Brendan_B
OZCT Supporter
With many in self isolation or working from home, I thought I would do this years Traders review a touch early. I haven't gone that hard this year so I haven't held many of the higher end cards in hand but here goes!
As always, feel free to like, dislike and add constructive advice.
OVERVIEW
As we have become accustomed to, Traders is a 36 packet box, 12 box per case release. At $4 per packet, that price provides a reasonable value for money with the hits available. This year has seen a significant change up with the addition of Priority Boxes and Hobby Starter Packs. I will review these separately. The packets and boxes are a nice clean design. The quality control seems to be quite good this year, previous Traders releases I have had to send back several damage cards but not one this time. I think TLA's biggest issues are there lack of communication with the end consumer and their want to dump all stock on the market, which significantly lowers the ongoing and secondary market values. Why pay $130 a box now when I know that in 4-6 months time, I will pick up boxes for nearly half that. The collation seems a bit off this year as I have seen single boxes with a Legend, Predictor and an SAS Authentic. Great box if you hit one but really makes the chances of a 'dud' box increase.
PRIORITY BOXES
When I first learnt of these, I was very skeptical and thought this is just a massive cash grab. The way they were marketed as being available to the collector and then being bought out by the dealers was very poorly done by TLA, another example of how poor their communication can be. Personally, I was happy for these to be a dealer only product to help drive sales for regular Traders up. I am led to believe there was very little mark up, if any for a dealer to sell a sealed Priority Box so I was grateful to get one to open. I still believe this was an easy cash grab for TLA but the extras in the product are quite nice with the bronze parallel street arts (/30) and parallel club heroes (/15) proving very popular and hard to come by (unless you collect Titans, Warriors, Dogs or Penrith). While it doesn't seem to be advertised, the parallel version above replace the regular club hero and black street art. This isn't a big deal but should be mentioned to the buyer. Overall I think the Priority Boxes have been a great addition and would be happy to see them become a prominent feature as long as TLA don't see $$ signs like they have with starter packs and increase the run past 40 cases.
STARTER PACKS
Extremely popular and with good reason. Great value, chances of a numbered hit separate from the packets and plenty of decent hits coming from the packets. I will review the bonus cards for the hobby and retail separately but first things first, fix the packaging! Select have adopted the starter / value pack and have a tab on the back to make opening the packet much easier, this is something TLA need to do. Secondly, make the retail starter packet plastic frosted so the bonus card can't been seen. The pilfering of the starter packs to get numbered hits is ridiculous and just promotes greed. It also drives down the secondary market significantly when a collector has 30+ blacks and 30+ for sale at once.
FOLDERS
20 Traders folders are very generic and without the year being branded on them, it allows TLA to use left over folders from release to release. I think the year should be branded and the design, or at color should change each year. I did like the way Select mixed their folders up in design and the quality of Select folders seems to be a bit better. At $25, with a bonus card, the value is okay. I don't mind the bonus card (Magic Round Parallel) this year, quite a good looking card.
BASE SET
This years base set is very plain and quite similar to 2014 Traders. I say this year after year, but why ten cards per team set? Let's do 9 with the logo / checklist being in the middle of the page. My preference would be to have different players in both Traders and Elite.
PARALLEL SPECIAL
This set is a really nice contrast to the base set and certainly one of the nicer Traders parallel sets produced. I note the club logo parallel specials are not 1:36 packets this year, why does this have to change year to year, it makes no sense.
REP STARS
A bit of a change up from previous years with all levels of rep being in the one set. For a low end set it is fine, very plain but that is to be expected. There is no real value in these with most rep starts already selling for 50c each. Good to see the IAS and MAS added in for some variety.
SEASON TO REMEMBER
This is a very tired set. The theme is fine although I am sure with a bit of research they could choose much better moments. The actual card design is very bright and shiny and I don't mind the puzzle on the back of the card as it adds something extra. This is probably the set that is easy to roll over although I personally would like to see a Milestone set each Traders release for those hitting 150 games and above.
