Change is inevitable and that can be a good thing. Players change teams, rookies become starters and records are broken. 2010-11 Panini Season Update Basketball tracks those changes and more, while providing a last look at some of the year’s best players. The cards have gone through some changes from last year’s release too, design changes and the addition of some new inserts. Plus Panini has added an additional memorabilia hit to each box. All of these changes add up, making Season Update one of the better sets of the year.
We classify Season Update as trading cards. Hobby Boxes come with 24 – 10 card packs. Inside each box you will find 1 Autograph, 3 Memorabilia Cards and 14 Insert Cards, which include autographs from stars of the league and emerging rookies like Kobe Bryant and John Wall. Green Week Swatch cards come with game-used Jersey materials from 2009 and 2010 NBA Green Weeks.
Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled from our box.
Base card of Blake Griffin, front and back
Here are some more star base cards.
Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade
Tim Duncan, Derrick Rose, Paul Peirce Amar`e Stoudemire
Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant
The base set includes award winners.
Blake Griffin, Lamar Odom, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose
George Karl, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen
We received two of the five update cards for Prestige.
Timofey Mozgov and Semih Erden
Here are the insert sets, both based on the All-Star Game.
Rookie Challenge.
All-Stars
Our hits for the box.
LeBron James All-Stars Swatch
Gerald Wallace All-Stars Swatch
Trevor Ariza Throwback Threads #/499
Dante Cunningham Green Week #/799
Gary Neal Rookies & Stars Team Logo Auto #/499
Overall Look
With details like subtitle fading to white at the bottom of the photos to introduce lettering, allowing objects like hands to break the hard bordering on the right side of the card and great action photography, Season Update show sophisticated design that is normally reserved for upper end cards. The backs of the cards are complete, with write-ups, stats and biographical info, including player’s alma mater. Panini has gone a long way in a short time with insert design so that inserts feel like complete cards even when they are not swatched.
Quality and Variety of Players and Subsets.
At 200 commons, this is exactly where you want an update set to be. Not too many cards, but enough room to accommodate changes. Only two insert sets to chase here, Rookie Challenge and All-Stars at 15 and 25 cards respectively, also at the numbers you want for an update set.
Do the hits hold up?
The Autograph checklist is really good for any product, but it is amazing when you consider the price point of these cards. Included in the checklist is the chance to pull on-card autos from the Panini 4 - Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and John Wall. The memorabilia hits found here separate Season Update from all other swatch cards with the addition of Green Week, Rookie Challenge and All-Star Game cards. Knowing approximately when these uniform pieces were used does make a difference to the overall enjoyment of the card.
Will you want to collect them all?
Considering a box will yield most of the cards for the base set, (we were 9 shy of a complete set) and that the insert sets are only 40 cards in total, this is a set you will want to complete. The added bonus is the updated cards to complete your Prestige set and Rookies & Stars Team Patch Autos, something collectors of those sets will want to chase.
Rating
5 out of 5
2010-11 Panini Season Update Basketball offers impressive hits and great looking cards at one of the most reasonable price points of the year.
Review box provided by Panini
Review box provided by Panini
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