Dear Fanatics, From Collectors

We did this when Panini was coming in to the mainstream NBA space. A lot of great points came up and some were definitely taken on board in my opinion.

Feel free to write here what you would like to see happen when Fanatics takes over the NBA licence, or whatever is relevant to what you collect actually. Hopefully someone there will get some eyes on it.

I'll link our other threads below for you to read through also.


Anyone at Fanatics - we have a bunch of life-long collectors here who can hopefully provide some good info for you - I hope you get a chance to read through!


Regards


Matt

original


https://www.ozcardtrader.com.au/threads/exciting-panini-news-your-feedback-please.43828/



my update


https://www.ozcardtrader.com.au/threads/dear-panini-2018-update.217817/

TLDR;


1. Patch registry - before they are released in products there needs to be a database with pics - prevents future tampering.
2. Only player game/event worn materials - absolutely no "not associated with any player" product.
3. Sticker autos as a last resort or only in low end/kid-targeted product.
4. Interesting backs of the cards - stats/info/facts we haven't heard before.
5. Find a balance between products aimed at kids, older collectors and group breakers. No collector wants to pay $1400 for a hobby box.
6. Closer to the game - "The photograph on the front was taken on 4/4/16 when X scored 60 points in a win against Lakers." etc
- "The front is a piece of jersey worn by X in a team USA warm up for the 2016 Olympics." etc
7. Not too many of the same photo on many releases. I know it's harder with old school players with less photos around but please try!
8. Pack odds on the packs/box. This would be amazing to know. Everyone loves to look back now at what odds Jambalaya etc were.
9. Cutting edge printing and cutting tech - lessen card dings/damage before we even get them.
10. Educate athletes about card handling - some of those cards are beat to hell
11. Have a contact email on the site - even a generic one and from there it can be directed to the right person/section
12. Have a bot/automated system linked to many card forums and sites where info can automatically be sent regarding upcoming releases and anything else.
13. 50 point games set - refer to the old 1995-96 Fleer Fabulous 50's set
14.





As a collector I can tell you that no collector wants sticker auto - it doesn't mean anything and detracts from the aesthetics of the card. Kids in a $50 box maybe, but no-one who is paying hundreds for a box dreams of getting a sticker auto. We will wait longer for products release if it means on-card autos. There's no rush unless you're talking about Rookies/Draft related stuff. Maybe even go back to a series 1 and 2 like the 90's days and series 2 can be for trades that have happened and any other RC/updates needed.

Even before the COVID card boom there was a concern with patch replacement (and then authentication by grading companies) which could lead to big $ swings in sale prices of cards with better patches in them. If not individual card scans then possibly whole jersey scans then noted on there which pieces went to which card/set that can be viewed on the Fanatics database somewhere.

In my opinion, Facebook won't be around for many more years but the internet will. These cardboard forums will and the record of what people collected and why they collected things will. There should be a strong push for places like ozcardtrader and other forums to keep them flourishing and keep the long form discussion going about sports, what people are collecting and why and all the friendly banter that goes along with it.

Make game worn NBA patches rare again....... get rid of the "This Relic is not associated with any player, league, sport, human, planet, universe" crap and make sure the jerseys are game worn and rare.

Make them actually worth collecting again.

1. Hire some ideas people that focus on coming up with new, unique inserts rather than endlessly-expanding the parallels checklist.
2. Hire a decent QC team
3. Printing technology isn't what it was in 2012 - so let's move away a bit from the endless chrome/refractor stuff, shall we?

So it's not off to the greatest start........

There's no email contact on the site - even a generic one to customer service who could then direct the enquiry.

I went through a chat bot who then directed to a live person. The first one was not helpful. "I don't have that info" and directed me to an affiliate link which I tried but couldn't complete as I didn't link an instagram account. I went back to live chat and through the whole giving them info about OCT and was disconnected.......

I went through the process again - received a different person in the chat who took my info and would get back to me in 5 business days if corporate approved someone contacting me. okay.............. epic filter!

I know they're a big company but I just want a feedback/idea system. Maybe they're not even open to it.

I want to emphasize these three points again as they are the biggest issues for me:

- Only player game/event worn materials - absolutely no "not associated with any player" product

- Sticker autos as a last resort or only in low end

- Pack odds on the packs/box

GarnettFan4Life said:

So it's not off to the greatest start........

