Pink Ice, Ruby Wave, Silver, White Sparkle, Red #/299, Blue #/199, Purple #/149, Orange #/99, Teal #/49, Pink Pulsar #/42, Green Pulsar #/25, Mojo #/25, Gold #/10, Lucky Envelopes #/8, Octagon #/8, Blue Shimmer FOTL #/7, Gold Shimmer FOTL #/5, Black 1/1, Black Shimmer FOTL 1/1.

Chrome started to get bad, and that is when i started to cut back. but when panini hit and all the parallels, that was the end for me.

[Yanks]

Long time UFC collector and fan and for me it really comes down to star power and relatabilty. We went from an era of fighters who were less technical but more exciting. I'd assume there arent many new fans that are paying $80 for each ppv and feeling good about afterwards. Boring champs across the board, at least compared to what I've been used to in past years. Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight, and Womens Divisions have usually made up most of the core fanbase. It's disfunctional right now. Released the Heavyweight champ. Some hype about jones but Im not interested in recycling past greats. Jiri 1+ year injury so the alternative is old man Glover and #7 ranked Hill. Welterweight top three of Covington Usman and Edward makes me feel like I should be paid to watch it vs paying. Adesanya losing and the new champ that has the personality of a rock. Womens division, the highlight of the ufc for a time, is completely dead. Thinking about the energy and hype watching say Rousey vs Tate years ago and now we have Nunes vs Penna. And then, you have to pay for it lol. Outside of Khamzat Pavlovich and whatever this Izzy/Alex thing turns in to, we could wipe the slate and start over and be fine. I love the UFC griping about it isnt something i do normally. Just trying to think of reasons the collecting side is shrinking. In the end Ill watch the UFC through its ups and downs until the end.

[YayNJ]

^ sounds like you just got old.

[NYJNYYFan]

To me, the UFC brand has become larger than any one fighter. I've been a fan since UFC 100, and still love watching the PPVs and going to events, but there isn't really a fighter that I look at as "my guy" anymore.

Like the poster above said, maybe I'm just getting old too haha. I remember Luke Thomas recently talking about how there's an expiration date on everyone's MMA fandom.

I just got back into the hobby in 2020, so I missed a lot of the Topps UFC era. I feel like Panini came in at such a high price, but also a large print run, so it's hard to find much value in ripping. Also, as a casual UFC collector, I'm not really sure the real RC is now that they make 4-6 products with repeat rookies every year.

[rms13]

Originally Posted by NYJNYYFan

To me, the UFC brand has become larger than any one fighter. I've been a fan since UFC 100, and still love watching the PPVs and going to events, but there isn't really a fighter that I look at as "my guy" anymore.

Like the poster above said, maybe I'm just getting old too haha. I remember Luke Thomas recently talking about how there's an expiration date on everyone's MMA fandom.

I just got back into the hobby in 2020, so I missed a lot of the Topps UFC era. I feel like Panini came in at such a high price, but also a large print run, so it's hard to find much value in ripping. Also, as a casual UFC collector, I'm not really sure the real RC is now that they make 4-6 products with repeat rookies every year.

I'm probably getting old too then because I was saying earlier there is no star power now. I think part of that is by design because they do want the brand to be bigger then any fighter. There aren't many fighters I've seen lately with real charisma and personality. I think Paddy has it but he still has to prove he can beat top guys. But I think earlier versions of UFC had bigger personalities

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[Mahomie]

Wow, I thought groundhog day was next week.

MMA collecting has always been a niche hobby, but it will always thrive on a small scale amongst a loyal group of collectors because Martial Arts are simply fascinating to humans.

Personally, I think it's a really exciting time for the sport. There are a lot of young, hungry fighters that are up and coming, and it seems like the moment is ripe for a complete changing of the guard in a lot of weight classes.

[Joshi City]

I think 2021 was just an anomaly - the interest in UFC cards from their fans hasn't gone down, but the Panini releases in 2021 just was the perfect storm of arriving at the peak of overpriced boxes/cards due to pandemic/influencers/etc. and now it has just settled back down to where it should have been all along. Most MMA fans can't afford the $800+ the boxes were at first, and its just taken time to get more in the average collector's budget. As a casual fan of UFC, I do think the lack of big name fights in the last year has hurt some general buzz, but that is easily recovered. They do need a new star or two but UFC has had dips like this before in the last 20 years and always seem to recover just fine.

