Author Archives: Sports Card Blog

2012 Panini Prime Sigs and Super Bowl Black Boxes

  By Sports Card Blog | January 31, 2013 - 9:50 pm | ,
Leave a comment

In quite possibly one of the best online promotions ever run by a card company, Panini was offering a Super Bowl promotion where if you ordered any box over $60 in their online store, they would send you a special Super Bowl Black Box featuring a fantastic autograph checklist of former Super Bowl standouts and rookies from 2012. All cards were numbered to 25 or lower. All you had to do was purchase from them at the iCollectPanini store.

So I took the plunge. 2012 Panini Prime Signatures was one of the more underrated products of the season, probably due to the product pretty much not doing too well last year. This year was different, I knew that coming in not from the earlier box break, but even the preview showcased that. I bought two boxes at $60 each so I could get two Super Bowl Black Boxes.

But before we show you what we pulled in the Black Boxes…why not see our hits from Prime Signatures?

primesigs1

 LaMichael James Auto/Patch! Only question is, why did he sign on the patch instead of on the card? One will never know.

primesigs2

Hines Ward autograph! Two hits, two players who will have played in the Super Bowl, assuming LMJ gets in! Two boxes and I’m doing well. So on to those Super Bowl Black Boxes. Ready?

philsimms1

Phil Simms #/25! Decent start. Not one of the names that I wanted, but a legend nonetheless. Lucky me, I went in for two so I got a second box.

russwilson1

Fin. End. Right there. BAM! One of the best rookies of the season, patch autograph numbered to 15. Fantastico.

So yeah, definitely the best online promotion ever put forth by a card company. Good work Panini. Can we see something similar for the Stanley Cup Finals, please?

Related Posts

Review: 2012 Panini Limited Football

  By Sports Card Blog | January 28, 2013 - 9:48 pm | ,
Leave a comment

The Limited brand continues its presence in 2012 with 2012 Panini Limited football. It continues to follow the same strategy it has for years now with the three hits per pack/box of the product. With large memorabilia pieces, unique memorabilia, and tons of autographs for collectors, it is one that many collectors like to risk on as the rewards can be huge. Did we hit it big, or was it a bust?

Design:4 stars blue

The design of Panini Limited is once again, and always, very shiny and full of foil. My only issue with that this year is that Absolute is also extremely foily and shiny this year and looks kind of similar. I do like the new inserts this year with the way they did the photos for the rookies, although I’d like to see some more game action from the rookie photos. Too many studio shots this year, in my opinion, and there hasn’t been a lockout. But other than that, it’s a solid set up and design, just one I wouldn’t reuse again next year.

Checklist:4 stars blue

The rookies are carrying football products this year like crazy. In a hugely deep and talented draft, and a product that comes out at the end of the season, you know you have the chance for extremely valuable cards. Tons of rookies made names for themselves this year. My only issue was that all my hits WERE rookies. I’m going to say this again, MORE VETERAN CONTENT. And that means every product across the board. This hobby leans too much on rookies. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Value:4 stars blue

If you look at the product as a whole, yeah, there is some good value to be found. You can find a box for $100 over at DA Card World and you have the opportunity to pull some big hits. The only issue with that is it’s a real risky product still. You can end up like me and get three rookie hits, one being a plain jersey, one being a guy you never heard of, and one being Mohammad Sanu. It’s risky business products like this. Still need to put the word veterans in this part somewhere, so I just did, needs more of them. There is no reason Devier Posey should have multiple cards in every single product.

Overall:4 stars blue

Overall, the design of this year’s Limited it solid, although it reminds me too much of Absolute from this year with the foiling and style of the cards. I still think Limited has better potential if tweaked accordingly, but putting out the same products every year with the same types of hits does get redundant at times. Especially when you are filling them with rookies and no longer veterans of the game. I remember when Donruss would have one rookie hit per box with the other hits being veterans. I miss those days.

Thanks again to Panini America for providing this product to review. You can find them online on their official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

You can find the full checklist of this product over at the Cardboard Connection.

You can watch the video break of this product if you subscribe to us on YouTube, but here are some photos of highlights of the break:

Related Posts

Review Part-Deux: Second Shot at 2011-12 Panini Contenders Hockey

  By Sports Card Blog | January 25, 2013 - 1:05 pm |
Leave a comment

Now, I am a man who likes a good deal. I’m a man who likes a quality looking set with some nice hits to go along with it. I love ink on my cards. When I saw on my cards, I don’t mean stickers. I mean on my cards. Which is why when I saw that 2011-12 Panini Contenders hockey was at $54 at DA Card World I had to jump all over it.

You may remember my last review of the product. I pulled some big hits, including a dual autograph of Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. While that is still in redemption mode, I’m willing to wait for a card as beautiful as that will be. It reminded me of how solid of a product that was and the kind of big hits you can find in that product. You know what I really wanted though, was to pull one of those sweet patch autographs or another Nuge auto.

Well here are the hits from round two. Nothing too special or different about the inserts, but they are still nice and clean looking.

contenders2

Whenever I buy from DA Card World I always seem to pull one of my PC teams. This time is no different with the Hartikainen auto. But the highlight was definitely that Cup Contenders patch autograph of Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks. A beautiful black card, a beautiful silver signature, and an even more beautiful 3 color patch.

Oh, and every card is signed on-card!

How can you beat that product for $54?

