Category Archives: Product Previews

Preview: 2011 Panini Gold Standard Football

  By Sports Card Blog | August 13, 2011 - 1:01 am |
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This has me amped up and ready to just go do something crazy to get rid of the adrenaline. I REALLY enjoyed 2010-11 Panini Gold Standard basketball, you can see how much I enjoyed it with my product review. Now Panini is continuing that greatness in football? My bank account is going to be empty and my fiancee is going to wonder where all my money went.

2011 Panini Gold Standard football looks a lot similar to it’s basketball counterpart. I didn’t think Gold Standard could get much better, until I saw yesterday’s Panini Peek of 2011 Panini Gold Standard football. Now you can see why I’m so excited for Gold Standard to be coming to football. Panini’s original products have been nothing less than stunning so far. I’m hoping these next two years brings the changing of the guard on products and we have more new quality products.

But back to this goodness.

You see that little diamond looking thing? It’s a diamond. Panini is adding diamonds to the already gold themed set. You can find cards embedded with diamonds or gold this time around adding even more value to some of these beautiful cards. Trust me, if it’s anything like Gold Standard basketball, these mock ups by Panini do not give the cards any justice.

You can also find on-card rookie autographs from everyone at the Rookie Premiere, dual signatures, NFL Shield autographs, Golden Anniversary material signatures, and tons of gold or diamond embedded cards.

Each pack/box will contain 12 cards with at least 3 autographs, 2 memorabilia, 3 base and 3 inserts. Very similar to the basketball variation. I’m expecting great things out of this product just like the success of Gold Standard basketball.

This is set to arrive in November and hopefully arrives in those awesome gold bar looking boxes with a price tag hopefully around $150-$175 like basketball.

Some Gold Standard rookies for your viewing pleasure…

How about some QC images?

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Preview: 2011-12 Panini Certified Hockey

  By Sports Card Blog | August 11, 2011 - 12:41 am |
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I was just waking up when I got an email from my subscription to the Panini America blog. The newest post from Panini was something that I did not expect to see one bit, it’s time to get ready for some 2011-12 Panini Certified hockey with previews and images already coming out. Is it hockey season already? It seems like yesterday the Boston Bruins took down the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup title. The 2010-11 Panini hockey season hasn’t ended yet with 2010-11 Panini Dominion now set to release September 14, 2011, thanks to the NHLPA forcing the release to be later.

Now I enjoyed last year’s product. I didn’t have an official review because I opened the product about 1-2 months before I started this blog and didn’t write a review about it anywhere since I opened up in the middle of Canada while supporting my favorite sports card shop up in Edmonton. Actually, I was even shorted a hit and I still enjoyed the break. For the record, Panini did a great job replacing my missing hit.

This year’s product is an improvement off an already solid product last year. Returning are some of the great hits from last season like the Fabric of the Game inserts, more rookies, new inserts to the product, and the always popular Freshmen Signatures with new die-cut designs similar to 2010-11 Totally Certified basketball.

One very cool addition this year is the Soft Hands insert which feature pieces of game worn gloves from the players. Having played a little hockey myself, I really hope those gloves are washed a little bit. There is not a more disgusting smell then hockey gloves. But hey, some may like these possibly scented pieces of memorabilia.

(SCB Note: Per Clint at Panini, the game used glove set has been canned because of what appears to be acquisition problems. They will be using stick cards as replacements.)

You can find this product hitting shelves in November 2011 with probably a similar price range as last year.

You need to check out this Panini Peek of 2011 Certified hockey for more information and pictures!

Want to see some recent autographed arrivals?

How about some finished product from the QC department?

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Preview: 2011 Press Pass FanFare Racing

  By Sports Card Blog | August 9, 2011 - 2:26 pm |
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Now as you can see, I don’t do a lot of racing cards. But when Press Pass comes out with a new product or a completely redesigned product, you have to take notice. 2011 Press Pass FanFare Racing is just one of those products that collectors should be interested in.

