Which Panini products will stand the test of time?

[rasclat]

Originally Posted by GeechQuest

Lots of love for the Hoops Premium set and here I am thinking it’s one of the absolute worst sets Panini had ever produced. I’ll die alone on this hill I guess.

I agree, really dont see the point of the product, well i see panini wants easy money but it does nothing other sets don't already do better.

[Italy61587]

If Topps every gets to make Topps Chrome basketball again, Prizm will lose its luster

[bberns]

This thread needs more pics.

Here are a few cards that I think will be iconic in 10-20 years (and comparable to some of the iconic 90s Jordan cards).

[bberns]

Originally Posted by GeechQuest

This is my thinking as well.

You see stuff like “Playmakers Theatre” holding up, and most people couldn’t tell you it came from 1998 Fleer Tradition.

You see the PMGs and Credentials of the world actually boosting the set they came out of, as opposed to the set boosting the inserts/parallels.

So to answer your question OP, I think it depends. I could easily see something like Prizm losing some of it’s appeal as Optic/Select cut into the chromium market share.

I think the products that will hold up over time will be the products that contain the insert/parallel set chases that define the Panini era. I’d much rather be holding a box of 1997 Metal Universe than 1997 Topps Chrome, and similarly I’d much rather be holding a box of 2019 Spectra (that contains a Color Blast) over 2019 Prizm even though I realize Prizm is the bigger “brand”.

Fascinating post. I don't think that they market has yet come around to the idea that the rare Panini chase cards will one day (it may take a decade or two) be roughly equivalent to the 90s case cards. I'm not saying that they are equally awesome basketball cards, but each generation wants iconic, grail cards for their generational player (LeBron) and it's going to happen eventually.

[bjho852]

Set-wise, how about these cross-product, hard-signed "Private Signings" autograph cards?
It is unfortunate that the releases are short-lived.

[tomahawk]

I think the early Downtown inserts, from Studio and Cornerstones, will hold up very well over time. They were true case hits and are getting harder to find. I hate the current silver foil downtowns.

2012 Prizm in all sports will continue to creep up. Iconic set.

The SSP parallels (>10) from Prizm, Optic, Mosaic, and Select will always have value.

Le Cinque Piu Belle from Court Kings and the white Contra parallel from Obsidian are the two, in my mind, iconic insert sets that have never really gotten their due. I wouldn't be surprised if the future is kinder to them.

Kaboom seems to me the epitome of an insert set that is all the craze now and that no one at all will care about in 5-10 years.

[gomiamigo]

NT
Prizm
Flawless
Immaculate
Revolution/Optic

[dream34]

Originally Posted by Italy61587

If Topps every gets to make Topps Chrome basketball again, Prizm will lose its luster

This is exactly why I lean Hoops Premium in the long run. Finest was THE Base & RC card to get from 1993 to 1997 and then it just wasn't because Topps Chrome came along.

Topps Finest: 3 year headstart, THE Standard for RCs, Lots of standalone Vet shots dribbling the ball, RC Photo shoot images

Topps Chrome: Chrome to an already existing product with long lineage, borders, more action shots, RC In-Game images.

[Spacemanspif]

to sum up:

"whatever I own the most of = best"

[TBarn291]

Originally Posted by Litwing

NT: RPA as exquisite

Prizm: Chrome of NBA

Immaculate: Beautiful design

Definitely Immaculate. It is by far the patch king of Panini products.

[tyrith]

I don't see how any of the high end products besides NT are going to ever really differentiate from each other. I've spent a ton of time on this hobby over the last year and I still have no clue what makes Flawless and Immaculate different and why I would care about them when NT exists. Noir seems like a more interesting product, personally, but has never gotten the love.

The main product I've seen on here that I question long-term is Select. I think the three tier system inherently devalues the iconic cards in the product - they're effectively parallels of each other, so the set, as a whole, has mega parallel creep. Unless you really go study the checklist, it's not really clear what's actually rare and how the set as a whole works. Seems like that would make it harder to have truly iconic cards. I would buy Optic as being the lasting set out of Select/Optic/Mosaic/Hoops Premium.

[regularp]

I'm in the minority but I think Galactics are wildly overrated. They aren't easy to differentiate between the other Revolution parallels to the untrained eye and don't pop more than any of them either. Anybody could see a Tie-Dye or Gold Prizm and know right away; not the case with Galactics.

[regularp]

For inserts, I think any Court Kings case hit is a safe bet moving forward. Very few graded in any year and they're always a difficult grade besides Blank Slates. First two Stained Glass sets out of Innovation are really low pop.

Kabooms and Downtowns might become important for a player's first appearance in them but lose luster beyond that. I really hope they don't bastardize Color Blast like this.

[GeechQuest]

Originally Posted by regularp

For inserts, I think any Court Kings case hit is a safe bet moving forward. Very few graded in any year and they're always a difficult grade besides Blank Slates. First two Stained Glass sets out of Innovation are really low pop.

