Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Inquiring minds want to know...

This is the 6th and final entry post for the March contest. It has been a lot of fun reading all the great comments so far. I'll leave this open tonight and close out the contest sometime tomorrow and then do the randomization. Thanks again for all the great input.

Mr. X from (insert company name here: Topps, Panini, Upper Deck, New Co.) approaches you for some market research for his company. He wants to know what you want in a new product. No, he's not kidding, he really wants to know. Rank these things in order of importance to you in a new product. We're talking about a product that would appeal to the masses here, not some $300 per 5 card "box" product.

Design
Photography
Relic hits
Auto hits
Number of hits per box
Quality of hits per box
Parallels
Inserts-number/quality
Price point
Other-anything else you want to add in

There you go. In a nutshell, it's all about what you want most in a product, so speak now or forever hold your piece. Or is it peace?

By the way, if you missed out on the 5th entry post, you might be missing out on some good stuff. Go here to check it out.

33 comments:

  1. Quality of hits per box
    Number of hits per box
    Photography
    Parallels
    Auto hits
    Inserts-number/quality
    Price point
    Design
    Relic hits

    Yea, I think that's about right... although I could sit here all night re-arranging them. They are all so important!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Photography and Design are important and the price point should depend on the quality of the card. I would put a more even balance of the teams. I really don't care about the relics and autos' unless they are from the team I collect. I would rather have a complete team than relics or autos.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would have to say:
    Price
    then Price
    Photography (players in current uniforms)
    design
    parallels/inserts
    and the rest in no particular order
    then there is Price

    ReplyDelete
  4. Photography
    Design
    Parallels
    Price point
    Inserts-number/quality
    Relic hits
    Auto hits
    Number of hits per box
    Quality of hits per box

    Good Photography and Design of the card are pretty important to me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This would vary on whether it was a flagship set or a secondary set. I'll just do the flagship set for brevity's sake.

    1. Design - this is what people will remember 40 years from now (quick think of 1971 Topps...I bet you thought black borders first) and don't forget the good card back design too

    2. Price point - Kids are the future if they can't afford cards from the flagship set this industry is doomed.

    3. Photography - But not every photograph should be great, people still talk about bad photos and airbrushing too.

    4. Parallels - one is sufficient as long it is different enough from the base set to stand out (1 per pack)

    5. Inserts - very limited # perhaps just an All Star insert set and a playoff insert set, base cards should player and manager (serving as the team checklist) cards only

    Relic hits - 1 every 2 boxes they need to not be done to death which they almost are...and one player per team only to make them somewhat special(different players next year)

    Auto hits - 1 every 2 boxes (not in the same boxes as relics)...should be the same 1 player per team and change everyone next year

    Number of hits per box - 1 no more no less for flagship

    Quality of hits per box - every player doesn't need a jersey or relic card, should be the best or 2nd best player only...no rookies

    Would this be a popular set? I would buy it, but if I knew what the masses wanted I would actually work for a card company rather than being their customer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maybe I'm old school, but I have a tie for number one: Price per pack and cards per pack. With the number of inserts thrown in Topps flagship, there should be 15 cards per pack for 2 bucks, especially retail. After that, I think design and photography go hand in hand. Then, after we have a well designed, high card/price ratio, we worry about parallels, hits, etc. The hits are fun, but the base set must be collectible and well made.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very Important: design, price point

    Important: photography

    Somewhat Important: relic hits, auto hits, number of hits per box, quality of hits per box, insert number, insert quality

    Not very important: parallels

    To me the design of the base trumps all else, then price...anything after that is secondary to me. I would add that the number of players included in the set is also important.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1. I'm all about price.
    2. Relics
    3. Autos
    4. Inserts
    5. Parallels
    6. Photography (80's Fleer comes to mind)
    7. Design (Early 90's Topps = bad)
    8. Number of hits
    9. Quality of hits

    ReplyDelete
  9. Price point
    Design
    Photography
    Parallels
    .
    .
    .
    Inserts-number/quality
    Relic hits
    Auto hits
    Number of hits per box
    Quality of hits per box

    price & design. hits are for prospectors (not me)

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1.Design / Quality / Photography
    2.Inserts - high quality w/ low number per pack
    3.price
    4.collation - I should be able to buy a retail box and not have to worry about half the cards being dupes. Have hit ratio be the sole difference between hobby and retail boxes.
    5.number of hits
    6.quality of hits
    7.auto hits
    8.relic hits
    9.parallels

    ReplyDelete
  11. In order:

