2012 Panini Contenders Football Box Break Recap And Review

Always a rookie prospector’s favorite, 2012 Panini Contenders Football, the 20th anniversary edition, has arrived.  It is always a solid set of cards to collect and this year is no exception.  Contenders Football looks a good as it has ever looked and is full of potential big hits.  The secondary market for some of the cards is demanding prices that were once unthinkable for non-vintage, partly due to the outstanding 2012 Rookie Class and to the addition of Cracked Ice cards, one of which we were lucky enough to pull.

Playoff Contenders Football fits into our premium cards category.  Each box contains 24 packs with 5 cards each with a promise of 5 autographs with at least 2 of them being on-card.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.

Base Set

Joe Flacco, front and back

Drew Brees, Antonio Brown, DeMarco Murray

Greg Jennings, Frank Gore, Ryan Mathews

Tom Brady. Adrian Peterson, Peyton Manning

Matt Ryan, Calvin Johnson, Arian Foster

Cam Newton, Victor Cruz, Darren McFadden

Josh Freeman, Antonio Gates, A.J. Green

Inserts

Legendary Champions

Eli Manning, Phil Simms

Terry Bradshaw, Jim Plunkett

Rookie Stallions

Bernard Pierce, Bruce Irvin, Justin Blackmon

MVP Contenders

Aaron Rodgers

Tom Brady. Tony Romo

Rookie of the Year Contenders

Brandon Weeden, Russell Wilson, Alshon, Jeffery

The Hits

Rookie Ticket Autographs

Rhett Ellison, Danny Coale, Keshawn Martin

Playoff Ticket Autographs

Coty Sensabaugh #/99, Zach Brown #/99

Cracked Ice Parallel Autograph

Mohamed Sanu #/20

Overall Look

Going back to a vertical profile this year makes this set seem more familiar, smart for a special anniversary edition. The backs of the cards are as good looking as the fronts.  The die- cuts on the MVP and Rookie of the Year Contenders look great.  The Cracked Ice parallels are awesome.

Quality and Variety of Players

This is a really good mix of all that matters to collectors.  The legends checklist seems to have had a bit of a bump up this year, which is great, but this is still a product geared towards prospecting.

Do the Hits satisfy?

There are a lot of great pulls that will be coming out of this All Autograph hit product. The additional hit this year, taking a box from 4 to 5 hits is greatly appreciated. Besides the RPS autos and the SP parallels, hitting any of the other insert autos will make you a happy collector.  Hit a Golden Ticket 1/1 made of 14K solid gold and you will be jumping for joy.

Will you keep coming back for more?

This is easily a multiple box purchase.  Going by the case will increase your chances of pulling a really big hit.

Rating

4 1/2 out of 5

Now in its 20th year, Panini Contenders Football delivers again, as it has year after year.