Right… it is now time to share with you, my reasons for being so disappointed with the new NRL and AFL Champions Series cards…
As I mentioned before, when I wrote to you last I was upset that the NRL had no signature cards in the series while the AFL did. I didn’t think it was fair to collectors when one code got a “better” set of cards than the other.
Unfortunately for AFL fans the tables turned…
The “signature” cards are NOT real signatures!
They are PRINTED REPRODUCTIONS of the player’s signature.
Can you believe it???
Printed copies of the player’s signature!
In fairness to Select Australia (the manufacturers of the footy cards)… they have called them “Gold Foil Printed Signatures” — so they are NOT deliberately trying to mislead anyone.
The name is telling you that the player’s signature is printed in a gold coloured foil print.
But I ask you this…
Is a gold foil printed signature, still a signature?
And if it is…
Is it worth as much as a personally signed player signature?
IF you answered YES to BOTH these questions I have a few more questions for you…
If I made a photocopy of a $50 note, is it still a $50 note?
And if it is…
I’d like to buy your house from you! I’ll be paying cash… as many $50 notes as you want!
I think you get my point.
It’s a shame that Select chose to go down this route. In my opinion, it does nothing positive for the card collecting hobby at all.
In my view, the printed signatures are going to de-value Select’s other perfectly legitimate limited edition signature cards — the ones that the players hand sign themselves — because every collector who buys something sight unseen will now be wondering… Is it a real signature or a printed signature?
Even the new collectors (most likely kids) that are just starting out with this series are being misled into thinking that printed signatures are cards worth collecting.
These same kids are having their expectations set so that when the next series of cards come out they expect to find one signature in every four packets (the same ratio as this Champions Series). That’s not realistic… it would be too many signature cards!
The Promotional Flyer from Select tells us that there are six gold foil signatures per team… 96 cards in the sub set. There is one card in every four packets (on average).
That means there are approximately 97,200 printed signature cards in the entire series. (900 cases x 12 boxes per case x 36 packets per box divided by four).
That’s over 1000 printed signatures per player!
That is FAR TOO MANY when you consider the two biggest factors that determine value in the card collecting hobby are scarcity and demand. With this many printed signatures available it is hardly a scarce set.
Having learnt all of this you may still want to buy the set. That’s your call.
We won’t be stocking the Champions Series for either the AFL or NRL. I don’t think they are worth the trouble of collecting and as such I don’t feel comfortable selling them to you.
Whichever way you collect cards, we encourage you to keep in mind our first rule of collecting:
“Have fun. Collect for fun, not for profit.”
If you want to see the Promotional Flyer for the Champions Series I’ve included them here (1 meg each in size):
What do you think? Have your say and leave a comment below.
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