MAGIC ROUND
Not a bad set despite there being Magic Round cards available from the actual event. The design is nice enough with the black background making the player really standout. Player selection seems okay and the stats on the back from the game are cool. I have found that many of the Magic Round cards I have pulled have had corner damage which is very obvious due to the black background and finish.
MAGIC ROUND PARALLEL (ALBUM CARD)
Not much to say here that I haven't mentioned above, Not a bad variant with the white back ground, pretty good addition overall.
STARTOONS CLEAR & COLOURED
I will review all startoons here. This is a very tired theme, surely this is the last release for them? I get the attraction for younger kids and the clear ST actually fell really good in hand. The starter pack variants are okay and having the yellow ST numbered to /150 certainly added a level of interest. Nice enough looking card, just a bit tired I feel.
LEAGUE LEADERS BRONZE / SILVER & GOLD
Certainly a very different addition to the hobby starter packs this year. The cards themselves are nice in hand, a different them and the gold edition being numbered to /100 is great. The actual player / team selection is a bit off with on;y five teams covering the 9 card set. The stats seem a bit out compared to the NRL site also but maybe it is because the stats were taken from the end of the regular season. In any event, I think that there should have been nine categories with the top player being gold, second being silver and third being bronze, not three levels per player. See below as an example;
Points Scored
Mitchell - gold
Croker - silver
Smith - Bronze
Already you have two additional teams represented. You could add tries, goals, line breaks, PCM, try assists, offloads, tackles and all run meters
STREET ART WHITE / BLACK & BRONZE
Great addition. A completely different theme and they looking really good. I like the matte finish and the style of the card in landscape is also very effective. Having different levels is often met with criticism, and I can see why but in this case I think it works. I actually think the bronze variant should have been the standard box hit with the black being the numbered (priority) variant. None the less, a great inclusion, good player selection but not one that can be repeated.
CLUB HERO
This was another very tired concept but has been rejuvenated very successfully. The cards look great in hand, love the landscape style and design and they are a great box hit. The Priority parallel version also look great in hand and being numbered to /15 are very popular. Really well done is this set.
RETIREMENTS
A classic that needs to keep rolling out year after year. A really nicely designed card and with some cracking players leaving our game (and also some less popular toilers), this set is a great tribute. The values holds nicely in the $12-$20 range and this makes putting the set together quite achievable. My on;y criticism has been the same since day one. The card should go to the club they represented most or were best known at. Sometimes this is difficult but the alternative is having each club logo pictured for a player that had multiple clubs. How Maloney wasn't pictured in a Sharks jersey given he led them to their maiden premiership is beyond me as is having Fensom as a Broncos card, much the same as Berrigan was a Raiders card a few years back.
AUTHENTIC SIGNATURE & AS BRONZE
Why TLA have removed the lower level printed version of these in the fifth year is beyond me. Having three version worked really well, especially from a visual / display perspective. This is another bizarre change for no real reason that leaves collectors scratching their heads. The actual card design is nice, landscape for signature cards is always my preference, leaves plenty of space for the signature. Some of the signatures look a bit ordinary and I am not sure if this is because they were placed straight into packets, poor quality of pens used or the players not taking time. Higher end cards like this should be via redemption only to ensure the card is at least sent to a punter in good condition. A fair point was raised about the redemption card getting damaged and lowering value, maybe once the redemption is sent in it is destroyed and you only receive the signature card back? This would certainly solve that issue. Player selection is a bit poor for a high end card. There are some great choices with Haas, Bateman, Paulo and Maumalo being the pick. Releasing so many signature cards each year is a double edged sword. It is great to get signatures of some players that you wouldn't otherwise get but the options certainly dry up! Dropping the authentic s back to /100 was a good option however having upped them to /170 last year has really killed the value. Collectors only want to pay $100-$120 for most of these which is in line with last tears prices. Even the less popular teams should be $150+ cards.
