Panini’s Rip-Off Strategy Could Benefit NASCAR Collectors

Collectors will get to see the first Panini made NASCAR cards within their 2016 Father’s Day promotional set.  Panini mainly holds these promotions to help dealers move all that unwanted product off the shelves.  Trust me.  There is a lot dealers want to get rid of.  Most of the products you’ll need to buy in order to participate will be ones that performed poorly.  The odds are good that Panini will bring back all those crappy products again next year because that’s what they do.

During the NFLPA Rookie Premiere last month, Panini showed off a lot of cards that we’ll see in their 2016 products.  One of their new NFL products is called Panini Origins.  Taking a look at it, you can clearly see its a straight up design rip-off of Topps Inception.  Panini has such a difficult time coming up with original content on their own.  Its bad enough that they have an NFL exclusive.  Ripping-off another company’s designs just shows you who should truly be allowed to make licensed NFL cards.  Don’t get me wrong, Panini Origins looks good only because it mimics the design of a Topps product.  This makes Panini look just plain lazy.  I use to be a big supporter of them, but all they do is copy others.

Getting back to NASCAR.  Panini’s rip-off strategy could benefit NASCAR collectors.  If they plan to rip-off designs made popular by Topps, why not apply those designs to NASCAR cards.  I wouldn’t mind seeing some Inception-like racing stuff.  Football fans may have seen these designs before, but certainly not NASCAR collectors.  If ripping-off designs is their strategy, at least use it for a sport that hasn’t seen it yet.

In addition to the 2016 Father’s Day set, Panini is suppose to be releasing four NASCAR products – Prizm, Certified, National Treasures, and Torque.  We have yet to know when these will come out.  If anyone of them has the slightest possibility at featuring a ripped-off Topps design, it would be Torque.  Collectors sorta know what to expect when it comes to the three other brands.

I highly doubt Panini will follow through here with any of the suggestions I’ve made.  It would be nice if they came up with some original ideas, but that doesn’t happen very often.  I don’t expect as much on-card autograph content with Panini’s NASCAR products compared to what Press Pass had.  A lot of drivers have posted pictures on social media of them signing stickers.

How Can Panini Make Their New NASCAR Line Work?

NASCAR collectors have gone over a year without any type of new trading card product.  Press Pass went out of business a few days into 2015, and that’s the last we heard of anything.  Over the last year when asked whether or not we’d see cards anytime soon, NASCAR would come back with a generic response but never really answered the question.  During the 2016 Industry Summit that question was finally answered.  Panini will be giving NASCAR a shot on a very limited basis.

It doesn’t surprise me that Panini is the one who will be making NASCAR cards.  D.J. Kazmierczak who once was the head of Press Pass, now is the VP of Sales/Product Development at Panini.  Plus they have all that sticker money from their big daddy over in Italy.  NASCAR driver Chris Buescher kinda left the cat out of the bag before Panini’s announcement when he posted a bunch of sticker autographs he just finished signing on his Instagram account.

You can tell that Panini is really testing the waters with this new deal.  They only plan to release four NASCAR products this year.  The brands include Prizm, Certified, National Treasures, and a new product called Torque.

Panini is known for churning out one product after another.  Lots of cookie cutter stuff.  Releasing four products per year is how they should treat some other sports.  Trust me.  If NASCAR works for them, Panini will turn the printing machines on high.  I think initially it will be interesting to see what NASCAR looks like on these brands.  Over time, Panini will probably get repetitive though just like they do with everything else.  Collectors are so use to the designs Press Pass used, almost anything is going to look different to them now.  I hope Panini doesn’t make a mess of things with the NASCAR brand.  Starting off with sticker autographs isn’t the best sign.  Especially when Press Pass had so much on-card autograph content.  People that collect NASCAR have yet to really see any sketch cards or shadowboxes.  Too bad Panini isn’t known for either.  There are a lot of popular elements which have been used in other sports card products for years that haven’t been seen in NASCAR sets yet.  Including some of those things would make for a unique NASCAR product.  The key here is to do something different that NASCAR fans haven’t seen before.  Treating NASCAR like everything else they make will just end in disaster.  Perhaps getting into something digital would be the way to go.