There's no email contact on the site - even a generic one to customer service who could then direct the enquiry.

I went through a chat bot who then directed to a live person. The first one was not helpful. "I don't have that info" and directed me to an affiliate link which I tried but couldn't complete as I didn't link an instagram account. I went back to live chat and through the whole giving them info about OCT and was disconnected.......

I went through the process again - received a different person in the chat who took my info and would get back to me in 5 business days if corporate approved someone contacting me. okay.............. epic filter!

I know they're a big company but I just want a feedback/idea system. Maybe they're not even open to it.

Click to expand...

If you think about it, they have invested huge $$$ into this and they would have hired who they think are the best brains in the hobby to come up with a plan for the future. I'd say at this stage they wouldn't even be open to any other ideas other than what is on their immediate radar. This is not because they don't want ideas, I just don't think they have the time to go through them.

I do think that unfortunately for us collectors, we will need to go through the whole 'testing phase' where Fanatics try out their ideas to see if they work. If they don't work, then they will reach out to the true collectors to see what we actually want...

Maybe a quicker way of doing it would be for Fanatics to setup a page on their website for ideas. Collectors can add their ideas and then other collectors can vote for them. The best ideas will be seen at the top of the page then Fanatics can use this as a hit list. We are planning on putting a page like this together for MERQARY so our members can tell us what they want next.

To add to the list,

- Reduce the number of parallels to less than 10. We don't need 50+ parallels just to appease everyone. Keep the player/set chasers involved in the hobby.
- No sticker autos at all. If the players can't sign all of the cards on card, then don't release as many autographs. This will keep the value higher in the secondary market which will actually attract more people.
- Only one 1/1 per player per card set (if it is required at all). No more Black 1/1, Black Disco 1/1, Nebula 1/1, Monopoly 1/1, Green 1/1, Platinum 1/1 etc etc etc etc.

Finally, Fanatics need to understand who are those who are in the hobby for the long haul. If they try to appease the latest 'in thing' they will run themselves into the ground. If you can please the collectors who have been around for 15-20 years and will still be here for the next 15-20 years then you will be able to withstand any criticism from those who blow out of the hobby as quickly as they blew in...

I so hate one company having all the marbles and creating rubbish over priced cards.

I have an idea... Lease out part of your licence to other card companies to make product, this will help create competition and hopefully better prices and product for our money. Also if then we have 30 different products a year, we can see how the odds below that I have written about becomes more interesting and there can be some honest saturation of wanted cards. Plus who wants cards without the uniform of the player on him? Not me, I wont even look at Upper Deck.

Also if it was up to me, blaster boxes, wax boxes, jumbos and rack packs would be the only product with numbered parallel cards. If they wanted to then make 30 different variations, then so be it, its retail. However make the cards so they look a bit different and state what bloody parallel it is on the back. I would also limit the boxes/packs to 1:50 has a numbered card so the general public wont load up on buying 100 blaster boxes at once, or at least that is what I imagine. this would hopefully keep it a bit more kid friendly.

Hobby boxes would be limited to 1000 cases and have only product you cant find in retail. This way it helps keep the value of base cards up a bit and gives you two different levels of collecting one specific set.

To give value to hobby boxes, all autos and low numbered patch cards should come encased. IF someone wants to break it open and have it graded, its on them. However, I've seen most cards that are worth something get knicked up during the pack ripping process and if I am going to spend good coin on hobby product it should be as close to perfect as possible during the packing process and not someone with goofy fingers like me creating havoc with a great card.

I would also have buybacks encased in the hobby boxes of older cards. Have them hit at 1 per 50 boxes. That way they can have Jordan product and make everyone happy.

Limit all RPA to on card and /49. Make them worth some value for the hobbyists. If you are going to make 12 or 30 different sets a year, that is more than enough RPA's. As for rookie autos without patches, then I would limit them to /199 at most. This is what the hobby is driven on, ROOKIES and Rookie Autos, make them harder to get.

Zero Redemptions...... If you need to have them, have a parallel set like the old UD Black that you had to send back for. However they need to make sure they already have these cards in hand and ready to send before they add them to any specific set. Get 1,500 different players (old and new) sign no more than 25 cards for this set. No BS rookie patch cards when they still have not even worn a uniform during a game. The other thought on this is have redemptions for signed items like jerseys, balls and sneakers. That would be a great hit from a product if there is going to be a redemption. OR, I like the point systems that Panini have, each pack gets a random point total and you then go online and collect them in your account. You then can sell your points if you wish or just redeem them for a series of different items like signed balls, jerseys, team signed balls and jerseys or whatever floats your boat. Points are carried for as long a you want until you find something you like or sell or trade them via your account to others.. Keep ALL cards in the boxes, however create a market for the stuff we really would enjoy.

