2019 Elite - Concept

[Rocket1908]

This is just me brainstorming about how to make Elite a better product for next year with some hypothetical set ideas, happy to hear your thoughts

The Set:
Base set - 144 cards
Parallels - 144 cards - 1 per 3 packs
Mojo Ruby - 144 cards - 40 per player - 1 per 36 packs
Mojo Sapphire - 144 cards - #/20 - Team Sets
Mojo Emerald - 144 cards - #/10 - Team Sets
Mojo Black Diamond - 144 cards - #/5 - Team Sets
Box Card - 16 cards - 1 included with every box

Engine Room - 64 cards - 1 per 4 packs
Spotlight - 48 cards - 1 per 6 packs
Aerodynamic - 32 cards - 1 per 9 packs
Captains - 18 cards - 1 per 18 packs
2018 300 Club - 5 cards - 1 per 36 packs

League Sensation Gold - 16 cards - 90 per player
League Sensation Black - 16 cards - 40 per player
Young Gun Gold - 16 cards - 90 per player
Young Gun Black - 16 cards - 40 per player

Jersey Patch - 4 cards - 165 per player
Jersey Patch signed - 4 cards - 80 per player
Jersey patch 1 of 1 - 5 cards - 1 per design

2018 Dally M Signature - 1 card - 55

What's what?

Box card - team emblem with team checklist on reverse
Engine Room - Same concept as 2016, limited to forwards only, 4 per team
Spotlight - One fast player (back 3/centre), play maker (half/hooker) and star forward per team
Aerodynamic - Two players per team, fullback/winger(s) not featured in Spotlight
Captains - 1 per team plus NSW and Queensland
2018 300 Club - Thaiday, Slater, Thurston, Sutton, Mannering
League Sensations/Young Gun - same as previous years, continuing the 2018 concept of 40/90 runs
Jersey Patch - Same format as Road To Finals, but the RTF concept is being overhauled to accommodate for non-finals teams. The 4 team 1/1s and the group 1/1 return.
2018 Dally M Signature - Signature card of the 2018 Dally M Winner. Album card is an unsigned version.

$6.50 per pack
36 packs per box
10 boxes per case
576 case run

Increasing the box size to 36 packs while decreasing the box run to 5760 means more packs are being produced, but allows for more even distribution of high end inserts and means the consumer ultimately gets more value as well as TLA making more profit. The pack price has also been reduced to $6.50, still keeping it in the "high end" of sports trading cards while giving more value to the consumer.

Comparison of gross pack sales (retail) - 2018 elite VS 2019 hypothetical
2018: 6600 x 24 = 158400 x 8 = 1267200
2019: 5760 x 36 = 207360 x 6.5 = 1347840
This set plan is designed to address the main consumer concerns of the price point and "dud boxes", with the idea of putting a ruby mojo + another numbered hit in each box. I also included some hypothetical insert concepts that address the other issue of player distribution, with many complaints that sets are too heavily focused on high profile players. I kept Captains and un-numbered parallels as they are staples of the Elite product.

Once again I am happy to hear your thoughts on the product.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Why only 9 per team when most teams have a top 13-17. Two pages is 18.

For Souths alone in 2018 you have:

Burgess G
Burgess S
Burgess T
Burns
Clark
Cook
Crichton
Douehi
Gagai
Graham
Hunt
Inglis
Jennings
Johnston
Kennar
Murray
Reynolds
Sutton
Tatola
Walker

That is 20.

Common squads need to be bigger imho.

 

[Rocket1908]

Why only 9 per team when most teams have a top 13-17. Two pages is 18.

For Souths alone in 2018 you have:

Burgess G
Burgess S
Burgess T
Burns
Clark
Cook
Crichton
Douehi
Gagai
Graham
Hunt
Inglis
Jennings
Johnston
Kennar
Murray
Reynolds
Sutton
Tatola
Walker

That is 20.

Common squads need to be bigger imho.

Elite has never been common heavy. I'm all for larger common sets in Traders/Xtreme though.

 

[Scott97]

I struggle to see how increasing box sizes to 36 packs will increase value for collectors, when they will probably only add in another worthless 1:6 pack insert. All I see it doing is putting more money in TLA's pocket.
I'm quite happy at 1:24 odds to find the major box hit.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Elite has never been common heavy. I'm all for larger common sets in Traders/Xtreme though.

Why have commons at all in Elite?

Why not release PPX as a 'kids' set with 12 commons per team and minimal 'inserts'.

Then release Traders as an entry / common set about June when most teams are settled and you have pics of players who have transferred over Xmas. Make this approx 18 players per club [and can Faces of the Game] and put in the inserts like they do at the moment - Season to Remember, SoO, Australia rep, etc.

Then Elite can be a bells and whistles release of the Top Players, sigs, crystal/ruby/sapphire/diamond/gold/silver/platinum cards etc. High premium, high price, high collectability for 'serious' collectors - because heaven forbid a kid buys a packet.