    1. I'm going to lead with the "other" - I generally collect a full base set because the theme of the set. I tend to focus on artwork-based cards (Allen & Ginter, Diamond Kings). I also like the idea of the Fan Favorites set from the early '00s.
    2. And because I'm a fan of themes, I have to put inserts - quality here. A good theme or awesome design makes me collect the set, not who's in it.
    3. Photography. Great photos can make me collect a set I'd otherwise ignore.
    4. Price point - or more importantly value of purchase, which combines price point with how many and quality of the base cards, inserts, and hits.
    5. I'm grouping hits together in one group. They aren't that important to me, other than how they fit in with the value. They're just another insert to me.
    6. Design - I rarely collect a set because of the design. In fact, it makes no difference to me. I do, however, recognize good or bad designs. They just rarely factor into my types of collections.
    7. Parallels - again, just another insert that I'll never finish as a set, and thus (especially when they're one per pack) get in the way.

    ReplyDelete
  12. PRICE! Seriously, I loved Collector's Choice. Maybe I'm the only one, but I think Collector's Choice had it all over Topps Opening Day. It felt like a real set with real inserts, not just a Topps base card in a different color with an ugly logo.

    Collector's Choice had large base sets, silver/gold signature parallels, You Crash The Game, and a few other inserts. Add in some sort of autos (don't have to be high end) and cool inserts, and you're golden. Maybe relics are too much to ask for in a .99 pack, but offset it with autographs and good inserts.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Focus on the base cards. I liked the Score / Pinnacle of action shots and then a head shot on the back. No airbrushing. Inserts are nice but make them relevant. Team and manager cards are OK but make them look good - same with leaders.

    Hits? Don't need 'em. Just give me 25 players a team or so.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'd put them in this order:

    These 3 things are my most importance:
    Design
    Photography
    Price point

    This is somewhat important to me:

    Number of hits per box
    Quality of hits per box
    Auto hits
    Relic hits

    This really has little to no importance to me:
    Parallels
    Inserts-number/quality

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't buy packs. I'm not a gambler and I don't need a bunch of cards of other teams.

    If I did though.

    Price
    Photography
    Design

    Hits, Relics, Autos mean nothing to me.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Well, Mr. X, I'd have to say price is the most important to me. I have to be able to afford it, or I'll just be waiting for the discount boxes two years later. Quality photography is important, and if you're doing posed shots, make them interesting--not glamour shots with a curtain background. Hits are fun, but they shouldn't be the major focus. Make that base set sing. And quality hits could use some freshening. Get creative with your relics, so they're not all just swatches of one-color jersey. Parallels and inserts definitely needs quality control over quantity. They should matter, should have something to do with the set. Good luck, Mr. X. There are bound to be complaints, but it's worth taking some risks.

    Thanks for the contest, and for getting me so many new readers on the last post. A new blogger couldn't have asked for a better contest.

    ReplyDelete
  17. assuming this is a base, flagship set...

    1a Design
    1b Photography, both equally important
    2 Price Point
    3 Quality of hits per box

    that's it. Keep out the ridiculous parallels and over done insert sets.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Design - far and above anything else, the base card design is the most important thing to me

    Price Point
    Other - Non-cardboard inserts
    Number of hits per box
    Auto Hits
    Relic Hits
    Inserts - Quality over quantity
    Quality of hits per box
    Photography

    Parallels - I am NOT a fan of most parallels.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm saying that Mr. X would probably be sorry he asked for my input. Some of those items don't belong in a set I'd put out.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Quality of hits per box
    Auto hits
    Photography
    Number of hits per box
    Relic hits
    Design
    Other- on-card autos, or at the least not obvious sticker autos
    Inserts-number/quality
    Parallels
    Price point

    ReplyDelete
  21. As a player collector, player selection has to go first. If my guys aren't in the main set, I'm not buying it (even if they show up in hits/inserts).

    After that:
    Price

    After that it's kind of interchangeable, but I'll say
    Design
    quality of hits
    number of hits (sometimes zero is the magic number to get me to buy it!)
    parallels (I generally hate that they exist to the level they do, but like the trade bait that results)
    auto hits
    relic hits
    photography (tough to know before hand sometimes, so I don't put much weight on it)
    insert number/quality

    By the way, great contest all around!
    --Jon

    ReplyDelete
  22. All I care about is design and price point. Other things are a nice bonus if it's feasible, but they're certainly not something I'd base a product around.

    Something else I might put on the list is concept. Making the set interesting does not necessarily mean it needs autographs of teenagers and DNA samples.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I was just thinking about this in the car yesterday.

    The only things I care about are design and content, and by content I basically mean the photography, card back, etc.

    I guess price would be third on the list.

