BREAKING NEWS: NFL Properties Announcement - No Renewal for UD

[wju2004]

I'm glad to see this happening. They really mailed Exquisite in this year...at least the 1/1 Rookie Patch autos. Really...the biggest card for each player isn't a NFL Logo this year...but more often than not, 1...maybe 2 color patches if you're lucky. I found the Nate Davis 1/1 from Exquisite and about crapped myself when I saw a 1.1 color patch. I won't even call it two because there was only a tiny sliver of a second color.

And I'd say UD has the second worst customer service I've dealt with...Topps having THE worst because everyone I've talked to there has had a nasty attitude and even had one slam to phone in my ear. Basically getting a big F.U. on a replacement.

UD...at least they were nicer...but still as crappy. 1 box of 08 SPA with 0 hits...we get a Dustin Kelly 1 color patch/auto to replace 3 hits.

Panini, while not the most beautiful cards in the world, they certainly produce cards that are still pretty nice...and their customer service is second to none. They send me two crap cards for a replacement, I e-mail them, they tell me to send them back. When I do, I tell them I want certain teams or player (Nate Davis of course.) And they give me his Contenders auto and a patch/auto /10 from GG. I would have been happy with just the Contenders, but the patch/auto was certainly a big bonus for my Nate Davis PC.

I do hate to see the staples like SPA slip away just like we lost Topps Chrome/Bowman Chrome, but as long as these companies don't want to pay attention or even care for their customers, they deserve what they get.

[FINS4LIFE]

Press pass with a nfl license. Never thought about that. I think that would be cool.

[BroncosFAN#1]

I just hope everybody realizes that with Panini being the only company now, they can make their product worse and worse and not have to worry about competition. I like UD but they needed this to happen because of their ethics. They will be back but they needed a break from screwing us all over. I will be calling them tomorrow to make sure a few cards they are replacing for me are on their way though.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by BroncosFAN#1

I just hope everybody realizes that with Panini being the only company now, they can make their product worse and worse and not have to worry about competition.

They'd still have to worry about competition, but that competition won't be from other football card manufacturers. It would be from the millions of other things people could spend their money on.

If they don't put out quality products, being the only manufacturer with a license won't help them. Look at UD - for as much as they do wrong, the one sport that almost everyone agrees they do a good job with is hockey, and they've had the NHL exclusive for years. They didn't make their products "worse and worse" once they got the license.

As we've seen in the last year, licenses in the major sports leagues can be given and taken away. Panini (and Topps) have advantages now with exclusives, and they probably wouldn't want to do anything to cause collectors to develop a negative opinion of their products as they are not going to have those exclusives forever.

[kajshack]

The owner at my LCS said he's hearing rumblings that Topps may get it's license back sooner than we all anticipated.

[chino415]

Originally Posted by Rufusyo

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that panini is making an effort to get on card autos? NBA Contenders, Studio, and Classics have all had on card autos. Prestige even had on card autos in it. Panini listens to the consumer. UD didn't and that, among other reasons, is why they are where they are. People act like UD only had on card autos, give me a break.

I am against a monopoly, but I think Panini is making an effort to do it right.

I agree and hope they continue it through out the coming years. UD has been providing the hobby for 2 decades and look where its at now. Poor QC and CS has left us all in grime.

On another note, I also noticed how alot of people has been busting on Panini's chops lately but, keep in mind, this is a whole new ballgame to them. I think we should at least lay off the throttle and see how they progress in the next few years. Just my 2 cents.

[eminem17]

ud sucks sometimes but they make a couple good products too so we will be missing out this year.

[mma138]

Originally Posted by mwheeler27

What I realize is that letting unethical, counterfeiting card companies to continue to produce questionable cards will allow the hobby to go downhill at an ever accelareting rate.

Upper deck does not deserve to ever produce another card again. They are very lucky they still have followers, although for the life of me, I can't figure out why.

well if your a hockey fan. what are you supposed to do ? ud is the only one. i was realy hoping that topps would come through for hockey. i have to say i was dissapointed when i found out paninni got the license. hopefully they will do a good job with it.

but what upper deck is really unacceptable. how can they be allowed to still be in business.

[The Madbacker]

This is so great on so many levels. Now it's up to Panini to grab the reigns and bring this hobby back to glory!

