General Forum

Hey everyone. Having been out of the hobby for a few years, I came back expecting to see the same companies producing content but it looks like Panini has cornered the football and basketball markets. I have done a little exploring and found out a bit about Topps but not much about Upper Deck. Back when I left, Upper Deck was the only place to get exclusive autos and such from MJ, Kobe and more on the basketball side. And Topps always had amazing football products in my opinion. What happened and why did it happen? Did Panini buy exclusive rights or did economics take them out of these sports?

It's got to be an exclusive agreement with Panini and marketing plan by the leagues. The everyday fan is not considered when making league owners enter into agreements to support their teams. Having an exclusive arrangement controls what they are able to pocket. From card production I think it's evident that creativity suffers greatly, though, as you'll notice much of the Panini product looks the same with few variations over the years. 

I believe it'll be cyclical and you'll see others enter the fray eventually. Topps seems to have that rebellious bent by providing unauthorized cards, plus they have the legitimacy of being in the industry for so long. 

The NBA signed an exclusive with Panini in the middle of the 2009-10 season. They just renewed it to last until 2022. I like what Panini had been doing but there is a lot of room for improvement. 

It also looks like Panini has bought out a lot of the smaller players the past few years.

Panini is annoying to me.  I like some of their sets, but the cards backs are awful.  They would not be my card of choice for most of what they put out because of the back.  It is ashame too because I really do like some of their sets.  Instead of investing in an exclusive agreement, they should put more money into personnel for product.  They have potential, some of their fronts are really cool and the card stock/look/feel of the cards are always really good, but that little extra to make the cards great just never seems to be there.  Also, do we need 45 sets each year, especially when the backs on almost all of them are the same or too similar to tell a difference?  I also hate the 125 insert sets, but I can't hit Panini for that, everyone seems to be in on that game.

I like what Panini have done with their 2017 baseball set. Whoever is photoshopping for them, knows their stuff lol. I am kind of puzzled though. A few of the Target's by me sold them, but onces the Topps series 2 relesed all the Panini/Donruss are gone. Maybe Topps finally said "your photoshopping doesn't count anymore"?

I noticed that the Target by me gets a set and only carries most of them for a short time before you don't see them anymore.  They seem to always have Topps baseball, but it seems like for everything else, once they sell their initial inventory, they do not restock.