Personally, I haven't purchased any boxes of UFC since Panini got the license but that is just because the prices were too high. Once they get back steadily in the $150 to $200 range (which the last two releases have been) I'll probably start getting a few again. It'll be interesting to see if this subforum activity picks back up again once prices get better, or if the "average" UFC fan doesn't really go to this board and all the bigger buyers have moved on to something else.

[ThatGuyPal]

Originally Posted by Noles939913

-Rousey retired after two brutal knockout losses back to back.

-McGregor didn’t leave. He snapped his leg which obviously takes time to heal properly.

-Nunes actually regained her title against Pena and had lost four times prior to the Pena loss. It’s not like she was unbeatable.

Let’s at least pretend you know what you’re talking about here.

-so there are women with Ronda's popularity in the hobby currently in the UFC? what a dumb point to make like retiring means she didn't leave, so why is she in WWE

-Mcgregor has retired how many times over the years? at least pretend you know the sport lol call me when he has a fight schedules

-Nunes had a ton of hype after beating the person who left, (you know the thing that happens when you retire)and also becoming the champ-champ, only one close was Shevchenko who she beat. If you don't see how the lose to Pena affected her card values or made one less chase then not sure what to tell you

Glad we had this talk, sorry if your cards have lost value I'm just explaining that regardless of company if we were in the midst of Conor's run it would be a diff story.

[ThatGuyPal]

Originally Posted by glen87

100% panini.

i was ok with topps and chasing a few parallels for the fighters i collected, but have absolutely no interest in chasing down all of these...

2022 Prizm UFC

PRIZMS PARALLELS: Green, Hyper, Ice, Pink Ice, Ruby Wave, Silver, White Sparkle, Red #/299, Blue #/199, Purple #/149, Orange #/99, Teal #/49, Pink Pulsar #/42, Green Pulsar #/25, Mojo #/25, Gold #/10, Lucky Envelopes #/8, Octagon #/8, Blue Shimmer FOTL #/7, Gold Shimmer FOTL #/5, Black 1/1, Black Shimmer FOTL 1/1.

Chrome started to get bad, and that is when i started to cut back. but when panini hit and all the parallels, that was the end for me.

I know there are exceptions, I'm not saying no one was buying it, I was out there looking for it too lol

I'm just saying maybe it's where I am but wrestling/UFC products were sitting and on clearance here long before panini, 2019 Chrome UFC, tons of products, my friend was buying a lot of it up due to the price but I was just getting back into cards. People acting like I haven't lived my own experiences lol I'm sure I'll be told i'm wrong but I also remember one of the last UFC Topps products dropping in price super quickly DURING the boom, forget what it was called but was once-encased auto.

[rms13]

Originally Posted by Mahomie

Wow, I thought groundhog day was next week.

MMA collecting has always been a niche hobby, but it will always thrive on a small scale amongst a loyal group of collectors because Martial Arts are simply fascinating to humans.

Personally, I think it's a really exciting time for the sport. There are a lot of young, hungry fighters that are up and coming, and it seems like the moment is ripe for a complete changing of the guard in a lot of weight classes.

I think there are much better technical fighters today because we are in the generation where new fighters have been training the sport of MMA since they were kids. Fighters are better and more evenly matched then the good old days of tough guy competitors and guys who had a lot of experience in one form of martial art or combat sport. But I still say in the earlier days of UFC there were lots of fighters with personality and now there isn't. I also enjoyed the strategy of older fights where one guy specialized in grappling and one specialized in striking and we see which martial art is better. Now basically everyone has some proficiency in every aspect because they are specifically training MMA. Yes it makes people more evenly matched and that's interesting to some people but I just see it as everyone being the same which is boring

[peanuts]

Three problems: Fundamental lack of star power in the current UFC, overproduction by Panini,

I really feel that the biggest issue at hand is the fundamental lack of star power in the modern UFC. The company has shifted towards a model of fighters being endlessly replaceable, rather than seriously leaning into and promoting individuals. The bigger the star, the more ability they have to bargain with the company for better pay. You'll never see them allow someone to build a personal brand like Iceman did – there's just too much risk that the athlete will take their brand elsewhere.
This has been aided by the shift away from the PPV model to the weekly card model empowered by the ESPN deal. They don't NEED to have these larger than life figures (like Francis, Connor, Liddell, GSP, Holloway, etc.) to draw folks in once every three months for a big card. Instead, they can rely on the consistent viewership habit and just churn through 25/25 guys all year long.