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Panini Century Collection Preview

robbiez — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:35:26 +0000

2010 Panini Century Collection will hit stores right before Christmas with a checklist of celebrities from actors to astronaut to athletes and more.

Century Collection carries a $200 SRP for each five-card pack/box, but each five-card pack/box consists of two autograph cards, two memorabilia cards and an additional autograph or memorabilia card. So every card you pull will be a hit.

The autograph checklist includes George Brett, Pete Rose, Stan Musial, Charles Duke, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Turcotte and Scott Carpenter. There also will be cut autographs from such legendary figures as Ben Hogan, Gerald Ford, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Walter Johnson.

There will be also some rare historic relics in the product featuring such legends as Paul “Bear” Bryant, Jim Thorpe, Joe Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Duke Ellington and James Dean.

STAN MUSIAL 2010 PANINI FACTORY SEALED AUTOGRAPH TRADING CARD 02/08 MINT!
US $90.00 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 1:58:20 PST
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Carmelo Anthony Panini Gold Bars Auto SP 2/5
US $67.00 (1 Bid)
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 2:40:31 PST
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Amare Stoudemire Panini Rookies And Stars Auto Card SP 8/15
US $25.00
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 2:48:48 PST
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2010/11 PANINI COURT KINGS JONNY FLYNN AUTO 587/649
US $17.99
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 3:42:47 PST
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2011 PANINI LIMITED PATRICK PETERSON AUTO ROOKIE AUTOGRAPH SP #045/199 MINT RC
US $28.55 (6 Bids)
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 4:08:51 PST
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#4 10-11 PANINI LIMITED MATERIALS SIGNATURES JERSEY AUTO JAROME IGINLA 34/49
US $20.09
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 4:12:15 PST
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2010-11 Panini Threads Evan Turner RC ON CARD Auto Autograph #/399 SIXERS
US $26.29
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 4:35:58 PST
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GREG JONES 2011 PANINI SPECTRUM ROOKIE AUTO #201/299~GIANTS
US $2.25 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 5:04:23 PST
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2010-11 Panini Classics Elliot Williams Auto RC 321/699 Portland Trailblazers
US $4.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 5:07:44 PST
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2010 Panini Epix #213 Jimmy Clausen Autograph RC #158/210
US $22.78
Auction Ends: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 5:19:06 PST
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NBA Season Kicks off Tonight!

robbiez — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:56:03 +0000

The NBA season kicks off tonight with one of the most hyped season openers ever. Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade make up the new look Miami Heat. One of the most interesting cards that could end up becoming an extremely popular RC in the long run is the Topps Matrix Rookie of Wade, Bosh and Lebron. This card is a pairing that was a nod to the Larry/Magic Rookie that also featured Dr. J. But this pairing is three rookies that now are all on one team.

One thing that still is effecting the Basketball market is the exclusive license of Panini with the NBA. Panini put out some amazing products last season, even living up to the level of Exquisite with the National Treasures patches, but one thing is missing. The biggest event leading up to the season was Lebron James going to the Heat, and Lebron is still exclusive to Upper Deck. It’s hard on the NBA market that one of the top superstars in the league will not sign with the exclusive company of the league. David Stern get to work on this, just don’t make Lebron play Baseball or something over it.

John Wall comes in to the league with a ton of hype and should help carry this years products to a good deal of success. Last years products could even get a boost if Blake Griffin comes out and performs as everyone expected him to. I’m looking forward to this season and have to give Panini a lot of credit for having the best company ran blog covering all their products.

Found in a Monster Box : Michael Jordan

robbiez — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:08:48 +0000

I was cleaning a closet out today, and out of a box dropped a Michael Jordan insert. To me this card is cooler looking even than most cards made today, but why is it? What is there about it? It is almost 20 years old, but to me doesn’t seem to be a very dated design. In fact this is the kind of design that probably could translate well to a hot insert set today.

