[xstreaminsanity]

I was reading the article in the News section about the preview for 2011-12 Preferred. After reading the comments, and then taking into what was stated in the Sticky "Panini in Review", I started to think about what it is that makes people that want Topps and Upper Deck back so bad. Now mind you, I'm not saying that I prefer any of the companies over any of the other companies. To me, cards are cards regardless of who they come from (to a certain extent).

I've heard people say that Panini's customer service is severely lacking. I've heard the same statement about Upper Deck's customer service. It seems that those who like Panini's customer service dislike Upper Deck's and vice versa. Mind you, I haven't heard too many people having to deal with Topps customer service. In terms of Topps, my only complaint about them is that their site really seems lackluster (such as their checklist section, I prefer UD's).

I've heard people complain about Panini using the same card design over the different sports for the same brands. Well, I enter this into evidence:
<div style="text-align:center;">
<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/4597d3bf-5baf-466f-9fae-212a36c112f4.jpg" />
<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/92eb7bde-0919-41e5-8d89-62fa896183af.jpg" />
<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/72697b75-7a13-491e-8748-4426e59e4d2b.jpg" />
<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/14200c49-2202-4c3c-942d-fbf0698a6c28.jpg" />

<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/6c449385-287b-4bc5-8e72-df957d665780.jpg" />
<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/eb607b36-039c-4de9-b12e-c907a321a99e.jpg" />
<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/5f514604-87ea-4764-a5d1-7b0c0821f80d.jpg" />
</div>

Upper Deck and Topps do the same thing as well.

I've even seen (and Panini and Topps may be offenders as well) Upper Deck use the same action shot not just in the same year, but across multiple years:

<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/8812327a-7b2b-4813-98b5-7072f295552b.jpg" />
<img src="http://images.checkoutmycards.com/zoom/104a482f-6c06-46e4-8289-9f73907e0c6d.jpg" />
(I also checked the Isiah Thomas and it's the same as well.)

I've heard people complaining about Panini flooding the market with too many of Kobe's, Durant's and Griffin's AU, but UD has done the same with MJ's and LeBron's.

Also, people were complaining about the amount of product Panini was putting out while Upper Deck and Topps seemed to be putting out just as much product. Upper Deck doesn't need to have a First Edition. Topps doesn't need to differentiate between Bowman/Bowman Chrome and Topps/Topps Chrome. But they do. And for retail purposes (this includes Panini as well), all cards should be the same, maybe only have retail exclusive inserts, have no GU or AU in retail, or something like that. If I pull a GU of someone and it's retail, why should that make a matter in difference of value? The GU material is supposedly from the same player, but because the background color is different, people know it was bought from a blaster and not a hobby box. That's unfair to people hundreds of miles from an LCS and/or they don't have computer access but they see cards at their local Wal-Mart, Target, or K-Mart (every town has at least one of those three if not all) and really like collecting cards.

I guess my real question is what is it that is so different about Panini versus Upper Deck and Topps that makes people want them back so bad. I don't think Panini should have a monopoly on the situation but I don't think they're solely to blame for that. I would love to have all three company's out there competing (no more than 6 products from each company). And I know people want Topps back because a lot of people like Chrome and Refractors, that I can kind of understand. Exquisite and Black were nice UD products as well. But National Treasures, Timeless Treasures, Elite Black Box aren't that bad as well.

Another question I have is if it were all three companies, would you be willing to buy product from each of the companies? Now, these questions are more for people who'd rather have Upper Deck and Topps as compared to Panini, but anyone can answer. Sorry for the rant, I just don't see why people look so down on Panini when they seem to be doing the same things Upper Deck and Topps do/did. And Panini in American sports is really kind of only 3 years old (ignoring stickers) and have made decent strides if you ask me. Again, sorry for the rant.