Tag Archives: 2012-13

Review: 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures Hockey

  By Sports Card Blog | December 20, 2012 - 8:21 am | ,
Leave a comment

2012-13 Panini Classics hockey is a new product from Panini, perfect for the season of the strike in the NHL. A product that is full of Hall of Famers and legends of the game, you don’t have to worry about players in new jerseys, rookies who hit the ice last season, or redemption cards featuring players that haven’t hit the ice for the first time yet. It is a product that has one autograph per pack and includes some big names. It’s a fun product if you love the history of the game, so let’s see what we pulled from this product:

Design:4 and half stars blue

The design of this product is superb. It really gives you that old school feeling with the classic look around the picture. The look even features some blemishes to make the cards appear classic or old themselves while remaining in pristine condition. Some may argue that sports cards in general are a condition sensitive hobby, which is true, but the look of a blemished or beat up card adds a level of design that you can’t get without actually changing the condition of the card. I’ve been an advocate for designed blemishes on cards for awhile now and I love what the Panini design team has done here. And the spot for the on-card autograph looks perfect. Good work.

Checklist:4 stars blue

The checklist of this product is actually quite interesting. You have Hall of Famers and old school veterans who you don’t find a lot of autographs from. You can find everyone from Jari Kurri to Dave Tippett, we pulled autographs from both. I like the wide range of players as it really showcases some of hockey’s best history from the players who played the game. How many products out there can you find Whalers autographs like this one? As someone who grew up in Connecticut, that was a highlight for me. While I was a youngin even when they left town, these are names I still recognize.

Value:3 and half stars blue

The value is the only place where this product really suffers. You can find this product for $180 currently on DA Card World. That translates to around $30 per pack with each pack having an autograph. While the autographs are classic and from players who don’t have a ton of inked cards, the demand isn’t precisely there unless you pull a big name. It’s a tough sell at that price, but I think $15-$20 a pack would be closer to acceptable for this product. But there are some big names to hit as well so who knows who you might pull.

Overall:4 stars blue

Overall, this is a product with it’s highs and lows. The lows mainly come from how much money is coming out of your wallet, while the highs are definitely high up there. With a very nostalgic feel to the product it definitely has you feeling like watching some old school hockey. The design is old school with the designed blemishes, which I love, especially the die-cuts. The checklist is solid and filled with fan favorites and Hall of Famers. But again, it always comes down to price of the product.

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

You can find more information about the product on the Cardboard Connection.

And of course, here’s the video break. After the working with video, we’re going to go back to displaying images with our next batch of reviews. The site is finally all updated so I appreciate the patience.

Related Posts

Review: 2012-13 Panini Totally Certified Basketball

  By Sports Card Blog | December 16, 2012 - 10:12 am | ,
Leave a comment

Totally Certified? Yes, it has returned again with the bright colors and all the hits you could ask for in one box. The parallels have returned as well, featuring some of the most collectible non-auto/memorabilia cards in the business today. Basketball collectors are unlike a lot of other collectors in that they go ga-ga for low numbered parallels. Panini fills every void with this product at multiple hits per box and multiple parallels. Let’s see what we got:

Design:4 stars blue

Not a ton has changed since the last installment of this product, but the design is still a solid one. The starburst style of design returns, but it feels like it is more…shiny than the last time this product came out. I really liked the more of a matte feel on the last ones as foilboard isn’t the answer to everything. I do really like the slight changes in the parallels as well. Very sharp looking and easy to distinguish. I just think there are enough foilboard products out there that this could use a change of direction. The colors are still bold and bright however which looks nice with the player featured. The design on the rookie autographs I can’t quite put my finger on them, it looks like it’s meant for a sticker autograph but they were on-card…kinda strange. But all together, a solid design.

Checklist:4 stars blue

The checklist is similar to the last go around as well, but this time I’m guessing there are just going to be more rookie signatures because of the double rookie class. It’s something I’m not a fan of, but probably will have to get used to for the rest of the season. In order to fit all of them in, you have to take out something. Oh well. The rest of the product is again filled with veterans and legends alike, like the sweet Lakers patch we pulled. You’ll have to check the video for that.