Topps, Upper Deck, and Leaf I bet could’ve made some great looking NASCAR products.  Panini was the last company I really wanted to see NASCAR with.  But I knew it would be the first company to give it a try after Press Pass went under.

I haven’t opened a Panini product in almost two years.  Even though it didn’t qualify for any of their wrapper redemption programs, I decided to try a box of 2014 Elite Football during the National Sports Collectors Convention.  Panini should have some of their new NASCAR products ready for the National this year.  They would be smart to have them qualify for their promotions too.

Card of the Day: Buddy Baker 2004 Press Pass NASCAR Legends Auto

Check Out Danica Patrick’s Showcase Cards

2010 Press Pass Showcase is looking like a killer product so far.  They do an excellent job when it comes to their only high-end racing set.  Just check out some of the Danica Patrick cards you’ll be able to pull.

Press Pass Unveils Their 2010 National VIP Set

The 2010 National Sports Collectors Convention is less than two months away, and today Press Pass unveiled its 6-card set that collectors will receive inside their VIP package.  This is a sure sign that summer has begun.  Check them out!

The Danica Patrick card will be redeemable at the Press Pass booth.

2010 Stealth Preview

This June, Press Pass plans to release another version of its Stealth Racing.  Collectors can look for (1) autograph and (1) race-used sheet metal card per hobby box.  Obviously this year Danica Patrick is the driver people are looking for.  When her new autographs are released, I wonder how it will affect the price of her very popular 2006 Allen & Ginter autograph?

A few days ago they released 2010 Draft Pick Football.  Ever since August I’ve received a steady flow on new products from Press Pass, but this hasn’t arrived yet.  If I’m lucky to get a box, get ready for another contest!!!

More 2010 Premium Info & Pictures

Press Pass will release 2010 Premium Racing on 4/21/10.  Each hobby box will contain (1) autograph and (1) memorabilia card on average.  Collectors can find iron-on patch parallels exclusive to retail boxes found at Walmart and Target.  NASCAR has some of the best looking patches.

Not too sure what you would iron these on to, but if it has Danica Patrick on it I’m sure collectors will go nuts over them.

An Early Look At 2010 Premium Racing: Danica Patrick Relics & Autos

2010 Premium Racing may not be released until 4/21/10, but Press Pass has released a few images to give us a sneak peak.  This product will contain relics and autographs of Danica Patrick which I’m sure will be in high demand.  Take a look!  This year’s Premium looks a lot more exciting than last year’s.

Got Any Change?

No, Press Pass hasn’t gone the way of Pinnacle and started inserting coins in their cards.  I’ve had a few questions about these cards and so has Press Pass ever since they started to surface on eBay.  I can’t really knock these cards because the seller clearly states they are custom made and do not come from the factory containing the coin.  I would like to clearly state that PRESS PASS DOES NOT INCLUDE COINS WITH THEIR CARDS.  Someone either cut a hole in the middle and slipped it inside or they glued it on top.  A few people have been disappointed with their purchase mainly because they didn’t read the description all the way, and thats their fault.

Apparently collectors think this custom card maker does a better job than Pinnacle did back in the 90’s.  This Tony Stewart sold for $50.00.  Not too bad for a base card worth about as much as the quarter.

Press Pass ’10 Eclipse CONTEST! – NOW CLOSED

Press Pass was nice enough to supply me with a box of 2010 Eclipse for me to break and review.  Now its your chance to win some of the hits I pulled.  The winner of this contest will receive the following:

• (1) Joey Logano Race-Used Tire Relic #’ed/299
• (1) Mike Skinner Blue Ink Auto
• (1) Kyle Busch Decade
• (1) 2010 NASCAR Hall of Fame – First NASCAR Race
• (1) Jimmie Johnson Focus
• (4) CARS inserts – Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and (2) Joey Logano’s

Contest Details:

• The contest will end Wed. 2/24/10 at 8:00 p.m. EST
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post informing me what you like and/or dislike about this product
• You may enter once per day
• Please supply a valid e-mail address when entering
• The winner will be selected at random
• Once the winner has been selected, I will need their mailing address so I can mail them these cards for FREE!!!