Kabooms and Downtowns might become important for a player's first appearance in them but lose luster beyond that. I really hope they don't bastardize Color Blast like this.

You know they will. I suspect we have parallels in 2 years time.

Tangent, but I've wondered how they create One and One again? The big driver in that set are the "Timeless Moments" autos, but the actual moments just don't grow on trees.

I'm hoping Panini does One and One every 2-3 years at most. Do not bastardize that auto set. They constantly want to tow the line of "cool and innovative" with "standard fare".

[Ra3]

Originally Posted by GeechQuest

You know they will. I suspect we have parallels in 2 years time.

Tangent, but I've wondered how they create One and One again? The big driver in that set are the "Timeless Moments" autos, but the actual moments just don't grow on trees.

I'm hoping Panini does One and One every 2-3 years at most. Do not bastardize that auto set. They constantly want to tow the line of "cool and innovative" with "standard fare".

Yeah I’m also wondering about how they’re going to continue to do One and One. The 2019 base set design was super simple and elegant, with almost no ornamentation or frills. Also, the downtown and timeless moments inserts were really well done but super limited in checklist and print run.

With the base set already at 180 cards and them already having added /15 and /35 parallels, I’m not sure how much more panini will pursue their usual jacking-up-the-print-run thing. I hope the set is somewhat resistant to being done in ever-increasing volume on an annual basis, although I’m sure they will find a way.

Perhaps the design might be like flawless, where the underlying design elements stay the same every year as a trademark of the brand? And I would think the timeless moments checklist would have to turn over almost entirely...?

[90skid]

I would prefer they didn't make One and One again for 2020-21. It's really not needed. There's quite a few 2019-20 products that would seem like overkill if they tried to make them this year. There's so many yet to release:

Optic
Select
Noir
Contenders Optic
Mosaic

I don't want to see 2020 Lamelo rookie releases when the start of the 2021-22 season begins.

As for the products, I think prizm rookies will still rule this overall decade, as the "go to" rookie cards.

[KhalDrogo]

One and One is absolutely coming out again. Two cards for hundreds of dollars. Come on.

[RandyC]

Optic
Prizm
Select

I've try to collect Gold inserts from Optic (Mostly All Heart & My House).

[r338]

Prizm gold and other /10 or lower parallels

[Kobe101]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

One and One is absolutely coming out again. Two cards for hundreds of dollars. Come on.

lol so true.

[sebreg]

Originally Posted by tomahawk

I think the early Downtown inserts, from Studio and Cornerstones, will hold up very well over time. They were true case hits and are getting harder to find. I hate the current silver foil downtowns.

2012 Prizm in all sports will continue to creep up. Iconic set.

The SSP parallels (>10) from Prizm, Optic, Mosaic, and Select will always have value.

Le Cinque Piu Belle from Court Kings and the white Contra parallel from Obsidian are the two, in my mind, iconic insert sets that have never really gotten their due. I wouldn't be surprised if the future is kinder to them.

Kaboom seems to me the epitome of an insert set that is all the craze now and that no one at all will care about in 5-10 years.

Surely this can't be true! I own kabooms! nooooooooooo...

[Reignmanprice]

Originally Posted by tomahawk

Kaboom seems to me the epitome of an insert set that is all the craze now and that no one at all will care about in 5-10 years.

i didn´t care since day one of the original release

[Bob824]

Originally Posted by sebreg

...A personal favorite, Noir. Not sure if it ever really gets major traction, but often some very lovely designed cards, all #d.

I was going to comment on the lack of Noir love, but then you pointed it out already (and a few others later on). Then again, we agree on many things design-related and otherwise, @sebreg.

Not a fan of Panini products in general, but I think looking at certain sets/inserts/parallels and NOT individual products is what will "stand the test of time".

Agree with Kaboom, as a modern example that WILL stand the test of time. I don't own any, but they have good crossover appeal (with comics, for example). PMGs are iconic, but not the entire Metal Universe sets year over year.

And of course, the obvious factors, such as having on card autos, numbered cards, and the above mentioned good design.

Oh wait, Noir has all those?

[bberns]

Over the last three years I've collected just about every rare LeBron insert that has been made since 2012. The one exception to that has been Kaboom sets because I've never liked the way they looked. They also aren't all that rare and some aren't pack-pulled. But fundamentally I've just never been able to bring myself to buy something that I don't like. Ironic for me that they are the one set that has blown up the most.

Lesson: Zig when bberns zags.

[90skid]

Originally Posted by bberns

The one exception to that has been Kaboom sets because I've never liked the way they looked.

I agree that the "artwork" of the early years of Kaboom was just not appealing to me. They've since reworked this with the past couple releases of it using actual photos that have been filtered to look more cartoony/drawing like vs being an actual photo. I like that approach better, however this year's lebron Kaboom could have been so much better - like hey they could have used the same dunk photo from prizm...