Famous Fabrics confuses me. I don't know if I should be offended by the presentation or disappointed because it could be so much better. Let's start with the list of players that In The Game has acquired memorabilia of....
Michael Jordan, Manny Pacquiao, Wayne Gretzky, Charles Barkley, Barry Sanders, Brett Favre, Dan Marino, Bobby Orr, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, Patrick Roy, Troy Aikman, Jack Nicklaus, Kerri Strug, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Arnold Palmer, Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Steve Young, Joe Montana, Rusty Wallace, David Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier, Jerry Rice, Sidney Crosby, Larry Bird, Michael Vick, Magic Johnson, Nancy Lopez, Ben Hogan, Ken Griffey Jr., Roberto Clemente, Scottie Pippen, Mickey Mantle, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Mario Lemieux, Kevin Garnett, Jim Brown, Reggie Jackson, The Superfriends, Phil Mickelson, and more. Not to mention cut autos of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb (no, not the guy from Inception).
That is sick. Believe me, any company that has the guts to create an insert set called "Notorious" and slap Michael Vick on there gets points in my book. So this is the greatest product ever, right? Wrong, because these cards don't have any official license either from their respective leagues or from the players themselves. So don't expect pictures of the athletes or logos that would give away the league, like NFL shields.
But even that isn't the most biggest point of contention to me about Famous Fabrics. That dishonor goes to the design and layout of these cards. In The Game must think that just because they put a nice patch in the card that we won't notice the train wreck that borders the patch. It looks like something out of a high school art class where the project was to create their own trading card. Would it have been so hard to put a picture of a beautiful golf course and work in the memorabilia in the scene? Or how about shaping the die-cut window to resemble a Stanley Cup? Or maybe even working in a silhouette that closely approximates the athlete?
Ultimately, this product will sell to its very small niche audience and it's a shame that it'll never get beyond that niche. The potential is there for this to be the next big thing, but licensing and poor design kill it. Check out the cards yourselves if you agree or disagree with my rant.
Source: Beckett
Click here for part 2 and part 3.
Be sure to check out Hobbykings for the best in sports card talk. Also follow the National Classic Game Examiner and his Twitter. We also have a Youtube channel, check it.
Comments