Last but not least, do not create serial numbers that are too consistent so people can cherry pick seen trends. it's horrible when you buy a box that the case has already been cherry picked for the better cards because of the serial numbering of the sticker on the box. Panini, I am looking at you! That would include the weight of a box, make heavy boxes normal and lighter boxes normal. I'm SO over dealers getting the better cards and we cant afford to buy a case with the taxes we pay on import.

It was great back in the late 2000's when we could get that case of SPGU and share and not have to worry about paying $150.00 tax on it. There were some great pulls from product back then when everyone had a great chance at getting a box from a case break and the odds were very even.

OK, that was my brain dump, hope it make sense. Now I am going back into my rabbit hole.

Mike

GarnettFan4Life said:

Just an example of PLAYER collectors that visit OzCardTrader -


Emeka Okafor
Gary Payton
Yao Ming
Stephon Marbury
Marcus Camby
Michael Jordan
Anfernee Hardaway
Stephon Marbury
Oj Mayo
dominique wilkins
Amare Stoudemire
Kevin Garnett
Kyrie Irving
Derrick Coleman
Kenneth Faried
Allen Iverson
Ray Allen
Shawn kemp
John Starks
Joakim Noah
Alonzo Mourning
Shawn Kemp
Moses Malone
Kobe Bryant
Patrick Ryder
Cristiano Ronaldo
Iggys
Paul George
Russell Westbrook
SHAWN BRADLEY
Ron Harper
D.J Augustin
Jeremy Lin
Cedric Ceballos
Andrew Bogut
James Harden
Dominique Wilkins
Lebron Lames
Marquis Daniels
Walt frazier
Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Nash
Reggie Miller
David Robinson
Charles Oakley
jared dudley
Luc Longley
Ronnie Brewer
Joel Selwood
Carmelo Anthony
Chris Paul
Luc Longley
Mike Piazza
spud webb
Detlef Schrempf
Paul Pierce
Harold Miner
Yi Jianlian
Karl Malone
George Mikan
David Robinson
Mike Conley
Michael Jordan
Tracy McGrady
Dwight Howard
DeJuan Blair
Eddie House
Al-farouq Aminu
Tyreke Evans
brandon roy
Vincent Brown
Kevin Durant
Saer Sene
Greg monroe
Blake Griffin
Chuck Person
Deron Williams
Kobe Bryant
George Mikan
Simon Black
Chris Bosh
Gary Neal
Warren Tredrea
Ricky Ponting
Jared Cunningham
Ha Seung Jin
Rafael Márquez
Shane Warne
Corey Parker
Wesley Matthews
Dane Swan
Wang Zhizhi
Anthony Randolph
Jason Richardson
George Best
Matt Bowen
Shawn Kemp
Ben Gordon
Jared Dudley
John Amaechi
Kane Cornes
Derrick Rose
Carrie Stroup
Jonny Flynn
Rafael Márquez
Paul Pierce
Moe Harkless
Yuta Tabuse
Mengke Bateer
Joe Ingles
Marcus Thornton
Kyle Weaver
Eric Gordon
Corey Brewer
Chris Paul
Brook Lopez
Matthew Lloyd
Jordan Crawford
Sun Yue
Michael Gordon
Gordon Hayward
Mo williams
Daniel Rich
Nic Naitanui
Dominique Jones
Sean Marks
Mike Swick
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Bruce Bowen
Javier Hernández
Phillip Hughes
Danny Granger

Click to expand...

forgot the real Bulls GOAT on that list.

i dont really much other than break up the players you use in each set. If you bring back the same set yeah year with the same insert set, try not to use the same players. I get using the superstars but maybe break it up and share the love.

also i'd like to be sent one of every pippen that is released from each set (excluding 1/1's).

Maybe less Rookie cards? Who's in favour?

Was just thinking about this - why do we need so many? Who decided there should be 400 RC's? it's a bit crazy when you think about it.

