Brendan_B
OZCT Supporter
Well OZCT members, boxes of common cards are being dumped into the fire pits to counter the last of those westerlies, low end insert cards are being sold for 50c each and the NRL is down to four teams! It has taken a bit longer to get together this time but finally, here it is, the 2019 NRL Elite review!!
There is a detailed summary at the end but in short, this is a cracking release and easily the best Elite so far. Congrats TLA!!
As usual, please add your two cents and try to be objective!
OVERVIEW
As we have become accustomed to, Elite is a 24 packet box, ten box per case release. At $8 per packet it is not cheap but I feel that price provides a reasonable value for money. There have been suggestions that Elite should be split into a hobby and retail release with the latter being cheaper ($6 per packet) but having less of the big hits. Previously, I thought this was not a bad idea when it was obvious that hobby cases were 'stocked''. This year, intended or not, the big hits seem to well spread through both dealer and newsagent stock. The packets and boxes are a nice clean design and quite appealing however the collation in respect to inserts has been an issue. For a high end product of this nature, each sealed box should have a numbered hit, I believe there are enough numbered hits to make this happen. I know that odds are across the whole production run and not guaranteed per box / case but I am sure there is away for this to occur. The quality control seems to be quite good this year, previous Elite releases I have had to send back several damage cards but not one this time.
FOLDERS
19 Elite folders are nice. The design doesn't really change much year to year, just the color. I did like the way Select mixed their folders up but that also worked because they changed their high end release name each year. At $25, I feel there should be a folder card or packet of Elite included.
BASE SET
This years base set has a nice clean look to it. The Elite release has really made the matte finish on cards their own and it works well. I do not really chase IP's (aside from FOTG) but I am sure these base cards would come up a treat. 144 is a good number, with nine per page however I would still like to see the club logo be the 'middle card'' of each team set and instead of a checklist contain some info about premierships etc.
SILVER SPECIAL
This set is a really nice contrast to the base set and certainly one of the nice Elite parallel sets produced. I am a big fan of the use of different images to the base and the only way this set could improve would be to foil number the parallels to value add for the low end packet buyer. I liked how this was done in Glory and I believe the AFL do it in their series 2 release. The obvious detriment would be that it drives prices up.
SPEED MACHINES
This insert series is a cracker. Really well designed cards, colorful and pretty good player selection. Obviously a few players changed clubs during the season but I would imagine production would be well underway when this occurred so it is just one of those things. I cannot believe that the 32 card set is selling for less than $20, it is just crazy!
WNRL
It is good to see the continued support of the WNRL with a stand alone insert set. The cards are just a base with gold behind the player instead of grey and to that end, I feel they are a bit plain and could certainly have had the WNRL in gold foil.
SPOTLIGHT
This is my least favorite low end insert set. The card design is okay, a bit on the plain side and I feel this was an insert set made to make up the numbers. This is reflected in the pricing with most of these cards struggling to hit $1.50ea despite being only 2 per box. This set will obviously continue in Elite 20 and it will be interesting to see if Spotlight jersey cards feature one of the two players in this set. From a personal perspective I really hope so, a Whitehead jersey card would be great!
DALLY M
I was really happy to see this set continue. This years design is great and I really like how the set expands to cover other awards aside from the Team of the Year. I would imagine that these would look great IP signed and the faded image of the player is a real winner despite making each player look like they have light highlights in their hair!
CAPTAINS
After three seasons of this set, I really felt it was time for it to go, particularly based on last years set and the nickname Çraptains'!! I was very wrong, this set is great, the gloss finish provides a strong point of difference to previous years as does the landscape style and use of actual images including a game shot with the full background! This will have pleased lots of collectors who love the Scanlens! My only criticism is that Hodgson was named a co-captain in the off season and GI went pretty early, not sure if he could have been scratched. I will acknowledge thought that having a co-captain on these cards would be a very difficult design to make.
CUSTODIANS
Another very nice insert set. Obvious player selection due to the position and some quality players/ The gold foil on the right is a classy touch, hopefully moving forward they continue this set but a different position each year. This is a great addition as a box card.