Value:4 stars blue

Value is again a little rough, but what makes up for it the possibility for some high valued parallels and some great rookie autographs. This is a tough product to judge because while it does have some plain jerseys in it, the autographs and parallels make it hit or miss as well. While we didn’t hit any low parallels, we did hit a low rookie parallel autograph, numbered to 15. The patch was nice as well from a Lakers old timer. It’s just trying to fill out everything else that makes this product difficult to judge when you purchase it for $120 at DA Card World.

Overall:4 stars blue

Overall, the dynamics of the product really hasn’t changed much since the last time it came out, and that is a bit disappointing. I do slightly miss the rookie/jersey autographs that all the rookies were featured as and I still wish the hit content was a bit better. The parallels though continue to shine, and that was a pleasant surprise last time around. I’m glad to see that trend continue in products like this that needed that extra bit of value.

Thanks to Panini America for providing this box 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.

Check out the video to see our sweet hits.

Related Posts

Review: 2012-13 Panini Prizm Basketball

  By Sports Card Blog | December 13, 2012 - 9:19 am | ,
Leave a comment

2012-13 Panini Prizm is the newest product from the Panini basketball team that features a “chrome” like appearance with the shine and etching that makes a product exciting to go through. Prizm is the perfect name for the product and it looks to be a great new addition. Each box contains 2 autographs and contains some of the new Prizm parallels, or Prizmatics as I call them. Want to see what you can pull in a box? Well look no further.

Design: 4 and half stars blue

The design on this product is a design style that will last a long time for this product. The look of the etchings throughout the cards is something you normally only see in another specific product that is a bit similar. The same with the coating, although I much prefer this coating than that of the competitors. It doesn’t smell, it doesn’t warp the cards to bending (at least not yet) and it has a much smoother, almost glass like feel to them. The design is practically flawless. My only issue is that it is possibly TOO shiny or reflective. It’s really a spectacular level of reflectiveness on the product. But the “Prizms” as they call it, “Prizmatics” for myself, are beautiful all the way from the regulars to the golds. Bravo.

Checklist:4 and half stars blue

The checklist sort of surprised me. 300 total cards. With Panini coming out with their “staple” brand later this year, the one where you want to build the sets and everything, was this really necessary? I think this SHOULD be the flagship brand as it is that good and the set up is that good as well. A product featured with rookies, stars, and legends of the game. A little bit of everything for everyone. The autographed rookie checklist was interesting, and I would like to see more veteran autographs but the double rookie class probably put a damper on that. Either way, it’s what you want and what you’d expect.

Value:4 stars blue

The value is definitely there in this product. Could it be better? Absolutely. Right now you can find the product for $100 at DA Card World. Some of the highlights include some of the top rookie autographs, superstar autographs, and the “Prizmatic” cards. The parallels are selling quite well on the secondary market, especially the gold prizms. That raises a question though, why not more colors? Let’s use ROY G. BIV here and get all sorts of colors of parallels. Putting together a rainbow is always fun, but the lower numbered cards always add a bit of value. Imagine a gold prizm auto of Kyrie Irving…sweet right? Parallel the autographed cards more than just the regular parallel to 25. I would love to see some additions to the product that include some more color! It would break up that bit of monotony with just a lot of really silvery and shiny cards.

Overall:4 and half stars blue

Overall, Panini Prizm is going to be the breakout hit and maybe the basketball product of the year from the company. The design is beautifully done, and many argue better than that of it’s competitors. The checklist is expansive and good enough to build sets and the perfect number of inserts for a product this size. The parallels are a great addition to value, but I’d like to see a bit more in the veteran side, but the rookie class makes that difficult with “double rookies” from Panini. Either way though, I REALLY look forward to seeing this product next year.