This is Press Pass’s newest hit per pack product, bringing your  closer to your favorite drivers than ever before. Even if your favorite driver has never been featured before on a racing product, Press Pass is bringing you a ton of new drivers to get your hands on including Justin Allgaier, Ricky Carmichael, and Trevor Bayne. Or how about your favorite owners? Joe Gibbs, Richard Childress, and Jack Roush also have autographs in this set.

Press Pass also will continue with some very nice memorabilia swatches with everyone from Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon.

This product is sure to be a hit amongst all types of racing collectors when it hits shelves on August 24, 2011, for $20 a pack or $120 a box.

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Preview: 2011 Panini Threads Football

  By Sports Card Blog | August 6, 2011 - 6:07 pm |
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With Panini tearing up the 2011 National in Chicago right now, it’s only deserved that I feature an up and coming Panini product. The NFL lockout is over which means it’s time to get to the gridiron and Panini Threads is ready to come back again for another year of NFL action.

Basing it’s product off past years, you will be able to find the always popular rookie letterman manufactured patch autographs amongst other main stays in the product. Now everyone knows by now how much I don’t like manufactured patches, but this is one of the few exceptions. I like the manufactured letter patches as it gives you a nice autograph and a little mini set to collect from your favorite player. I know it’s manufactured, but I like the way they are done.

But away from that, let’s look at the rest of the product. With 24 packs per box and 8 cards per pack you are in for quite a few cards with this product. Each box will yield 4 autographs or memorabilia cards with at least one of them being an autograph. It feels like this year when Panini says this, every other box has about 2 autographs and they seem to make sure there are 2 autographs in a box if one of them is a redemption which is nice. As far as autographs you can pull the aforementioned letterman autographs, rookie signature combos which go from duals to quad autographs, Gridiron Kings signature materials, and Franchise Fabrics signature materials. None of these are serial numbered extremely high so it’s always a nice addition to value.

You will also find 1 rookie per pack as has been a common theme with Panini this season. While I’m not a fan of making rookies so easily accessible, it is nice for the player collectors out there. You will also find 4 parallels, 2 Star Factor inserts, 2 Gridiron King inserts, and 1 each of Generations, Heritage Collection, Triple Threat, 2010 All-Rookie Team, and an addition insert.

Catch Panini Threads at your local shop on August 24, 2011 for probably the same price as last year as I can’t find a price yet.

Make sure to check out the official Panini Peek of 2011 Panini Threads football on their official blog.

Who wants to see the first boxes opened by Panini?

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Preview: 2011 Tristar Obak Baseball

  By Sports Card Blog | August 4, 2011 - 8:18 pm |
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With the 100th Anniversary of Obak baseball cards this year, Tristar is prepped and primed for another season with 2011 Tristar Obak baseball. With possibly Tristar’s best lineup of cards in recent memory, this product looks to be the best unlicensed product of the season and even looks better than several licensed products.

This product features 6 cards per pack and 24 cards per box with 24 boxes per case. There will be only 75 cases of this product produced which means, after some internet math, there will only be 1800 boxes of this product released.

Inside each box is where all the goodness appears. There will be 11 hits per box inside this product, so there will be a ton of great stuff inside for you to pull. But I use the term “hits” very loosely. At least 4 of the hits will be autographs with 1 cut signature card per box. The cut signatures can range anywhere from Mantle, Aaron, and DiMaggio to probably very much lesser known players. But the possibilities look great on that front. All autographs will be numbered to 100 or less and features both legends of the game and future stars like Ken Griffey Jr. and Manny Banuelos.

2 other “hits” will be paralleled cards numbered to 25 or less. There will be 1 T212 mini card numbered to 75 or less for the next “hit” with some versions being autographed. There will also be 3 short print cards considered “hits” and the last “hit” will be 1 T4 limited edition cabinet card numbered to 80 or less.

I love the vintage design of the base cards in this product as well, despite not being able to use any official baseball logos.

Overall, this looks like a fun product to open as the possibilities for good hits are there, but as always with Tristar it appears to be very hit or miss.

You can view the 2011 Tristar Obak baseball sell sheet here as I couldn’t find any photos of the cards to display. This product is available right now at the National Sports Collectors Convention or will be available in stores on August 10, 2011.

 

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