YOUNG GUNS SIGNATURE
Very nice cards. I love the grey highlighted area around the player and the card is not too 'busy'' which allows the signature to standout. From the cards that I have seen, the signature quality has been good however there seems to be a couple of different pens or at least different thickness creeping in again which is not ideal. I was thrilled with CNK as a player selection and overall I felt the player selection was quite good with some genuine stars in the making.
LEAGUE SENSATIONS SIGNATURE
My initial response to these was that I wasn't a big fan. The first few I saw had poor quality signatures and the player had signed over their image and up the card. You can't really give TLA grief over this though, imagine trying to tell big Klemmer his signature needs work...My other initial issue with this card design was the gold LS logo. I have come to like it more than I did initially but I feel it takes a bit of focus away from the signature and clashes with the gold around the player. This logo nneded to be more subtle. Player selection is again excellent headlined by Ferguson and Surgess and from a personal point of view I was happy to add a Sezer to the PC despite his average moniker.
YGB / LSB
I am very happy these continued as they are an exquisite card, one of my very favorites ever made. The issue I had with LS as outlined above is not a problem for the LSB, it compliments the card nicely. The personal touch by Ferguson is brilliant and I would love to see more of this moving forward. Aside from the Surgess getting big $$ the prices are down on these which is disappointing as they are rare and a great card. Now to find that CNK *01 black YG...
RUBY / SAPPHIRE MOJOS
These are a beautifully designed card and really work. They are classy and having the Sapphires inserted individually is another masterstroke as it has kept prices up and really value adds to the box and packet buyer. In comparison, last years mojos are ordinary. TLA have really nailed this these sets.
EMERALD / BLACK DIAMOND MOJOS
As above, these are really classy looking cards and the design works perfectly for a high end hit. I am glad the emerald and black diamond have remained as sets as hitting a mojo packet with one of these is a great experience. I like the dual images taken from the Ruby and Sapphire sets and the reversing of these images on each level. The Mojo concept was getting a bit tired but the design and way they have been inserted has given it a good freshen up.
CASE CARDS
The Head to Head case cards are easily the best case cards released to date. Reasonably low number (/61), all teams covered and some cracking choices such as Mitchell v Chambers and Surgess v Graham. The obvious issue is the Titans / Warriors card having the names back the front...a fairly significant stuff up...The design on this insert set is well done with the team color behind the player making the card very aesthetically pleasing.
SPOTLIGHT JERSEY
I like this new concept and the move away from the RTF series where many of the same teams were getting card release after release due to their success. Some joy for long suffering Titans fans who don't look close to being a top eight team and some excellent player selection overall. There have been some really nice patches around although I wish the best patches were kept for 01 and jersey numbered cards. These seems to be holding a bit more value this release which is probably due to the lesser number produced (/83).
SPOTLIGHT JERSEY SIGNATURE
The booklet design is very innovative and while I am yet to hold one in hand (I have the Jurbo *13 sitting at the Post Office), the images I have seen are excellent. Some really nice patches and plenty of room for the signature which allows focus on the two most important aspects of the card, the signature and the patch. I really look forward to the Canberra version in 2020!
ALL STARS MATCH BALL
Another card I haven't held in hand but seem to be well received with plenty of nice ball patches, prices holding okay and good player selection. Tigers fan or not, Benji has had such an influence over the modern game that I would be happy to have this one in the PC. The image and match the ball were used in are obviously quite dated but this is not an issue for me.
FUTERA GOLD 1/1
I am really glad to see these back and the design is absolutely second to none. Clearly, the best patches have been saved for these cards and so they should. I have not seen one in hand but the posted images really do such a rare and high end card justice.
GOLDEN TICKET
Another masterstroke (pun intended) by TLA inserting these on a team basis. How exciting would it be to bust one of these? Even the redemption looks classy and again, this really value adds to those breaking product with a chance to hit a 1/1 and full team master set.
SUMMARY
A cracking release, easily the best Elite to date. The overall design, quality and value for money in this release is top shelf. My biggest concern is the collation as mentioned at the start. There are plenty of numbered hits to ensure that each box has at least one numbered hit. I give this release an 8.5/10.
