Posts Tagged ‘In The Game’

I was all set to write a post railing against Panini and one of their many absurd, self-aggrandizing posts about a product that is 95% trash but then my Google Reader showed a new, well-written post by Dr. Brian Price of In The Game. Reading both posts really illustrated the philosophical chasm between the two companies. So now this post is going to be about that; how one company gets it right nearly every time while the other almost always fails.

First off, I don’t even know why I subscribe to Panini’s blog The Knight’s Lance. Day after day, I glance at posts that feature crappy foil cards, sticker autos, and quality control video breaks involving men wearing super tacky shirts. I have almost zero interest in their products and feel that they’ve squandered their NHL license. Outside of maybe 3-4 SUBSETS, I think each release has been an epic foily fail. Heck, even my LMC doesn’t carry their product, but that is mostly because Panini apparently requires all sorts of paperwork, bank statements, and other stuff if you want to carry their flimsy foilboard. They’re actually doing me a favor; instead of being bored at my LMC and buying some of their product, I just save my pennies.

As much as I dislike Panini, they are their own company and can do whatever they want. That is fine with me; I’ll just choose to not buy their product. But what gets me is their incessant need to over hype their products on their blog. The post that got me was one of their many about some Black Friday Promotion they are running. I haven’t been keeping up with it until I saw a post of theirs on November 16. The reason it caught my eye was because it was dubbed a “can’t miss” promotion. If Panini is good at ANYTHING, it is absolutely “missing”.

So anyways, I read. And read. And vomited. And read. It is line after line of bombastic hyperbole that is typical of someone who lacks self-confidence and overcompensates with a douchebag attitude (think The Situation from Jersey Shore). It is as if Panini knows it is a crappy promotion but really wants to have people believe it is the be all, end all. Here are the highlight lines:

-Nine days from now, Panini America’s groundbreaking Black Friday promotion will blossom from an idea into a full-blown phenomenon…

-We previewed the multisport Black Friday base set last week and blew your collective mind…

-The results, as you’ll see below, are quite stunning.

Panini is pretty ballsy with their prediction that this promotion will become a “full-blown phenomenon” and I must belong to the 1% whose collective mind WASN’T blown.

Luckily, in my moment of Panini rage, an almost angelic post from Dr. Brian Price from In The Game appeared.

First off, instead of looking over 2-3 posts a day from Panini, In The Game posts maybe once every few weeks. And guess what is missing from their posts? That’s right, hype. They simply describe their product and the highlights while posting some pictures. There latest post is about an upcoming product that is basically custom made to my tastes. Sure, I may be biased because it’s a set devoted to tough guys, but just look at the post; no prefabricated hype, no bold predictions, and no goofy quality control video breaks.

In The Game let’s their product do the talking.

Listen, I’m no ITG fanboy. I’ve bought way more Panini packs than ITG packs. Heck, I’ve NEVER purchased an ITG pack/box, but that is because my LMC never gets any (for whatever reason). But comparing these two posts, you see how different each company is.

Panini has an NHL license, produces crummy cards, hypes up its own product beyond belief, and floods my Google Reader with ridiculous “drool gallery” posts.

In The Game has no NHL license, produces beautiful sets, comes up with interesting concepts (Decades, Enforcers, Between the Pipes, etc), and let’s the cards do the talking.

In other news, on Friday night, I drove two hours to see Jessica Lea Mayfield’s 45 minute opening set and then drove two hours home. She is THAT good, in my opinion…

Look’s like a few cards are making the jump from general collection to the Hall of Fame collection (Sorry Mark Howe). Not sure yet if these guys would make my Hall of Fame, but congratulations anyways.

1990-91 Upper Deck #55 Ed Belfour

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1988-89 O-Pee-Chee #16 Joe Nieuwendyk

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1984-85 O-Pee-Chee #185 Doug Gilmour

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1986-87 O-Pee-Chee #93 Doug Gilmour

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2004-05 In The Game Franchises US East #A-DG1 Doug Gilmour

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2009-10 Upper Deck SPX Winning Combos Patch #WC-GF Doug Gilmour/Theoren Fleury