End of season Premiers sets.

 

[Rocket1908]

I struggle to see how increasing box sizes to 36 packs will increase value for collectors, when they will probably only add in another worthless 1:6 pack insert. All I see it doing is putting more money in TLA's pocket.
I'm quite happy at 1:24 odds to find the major box hit.

This is something I thought about, and the guarantee of 2 hits per box brings the ratio down to 1:18 for numbered hits. The inserts were also designed to try and make them more interesting to the collectors as well. Box/case buyers get a little more value, and pack buyers get a lot more value.

 

[Parrapaul]

Can we get over 2018 elite yet?

 

[tak35bne]

Can we get over 2018 elite yet?

We haven't arrived at the official release date for 2018 elite....bit early to talk 2019 Elite me thinks.......lol

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Can we get over 2018 elite yet?

I bought my first, and only, two packets today.

Totally over it already.

 

[nznrl]

Tbh TLA plan so far out from future releases, that IF they listen to customer feedback this is probably a good time to offer suggestions whilst the familiarity with breaking an Elite product is current.

For me - I hate your idea of increasing the litany of largely meaningless inserts, Rocket. I don't know why you would want to make Elite more like Traders. Elite should be a higher end product.

For me it needs to go one of two ways:

1. Smaller, very high quality sets that ditch the parallels and focus on making master set collecting achievable. I personally would love to focus on one nice set per year that I collect a master set in.
2. or...Ditch the parallels (needs to happen regardless) and create a set that has subsets with many tiers of numbered cards for each team. A bit like Ruby mojos, but across various insert series and in very high quality cards. Whole squads must be represented. Even base could be numbered to something like 60/90. Make the box prices cheaper, by putting less cards in them, but make those few cards noteworthy. If I break a case I want to see lots of numbered variants of varied cards come out rather than a hit a box. Dealer-led team case breaks would be heaps more fun if everyone could get in on the action...there are always going to be the ultimate winners in a group case break, but people are going to stop collecting really fast if they hit nothing for a few in a row as they are literally frittering away a lot of money on nothing. (This hurt me really badly last year, and I was planning to give the case breaks a miss this year as a result... in favour of Feebay). The Season in Review cards are the kind of cards that should be busted in an Elite set...and should absolutely not be a buy to own set.

So in summary, I think it is ideal to be chasing 2-300 cards in a set, with that being either a 2-300 cards master set, or 2-300 cards from your own team. The latter would kill off IP collecting, smaller master sets would revive it.

Finally, at the pack price that these things go for, the community really should be demanding more out of these. Rugby League products are very expensive. People complain about the low values of cards, but for me the inflated price of the product is the issue. There is so much bang for your buck outside of league card collecting (while still obviously losing money).

 

[Matt26]

We haven't arrived at the official release date for 2018 elite....bit early to talk 2019 Elite me thinks.......lol

I tend to agree.......lets wait and see how the product plays out......at least until the next release.

 

[Sharky]

I Might be in the minority but I liked the box card common/ SP Common idea its different it adds some value to a "base set" its something I would like to see again, if you must tweak the numbering and call them 10(SP) or have them the back end of the card set so be it, but I liked it!

 

[Michael Thomas]

Here are my three requests for an improved 2019 Traders and Elite Sets (Basic Set only - as that is all I collect)

- (TRADERS) 12 Basic Team Card sets (11 players + checklist) , (ELITE) 10 Basic Team card sets (9 players + checklist)
- Full Body Action shots (I am so sick of the close-ups that the Basic Set always has)
- 4 X Inaugural Women's Teams (All 22 player squad - TRADERS, 9 players - ELITE)

 

[bigrob2307]

Id love to see a massive reduction in common cards. Eg only two sets per case while keeping the actual set size the same or slightly bigger

 

[The Mad Hatter]

ESP TLA really needs to have sets split in two :

* A newsagents set, for kids and adults alike. Cheap, no inserts, large 288-card common set (16 x 18), available at service stations, supermarkets, footy games (yeah - crazy idea, I know!), newsagents and used as promos for ARLC to junior footy. Available from March.

* An Elite Set - smaller set, signatures, inserts, bell 'n' whistles, etc etc.

Marked retail. Marked hobby.

Priced accordingly.

 

[No Doubt]

Instead of a Premiership Predictor set how about a Coach Predictor on whether they last the season or not at the same club.

 

[Matt26]

Ok after the success of this years release.......some stunning cards and some great concepts.

Here is what I would put together for Elite 2019.

- Base set is 160 cards ( no box cards - even though I did like the concept.
- Parallels are a variation of the base card
- Elite Impact are players who create the biggest impact for the team
- Elite Sharp Shooters - Goal Kickers and General Play Kickers
- Dally M Award Winners from 2018
- Elite Excitement - Featuring action images from high flying wingers, powerful props or exciting halves.