Well done TLA!
There is a detailed summary at the end but in short, this is a cracking release and easily the best Elite so far. Congrats TLA!!
As usual, please add your two cents and try to be objective!
OVERVIEW
As we have become accustomed to, Elite is a 24 packet box, ten box per case release. At $8 per packet it is not cheap but I feel that price provides a reasonable value for money. There have been suggestions that Elite should be split into a hobby and retail release with the latter being cheaper ($6 per packet) but having less of the big hits. Previously, I thought this was not a bad idea when it was obvious that hobby cases were 'stocked''. This year, intended or not, the big hits seem to well spread through both dealer and newsagent stock. The packets and boxes are a nice clean design and quite appealing however the collation in respect to inserts has been an issue. For a high end product of this nature, each sealed box should have a numbered hit, I believe there are enough numbered hits to make this happen. I know that odds are across the whole production run and not guaranteed per box / case but I am sure there is away for this to occur. The quality control seems to be quite good this year, previous Elite releases I have had to send back several damage cards but not one this time.
FOLDERS
19 Elite folders are nice. The design doesn't really change much year to year, just the color. I did like the way Select mixed their folders up but that also worked because they changed their high end release name each year. At $25, I feel there should be a folder card or packet of Elite included.
BASE SET
This years base set has a nice clean look to it. The Elite release has really made the matte finish on cards their own and it works well. I do not really chase IP's (aside from FOTG) but I am sure these base cards would come up a treat. 144 is a good number, with nine per page however I would still like to see the club logo be the 'middle card'' of each team set and instead of a checklist contain some info about premierships etc.
SILVER SPECIAL
This set is a really nice contrast to the base set and certainly one of the nice Elite parallel sets produced. I am a big fan of the use of different images to the base and the only way this set could improve would be to foil number the parallels to value add for the low end packet buyer. I liked how this was done in Glory and I believe the AFL do it in their series 2 release. The obvious detriment would be that it drives prices up.
SPEED MACHINES
This insert series is a cracker. Really well designed cards, colorful and pretty good player selection. Obviously a few players changed clubs during the season but I would imagine production would be well underway when this occurred so it is just one of those things. I cannot believe that the 32 card set is selling for less than $20, it is just crazy!
WNRL
It is good to see the continued support of the WNRL with a stand alone insert set. The cards are just a base with gold behind the player instead of grey and to that end, I feel they are a bit plain and could certainly have had the WNRL in gold foil.
SPOTLIGHT
This is my least favorite low end insert set. The card design is okay, a bit on the plain side and I feel this was an insert set made to make up the numbers. This is reflected in the pricing with most of these cards struggling to hit $1.50ea despite being only 2 per box. This set will obviously continue in Elite 20 and it will be interesting to see if Spotlight jersey cards feature one of the two players in this set. From a personal perspective I really hope so, a Whitehead jersey card would be great!
DALLY M
I was really happy to see this set continue. This years design is great and I really like how the set expands to cover other awards aside from the Team of the Year. I would imagine that these would look great IP signed and the faded image of the player is a real winner despite making each player look like they have light highlights in their hair!
CAPTAINS
After three seasons of this set, I really felt it was time for it to go, particularly based on last years set and the nickname Çraptains'!! I was very wrong, this set is great, the gloss finish provides a strong point of difference to previous years as does the landscape style and use of actual images including a game shot with the full background! This will have pleased lots of collectors who love the Scanlens! My only criticism is that Hodgson was named a co-captain in the off season and GI went pretty early, not sure if he could have been scratched. I will acknowledge thought that having a co-captain on these cards would be a very difficult design to make.
CUSTODIANS
Another very nice insert set. Obvious player selection due to the position and some quality players/ The gold foil on the right is a classy touch, hopefully moving forward they continue this set but a different position each year. This is a great addition as a box card.
