REVIEW:2017-2018 Essentials Basketball+Contest!!

Panini has some interesting product names when a new one releases. Some are funny, some are weird and some are obvious. I put essentials as an obvious. Because what collector wouldn't want a product they may find to be essential to collect.

This product to me after ripping a couple of packs reminds me of 2017 Panini Illusions football with it's design and themes. It also reminds me of a couple strong late 90's products. Let's take a look at why.

Every box of 2017-2018 Essentials Basketball has 10 packs of 6 cards each. You will find two autographs per box along with inserts and parallels. Boxes run around $120.

Okay. Let's take a look at the base cards. They both are very reminiscent of both Panini Illusions football late 90's Flair. Same kind of card stock, layout and design. I really like it.

There are 200 cards in the base set including veterans,

And rookies. Here are some of the key rookie cards I found in my break.

As with any new product, there are parallels to be found. The difference between the base and parallels are the backgrounds and name color.

Red are the most common find and are not numbered.

I cannot figure out this one. It's not numbered so it can't be silver. If you know what this one is just comment below so I can update the post.

Here are the silvers however. They are numbered to 99.

 

Other parallels to find in the product include

• Retail
• Green
• Orange
• Red
• Spiral
• Platinum SSP
• Silver /99
• Purple 1/1.

As we move onto the inserts we find out there are 11 of them to find. Some of the designs remind of me of inserts in UD HoloGrfx product. They do all have the Flair look however.

Surprisingly, no inserts have parallels.

Kings Of The Court of course celebrate the guys who rock it and know how to put up the rock.

Indispensable Rookie are the top rookies in the game.

Swish Kings. Well, that's obvious

Future Legends are the key rookies in the game that have the most potential to be future stars.

Indispensable Stars. Those guys on the teams they couldn't live without.

Franchise Foundation. Those guys you can build your team around.

Dynamic Duos. The best teammates in the game.

There are other inserts to find as well. Many are SSP.

Now onto my hits.

First find was this Destined For Greatness Signature of Brandon Ingram redemption card. Ugh. Redemptions.

My second was this Glorified Signatures Artis Gilmore /35. Pretty sweet looking card I must say.

 

Other hits not found in my box include,

• Rookie Autos
• Called to Excellence Autographs
• Claim to Fame Signatures
• Glorified Signatures
• True Potential Signatures

OVERALL: I loved the design and themes throughout the product. Honestly the price point isn't even that terrible. It was my pulls. They were not the best. I do like the design of the Gilmore pull but it isn't going to pull back what was paid for the box.

However, from a collector standpoint, which I consider myself in that part all the time, the product is a lot of fun and looks great. It's something I would like to see being brought over to the football land.

Here is the complete checklist for Essentials basketball. Check it out HERE.

Now a chance to throw your name in the hat to win the REDEMPTION CODE off from the Brandon Ingram autograph card.

 

To win this card above with some bonus cards, please read and follow the instructions

1. CONTEST IS OPEN TO U.S. AND NON U.S. READERS!!!!
2. REMEMBER, you are winning the code. Not the card. The card will not be shipped.
3. TO ENTER, simply just leave me your thoughts on this product.
4. Contest winner will have 72 hours after the winner announcement to claim or it goes back into the prize pot.
5. Make sure to thank Panini and Tracy Hackler for their generosity!
6. Contest starts today and will end on June 21st 2018. Winner will be announced shortly after.
7. Once you enter this contest, you agree to all terms above. 

A big thanks goes out to Panini America for the box to review. Without their support with these reviews giveaways wouldn't be possible. Check them out at Panini America website and follow them on all social media sites. Please let Tracy Hackler and Panini know your thanks so we can continue to host giveaways like this or bigger ones!

REVIEW:2016-2017 Donruss Basketball

Donruss has been a brand name staple in my collection for years and Panini's revival of the product brought much excitement with many fun parallels.

However, this years basketball was a bit different than past releases.

Read my thoughts on this product below.

In every box of 2016-2017 Donruss basketball, you will find 24 packs of 12 cards. There will be one autograph and one memorabilia card per box along with a decent handful of inserts. Boxes run around $60.

