OPC Platinum Reviews??

[sdpdesign]

I think I lucked out on my two boxes this year so far. Sharks rc Knyzhov & Canes rc Geekie (now with Kracken). I did pull a Laffy shorty out of each, a rainbow & red prism. I also pulled arctic and cosmics regulars base, and an orange checkers of Ian Mitchel. Overall, decent break.

Money back? Nope. Never expect it. OPCP is a rarity based product…mainly with autographs and the parallels of each. Last year and this year…product is a bit weaker than previous years. The mix of good auto paralleled rc autos is minimal. The product itself is still a stunning shiny set. Good collation and quality ok (many of my rc cards had some dinged corner on the back).

If you are looking to flip for $, you are looking for the 1 hit to pay for the box. Those hits dilute the value of the remaining on the secondary market. Sell the hit for top $, “give” away the rest. (Value rant subsided.) If the set was just parallels, it would sit on the shelf much longer and we’d be talking about the lack of “hits” like autos. We have all seen sets like that in the past. The value is low except for the super short #’d cards of stars or expected superstar rcs until there is a drive for regular set builders or master set builders to focus on a few years down the road. The “now” for OPCP is the auto.

My 2 pennies. For those younger Canadian collectors, that is the copper coin from the US.

 

[FrozenInferno]

I love Upper Deck cards and I’m glad they have been extended in hockey, but it’s times like these I reeeeeally miss Panini. I look at the drop dead GORGEOUS shiny cards in brands like Prizm, Mozaic, and Optic and I get insanely jealous that basketball and football collectors get to chase those every year. Platinum is the closest thing we get in hockey but it just doesn’t hit the same level.

Part of that may be the hockey market being slow to embrace the shiny parallel type stuff, part of it no doubt has to do with the lack of value relative to the cost of the wax, and at least for me personally the extra clutter of all the bilingual text takes away from the overall eye appeal of the cards. I sort of get why they do it being the OPC brand is synonymous with the Canadian market but it does hurt the aesthetic IMO.

I do collect some OPC Platinum cards, mainly the amazing looking 2018 Rainbow Color Wheel cards. But I’m still waiting for a true contender to Panini’s shiny releases.

EDIT: Credit where due Allure is also very nice looking! Better than OPCP to my eye for sure.

 

[Hama]

I love Upper Deck cards and I’m glad they have been extended in hockey, but it’s times like these I reeeeeally miss Panini. I look at the drop dead GORGEOUS shiny cards in brands like Prizm, Mozaic, and Optic and I get insanely jealous that basketball and football collectors get to chase those every year. Platinum is the closest thing we get in hockey but it just doesn’t hit the same level.

Part of that may be the hockey market being slow to embrace the shiny parallel type stuff, part of it no doubt has to do with the lack of value relative to the cost of the wax, and at least for me personally the extra clutter of all the bilingual text takes away from the overall eye appeal of the cards. I sort of get why they do it being the OPC brand is synonymous with the Canadian market but it does hurt the aesthetic IMO.

I do collect some OPC Platinum cards, mainly the amazing looking 2018 Rainbow Color Wheel cards. But I’m still waiting for a true contender to Panini’s shiny releases.

EDIT: Credit where due Allure is also very nice looking! Better than OPCP to my eye for sure.

For all of the love that Panini gets for something they did seven years ago, I've got nothing but contempt for what they've done especially in the last year and a half or so. Hobby boxes are nearly impossible to find in Canada, and whenever you can the price would make you blanch. When the LCS is lucky to get a box or two when they used to get cases, something is very wrong. Canada is basically treated like it doesn't exist with the cuts in allotments stores get.

Products are no longer affordable to the average collector, when boxes of Donruss or Score, allegedly entry level products sell for $500-600 right out of the gate, something stinks. Panini has taken advantage of the pandemic and made hay out of jacking prices by at least 3-4x. Only access most people have now is by going to Walmart and grabbing blasters when they haven't been wiped off the shelves, I really don't bother anymore. I participate in group breaks now and then and that's pretty much the only way I access Panini product. I don't hate myself enough to light hundred dollar bills on fire for the chance to hit something that might not even get you 5% of your value back.

Yes, you're free to charge whatever you want, and if you get that price, good for you. But I just vote with my wallet, I have better things to do than to spend that kind of money on unopened product.

 

[99goals]

I bot 3 blasters and I had a blast <-- on purpose
I would gladly but a case of the blasters and i will be getting a case for my xmas gift to self ( I think)

 

[FrozenInferno]

For all of the love that Panini gets for something they did seven years ago, I've got nothing but contempt for what they've done especially in the last year and a half or so. Hobby boxes are nearly impossible to find in Canada, and whenever you can the price would make you blanch. When the LCS is lucky to get a box or two when they used to get cases, something is very wrong. Canada is basically treated like it doesn't exist with the cuts in allotments stores get.

Products are no longer affordable to the average collector, when boxes of Donruss or Score, allegedly entry level products sell for $500-600 right out of the gate, something stinks. Panini has taken advantage of the pandemic and made hay out of jacking prices by at least 3-4x. Only access most people have now is by going to Walmart and grabbing blasters when they haven't been wiped off the shelves, I really don't bother anymore. I participate in group breaks now and then and that's pretty much the only way I access Panini product. I don't hate myself enough to light hundred dollar bills on fire for the chance to hit something that might not even get you 5% of your value back.

Yes, you're free to charge whatever you want, and if you get that price, good for you. But I just vote with my wallet, I have better things to do than to spend that kind of money on unopened product.

From the perspective of wax breaking yes, Panini is definitely cashing in. The secondary market drove the prices up first and eventually Panini realized they could just charge more and take more of a cut for themselves. And then the whole Dutch auction thing came to be and that made them even more money. From a business perspective I can’t blame them I guess, but it would sure suck for anybody who loves ripping wax.

As someone who hasn’t opened a hobby box since 2015, long before prices even got to the levels they are now, I didn’t really go at my post from a breaking perspective. I buy singles so I haven’t been bothered by the wax prices as much as others would be. Your points about the pricing craziness are valid though.