Box Review: 2011 Panini Classics Basketball

LeBron James Blast From The Past Insert

2011 Panini Classics Base Card Back & Front 

2011 Panini Classics Inserts & Jersey Card

2011 Panini Classics RC Auto's & Dress Code Jersey

One of my favorite basketball releases from last year was Panini's 2010 Classics Basketball. That's why I was so excited to receive a box of 2011 Classics Basketball. I busted it open last night and had some time to get my thoughts together for this review. It certainly was a fun 18 pack box to open, and the four hits didn't hurt either. As usual, I'll go through what I liked and didn't like from the box in this review. Stay tuned to Hoopography for a future contest/giveaway.

Review:
First off, I pulled a Landry Fields RC on-card auto. That might not mean much to some collectors, but I was pumped to see this card come out of one of the first packs I eagerly ripped open. It's certainly a very nice addition to my Knicks collection. So with my excitement for the Fields auto exclaimed, let's get on with the rest of the review.

If you like great vibrant color, Classics has you covered. Panini is often criticized by collectors for not using team colors in certain products. It's a criticism that I share, however, Classics smashes that complaint. There isn't one card that doesn't effectively utilize color in the design. That color is accompanied by some nice foiling that is unfortunately difficult to see in the scans. I think it's apparent that I really like the overall design of the product.

The inserts are nice. Again, color is used nicely in the inserts just as with the base cards. I'm always a fan of cards featuring legends and you can't really go wrong with legends like Scottie Pippen, Oscar Robinson, Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There's also a nice variety of different inserts from the Classic Moments to the Classic Combos. The inserts are very fun.

Finally, the hits were nice, but not overwhelmingly exciting. Sure, I love the Fields RC auto and the D. Wade jersey card is cool, but the single color jersey patches aren't going to heat up the Bay anytime soon. I understand that this particular box didn't yield a multi-color patch and I've seen some nice ones on the Bay, but it would have been nice to pull a card with a bigger or multi-colored patch. I will also point out that the two auto's I pulled were very nice on-card auto's. This is a big plus for Panini Classics and was certainly a highlight to last year's product as well.

My final thoughts on Panini's 2011 Classics Basketball are positive. I love the overall design and the on-card auto's make Classics a nice buy. I had more fun busting open this box than I've had in a long time and I certainly recommend other collectors to checkout 2011 Classics Basketball. I'm going to keep the Landry Fields RC auto and I'll be giving some of the cards away as team packages to a few bloggers I know collect specific teams, but stay tuned to Hoopography for a contest/giveaway. Let me know what your thoughts are on Panini's 2011 Classics Basketball and of course… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".