    Parallels and hits? Don't need them. I'd collect without them.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Price Point: This decides everything else.

    Design: Very key, this includes inserts and thematic elements.



    Quality of hits per box: Low price point=low odds of quality hits

    Number of hits per box: one-two would be ideal here.

    Photography: Can be hindered by bad design, which is why its lower on the list.

    Parallels: I've heard they're easy to produce, so let's go with three levels of parallels.

    Inserts: six insert sets of varying difficulty to pull with one case hit type of insert (could also be a hit)

    Also, do not parallel the inserts!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Design
    Photography
    Price point
    Quality of hits per box
    Number of hits per box
    Relic hits
    Auto hits
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    Inserts-quality
    Inserts-number
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    ...
    Parallels

    That's how much I don't like inserts and parallels.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Photography - the quality of photos has improved since I last collected keep it up

    Design

    Other-I like the written anecdotes where space allows.

    Price point - I still do a per card cost calculation in the aisle at target. More cards, less money

    Parallels -still on the safe side (barely) of trying to do too much

    Inserts-number/quality - lower number / higher quality.

    Auto hits - starting to get into "doing to much territory"

    Relic hits - crossed the border
    Quality of hits per box
    Number of hits per box

    ReplyDelete
  27. Photography
    Design
    Price Point
    Quality of hits per box
    Inserts-number/quality
    Number of hits per box
    Relic hits
    Auto hits
    Parallels

    A couple of these do nothing for me because I don't buy boxes, but I thought about what I'd prefer if I did.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Design
    Photography
    Price point
    Inserts-number/quality
    Number of hits per box
    Quality of hits per box
    Parallels
    Auto hits
    Relic hits

    Wierd, huh?

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm still a set collector at heart so:

    1. Price point - This is the most important thing to me. I passed on a lot of Upper Deck products when they were new due to this and it's the main reason why I haven't purchased much of anything Panini. This also includes the number of cards per pack/box. I don't want to have to buy 4 boxes of a product to complete a set.

    1A - I think you have to include number of hits in the price point/value. Some higher priced boxes are worth it because of the quality of the hits, but when you've got a box selling for $60 that only includes one sticker auto and two plain jersey swatches then the price point isn't correct for what you're getting.

    Breaking that down even further, I'm sick of jersey cards. Most of them probably cost more to manufacture than what they sell for on eBay. I think they are an idea that has been run into the ground and run its course. Heck, even patches are becoming more and more common in products such as Unrivaled.

    Autos in any form are nice. I'd rather pay a little more for a better auto checklist then to pull bench players and career minor leaguers. On-card is ideal of course, but stickers are understandable on lower end products.

    I don't mind manufactured "relic" cards except for the fact that they're expensive to produce which means that they end up getting counted as hits while determining the value of the box.

    Parallels are nice and can sometimes add a lot of value to a box. Hitting the right number can be like winning the lottery.

    2. Design/Photography - I know I kind of lumped things together, but this is how I consider things when I'm thinking about buying a box. I put more emphasis on a good design over photography. The design makes you want to buy a product and then the photography is sort of like a bonus. It makes you fondly remember a set. Things like 1991 Topps and any year Stadium Club come to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 1. Other - checklist. After reading Night Owl's post it dawned on me how much I care about this. I want to know my guys will be in the set. Especially with football releases since the Browns kind of suck.
    2. Price
    3. Photography
    4. Design - I put photos over design because I will always take the nice photo in a crappy set over the beautiful design with boring photos. I love a good photo.
    5.Relic hits (I want cards that explicitly state that the swatch was used by the guy on the card. That importance makes this 5).
    6.Auto hits (ON CARD PLZ)
    7.Parallels
    8.Inserts-number/quality
    9.Quality of hits per box - I don't open boxes so these don't matter to me.
    10. Number of hits per box

    ReplyDelete
  31. Amendment to mine:
    1A - A product which doesn't have 385237452385723 Yankee cards. No Yankee Stadium Legends, no Historic cards of Babe Ruth, no Mickey Mantle/Lou Gehrig short prints. Just a decent amount of cards for each team.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Pricepoint
    Pricepoint
    Pricepoint

    Not everyone has a lot of money especially if you want to bring kids back into the hobby.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Price Point - $50-$70 per box
    1 Relic card per box of an actual MLB player
    1 Autograph card per box of an actual MLB player
    Quality photos (both staged and in-game)
    Parallel cards (a la Topps Gold or Diamond)
    No cards of retro players
    No reprint cards
    No mini cards

    Now get to work MLB licensed card companies (i.e. Topps)

    ReplyDelete