PREDICTORS
Why oh why can TLA not get this simple concept right? Numbered to /220 (or thereabouts), with only 50 sets (aside from premiers) redeemable despite TLA adverting only 20. My concern is that they will change their minds again and if you are not one of the first 20 registered, you will miss out! Every card should be redeemable and the theme (team photo) should be mixed up each year. My suggestion is knock the odds to 1:3 boxes and leave the premiership predictors unnumbered. Make each card redeemable as either the premiers for standalone or a full set of 16 to get a team per card. Further, introduce a Dally M predictor at 1:6 boxes. Make each card numbered to 50, each team has five candidates put forward with the image being one that actually makes the card collectible if the the player does not win. The winning card should be redeemable for a Dally M signature, a wild card will be needed for this set.
4 & 2
This set is a continuation from 19 Traders with the eight teams who missed last year getting one. A fairly basic concept (top try scorer / goal scorer) and a nice enough looking card that unfortunately holds little value despite being a case hit. Due to the theme the players depicted are generally more high profile and I would imagine that this type of card will continue moving forward but with a different them, much like the Dynamic Duos morphed into the 4 & 2's.
LEGENDS SIGNATURES
Another great set that needs to roll on year after year. It has been said that that the player selection was a bit down but I disagree, Petero is one of the great all times props with premierships and multiple origin / Australian jerseys to his name, a 300 gamer also I believe. 'Napper' Lyons is also a great choice, another 300 gamer, nearly a one club player, origin and national jerseys, premierships and one of those who was so smart with ball in hand, slowed the game down to suit himself, all class. I am undecided as to whether I prefer the players being in their Australian or club strip, both look great. The signatures themselves looked to be okay quality, there have been a few issue which again could be managed with the use of a redemption card...Anyways, great card, great set, please keep this going and make sure there is a Brad Clyde in green for 2021!
CASE CARDS
Great to see the Legends case cards back but numbered to /37, this makes it much harder for the average punter who can only afford this level. Why these were removed last year I have no idea and while the Retirements Parallel CC seems to look okay, I would get rid of them, go back to Legends CC only. Sometimes less is more and some consistency from release to release is good.
SUMMARY
Another very solid release with good value for money. Some great aspects, some that could use a big change up and others areas that could be explored. TLA seem to get better from release to release but to me, communication is very poor and a decent understanding of the hobby. There are many knowledgeable people on this site or in the greater NRL card community who could offer some great advice. I am going with a 7/10 on this one.
As always, feel free to like, dislike and add constructive advice.
OVERVIEW
As we have become accustomed to, Traders is a 36 packet box, 12 box per case release. At $4 per packet, that price provides a reasonable value for money with the hits available. This year has seen a significant change up with the addition of Priority Boxes and Hobby Starter Packs. I will review these separately. The packets and boxes are a nice clean design. The quality control seems to be quite good this year, previous Traders releases I have had to send back several damage cards but not one this time. I think TLA's biggest issues are there lack of communication with the end consumer and their want to dump all stock on the market, which significantly lowers the ongoing and secondary market values. Why pay $130 a box now when I know that in 4-6 months time, I will pick up boxes for nearly half that. The collation seems a bit off this year as I have seen single boxes with a Legend, Predictor and an SAS Authentic. Great box if you hit one but really makes the chances of a 'dud' box increase.
PRIORITY BOXES
When I first learnt of these, I was very skeptical and thought this is just a massive cash grab. The way they were marketed as being available to the collector and then being bought out by the dealers was very poorly done by TLA, another example of how poor their communication can be. Personally, I was happy for these to be a dealer only product to help drive sales for regular Traders up. I am led to believe there was very little mark up, if any for a dealer to sell a sealed Priority Box so I was grateful to get one to open. I still believe this was an easy cash grab for TLA but the extras in the product are quite nice with the bronze parallel street arts (/30) and parallel club heroes (/15) proving very popular and hard to come by (unless you collect Titans, Warriors, Dogs or Penrith). While it doesn't seem to be advertised, the parallel version above replace the regular club hero and black street art. This isn't a big deal but should be mentioned to the buyer. Overall I think the Priority Boxes have been a great addition and would be happy to see them become a prominent feature as long as TLA don't see $$ signs like they have with starter packs and increase the run past 40 cases.
