Thursday, August 11, 2011

Panini's Big Pull

As I was whiling away the hours on Wednesday I took a gander at Panini's site and noticed they had posted a preview of 2011-12 Certified Hockey. Normally, I'm not one to comment on card previews as I think it's hard to judge a product without seeing it in hand. However, one of the inserts that they have included in next season's set is Big Pulls





Pretty cool. An insert with a fairly large autograph on some sort of textured background (not sure if it's a relic or not). And who doesn't like Jeff Skinner? No really, is there anyone that doesn't like him?

But wait! There's more!



The autograph actually slides out of the card, hence Big Pull becomes a devilish play on words.

I'm not going to lie, me likey this insert. As in I might break my $15.00 per card self-imposed eBay limit should a certain center that hails from Ile Bizard be featured in the checklist.

It will also be interesting to see if this set evolves in future generations. For instance, perhaps include an action photo in the space behind the auto so that when it's pulled out there isn't white space showing.

Honestly, an insert like this does more for me then a video trading card. Nice to see Panini bringing something new to the table. At least I'm assuming they're bringing something new...does anyone else know of a similar product from the past?

(photos pulled directly from Panini's blog, please don't sue!)

6 comments:

Cheap Card Collecting said...

They've already done this for Gridiron Gear football with the Rookie Gridiron Gems since 2008 I think.

I pulled one last week from 2010 Gridiron Gear. They are really cool though!

Captain Canuck said...

yeah, Upper Deck football and others have been doing this for a few years now.

First i've seen in hockey though.

Nick B. said...

It looks great as a preview, but I'll reserve judgement until I see one live (as I do with all things Panini). The on-jersey autos sometimes look like crap.

And they're called Big Pulls? Really? Because you can pull the swatch out of card and because they'll be considered a big pull out of a pack? Terrible.

TheRealDFG said...

Maybe a better name would be Big Dumb Stupid Dummy-Head Pull. That's what I think of them. Just kidding.

I like them. Novel concept although I'm not sure on the execution until I have one in my grubby mitts.

More and more, it seems the card industry is beginning to wake up to the fact that collectors are sick of the boring old sweater piece or barely noticeable patch. Plus even the once coveted autos are starting to wear out their welcome with second and third tier players dominating most releases. Is this finally the year for "innovation"?

Nick B. said...

I think they should use the single color patches eveyone complains about and have those autographed for these cards instead of a piece of jersey. They could use the numbers from the jersey and get a solid auto and people might not care it's a single color patch.

Then again, this is Panini, so there's probably going to be 10 different variations (with all types of serial numbering) so hopefully a patch version is one of them.

I also hope this is the year of innovation, but bringing a design into hockey from football really isn't innovative in my book.

Justin G. said...

CCC and CC - thank you for the info. I guess that's what I get for not collecting football.

Nick, I usually reserve judgement on products until they are live as well. Just thought it was enough of a different product to warrent mentioning...and I had nothing else to write about...and maybe if I pimp their product enough one of those free boxes they send out will trickle my way :)

Tim - innovation would be nice. It would also be nice if it's also the year of the vanishing parallel.