- Ruby Mojo Refractive Cards #/40 - Similar to 2017 Design (10 per case)
- Sapphire Mojo Refractive cards #/20 - Similar to 2017 Design (5 per case)
- Green Mojo refractive Cards #/10 - Similar to 2017 Design (2-3 per case)

All individually inserted.

Elite Young Guns are limited to #/80 to slightly improve value.

League Sensations make way for Elite Jersey Patch Autos - Redemptions (similar to the Marvel Jersey card design from last year) limited to #/40 each.

A prime gold version of these cards - Redemptions (Brand Tag/Sponsor Patch/Unique Patch) are limited to #/10 each.

There are also 2 masterpiece cards per Jersey Patch Player - a Team Logo Patch Signature (like the current team logo 1/1 patches in elite which are unsigned) and also an NRL Logo Patch auto version which would coincide with a new NRL Logo being launched next year.

These cards would be tough pulls........these 32 - 1 of 1 cards in total would fall 1 in 20 cases and be most sought after.

Case cards are 1 per team and limited to #/40 each commemorating a 2018 milestone for a player on each team.

For me this would be an ideal release and one that would have plenty of greats cards for all team collectors.

Thoughts?

Cheers
Matt

 

[Rocket1908]

Ok after the success of this years release.......some stunning cards and some great concepts.

Here is what I would put together for Elite 2019.

- Base set is 160 cards ( no box cards - even though I did like the concept.
- Parallels are a variation of the base card
- Elite Impact are players who create the biggest impact for the team
- Elite Sharp Shooters - Goal Kickers and General Play Kickers
- Dally M Award Winners from 2018
- Elite Excitement - Featuring action images from high flying wingers, powerful props or exciting halves.

- Ruby Mojo Refractive Cards #/40 - Similar to 2017 Design (10 per case)
- Sapphire Mojo Refractive cards #/20 - Similar to 2017 Design (5 per case)
- Green Mojo refractive Cards #/10 - Similar to 2017 Design (2-3 per case)

All individually inserted.

Elite Young Guns are limited to #/80 to slightly improve value.

League Sensations make way for Elite Jersey Patch Autos - Redemptions (similar to the Marvel Jersey card design from last year) limited to #/40 each.

A prime gold version of these cards - Redemptions (Brand Tag/Sponsor Patch/Unique Patch) are limited to #/10 each.

There are also 2 masterpiece cards per Jersey Patch Player - a Team Logo Patch Signature (like the current team logo 1/1 patches in elite which are unsigned) and also an NRL Logo Patch auto version which would coincide with a new NRL Logo being launched next year.

These cards would be tough pulls........these 32 - 1 of 1 cards in total would fall 1 in 20 cases and be most sought after.

Case cards are 1 per team and limited to #/40 each commemorating a 2018 milestone for a player on each team.

For me this would be an ideal release and one that would have plenty of greats cards for all team collectors.

Thoughts?

Cheers
Matt

I like the idea of jersey patches for every team - however the set overall doesn't really address the numbered hit distribution across the product run. Sure there's still mojo singles in all the boxes but even counting those most boxes this year had something else in them as well. Unfortunately with the jersey patch concept it would be really hard to get a crop of 16 recognisable players to part with jerseys - even in smaller sets such as Road To Finals there have been some unpopular player choices limited by the availability of jerseys. Case Breaks would also be harder to fill then they are right now - sure there's more individual mojos floating around but only 2 sigs per and 1 maybe 2 jersey patches if you're lucky per case at the same price point would take a lot of value away in the minds of some collectors I think. As I found out with brainstorming for this set the balance of value and desirable product is very hard to maintain.

 

[bigrob2307]

only 1 signature per 2-4 boxes would be a massive put off for this price range

 

[Matt26]

only 1 signature per 2-4 boxes would be a massive put off for this price range

You could always do what they did this year and add in another Limited Young Guns Signature #/40 falling 1 per case.

That means in a case you would get

2 x Young Guns #/80
1 x Young Guns #/40
1 x Jersey Signature Patch #/40

Plus:
10 x Rubies
5 x Sapphires
2/3 x Emeralds

If you really wanted to add in further value, you could have an unsigned jersey patch #/80 which would give you an extra 2 hits per case.

2 x Young Guns #/80
1 x Young Guns #/40
1 x Jersey Signature Patch #/40
2 x Jersey Patch #/80 (Unsigned)

Plus:
10 x Rubies #/40
5 x Sapphires #/20
2/3 x Emeralds #/20

Thats 24 hits per case - 4 signatures, 2 unsigned patches and 17 or 18 numbered cards limited to 40 or less.

In previous years having the signatures dropping more frequently has led them to bombing in value some as low as $30 each.

If they are a little rarer, they may hold their value a little better but I do understand your point. Building sets is very hard to do to get the right line between not enough value and too much value.

Its a good discussion to have nonetheless.

Cheers
Matt