Product Preview: 2011 Panini National Treasures Basketball

Other than the feverishly hot Blake Griffin RC Auto, last year's 2010 Panini National Treasures was a bit of a disappointment. It looked less like the hobby's high end basketball product and more like one of Panini's sticker books. I know 2010 NT sold well both in the retail and secondary markets, but that had more to do with the Griffin chase and less with the overall product. That's never a good thing for the perception of a product or a company, but it looks like Panini might have vastly improved upon 2010 NT with the upcoming August 3rd release of 2011 National Treasures Basketball.

Below are a few of the images Panini released on their official blog called The Knight's Lance. These images really look amazing and have got this collector's juices flowing. Each eight card box will include six autographed or memorabilia hits per box. It looks like most of those auto's will be on-card (at least from what the released images reveal). That's a big step in the right direction for the hobby. There is no reason a high end product such as National Treasures shouldn't feature a trading card/memorabilia company's best. And by "best", just checkout some of the cards below. If 2011 NT Basketball is anything like the early preview images, us collectors are in for a treat!!! What do you think?

Product Preview: 2011 Upper Deck SP Authentic Basketball

Ok, so this might not technically be a Preview. Upper Deck's SP Authentic Basketball came out earlier this week, but I wanted to check out some of the early auctions on the secondary markets before I typed up a brief product review. You can view some of these early auctions here. If you're a basketball fan or a trading card fan in general, you will definitely want to checkout that link. Upper Deck certainly hit it out of the park with SP, or should I say threw down a slam dunk? SP has it all and then some.

Sure, Upper Deck is without their NBA license, but that didn't stop them from putting together one of the better basketball products of the year. There's no arguing the significance of the on-card auto's in SP, but it's everything else UD put into this product that makes it standout from the rest. Whether you like die-cut F/X holo cards, cards of cult followed former stars like "Penny" Hardaway and "Grand" Ma Ma Johnson or the more than reasonable insertion rate of some cool Michael Jordan "Wood Floor" cards, 2011 SP has it all.

At approximately $137 for a 24 pack box, SP isn't the cheapest product out. However, you are guaranteed two auto's and an over sized piece of wood floor that Jordan himself played on. After looking over the auto checklist and seeing those Jordan floor cards, the price is justified. Upper Deck SP Authentic Basketball is certainly in the mix for best basketball product of the year. It will be interesting to see what else both Upper Deck and Panini have in store for the rest of the year. So what are your thoughts on Upper Deck's 2011 SP Authentic? Happy Collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Product Preview: 2010 Panini National Treasures Football

One of Panini's most recognizable and important brands is its National Treasures line. National Treasures is Panini's most high end product which features many auto's, patches and very hefty price tags. There are products and price points for all collectors, but it's imperative that those price points match the quality and value of the product. 2009's National Treasures Football and 2010's National Treasures Basketball were disappointing at best. The fact is, the value and quality were not there for those products. At $400 a box, sticker auto's are not acceptable. For that matter, sub par quality or design of any kind is unacceptable. It seems Panini has rectified any concerns collectors may have voiced in regards to last years NT Football product with its 2010 installment.

Panini just released some product images of its March 2, 2011 National Treasures Football release. There will be a dramatic increase in the number of on-card auto's including some very nice looking Pen Pals and Rookie/Patch auto'd cards. It does appear there still will be a number of sticker auto's in the product, but this is a nice step in the right direction. The Knight's Lance, Panini's official blog, is stating that each $400 box will include eight cards, including six auto'd or memorabilia cards per box.

I certainly like the effort to include more on-card auto's and hope this strategy will cary over to Panini's 2011 National Treasures Basketball product. If the box breaks look anything similar to the many card images that Panini has dangled in front of collectors, this will be one of the more sought after products of the year. Here's just a few of the images The Knight's Lance has recently posted. What do you think?:

Product Preview: 2010 Upper Deck NHL The Cup

It would seem since Upper Deck has lost a number of their major partners and licensing rights over the past year, they're going all out with regards to the NHL license they still have. Upper Deck's 2010 NHL The Cup release may not only be the best hockey product of there year, but it just might be the best product of the year regardless of sport. Every single card looks amazing. UD recently updated its Facebook page with 85 pictures from the upcoming October 1st release. I don't collect a ton of hockey items other than the few Buffalo Sabres cards I pick up, but this release may just convert me.

