It is clear that Panini has stepped up its game with this
year’s basketball releases. Their
standard trading card, Prestige, has been revamped too, taking it from standard
fare to a set of cards, from a design level, that approach it’s name more
closely. It now becomes a premiere
trading card offering while remaining at a reasonable price point.
2012 13 Panini Prestige Basketball falls under our
classification of trading cards. Hobby boxes include 24 packs with 8 cards per
pack with the promise of 3 Autographs and 1 Memorabilia card per box
Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled.
Base Set
Kevin Durant, front and back
Paul Pierce, Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin
Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Deron Williams
Kevin Love, John Wall, Tim Duncan
LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwayne Wade
Chris Paul, James Harden
Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose
Rookies
Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Ross
Moe Harkless, Tyler Zeller, Evan Fournier
Iman Shumpert, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmer Fredette
Tobias Harris, Jeremy Tyler, Marcus Morris
Bonus Shots Numbered Parallels
Pau Gasol #/249, Terrel Harris #/249
Inserts
Franchise Favorites
Tony Parker, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams
Connections
Durant & Aldridge, Collison & Holiday, Nowitzki & Nash
Stars of the NBA
Elton Brand, Kevin Martin, Greg Monroe
Hardcourt Heroes
LeBron James, Chris Paul, Steve Nash
This year in all of the Panini Basketball releases there
will be a 5 card bonus pack top loaded in each box. All cards will be part of the Kobe Bryant Anthology and
cover his entire career with the Lakers. Here are the cards from our pack.
Card 10, front and back, Card 68
Card 102, Card 151, Card 166
The Hits
Glen Davis True Colors Memorabilia
Brandon Knight Prestigious Picks Auto, Bismack Biyombo Prestigious Picks Auto
Overall Look
Prestige comes in with a great update, taking it from it
prior symmetrical, underplayed color scheme to vibrant colors and variety of
looks, all of which work. In
dealing with a double rookie class, Panini has separated all of the rookies
with a very distinctive look. Placing
the most recent rookies in within the checklist starting at card number 200 is
a nice touch. Otherwise 2011 NBA
draft rookies can be recognized by the inclusion of stats. Hit cards are standard fare but look in
line with the feel of Prestige.
Quality and Variety of Players.
A double rookie class naturally lends the set towards a more
rookie centric release with the split of rookies and commons at 100 and 150
respectively within the base cards.
But this still feels like a good mix with all the big name players you
would want present in a set fully represented.
Do the hits hold up?
As can happen, our box was shorted on hit, but Panini has
always shown superior customer service in cases like this. That still does not take away from the
potential to land some thing very nice and at the usual 3 autos/1 mem per box, there
is good value there too.
Will you want to collect them all?
This is definitely a set that will compel you to collect
them all.
Rating
4 1/2 out of 5
2012 13 Panini Prestige Basketball is a great set of trading cards that has a lot to offer.
Review box provided by Panini
Review box provided by Panini
I've lost interest in basketball over the years (outside of A. Davis and M. Kidd-Gilchrist... I didn't recognize a single draft pick) and probably won't be picking up any of these cards. But kudos to Panini on the simple base card design. Hopefully they hook you up with a decent autograph.
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