Anyone buying the Exquisite Basketball that is releasing today???

Hallco · October 15, 2012 10:22PM

At $900+ per box, a forum that doesn't have a ton of basketball collectors as it is and mainly vintage colllectors who have less than exciting interest in new shiny stuff I highly doubt it!

Even though I like Bk and some of the new stuff....this isn't a product I will be buying. Anyone else that is?

rtimmer · October 16, 2012 2:50AM

I still prefer picking up the 2010 ultimate basketball packs. Seems like a much better value to me

Toro · October 16, 2012 8:16AM

So the idea was this...piss of young players by not paying them.......illegaly print previously licensed product....lose major sports licenses......then release a basketball set that is awesome to earn some respect back......then take it's most high end and best set in all sports....and double the price out the door...all because they promise a card with a sticker and scratch off code on it...per case...jeez

byronscott4ever · October 16, 2012 9:01AM

Upper Deck is milking what cash cows it has left. If you ordered this early, you could probably flip for a profit right away. It sounds like a Jordan and Lebron are going to be coming out of every case and then some. This set is basically Exquisite and UD Black combined after they did a Retro set that was a bunch of old Fleer/Skybox designs. Lots of reused photos here too, glad my players is not in the set.

sportscardstop · October 16, 2012 9:56AM

<< So the idea was this...piss of young players by not paying them.......illegaly print previously licensed product....lose major sports licenses......then release a basketball set that is awesome to earn some respect back......then take it's most high end and best set in all sports....and double the price out the door...all because they promise a card with a sticker and scratch off code on it...per case...jeez >>

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Doubling the price out the door is simply not true. Direct cost on a 3 box case of 2011-12 Exquisite is $1290. Direct cost on 2009-10 and 2008-09 Exquisite was right around $1215-1220 for a 3 box case. So UD cut out a bunch of the junk autos and lower tier names and stuck a Jordan, Lebron, and at least a Magic/Bird/Dr J/Russell auto per Case. Putting more quality names and fewer lower tier autographs in the product justifies the extra 25/box cost. Some of the boxes of Exquisite from past years could be pretty bad.

All of the high prices you see online are from dealers trying to take advantage of being one of the few places to buy UD products online. So don't say UD is doubling their costs when it is the online dealers that are trying to establish pricing at $3,000/case when it only cost them $1290.

Edit: I can't really argue about pissing off young players and some of their other issues. But the pricing is very fair for this product direct from UD. Same with Retro. It was $150/box direct from UD. The product got hot and got upwards of $500 a box. I bet a lot of dealers wish Panini could put a product out that like once in awhile.

byronscott4ever · October 16, 2012 11:41AM

It seems that with some collectors, Upper Deck can do no wrong and Panini can do no right. If Panini puts Kobe autographs in every product, they are flooding the market. But if UD puts a Jordan in every case or every X number of boxes, they are giving collectors value. I'm guess Upper Deck could put out a set with nothing but base cards and it would be loved by some. I don't know of any product that Upper Deck has put out in basketball that has done well that is new. They have been recycling designs for years, even when they had the NBA license. It's nice every once in a while to see a "throwback" release but UD is taking it to another level.

Toro · October 16, 2012 12:50PM

<< Direct cost on a 3 box case of 2011-12 Exquisite is $1290 >>

I find it hard to believe that these exclusive dealers are the only ones behind the high presell prices.....I just don't see the value in the case bust results.

stangrider · October 16, 2012 12:52PM

Check out the manufactured patches on some of these cards. It is hilarious. There are some up on ebay-

sportscardstop · October 16, 2012 12:58PM

<< 

<< Direct cost on a 3 box case of 2011-12 Exquisite is $1290 >>

I find it hard to believe that these exclusive dealers are the only ones behind the high presell prices.....I just don't see the value in the case bust results. >>

At $3,000/case, I don't see people making money either. There aren't the big rookie autos to help drive the resale of product. But $1290 is 100% the dealer direct price for a 3 box case. There were a lot of dealers that sold Retro Cases at $1500 and were mad to find out that they were hot and selling for $2500-$3000 on Ebay. So now a lot of dealers are waiting to see what the online dealers are getting for cases of high end product. When the LCS sees the online retailers asking $3000, they jump on the bandwagon. This overpricing also happened with The Cup for Hockey. It should have retailed at $400/box, and online dealers tried to get $1500-$1800 for a 3 box case.

Upper Deck makes their money when the dealers pay for the product. Obviously a good resale helps out their product. But they aren't making extra when dealers ask $3000 on a case that cost them $1290. I think its a lot of the internet retailers not wanting to get burned on a hot product and also them trying to set a false market for a product.

sportscardstop · October 16, 2012 1:13PM

<< It seems that with some collectors, Upper Deck can do no wrong and Panini can do no right. If Panini puts Kobe autographs in every product, they are flooding the market. But if UD puts a Jordan in every case or every X number of boxes, they are giving collectors value. I'm guess Upper Deck could put out a set with nothing but base cards and it would be loved by some. I don't know of any product that Upper Deck has put out in basketball that has done well that is new. They have been recycling designs for years, even when they had the NBA license. It's nice every once in a while to see a "throwback" release but UD is taking it to another level. >>

I am a big basketball fan and the Panini products are very bland with no new ideas except for Panini Silhouettes. Upper Deck may not have put out anything new, but that is hard to do w/o an NBA license. They do recycle the same photos and there aren't as many people who collect players in their college jerseys. But Upper Deck didn't lose an NBA license, UD and Topps were just massively outbid by Panini.

Lets look at some things UD has done in the past for basketball and other sports.

1. Exquisite - created a super high end product that many thought would initially fail based on the high price point.
2. UD Black- a very popular product that has a strong following.
3. Goodwin Champions - The bug cards are innovative and bring in a different type of collector
4. extinct animal cards- I personally don't get it, but these sold extremely well on the secondary market
5. College Mascot cards- many of these are selling for $100-$350. They are creating cards w/o autos/jerseys that are popular, which is what the hobby needs.
6. Retro- Yes it is recycling card designs from the 1990s. But they capitalized on the popularity of the 90s insert and also proved again that non-autographed cards can sell.

Panini just used the same boring designs from football brands. National Treasures is a copy cat of Exquisite. Upper Deck is at least trying. Panini just seems to push products out without considering what a collector is looking for. And regarding flooding the market w/ Kobe autos, it is a little different. Jordan is an Icon and it will take a giant flood of autos to bring his cards down to Kobe levels. Kobes autograph can be hand for under $100. Panini just needs more of the big names like Lebron/Wade/etc.

I am not a fan of Exquisite at $3000 a case. But at around the intended price of $550/box, it is a solid break.

Anyone buying the Exquisite Basketball that is releasing today???

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