Isn't anyone opening panini usa?

For a crazy prospecting board that fcb is, I would expect there to be lots of talk about this product. But there isn't.

There also looks like a lot less for sale too.

So whats the reasoning behind this?

Its much improved over the last 2 topps did, in fact, its similar to upper deck usa sets with big variety of cards.

I think there's just not much support for Panini products in general lately...

I'm waiting until the price fixing ends to see what the market says is a resonable price for a box of the product. I assume many are waiting for the price fixing to end to do the same thing.

I like the idea of maybe busting boxes to build sets of two recent panini products, but I"m not buying at the price fixing prices the products are currently going for.

There seems to be some sort of anti-trust thing with this price fixing with Panini... It's a weird situation that no one really cares enough to fight.

BBCgalaxee said:

For a crazy prospecting board that fcb is, I would expect there to be lots of talk about this product. But there isn't.

There also looks like a lot less for sale too.

So whats the reasoning behind this?

Its much improved over the last 2 topps did, in fact, its similar to upper deck usa sets with big variety of cards.

Click to expand...

Sometimes silence is golden, if you take my meaning.

I thought about a purchase of this product. It's is probably the best executed release from Panini so far, though. But after opening a box of 2010-11 Totally Certified Basketball I purchased on a whim during the Black Friday specials, I will not buy another Panini release EVER again.

It's pretty sad when a rookie refractor I pulled from a $45 box had the best value between the Topps box and the Panini box I bought for $120.

Jaypers said:

Sometimes silence is golden, if you take my meaning.

Click to expand...

FWIW, no one is talking about Leaf products either. Jim just busted a case live on Youtube and no comments whatsoever over here.

It seems as though it's Topps or nothing on this board. MLB Licensing does matter.

Bob Loblaw said:

MLB Licensing does matter.

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Of course it does. It always did & it always will. And Panini sucks, absolute garbage. The people running that company have no idea what collectors want.

USA sets dont need MLB.

I think the main reason is the crazy price the 1st 30 days the product is live. There is 0 competition on the product from stores. They cant even mark it down a little for Cyber Monday sales. Its $100 or nothing. Crazy if you ask me.

I am looking forward to busting the case tomorrow night. Maybe once people start seeing some of the cards that might change their minds and we might see more busted.

Andrew, I agree with you on presentation of the USA product. It is probably the best executed release since Panini bought the Donruss/Playoff brands.

But with the price point, and all the other horror stories concerning this manufacturer, I'm not willing to give that company anymore of my hard earned cash. Leaf included.

I have two cases that I'll be busting tonight and tomorrow. I think the gold on black on-card autos are nice. I'm not getting my hopes up too high based on the few sales on ebay thus far.

I normally prospect in the USA sets since there can be good value if you know what you are doing. My reasons for not buying singles this year are the following:

1--Most of the top 18U guys already have Bowman cards. In my experience, the Bowman cards sell much much better than the Topps USA cards, even if the Topps are on card. Not saying I never made money on the Topps sets, but the Bowman were a much much better profit.

2--15U autos are a 3-4 year hold. Unless you have a guy in mind that you feel will develop some junior year helium and then fade, you're basically holding these for 3-4 years and there is no guarantee that they won't have 10X more cards by the time you have to sell. In my experience, folks don't care which is the "first" USA auto like they do with first pro uniform cards. Plus, for small timers like me, who only have maybe $500 in cards being held at a given time, having to hold that long is just impractical.

3--It isn't Bowman. After my first year of prospecting the USA sets (This would be my 4th year), I noticed that even the Topps USA boxed cards weren't huge sellers post-draft. Only the Bowman cards, with their familiar design and parallels, really exploded. Given that it is mostly collectors that buy in the 4 month post-draft (and pre-Leaf, when these cards tend to become obsolete) period, and most collectors do not like Panini, I'm sitting this year out for the most part to see how the market responds. I'm tracking the early prices of two guys that I know will be first rounders to see how much they increase in June.

4--Leaf. When Leaf started doing the Leaf draft sets about 3-4 months after (and advertising them about 1 month after) the MLB draft, the whole "this is X's only card!!111!!11!!!!" angle sort of dried up. Folks are getting more patient, and the whole post-draft sell-off period becomes all the more clogged and less profitable.

5--Weak class. While there are about 5-6 sure first rounders in the 18U/College sets, they either already have Bowman, or are not top 10 picks. While the Presumptive 2014 Top Pick is in the set, ask folks how their Karsten Whitson stashes are doing.

Short answer: too little guaranteed upside even for cognoscenti. Too much producer-specific risk, compounded with the inherent risk of these prospects in general. Oh, and the cards are ugly.

No Strasburg no Harper I don't recall any USA cards getting love since 10'

Bob Loblaw said:

There seems to be some sort of anti-trust thing with this price fixing with Panini... It's a weird situation that no one really cares enough to fight.

Click to expand...

They're not the only company that does this. Maybe in sportscards but there's a lot of products out there that have a fixed price for much longer than a month. Most specifically video game consoles.

$100 for 7 autographs and 2 GU doesn't seem that bad when compared to similar priced boxes/sets.

I've purchased USA cards since UCLA pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer have had cards. I was underwhelmed with Topps' box set efforts but am really digging Panini's set. However, I refuse to bust wax for various reasons but enjoy picking up singles. The USAs are usually my favorite cards to prospect because of my interest in college baseball. I've been able to win two cards and am really looking forward to owning them.

These might be a better buy around the $50-$60 range if you're interested in Team USA.

Pass, Pass, and Pass. Not a chance I would put my money into this stuff.

It's the best looking set USA has had!