STARTER PACKS
Extremely popular and with good reason. Great value, chances of a numbered hit separate from the packets and plenty of decent hits coming from the packets. I will review the bonus cards for the hobby and retail separately but first things first, fix the packaging! Select have adopted the starter / value pack and have a tab on the back to make opening the packet much easier, this is something TLA need to do. Secondly, make the retail starter packet plastic frosted so the bonus card can't been seen. The pilfering of the starter packs to get numbered hits is ridiculous and just promotes greed. It also drives down the secondary market significantly when a collector has 30+ blacks and 30+ for sale at once.
FOLDERS
20 Traders folders are very generic and without the year being branded on them, it allows TLA to use left over folders from release to release. I think the year should be branded and the design, or at color should change each year. I did like the way Select mixed their folders up in design and the quality of Select folders seems to be a bit better. At $25, with a bonus card, the value is okay. I don't mind the bonus card (Magic Round Parallel) this year, quite a good looking card.
BASE SET
This years base set is very plain and quite similar to 2014 Traders. I say this year after year, but why ten cards per team set? Let's do 9 with the logo / checklist being in the middle of the page. My preference would be to have different players in both Traders and Elite.
PARALLEL SPECIAL
This set is a really nice contrast to the base set and certainly one of the nicer Traders parallel sets produced. I note the club logo parallel specials are not 1:36 packets this year, why does this have to change year to year, it makes no sense.
REP STARS
A bit of a change up from previous years with all levels of rep being in the one set. For a low end set it is fine, very plain but that is to be expected. There is no real value in these with most rep starts already selling for 50c each. Good to see the IAS and MAS added in for some variety.
SEASON TO REMEMBER
This is a very tired set. The theme is fine although I am sure with a bit of research they could choose much better moments. The actual card design is very bright and shiny and I don't mind the puzzle on the back of the card as it adds something extra. This is probably the set that is easy to roll over although I personally would like to see a Milestone set each Traders release for those hitting 150 games and above.
MAGIC ROUND
Not a bad set despite there being Magic Round cards available from the actual event. The design is nice enough with the black background making the player really standout. Player selection seems okay and the stats on the back from the game are cool. I have found that many of the Magic Round cards I have pulled have had corner damage which is very obvious due to the black background and finish.
MAGIC ROUND PARALLEL (ALBUM CARD)
Not much to say here that I haven't mentioned above, Not a bad variant with the white back ground, pretty good addition overall.
STARTOONS CLEAR & COLOURED
I will review all startoons here. This is a very tired theme, surely this is the last release for them? I get the attraction for younger kids and the clear ST actually fell really good in hand. The starter pack variants are okay and having the yellow ST numbered to /150 certainly added a level of interest. Nice enough looking card, just a bit tired I feel.
LEAGUE LEADERS BRONZE / SILVER & GOLD
Certainly a very different addition to the hobby starter packs this year. The cards themselves are nice in hand, a different them and the gold edition being numbered to /100 is great. The actual player / team selection is a bit off with on;y five teams covering the 9 card set. The stats seem a bit out compared to the NRL site also but maybe it is because the stats were taken from the end of the regular season. In any event, I think that there should have been nine categories with the top player being gold, second being silver and third being bronze, not three levels per player. See below as an example;
Points Scored
Mitchell - gold
Croker - silver
Smith - Bronze
Already you have two additional teams represented. You could add tries, goals, line breaks, PCM, try assists, offloads, tackles and all run meters
STREET ART WHITE / BLACK & BRONZE
Great addition. A completely different theme and they looking really good. I like the matte finish and the style of the card in landscape is also very effective. Having different levels is often met with criticism, and I can see why but in this case I think it works. I actually think the bronze variant should have been the standard box hit with the black being the numbered (priority) variant. None the less, a great inclusion, good player selection but not one that can be repeated.
CLUB HERO
This was another very tired concept but has been rejuvenated very successfully. The cards look great in hand, love the landscape style and design and they are a great box hit. The Priority parallel version also look great in hand and being numbered to /15 are very popular. Really well done is this set.