What is it about this card that catches my eye that a lot of today’s cards do not? I think there was a little more effort being put in to making a card look great to make it special, whereas today companies can rely on the crutch of a jersey piece or an autograph to make a card flashier. I’d love to see current releases where a card that isn’t a parallel, rookie, or some sort of relic or autograph can be a popular sell. Have we opened Pandora’s Box on that, and can’t go back? Honestly I don’t know, but one thing that does stand out to me is when you go to larger collectors gatherings, it is predominantly older product that is being sold instead of the modern product dominating. Just something I think everyone should think of.

Is there “Magic” in Elite 2010?

robbiez — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:47:54 +0000

aka “Why stickers are bad!”

We have had the launch of Elite Extra Edition in the last day or so, and a ton has been broken and listed on Ebay. But one card has really stuck out in particular. Jordan Swagerty‘s autographs look vaguely familiar, and they do not look anything like Jordan’s autographs from USA products. Now sometimes stickers can get swapped, but it’s for lesser player, or sometimes it’s for someone with the same name like Tony Gwynn, or Frank Thomas.

But how with this card did Jordan Swagerty from ASU get swapped with NBA Hall of Famer, and legend ? This should be super interesting to see play out!

Panini signs John Wall to Exclusive Deal

robbiez — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:41:11 +0000

WASHINGTON WIZARDS DRAFT PICK JOHN WALL SIGNS EXCLUSIVE NBA TRADING CARD AND MEMORABILIA DEAL WITH PANINI AMERICA

Arlington, Texas (August 18, 2010) – Panini America (www.paniniamerica.net) , a subsidiary of The Panini Group, the leading global publisher of sports and entertainment collectibles, has entered into an exclusive relationship with John Wall, the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft. The partnership with Panini America, the exclusive trading card and sticker licensee of the NBA, marks Wall’s first in the collectibles category.

As part of the relationship, Panini will hold exclusive rights to Wall’s signature for both trading cards and memorabilia. In addition, Panini will include Wall’s image on Panini packaging and will utilize Wall in promotional appearances.

Wall, a player at the University of Kentucky, decided to forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility after being named both the 2010 SEC Tournament MVP and SEC Player of the Year. In addition, the NBA named Wall 2010 Las Vegas Summer League Most Outstanding Player. His first NBA cards will be included in Panini’s 2010 NBA Prestige product, set to arrive in stores at the end of September. The collection will include cards from other top rookies including the 76ers number two draft pick, Evan Turner; New Jersey Nets, Derrick Favors; Minnesota Timberwolves, Wesley Johnson and Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins.

“We are excited to be adding John Wall to the Panini team as one of our exclusive athletes,” said Mark Warsop, CEO Panini America, Inc. “We identified John as someone we thought fit well with the Panini brand and his success during the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League has us excited for the start of the season. We feel that John, Evan (Turner) and Wesley (Johnson) will help bring excitement to trading card collectors worldwide.”

Panini recently made news by announcing exclusive agreements with 76ers rookie Evan Turner and Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Wesley Johnson. In advance of Panini’s first season as the exclusive trading card for the NBA in 2009-10, Panini signed Sacramento Kings Guard and NBA Rookie of the Year, Tyreke Evans; Milwaukee Bucks Guard Brandon Jennings and the Los Angeles Clippers Forward and first pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, Blake Griffin. Panini also has an exclusive relationship with five-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I’m excited to be joining the Panini team,” said Washington Wizards rookie John Wall. “We’ve got a great group of rookies representing Panini with Evan Turner and Wesley Johnson joining me. With last year’s rookies Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings having great seasons we look forward to making our own noise and helping to grow the trading card category and getting kids excited about collecting again.”

As the leading global publisher of sports and entertainment collectibles, Panini has license agreements with three of the major U.S. sports, including the NFL/NFLPA, NHL/NHLPA and an Exclusive Trading Card and Sticker Partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA). Panini’s other partnerships include an exclusive license with FIFA for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Panini also has a successful collectibles business with consumer brands including DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon, Disney’s Toy Story 3, Hannah Montana and High School Musical, and Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter.

Upper Deck supports Hobby with Volunteer Alliance

robbiez — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:29:05 +0000

Last month Upper Deck unveiled an exciting new initiative designed to further engage the company’s loyal collector base. The “Upper Deck Volunteer Alliance” is a program free of charge that’s open to collectors from around the world that enables them to earn Upper Deck merchandise simply by helping the company promote the hobby. Upper Deck has been pleasantly surprised by the response it has gotten from collectors looking to help share the fun of collecting trading cards.