[ohiomike]

So with Panini the exclusive NFL card manufacturer now, does that mean we've seen the last of actually seeing the green of the turf in the background? Or any action shots featuring multiple players in on the same play? I can't remember the last time I've seen a Playoff/Donruss/Panini card feature anything but a standalone picture of the player with the entire background cropped out in favor of their bland designs.

Panini/Playoff has always offered good value for their box prices and seem to be doing things the right way in terms of on-card autos and as few redemptions as possible. But they are severely lacking in any innovation or creativity that I think the hobby really needs. Here's an idea... get better photographers so that you can rely on the actual pictures on the card to sell a product rather than reply on a graphic artist to take any uniqueness out of the picture and just turn it into another generic looking release. Maybe they should go hire Mike Cramer and some of the other talent behind Pacific Trading cards. They may not have ever caught on, but they definitely offered the hobby the most innovation and creativity through the 90's that the other companies took and ran with (not to mention some of the best photography).

[wcbraun]

Originally Posted by wcbraun

What's the difference between NFL Players which announced last week that it renewed with UD and NFL Properties.

Is it actually the same and last weeks announcement was premature?

Can anyone answer this?

[mwheeler27]

Originally Posted by pskell02

Its only a matter of time for companies like Press Pass and ITG to get a major license. They have some of the best stuff going, yet get very little love because they are not licensed. Which, IMO is a shame.

Famous Fabrics received a whole lot more love than what nearly everyone thought they would. In fact, a lot of people are still in denial.

It's been said before...licensing is becoming less and less important. If ud continues to produce cards in which they don't have a license for, people will still buy them, and that will further open the doors for other unlicensed products.

Someone has been predicting what's been happening for a while now. Can you believe it's all happening so quickly?

THANK YOU upper deck!

[mwheeler27]

Originally Posted by wcbraun

Can anyone answer this?

Just like the MLB and MLBPA are different entities, so are the NFL and NFLPA.

As I understand it, the MLB and NFL own the rights to the logos, team names and color schemes. In order to use these to market a product, you have to have their permission.

[alpine]

Everyone on this board has at one time probably been screwed over by UD. Whether its an outstanding redemption, poor customer service, backdoor rumblings, counterfeiting Yu-Gi-Oh cards, or buying a horrid case of Exquisite, etc. Personally, I will never forget the pathetic case of 09-10 Exquisite Basketball case I bought.

I can also turn it around & state just recently, I have bought a great case of 09 Ultimate Baseball, my last three boxes of 09 SP Authentic, & an outstanding single box of 08 Exquisite Football. They have brought joy & profits over the years to a number of collectors, investors, etc.

Personally, I would take the good with the bad. There are some great employees @ UD, including designers, & others spread throughout the chain.
With the demise of UD, who takes over & with what? How can a niche product like Sport Kings appeal to regular collectors? Their product is limited, costly, & not readily available.
IMO, Upper Deck needs to regroup & get rid of McWilliam. The UD employees need to buy him out & start fresh. His friggin ego must be bigger than the state of California. If he's the owner, CEO, & walks on water over at Upper Deck, how can any of this make sense to him to continue with just Hockey, collectible & collegiate cards? He's the problem. Just sell & get your sorry butt out of there.

[wcbraun]

Originally Posted by mwheeler27

Just like the MLB and MLBPA are different entities, so are the NFL and NFLPA.

As I understand it, the MLB and NFL own the rights to the logos, team names and color schemes. In order to use these to market a product, you have to have their permission.

Thank you. Kind of what I thought but with the two different stories so close together it was a little confusing.

[The Madbacker]

Originally Posted by alpine

Everyone on this board has at one time probably been screwed over by UD. Whether its an outstanding redemption, poor customer service, backdoor rumblings, counterfeiting Yu-Gi-Oh cards, or buying a horrid case of Exquisite, etc. Personally, I will never forget the pathetic case of 09-10 Exquisite Basketball case I bought.

I can also turn it around & state just recently, I have bought a great case of 09 Ultimate Baseball, my last three boxes of 09 SP Authentic, & an outstanding single box of 08 Exquisite Football. They have brought joy & profits over the years to a number of collectors, investors, etc.

