Preview – 2009-10 Panini Basketball

Introduction

It’s been so long since my last preview that I actually had to look at one of my older ones to remind myself of the format I used.  With the new house settled and work slowing back down, It’s time to take a look at some of the upcoming Panini products.

Although Upper Deck was the king of basketball cards, when it came to getting solid rookies and building a set Topps HTA Jumbo has always been my go-to option.  Although Topps did release a base product this year (a mighty good one at that), Panini will be the only one doing so (with an NBA license) going forward.  How will Panini’s base product stack up against what Topps has traditionally offered?

Overview

Release Date: October 21st.
Pack Price:  $1.99
Box Price:  $48.00
Configuration:  12 Cards, 36 Packs, 20 Boxes

The base set for this “soon-to-be staple Panini offering” consists of 400 cards in total:  300 common cards  and 100 rookie cards.  The rookie cards will feature both the home and away jerseys.  All 400 cards will have a “Glossy” parallel as well as an Artists Proof parallel numbered to 199 or less.

This product is absolutely loaded with inserts (just take a look at the box breakdown below).  It seems the all of the inserts (except for the stickers and decals) have both Glossy and Artist Proof parallels.  Given the current trend back towards the younger crowed, the large number of inserts really shouldn’t come as a surprise.  From what I see, it looks like this product does not feature any relic / memorabilia cards.  Although there are autographed cards, there is no guarantee that your box will have one.

Each Box will have:

• 36 Rookies
• 9 Glossy Cards
• 7 Future Stars
• 7 Panini All-Pro
• 7 The Franchise
• 3 Legends of the Game
• 3 Headliners – Headlines from the 2008-09 NBA season.
• 3 Block Party – Featuring the league’s top shot blockers.
• 3 Jam Masters – Some of the best “Jam Masters” in the league.
• 18 Glow-in-the-Dark Stickers – Yes, stickers… glow-in-the-dark stickers.
• 18 Decals – “The league’s elite players are featured on fun-to-collect and trade decals”.  This kind of reminds me of the Fleer stickers from back in the day… if only Panini had used team logos instead of players.
• 3 Others – Let’s hope it’s 3 extra glow-in-the-dark stickers.

Pictures:

(click to enlarge)

My Thoughts

Although I may give Panini a hard time over stickers and decals, this could be a good thing for the target demographic.  It seems to me that getting a sticker or a decal in every pack along with another insert could really help draw in the kids:  I know it worked for me when I was eight years old.  I’m just not so sure that today’s technology driven youth is quite as easy to please as we were 20 years ago.

I also like that Panini decided to drop relics and make autographs truly special pulls.  Doing this probably made it possible for them to keep the price at $1.99 per pack while still including so many inserts and parallels.

The design of the base cards is pretty solid and the few autographs that are in the product also look good.  I wish that there was a version of this product that catered more towards the hobby crowed.  I like the design of the cards, but the structure of the product doesn’t interest me.  I might just buy a complete set off of eBay after the product goes live.

Conclusion

Although I like that Panini has created a product that I think will help bring kids back into the hobby, I don’t really think it replaces Topps.  To me, this seems more like Topps Total.  HTA Jumbo boxes gave me a reason to take the risk of buying a few boxes.  I knew I would get my complete base set as well as at least a few autographs and memorabilia cards.  If I was lucky I’d hit a Rookie Photo Shoot auto.  I don’t really see any reason to buy a box of 2009-10 Panini Basketball.

Although I may pick up a pack or two, this product is best left to the kids.