One thing they should have done prior to buying the license is buy out Upper Deck and know that they are able to print Michael Jordan cards again as well as Jordan and LeBron auto's. This would be the best way to maximise their return.

The fact they haven't done this says to me that they have purely gone into this with $$$ in mind and not the collector. Either that or they're just plain dumb! In addition, imagine having licensed Exquisite and UD Black back again! Or even Fleer Retro!

Instead, they will have to continue doen the path of cheap, non associated memorabilia crap and other tactics to cheapen the manufacturing costs of products and maximise profits.

There's no point for wishlists, Fanatics will only care about what maximises their bottom line.

TAB1980 said:

One thing they should have done prior to buying the license is buy out Upper Deck and know that they are able to print Michael Jordan cards again as well as Jordan and LeBron auto's. This would be the best way to maximise their return.

The fact they haven't done this says to me that they have purely gone into this with $$$ in mind and not the collector.

Instead, they will have to continue doen the path of cheap, non associated memorabilia crap and other tactics to cheapen the manufacturing costs of products and maximise profits.

There's no point for wishlists, Fanatics will only care about what maximises their bottom line.

Click to expand...

Its looking like Lebron isn't an UDA Exclusive athlete any more..... (no longer featured as such) on UD's page.......he still has stuff for sale but not showing as Exclusive.

With Jordan outside of a few memorabilia signings to keep the UDA company afloat, if UD gets sold he wont be signing.

I mean why would he.......he is a billionaire and enjoying retirement.......he isn't going to want to sit down and sign 5000 autos...... maybe 100 or 200 here and there for UD but why would you when you don't really need the money and could spend that time doing things you enjoy.

TAB1980 said:

One thing they should have done prior to buying the license is buy out Upper Deck and know that they are able to print Michael Jordan cards again as well as Jordan and LeBron auto's. This would be the best way to maximise their return.

The fact they haven't done this says to me that they have purely gone into this with $$$ in mind and not the collector. Either that or they're just plain dumb! In addition, imagine having licensed Exquisite and UD Black back again! Or even Fleer Retro!

Instead, they will have to continue doen the path of cheap, non associated memorabilia crap and other tactics to cheapen the manufacturing costs of products and maximise profits.

There's no point for wishlists, Fanatics will only care about what maximises their bottom line.

Click to expand...

I would think though MJ has a clause that if the company sells/bankrupt he has an out. He’d never be trapped in any contract.

GarnettFan4Life said:

I would think though MJ has a clause that if the company sells/bankrupt he has an out. He’d never be trapped in any contract.

Click to expand...

Was also talk at some point he could do his own memorabilia company.

But honestly why would you? Would you rather be living a life on a boat (or in his mansion), following his Nascar team around or playing golf and getting drunk....... or sitting down for a few hours signing your name for the same amount of money your private jet burns through in 15 mins?

All this while he racks up another win with his son banging Scottie Pippen's ex wife! Another L for no Tippin' Pippen

Matt26 said:

Its looking like Lebron isn't an UDA Exclusive athlete any more..... (no longer featured as such) on UD's page.......he still has stuff for sale but not showing as Exclusive.

With Jordan outside of a few memorabilia signings to keep the UDA company afloat, if UD gets sold he wont be signing.

I mean why would he.......he is a billionaire and enjoying retirement.......he isn't going to want to sit down and sign 5000 autos...... maybe 100 or 200 here and there for UD but why would you when you don't really need the money and could spend that time doing things you enjoy.

Click to expand...

Fair enough. So it is back to maximising the bottom line then. Which means more of pretty much what we're getting now.

Mem cards will come from rolls of single coloured material from the company that manufactures their jerseys.

TAB1980 said:

Mem cards will come from rolls of single coloured material from the company that manufactures their jerseys.

Click to expand...

Yes pretty much spot on.......when people are paying hundreds of thousands for a RPA Napkin patch why would they even bother to try and buy actual game worn jerseys? I even heard a little rumour that "Player Worn" usually equates to the type of jersey they might wear in a game not actually worn by the player.

Id rather them cut back on memorabilia cards all together and only have truly game worn material.......as in game worn by the player.

I still find it amazing that players in the 80's and very early 90's only wore a handful of jerseys each year yet card manufacturers are still pumping out "game worn" patches of these players from these periods.

People like Hakeem and Drexler must have worn 15 jerseys a game based on how many Panini have for these guys.