[rshumay]

DO NOT COLLECT PANINI’s 2015 MICHIGAN SET!!!!!!!

DO NOT BUY PACKS OR BOXES, IT IS SIMPLY NOT WORTH IT.

This note is to alert people of the waste of money in buying the 2015 Michigan Panini set. It is unbelievable that Michigan would sanction a set like this. What's worse is that Michigan signed a multi-year relationship with Panini. Hopefully, Michigan was smart enough to retain some control so that future sets do not waste Michigan collector’s money.

I recently purchased and broke down 2 cases (40 boxes) of this set. The conclusion is that the set is a major disservice to collectors and Michigan supporters, in particular.

The literature produced supporting the set is misleading.
First, Panini claims that "Each box will deliver one autograph or memorabilia card." All signatures are Authentic!” proclaims its web site. Yet 2 boxes in each case had neither an auto nor a patch. None of the boxes in either case contained 2 autos or 2 patches, so the average was well below one per pack. This means that 10% of the boxes lacked either an auto or a patch. This is a far cry from the representations that on average each box contains either.

Second, Panini should probably rename the set the Devin Gardner set. The 36 boxes which did contain an auto or patch contained 7 Devin Gardner Autographs (all base) and no autographs from any other player. In addition, 12 of the boxes contained Devin Gardner patches. In case you need help with the math, a whopping 19 out of 36 (52.8%) of the boxes contained Devin Gardner material.

The Gardner auto cards are worthless.

The patch cards regardless of the player are also worthless.

The set allegedly contains autographs from 7 different players. Statistically, it is highly improbable that 2 cases would contain autographs from one player and one player only unless (1) Devin Gardner cards are much more prevalent than any others; or (2) the distribution of cards is not random. The number of Devin Gardner cards offered on the secondary market and the absence of autographs from other players on these markets further confirms that one or both of these are true.

Further evidence of non-random distribution was evident in that the base cards repeatedly appeared in the same order

I have now also spoken to other collectors who have confirmed the exact same experience as me.

I believe that this is conclusive evidence that these cases were manually assembled.

BUYERS BEWARE

The cost of the set to Michigan fans for what they might receive is unconscionable, especially compared to Michigan's previous relationship with TK Legacy and the quality it produced. I am disappointed that Michigan would allow its name used under these conditions and sanction such behavior by Panini.

I reached out to Panini before posting this ad. I alerted them to the same information contained above: Here is its response in full:

"We apologize for the dissatisfaction you experienced from the box(s) you recently purchased. Unfortunately, since all of our products are randomly packed there is no way to guarantee that the hits in every box/case will cancel out the cost of its purchase. Again, we do apologize for the disappointment that you experienced with this purchase and wish you better luck next time. Thank you and have a great day!"

Panini wishes me luck? The odds of getting nothing but Gardner autos in multiple cases is nearly impossible. That is not luck. Luck cannot explain an occurrence that is nearly statistically impossible if the cards are randomly distributed. Panini completely ignores the fact that not every box contains an auto or patch card.

[joe callahan13]

"The set allegedly contains autographs from 7 different players. Statistically, it is highly improbable that 2 cases would contain autographs from one player and one player only unless (1) Devin Gardner cards are much more prevalent than any others"

Literally EVERY single product has filler autos like this. The only difference is there are usually more than 7 players. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I don't think you are telling anyone that has collected for any length of time anything we don't already know. These are retail blasters, these results are exactly what I would expect. For the record, Tom Brady is listed as one of the 7 players that signed for this set and I am betting that is a RIDICULOUSLY low print run. Like.... a 1 of 1.

[rshumay]

"The set allegedly contains autographs from 7 different players. Statistically, it is highly improbable that 2 cases would contain autographs from one player and one player only unless (1) Devin Gardner cards are much more prevalent than any others"

Literally EVERY single product has filler autos like this. The only difference is there are usually more than 7 players. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I don't think you are telling anyone that has collected for any length of time anything we don't already know. These are retail blasters, these results are exactly what I would expect. For the record, Tom Brady is listed as one of the 7 players that signed for this set and I am betting that is a RIDICULOUSLY low print run. Like.... a 1 of 1.

Thanks for the reply. The problem with your position is that Panini represents or at least implies that the autos are evenly disbursed: there are 7 auto cards and those have PARALLEL CARDS as follows: Silver #/99 or less, Gold #/25 or less, Black #/10 or less. So your argument of filler autos fails to comply with Panini's marketing material. In fact, in Panini's responses, it consistently indicates that it has random distribution of auto cards. The points I made, that either the gardners are far more prevalent or distribution is not random, remain valid.

Assuming you are correct that these are retail blasters, then Panini's claim that distribution is random is false.

I also claimed that Panini fails short of honoring its claim that each box contains an auto or memorabilia card. Again, a point it unequivocally states. Its customer service simply ignores this point.

[Vicktory717]

Panini is the absolute WORST. I've sent at least 15 angry messages to them since 2012 pertaining to quality control issues like this, and of course redemptions and I get the same half assed response everytime. People use to rant about Upper Deck back in the day, but they'd kill to be able to complain about their issues compared to the present day Panini problems.

[jplarson]

Panini is the absolute WORST.

Fortunately starting in 2016 Panini will the sole provider of NFL/NFLPA licensed sports card which will allow them to bring enhanced value to collectors and focus on qual..... hahahaha, I couldn't finishing writing that. Because a historical look into business in America ALWAYS shows that when a company has a monopoly in a given area they have always been benevolent towards consumers with better customer service and product than if they had competition....

[maizenblue73175]

SORRY THAT YOU WERE TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS. I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO PURCHASING A BOX.

[alstott9adams]

Ouch sorry