As great as these cards look, there's a reason people say, "You pay for what you get". This product is not cheap. You're looking at approx. $360 for 4 cards. There's no question reagrading the quality and design of this product, but $360 for 4 cards might be a tough sell in this economy. That being said, this is the closest to a "perfect" product you can get, and collectors will pay for the "perfect" card. I myself would love to just pick up a box (like spending $360 on pieces of cardboard is no big deal), but I'll hope to grab one of the Tyler Myers RC auto's or Ryan Miller Auto's on the secondary markets.

Product Info:

Release Date: 10/01/10

Configuration: 6 boxes per case. 1 pack per box/tin. 4 cards per pack.

Content Highlights: 2 signed Patch Cards per Tin (1 Auto RC + 1 Auto Patch Card):

- Sidney Crosby & Alexander Ovechkin RC Tribute Cards

- Autographed Draft Boards

- Property of… Stick Nameplates

- NHL Shields

- Dual and triple patch/auto's

- 1 of 1 cut signatures

- and more

Product Preview: 2011 Panini Limited

I was going to post about an Upper Deck Exquisite Marshawn Lynch card that I go in recently, but I just got this press release from Panini PR. Maybe I'll get some Buffalo Bills cards up later today. I'm really excited about the upcoming NFL season.

It looks like Panini will release its 2011 Limited basketball product on October 7th. The checklist of players looks impressive with legends like Scottie Pippen, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar just to name a few. The press release does say there will be on-card auto's for some of the insert sets, and quite honestly, the number of on-card auto's will make or break this product at the $100 price tag. This is one of the first 2011 basketball releases from Panini in their second year with an NBA license and collectors are expecting more on-card auto's this year than last. It'll be interesting to see more images of cards from this product as they get posted to Panini's homepage and Facebook page.

Although I've not been a huge fan of Limited in the past, the cards in this press release are intriguing. The Glass Cleaners Jabbar card looks great and all the Glass Cleaner auto's are on-card. I also wouldn't mind adding that Kobe to my collection. I know the hobby today is more about auto's and patches, but I would like to see an image of a base card as well. There still are collectors out there that value a well designed base. Here are snippets from the press release:

Product Preview: 2010 Panini Update

Release Date: Sep 01, 2010
Pack SRP: $2.99/Box SRP: $65.95
Master Configuration: 10 cards, 24 packs, 20 boxes
Direct Configuration: 10 cards, 24 packs, 10 boxes

PER BOX ITEMS:
1 Autograph
2 Memorabilia
22 Highlights
2 Silver
5 Playoff Debut
3 Lakers Legacy
7 Rookie Challenge
1 Prestige Rookie
4 Others

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS:

- 111 On-card autographs from the biggest names in basketball including Kobe Bryant and Walt Frazier.

- Lakers Legacy featuring prime jersey swatches from some of the franchise's legendary performers.

- Rookie Duals and Rookie Triples featuring autographs from 2009-10 NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans.

So what do you think, is this a product that you're interested in checking out? At a price of $65.95 per box, this is certainly a product that has me intrigued. The Panini website states there will be one auto'd and two memorabilia cards per box, but some on-line dealers are claiming five memorabilia and/or autographed cards per box on average. Panini has also stated that there are over 1,000 on-card auto's throughout the entire product including 111 Kobe Bryant on-card auto's. 1,000 may seem like a large number, but that's more like case hit numbers. Even still, 2010 Basketball Update seems like a fun product at a reasonable price point. Is it a 10? No, but it is a nice wrap-up to the 2010 basketball product line. What are your thoughts on Panini's 2010 Panini Update released today?