How can they grade cards they can't see?
monopolizing the card market and exclusive autos
first of all, they are new and don't have an established product line so everyone is skeptical about how well their card values will hold up. everyone knows what a topps finest refractor is or a rookie auto patch from sp authentic/spx. but when panini has like 30 different hobby boxes, each with different inserts and sets, how does a collector know that what he is buying into is going to hold its value? is a damian lillard rookie auto from X better than Y or Z? having a staple card set is really important in the long term for the card market.
upper deck has like the shittiest rookie autos available now bc panini signs everyone, which essentially makes the hobby super boring.
aaron gordon, napier, warren, lavine, payne, payton, saric, young, mcgary, stauskas, mcdermott, and harris are the only rookies available through upper deck. you can't even get a good set of veteran autographs bc panini has the license to all the current vets. every upper deck box has "legends" and you end up getting autos from eric piatkowski, dave cowens, and danny manning.
i can't believe bowman/topps/UD have lost to such a shitbag company
I probably have 10 or so binders full of baseball, football and basketball cards from the early 60s to early 70s. Never bought complete sets, just thousands of packs. With the gum. You'd get doubles and triples of some obscure guy. Think I had Jim Ray Hart of the Giants eight or nine times. Those were the days. They are probably worth a bit more than I paid, but likely won't ever sell them. Should put them under glass on a bar and coffee tables in the man cave some day.