YOUNG GUNS SIGNATURE
Very nice cards. I love the grey highlighted area around the player and the card is not too 'busy'' which allows the signature to standout. From the cards that I have seen, the signature quality has been good however there seems to be a couple of different pens or at least different thickness creeping in again which is not ideal. I was thrilled with CNK as a player selection and overall I felt the player selection was quite good with some genuine stars in the making.
LEAGUE SENSATIONS SIGNATURE
My initial response to these was that I wasn't a big fan. The first few I saw had poor quality signatures and the player had signed over their image and up the card. You can't really give TLA grief over this though, imagine trying to tell big Klemmer his signature needs work...My other initial issue with this card design was the gold LS logo. I have come to like it more than I did initially but I feel it takes a bit of focus away from the signature and clashes with the gold around the player. This logo nneded to be more subtle. Player selection is again excellent headlined by Ferguson and Surgess and from a personal point of view I was happy to add a Sezer to the PC despite his average moniker.
YGB / LSB
I am very happy these continued as they are an exquisite card, one of my very favorites ever made. The issue I had with LS as outlined above is not a problem for the LSB, it compliments the card nicely. The personal touch by Ferguson is brilliant and I would love to see more of this moving forward. Aside from the Surgess getting big $$ the prices are down on these which is disappointing as they are rare and a great card. Now to find that CNK *01 black YG...
RUBY / SAPPHIRE MOJOS
These are a beautifully designed card and really work. They are classy and having the Sapphires inserted individually is another masterstroke as it has kept prices up and really value adds to the box and packet buyer. In comparison, last years mojos are ordinary. TLA have really nailed this these sets.
EMERALD / BLACK DIAMOND MOJOS
As above, these are really classy looking cards and the design works perfectly for a high end hit. I am glad the emerald and black diamond have remained as sets as hitting a mojo packet with one of these is a great experience. I like the dual images taken from the Ruby and Sapphire sets and the reversing of these images on each level. The Mojo concept was getting a bit tired but the design and way they have been inserted has given it a good freshen up.
CASE CARDS
The Head to Head case cards are easily the best case cards released to date. Reasonably low number (/61), all teams covered and some cracking choices such as Mitchell v Chambers and Surgess v Graham. The obvious issue is the Titans / Warriors card having the names back the front...a fairly significant stuff up...The design on this insert set is well done with the team color behind the player making the card very aesthetically pleasing.
SPOTLIGHT JERSEY
I like this new concept and the move away from the RTF series where many of the same teams were getting card release after release due to their success. Some joy for long suffering Titans fans who don't look close to being a top eight team and some excellent player selection overall. There have been some really nice patches around although I wish the best patches were kept for 01 and jersey numbered cards. These seems to be holding a bit more value this release which is probably due to the lesser number produced (/83).
SPOTLIGHT JERSEY SIGNATURE
The booklet design is very innovative and while I am yet to hold one in hand (I have the Jurbo *13 sitting at the Post Office), the images I have seen are excellent. Some really nice patches and plenty of room for the signature which allows focus on the two most important aspects of the card, the signature and the patch. I really look forward to the Canberra version in 2020!
ALL STARS MATCH BALL
Another card I haven't held in hand but seem to be well received with plenty of nice ball patches, prices holding okay and good player selection. Tigers fan or not, Benji has had such an influence over the modern game that I would be happy to have this one in the PC. The image and match the ball were used in are obviously quite dated but this is not an issue for me.
FUTERA GOLD 1/1
I am really glad to see these back and the design is absolutely second to none. Clearly, the best patches have been saved for these cards and so they should. I have not seen one in hand but the posted images really do such a rare and high end card justice.
GOLDEN TICKET
Another masterstroke (pun intended) by TLA inserting these on a team basis. How exciting would it be to bust one of these? Even the redemption looks classy and again, this really value adds to those breaking product with a chance to hit a 1/1 and full team master set.
SUMMARY
A cracking release, easily the best Elite to date. The overall design, quality and value for money in this release is top shelf. My biggest concern is the collation as mentioned at the start. There are plenty of numbered hits to ensure that each box has at least one numbered hit. I give this release an 8.5/10.
Well done TLA!
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