Thanks to Panini for providing this product for review. You can find them online at their official site, blog, Twitter, and Facebook. Give them a shout.

You can find the full checklist over at Cardboard Connection.

Below is the video from the product break. Let me know what you think of the product. And make sure you subscribed on YouTube, I need more subscribers over there!

Related Posts

Review: 2012-13 Panini Threads Basketball

  By Sports Card Blog | November 27, 2012 - 5:58 pm | ,
Leave a comment

2012-13 Panini Threads basketball is back after a year off and it looks like that year has paid off with a solid product all around this year. This year features the double rookie class with a ton of rookies autographs, as well a nice selection of inserts and game used cards. You should get about 3 autographs and 1 memorabilia card per box, let’s see what we pulled.

Design:

The design for threads this year is pretty solid. It actually has kind of a SP Authentic feel to them, with a Panini twist with the foil letters. Personally, the one thing I don’t like about the design is the foil lettering. I think it takes away from the rest of the card. Maybe it’s the color chosen? I don’t think it works with the rest of the card. As far as the inserts go, the Photoshop work on the photos and the design on the inserts are great. It adds a nice feel to the imagery, something you don’t see a lot of in cards. It’s not new, just under utilized. The die-cut jersey cards are cool, and I know there are autographed parallels of those, but I would just stick with the plain jersey style cards. The hit or miss addition is the wood stock autographed cards. Signed on card, they look and feel pretty cool. The only issue with some of them is the cut on the card, see what I mean below.

Checklist:

This whole season is going to be a rookie laden checklist in all the products due to the double rookie season. This is both good and bad. Kyrie Irving and some of the standouts from last season get their due, this strong new class has some great additions, but you’re probably going to find more filler this year as well. Threads does just that. But as Panini always does, there is a great group of retired and legends in the product as well with the inserts and some of the autographs. That’s something you can’t really complain about.

Value:

You’ll be able to find this product for about $100 at DA Card World. With the rookie heavy autograph checklist and not much else in terms of value, it’s still a tough sell even with three autographs. It’s not a bad correlation from hits/price, but I still think it’s a bit high. $80-$90 feels better to me if I were to buy this product. I still feel like if you want to price a box that high, more veteran autograph content should be inside. 2 rookies and 1 veteran auto? $100 sounds better. Maybe it’s just me…what do you think about guaranteeing veteran autographs?

Overall:

Overall, Threads is a solid product from Panini. The design and checklist are definitely a lot better than they have been in the past. The double rookie checklist means there are more autographs, but it could also cause an issue with the value of the cards. Should guaranteeing at least 1 veteran autograph in a product help you pay an extra $10-$20 for a box? That’s something I’d like to think about, it will probably end up in a post eventually.

Thanks to Panini for providing this box for review. You can find them online at their website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

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

Still having trouble uploading photos, so check out the video in the mean time…

 

Related Posts

Preview: 2012-13 Panini Threads Basketball

  By Sports Card Blog | October 19, 2012 - 10:31 am |
1 Comment

With this full season of NBA products scheduled for Panini, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty of the basketball season and the product that accompany it. 2012-13 Panini Threads basketball is back this year and with it is the return of a collector’s favorite. With a couple new twists to the product, it should be able to keep the interest of those collectors.

Panini Threads features 24 packs per box at 5 cards per pack. Also included inside the packs is 3 autographs and 1 memorabilia card per box. I like Panini’s stance on more autographs and less memorabilia that they have been incorporating the past couple of years.

The autographs will mostly consist of the 100 rookies that are inserted into the product due to the combined rookie class in basketball products. Each of the rookies is printed on a wood stock and features an on-card autograph. You’ll find all your big names from the last couple of years, and a few others.

Some of the highlights of the product include the die-cut team jersey signatures, rookie team threads signatures, and the Private Signings autographed insert set as well as some prime memorabilia inserts.

This product releases on October 24, 2012, to the tune of around $100.

Check out more information on the official Panini blog and on the Cardboard Connection info page.

Related Posts