Related Posts

Review: 2012-13 Panini Absolute Memorabilia Basketball

  By Sports Card Blog | January 24, 2013 - 8:08 am | ,
Leave a comment

A full season of NBA products has Absolute Memorabilia coming to basketball this year, and it features all the things about Absolute that you love. Rookie autographs, sweet memorabilia cards, and other big hits that only this product can bring you. Each box has four packs with each pack containing an autograph or game used memorabilia card. Also included are the Spectrum inserts which you can find nice low numbered cards as well. Let’s see what we pulled.

Design:4 and half stars blue

Designing this year’s Absolute Memorabilia is nothing earth shattering from Panini, but it does have points taken from last year’s Limited product. They share a similar design with foil team colors and similar set up in the layout of the cards. I’m all for the team colors foil, but at least keep it to the same brand. The one thing I like about changing designs is that it keeps a similar theme across one product. For instance, you wouldn’t have a ticket design for anything other than Contenders. Other than that, it is a solid foundation this year. The one thing I found strange was the GIANT sticker used for the Fat Lever autograph. More room for autos is nice, but that would look so much better on card.

Checklist:4 stars blue

The checklist for this product is much better than other Panini products this year as the double rookie class isn’t as prominent compared to other cards you could receive. While I did receive two rookie autographs (one is a redemption), I pulled two other autographs with one from a retired player and one from a current veteran in the league. When I pull current players, I always shed a tear of happiness as the hobby doesn’t have to be so rookie centric.

Value:4 stars blue

The value of the product is one that is hit or miss with this type of product. The one thing I am really impressed with this year was I received four autographs in my box. To me, in a product like this the hits are all about how much ink and how many colors your memorabilia cards are. When you pay as much as you might for this product ($127 at DA Card World) you want to find some value. Four autographs is always good in my book and when only two are rookies, you got my attention. Pretty nice collation in this box, so I hope others are similar.

Overall:4 stars blue

Overall, after missing out on last season of Absolute, Panini has come back with a solid offering for basketball fans this year. The design of the product is nice, despite the similarities to last year’s Panini Limited product. The checklist is improved over other Panini products this year as you aren’t bombarded with the double rookie class and have some decent veteran and retired autographs. The best part, in my opinion, was that I received four autographs in my box. At that kind of price, the more ink the better in my opinion. Good work to Panini on the product this year.

Thanks to Panini America for providing this product for review. You can find them online on their official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook. Make sure to follow them for awesome giveaways.

You can find the full checklist and more information on Cardboard Connection.

Make sure you Subscribe to us on YouTube to view the breaks and here is what we pulled:

Not shown: Redemption for Jae Crowder RC Auto

Related Posts

Review: 2012-13 Panini Limited Basketball

  By Sports Card Blog | January 16, 2013 - 4:31 pm | ,
Leave a comment

The Limited product from Panini continues on this year, including some of the same types of hits and rare memorabilia cards that you come to expect from this long-time Panini/Donruss product. With at least 3 hits per one pack box, you will be able to find some autographs and memorabilia from some of the top young players, superstars, and retired legends of the game. With the double rookie class, you’ll be able to find top autographs from some of your favorite rookies and sophomores. Let’s see what we were able to pull in our box.

Design:4 stars blue

The design of the product is actually pretty nice overall. The one thing I absolutely love is the base cards. Similar to last year’s product, the foil background behind the player is tinted in their team’s team colors. That little addition just really makes the card come together. It looks especially nice on the Rondo base, which I don’t take a picture of for some reason. Although small, I love the change of the logo of the product to an Old English style “L”. It looks like something that would fit in very well with basketball culture. The inserts are nothing really eye catching or new to Panini products in terms of design. They aren’t terrible, it’s just something you’re used to as a Panini collector. I think a new style insert could really transform the product.

Checklist:4 stars blue

Now the double rookie class is something that I find to be sort of a detriment towards sets this year. It seems like every rookie has an autographed card and that puts a damper on finding veteran autographs in a product like this. While Kendall Marshall was a top 15 pick, and as was my redemption of Kawhi Leonard, this product contains a lot of rookie cards. Luckily, my memorabilia card was of Celtics GM Danny Ainge from his playing days. It was cool for me to pull Ainge as he used to babysit a good friend of mine. But other than that, I’d still like to see more veteran content in this product. However, you can’t complain about two top 15 first rounders.

Value:4 stars blue

The value of the product is difficult to discern as Limited has always been a hit or miss product. Even more so in the double rookie class as you have more chances to pull rookies (or sophomores) in the league. You can find the product currently for $87 a box over at DA Card World, which is actually a decent deal compared to past years. With the amount of rookie cards from the past couple of years Panini has been putting out this year, at that price it’s probably worth a shot at a Kyrie or another big name rookie.

Overall:4 stars blue

Overall, this is a solid product from Panini, but nothing earth shattering. I still think Panini needs a big makeover on the Limited line, but this product can still hold its own in the basketball realm. The design is nice with the team colors incorporated into the foil, but I’d like to see more out of the inserts. The checklist, while okay with the double rookie class, feels a lot like one of those rookie only products. I’d like to see a guaranteed veteran autograph in a product like this as I’m not a big rookie collector. But the value, with the lower price, is a better than past years and it’s worth a shot if you want to try and pull a big name right now.

Thanks again goes out to Panini America for providing this product for review. You can find them online on their official site, blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

You can find the full checklist of this product over at Cardboard Connection.

And check out the images below for our hits, or subscribe to us on YouTube to sell the box breaking video.

Related Posts