RETIREMENTS
A classic that needs to keep rolling out year after year. A really nicely designed card and with some cracking players leaving our game (and also some less popular toilers), this set is a great tribute. The values holds nicely in the $12-$20 range and this makes putting the set together quite achievable. My on;y criticism has been the same since day one. The card should go to the club they represented most or were best known at. Sometimes this is difficult but the alternative is having each club logo pictured for a player that had multiple clubs. How Maloney wasn't pictured in a Sharks jersey given he led them to their maiden premiership is beyond me as is having Fensom as a Broncos card, much the same as Berrigan was a Raiders card a few years back.
AUTHENTIC SIGNATURE & AS BRONZE
Why TLA have removed the lower level printed version of these in the fifth year is beyond me. Having three version worked really well, especially from a visual / display perspective. This is another bizarre change for no real reason that leaves collectors scratching their heads. The actual card design is nice, landscape for signature cards is always my preference, leaves plenty of space for the signature. Some of the signatures look a bit ordinary and I am not sure if this is because they were placed straight into packets, poor quality of pens used or the players not taking time. Higher end cards like this should be via redemption only to ensure the card is at least sent to a punter in good condition. A fair point was raised about the redemption card getting damaged and lowering value, maybe once the redemption is sent in it is destroyed and you only receive the signature card back? This would certainly solve that issue. Player selection is a bit poor for a high end card. There are some great choices with Haas, Bateman, Paulo and Maumalo being the pick. Releasing so many signature cards each year is a double edged sword. It is great to get signatures of some players that you wouldn't otherwise get but the options certainly dry up! Dropping the authentic s back to /100 was a good option however having upped them to /170 last year has really killed the value. Collectors only want to pay $100-$120 for most of these which is in line with last tears prices. Even the less popular teams should be $150+ cards.
PREDICTORS
Why oh why can TLA not get this simple concept right? Numbered to /220 (or thereabouts), with only 50 sets (aside from premiers) redeemable despite TLA adverting only 20. My concern is that they will change their minds again and if you are not one of the first 20 registered, you will miss out! Every card should be redeemable and the theme (team photo) should be mixed up each year. My suggestion is knock the odds to 1:3 boxes and leave the premiership predictors unnumbered. Make each card redeemable as either the premiers for standalone or a full set of 16 to get a team per card. Further, introduce a Dally M predictor at 1:6 boxes. Make each card numbered to 50, each team has five candidates put forward with the image being one that actually makes the card collectible if the the player does not win. The winning card should be redeemable for a Dally M signature, a wild card will be needed for this set.
4 & 2
This set is a continuation from 19 Traders with the eight teams who missed last year getting one. A fairly basic concept (top try scorer / goal scorer) and a nice enough looking card that unfortunately holds little value despite being a case hit. Due to the theme the players depicted are generally more high profile and I would imagine that this type of card will continue moving forward but with a different them, much like the Dynamic Duos morphed into the 4 & 2's.
LEGENDS SIGNATURES
Another great set that needs to roll on year after year. It has been said that that the player selection was a bit down but I disagree, Petero is one of the great all times props with premierships and multiple origin / Australian jerseys to his name, a 300 gamer also I believe. 'Napper' Lyons is also a great choice, another 300 gamer, nearly a one club player, origin and national jerseys, premierships and one of those who was so smart with ball in hand, slowed the game down to suit himself, all class. I am undecided as to whether I prefer the players being in their Australian or club strip, both look great. The signatures themselves looked to be okay quality, there have been a few issue which again could be managed with the use of a redemption card...Anyways, great card, great set, please keep this going and make sure there is a Brad Clyde in green for 2021!
CASE CARDS
Great to see the Legends case cards back but numbered to /37, this makes it much harder for the average punter who can only afford this level. Why these were removed last year I have no idea and while the Retirements Parallel CC seems to look okay, I would get rid of them, go back to Legends CC only. Sometimes less is more and some consistency from release to release is good.
SUMMARY
Another very solid release with good value for money. Some great aspects, some that could use a big change up and others areas that could be explored. TLA seem to get better from release to release but to me, communication is very poor and a decent understanding of the hobby. There are many knowledgeable people on this site or in the greater NRL card community who could offer some great advice. I am going with a 7/10 on this one.