Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Case Disgrace

I've been dreaming a doing a case for years. I never thought I'd be able to afford one, as I noted a few days ago, and I finally found one I could...and it leaves me disappointed and angry.

I finished the case yesterday and the final box did not give me a single new card...I finished the case missing 5 cards, yet I got a stack of 203 duplicates, 25 Chinese New Year duplicates, and the base dupes would have been higher but I also got 36 off-center errors.
These are the DUPLICATES I got!


The set is only 150 cards! How inept can Panini be that they make such a tiny set yet you end up missing cards, but with more duplicates than are in the set, out of a case?

That's a disgrace.

That's Panini.

I know I could easily go buy the missing 5 cards on COMC...I'm sure I'll end up doing just that. But it really ticks me the heck off that I have to spend even more money to finish off this set that Panini was too inept/clueless to do right. It's already cost me $200 with shipping, a lot for me to lay out at one time. I mean, I knew I was going to get a lot of duplicates, but I expected to get the entire base set, too, as it is only 150 cards! If that had happened, I would have been pretty happy with this case. this recap post would have been a lot different because my opinion would have been a lot different.

And speaking of the short checklist, there are some names left off that are baffling...Manu Ginobili? Nope. Jaylen Brown? Nope. Joel Embiid? Nope. Wait, really? Yes, really, the set is missing Joel Embiid...for the 76ers, only Dario Saric, Ben Simmons, JJ Redick and Markelle Fultz got a card. Saric, Simmons and Fultz getting cards makes sense. But choosing Redick over Embiid? How could they make that choice? Redick is a good player, but he's not a superstar. Embiid IS.

It's time to start petitioning the NBA Player's Union and Michelle Roberts to end the exclusive license with Panini. Not take away their license, but to end the exclusivity. (other than the small sets and the fact that you keep getting the same cards, in the same order, I actually like most of Panini's sets) I'm going to be contacting the NBPA to do just that. It probably won't matter, because I don't think they wouldn't have made an exclusive license in the first place if they cared about collectors, but it will make me feel better to lodge an actual complaint. Maybe they don't pay much attention as long as the checks keep showing up?

You know, I'm not sure what's the point of dreaming about anything is anymore...even when it comes true, it just leads to anger and frustration and lots of disappointment.
I have had three big dreams, and this was one of them...it turned out to bring nothing but anger and frustration. My main dream is to own a classic car, and that's caused more pain than anything else- and the worst part is, next year it would have come true naturally but that's getting ripped out from under me, with the loss of the family Jeep. The last one I have left is to go to the National Sports Collector's Convention, and that will probably never happen...but even if it did, I'm at the point where I expect it will probably just be a big pile of disappointment if I ever do.

Story of my life.

I suppose in time the anger will subside, and I will be happy that I added 145 base and 71 Chinese New Year parallels to my collection, when I didn't have a single card from the set previously. (I got less new cards than duplicates, another disgrace) but that time isn't going to be soon. There's too much anger to get past that right now. I'm so angry I don't even want to scan the rest of the cards right now!

These are the cards I am missing from the base set. #116, 121, 126, 131 and 147. I'm hoping I can trade for them instead of having to spend even more money to get them, as I noted above.

14 comments:

  1. I had some similar feelings about my case of 2015-16 Panini Clear Vision. Lots of doubles, nowhere near a complete base set, and not a lot in the way of excitement. I also would love to own a classic car, but I'm not sure the experience would live up to my expectations. My dad owns a number of vintage automobiles, and he spends a lot of time and money keeping them running.

    https://razcardblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/a-clear-case-of-black-friday-excess.html

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  2. What a drag. If it helps I’ll trade for some Celtic dupes.

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  3. That sucks, Billy! Sometimes I think it might be fun to pony up the dough for a case, but stories like this talk me out of it.

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  4. I can see why you'd be so angry-but I hope you don't take it personally. It just sounds like Panini sucks at collation and unfortunately collectors like us have been getting screwed by monopolies in all sports. Its not nearly on your level but I could tell something was fishy after my 2-box break of Donruss retail.

    If I were you I'd email Panini - or post on Twitter about this shitty break. I've heard good things about their customer service. Even if you dont get anything from them, venting might make you feel better.

    I agree about he player selection, too. Embiid has to be in there!

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  5. Aw man. That really stinks. There is a reason there are anti-monopoly laws out there. It kills competition, innovation, and improvement. You unfortunately experienced it first hand. I really hope Panini can come through on this one and at least finish the set for you. No way in heck should you not have been able to finish the set from a case.

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  6. That's a huge bummer. Panini should be ashamed of itself

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  7. There is no excuse that Panini can give that would explain how a case can not yield a complete set. That is unacceptable.

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  8. That stinks man. Opening boxes is not really my style anymore other than just to accumulate a little trade bait. When I was an active box buster in the mid 2000's this would have been right up my alley. Hopefully you can make some trades in order to complete the set.

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  9. I have written to all leagues about this. But it's all about the $$$.

    Good luck on completing your set. I wouldn't mind taking some of your doubles like Ball, Tatum, and Mitchell ones.

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  10. Sorry about the bad experience. Are the five cards you need short prints or something? You might want to reach out to Panini's customer service explaining your situation. I feel like I've good things about them. Who knows... maybe they'll just send out the singles you need.

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  11. It was depressing to read your results to say the least. I also support the option of contacting Panini via social channels to bring attention to this problem. Good luck!

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  12. Thanks for the comments guys. Usually venting makes me feel better, but not this time.

    Panini knows me and I guarantee they won't do a thing about it...they are probably laughing actually. They refuse to even publish my positive comments on the Knights Lance anymore. I didn't even bother posting about it on Twitter, not even to the NBPA, what's the point?

    I didn't get any trades for the cards I need, but I did agree to trade a good stack of them to a frequent trading partner on the Trading Card Database that's going to bring back more than 50 cards to me, and I owed him a little anyway.

    I did set aside some Blazers for Kerry, not sure if I got any Celtics dupes...Tatum is one of the five I didn't get.

    Some will be making their way to COMC this week as well.

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  13. I went ahead and bought the last 5 cards I needed on COMC. Also got examples of most of the parallels that were not available in my boxes, but no way I'm going to pay $50 for a non-SN card.

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