Each month the company assigns members of the group a mission to accomplish and rewards individuals based on the quality of their efforts. Last month Upper Deck assigned members of the Volunteer Alliance to help promote their local hobby shops. Members helped shops create Facebook pages for their businesses, recorded YouTube commercials for shops and even volunteered to help out in the stores. This month the mission is to share the fun of collecting with people who do not currently collect or who used to collect.

“Word-of-mouth advertising is the most powerful form of advertising in the world so it is pretty awesome to have a group of hundreds of brand advocates in our Volunteer Alliance sharing their love of the hobby with others,” said Upper Deck’s Sports Marketing & Social Media Manager Chris Carlin. “Some will donate cards to children’s hospitals or Boys & Girls clubs while others may create an online community mentoring new collectors. Members of the Upper Deck Volunteer Alliance are very creative, so we are interested to see what they come up with and we are prepared to reward them for how inspired they get.”

It is free to become a member of the Upper Deck Volunteer Alliance. Fans simply need to have an online account with Upper Deck and e-mail the company at UpperDeckMarketing@upperdeck.com with the following information:

Upper Deck Online Account Username
Name
Email Address
Favorite Sports

Members have until Friday, September 17, to share with Upper Deck how they showed others the fun of collecting sports cards and memorabilia. Not a member of the Upper Deck Volunteer Alliance yet? Join today!

National Treasures Basketball First Look

robbiez — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:16:50 +0000

Last summer at the National we spoke to Panini and one of the biggest questions we asked was about National Treasures Basketball. The answer we recieved about it was that Panini would not be making National Treasures in 2010 because they did not feel they had the inventory in order to build the product at the value they wanted to deliver. But this week images were released of 2010 National Treasures, and we wanted to show them and let you decide if they deliver a product worthy of the National Treasures name.

2010 Absolute NBA from Panini is live

robbiez — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:48:35 +0000

Panini Absolute Basketball is Live today. Here’s a quick look at the highlights, we should hopefully have a slide show on this soon as well.

Pack SRP: $40.00
Configuration: 4 cards, 4 packs, 9 boxes

PER BOX ITEMS
4 Autograph and Memorabilia Cards
1 Parallel
1 Rookie
1 Retired
1 Other

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
* Exclusive Kobe Bryant on-card Autographs!

* Find exclusive Tyreke Evans Rookie Autographs!

* Tools of the Trade Black Triple Prime Materials Signature Spectrum numbered to 5 or less!

* Hoopla Signature Materials featuring Carmelo Anthony autographs, numbered to 25 or less!

Upcoming Panini Basketball Preview Images

robbiez — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:18:18 +0000

Phil Mason has been doing a great job updating his blog with images that have been released of the newest Panini Products including Leaf Limited Basketball and Contenders NBA. We wanted to share these images with our readers as well, and we will have Scott Prusha from Panini on The Card Podcast this afternoon to talk about all their upcoming NBA and NFL releases.

2009 Panini Basketball Preview

robbiez — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:45:34 +0000

In just a few weeks the base product of Panini Basketball releases. This should be a great product for a team collector. Everyone in the NBA should be featured in this product from what I heard at the National. It should be the most expansive checklist of any of the Panini sets and includes highlights such as the “Next Day” authentic ON CARD signed rookies of the top players from last years NBA Draft.

Ship Date: Oct 26, 2009
Pack SRP: $1.99
Configuration: 12 cards per pack, 36 packs per box

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Find randomly inserted “Next Day” authentic autographs of the top NBA rookies. The shots were taken at the NBA Rookie Photo Shoot, printed an…d signed on-card the next day by each player.

Artist Proof which includes 300 players from the 2008-09 campaign and 50 rookies!

Headliners highlighted by: Kobe Bryant being named MVP of the 2009 NBA Finals, Derrick Rose winning 2008-09 NBA Rookie of the Year, Nate Robinson winning the 2009 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and LeBron James claiming his first NBA MVP award.