Personally, I would take the good with the bad. There are some great employees @ UD, including designers, & others spread throughout the chain.
With the demise of UD, who takes over & with what? How can a niche product like Sport Kings appeal to regular collectors? Their product is limited, costly, & not readily available.
IMO, Upper Deck needs to regroup & get rid of McWilliam. The UD employees need to buy him out & start fresh. His friggin ego must be bigger than the state of California. If he's the owner, CEO, & walks on water over at Upper Deck, how can any of this make sense to him to continue with just Hockey, collectible & collegiate cards? He's the problem. Just sell & get your sorry butt out of there.

McWilliam is the problem but he owns the company.

[gomiamigo]

Originally Posted by Brandt504

You guys do realize that with no competition out there this hobby is just going to go downhill right?

No, they are too dumb and filled with irrational hatred. Let's all go back to the days of mediocre Topps/Paninin cardboard when they were making 1.8 BILLION cards a year that are all now worthless.

UD came up with the first way to prevent fans/collectors from being suckered by easily counterfeited cardboard cards [insert ironic note here] and the best and most influential set of the past 30+ years. They saved Fleer [for those who like Fleer cards] and produce the best NBA and NHL cards on an annual basis [or did until this year.]

McWilliams unethical != bad cards. The design, layout, and photography is still light-years ahead of Panini, for instance. I look fwd to SPA, Ultimate, and Exquisite every year - NT/Topps hasn't come close to these products in recent years.

Less competition is never good for collectors, it's ONLY GOOD for the monopoly provider and NFL/licensors.

[gomiamigo]

Originally Posted by cruiserdaddy7

Hey mswift,
How do you even act like UD has good customer service? Anyone on here will tell you UD has the WORST customer service of all time.

My experiences with Topps over the years for NBA and MLB product has been substantially worse. Don't presume to speak for all collectors here, thanks. I buy high-end Topps, Panini/Playoff, UD, and Razor products. UD isn't even close to the worst, look at the screw job Press Pass just handed out to people who got the #/5 Montana auto from Bowl Edition that took over 15 months to be redeemed and they screwed them up. Ridiculous.

Yeah, UD has too many redemptions in certain products, I completely agree. But the other guys aren't significantly better for the stuff I've collected the past few years. I'm not willing to trade 'no good competition' for 'slightly better redemption rate.'

[Brad]

Originally Posted by gomiamigo

They saved Fleer [for those who like Fleer cards] and produce the best NBA and NHL cards on an annual basis

Didn't UD have the exclusive for the NHL for the last several years? Did they make billions of hockey cards that are "all now worthless". Having an exclusive doesn't mean you are going to destroy the industry.

Guess you are the one "too dumb and filled with irrational hatred" to acknowledge the facts. With UD leaving, I suggest you find another hobby. You'll be missed as much as UD, lol.

[lildones]

Originally Posted by gomiamigo

No, they are too dumb and filled with irrational hatred. Let's all go back to the days of mediocre Topps/Paninin cardboard when they were making 1.8 BILLION cards a year that are all now worthless.

UD came up with the first way to prevent fans/collectors from being suckered by easily counterfeited cardboard cards [insert ironic note here] and the best and most influential set of the past 30+ years. They saved Fleer [for those who like Fleer cards] and produce the best NBA and NHL cards on an annual basis [or did until this year.]

McWilliams unethical != bad cards. The design, layout, and photography is still light-years ahead of Panini, for instance. I look fwd to SPA, Ultimate, and Exquisite every year - NT/Topps hasn't come close to these products in recent years.

Less competition is never good for collectors, it's ONLY GOOD for the monopoly provider and NFL/licensors.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Stickers autos are my favorite Panini better step it up in 2010 with NT and limited being on card or I am probably going to stop collecting, well atleast anything new.

[kbritt]

aww. what will be the new super hitgh end poduct 2 take the place of exquisite?

[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by kbritt

aww. what will be the new super hitgh end poduct 2 take the place of exquisite?

Hopefully nothing. That was part of the problem in the first place.

[fm8418]

That is so true, there is no need to release high end products. There needs to be a study on how much it costs to make a Exquisite card compared to a regular Upper Deck base card.

Also I would welcome ITG just so we could get rid of their horrible non license multi jersey cards.

[kbritt]

I hope panini releases a national treasures type product

[pskell02]

Originally Posted by kbritt

I hope panini releases a national treasures type product

You do realize that Panini is the company that produces NT right