The base card set pictures I had got deleted by mistake. But, you will see them in a second when I break down the parallels. But anyways, the base card set is 200 cards deep. 150 of those are stars of today and the last 50 cards are rookies including Ben Simmons which I found two of in my box.

As you can see, the base card design is pretty similar to past designs. The parallels this year break down as follows,
Holo Laser Parallels: Green & Yellow, Green #/99, Red #/99, Blue #/49, Yellow #/25, Red & Blue #/15, and Purple #/15.

Press Proof Parallels: Silver #/299, Purple #/199, Red #/75, Blue #/25, Gold #/10, Black 1/1.

 

In my opinion, the parallels lacked this year. In past years, they were bright colorful and shiny. This years, simply lacked.

Same goes for the inserts in this years product. Donruss baseball and football this year stuck with the colorful, bold creative inserts and basketball seemed to had fallen short of that. 

The inserts have the following parallels, Press Proof, Press Proof Blue #/99, and Press Proof Black 1/1.

Elite Series was lacking it's usually crackle of colors. This years, was just basic.

The Champ Is Here breaks down past champions with current and legends involved.

There are 3 versions of Court Kings this year with Court Kings, Hall Kings and Rookie Kings. All have a canvas texture to them.

Other insert not found

The Rookies Set and the really rare Optic Preview Se.

Now onto the hits.

I pulled a Jersey Kings of Jimmy Butler. Design I will say is pretty solid.

And my Next Day autograph pull. Not a bad one with it being on-card and of the 6th overall pick.

 

Other hits not found in my box are,

Newly Crowned Rookie Jerseys, Back to the Future Materials Set, Dominator Signatures Set, Elite Signatures Set, Jersey Series Set, Rookie Materials Signatures Set, Swatch Kings Jumbo Set, and Timeless Treasures Materials Signatures Set.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the parallels and inserts as they felt like fillers as opposed to past releases. But, price isn't too bad here and Donruss is deep with hits that can be found. The on-card autograph cards are a nice find even though not all are like that. 

I hope next years release goes back to the former inserts of releases past. I think my favorite this year was the Court Kings with the canvas feel. 

What I like about Donruss also is the price for the younger collectors. I think this product is simple enough for them to be engaged and possibly led into the hobby world with. I felt this way for baseball and football as well.

REVIEW:2016-2017 Totally Certified Basketball Box 2+GIVEAWAY!

Yesterday I posted my first box break of this product and it was a tough one to swallow.

Was 2 any better, well, read on!

Unlike yesterday's box, I actually pulled a top tier rookie in this box. If not the top. Good start because this was actually out of pack 1.

My parallels were much better than the last box pulling a variety of them.The Capela is /199, the Clarkson is /99 and the Howard is /60. Not to mention this

 

Camo /25.All look really sharp!

Some inserts including Dirk.

 

Anytime you pull a Kobe insert, you win.

And the jersey card hits,despite being single color swatches again, this time are Totally Certified Materials and both /99 blue parallels.

And my autograph is of  the 10th overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and a parallel /99. His auto could use some work.

Overall, I would be lying if I didn't think the second box blew the first one out of the water. I guess it shows the parity of every break. You just don't know which of the two boxes you will land. Well, I usually do. The first one is usually what I get for my own personal breaks. That's simply just my luck.

Now time for the giveaway!

There will be two winners, one will win this

 

The other will win this,

In order to enter, you must guess the numbering out of /25 for this card

 

AND follow these rules

1. Make sure you thank Panini America for this review box and check out their site for products like this one and others. Also thank Tracy Hackler and give him a Twitter follow too!
2. ***VERY IMPORTANT***MUST BE A U.S. RESIDENT to enter or have a shipping address in the U.S. Shipping costs have gone haywire and I can't afford to ship everywhere.This is always hard to do as I appreciate all readers but I hope you all understand non-U.S. readers.
3. Card may be shipped PWE. I like to forewarn on this.
4. LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW telling me ONE PRO AND ONE CON OF THE PRODUCT for both or either box. PLEASE ALSO KEEP IN MIND I AM HOPING FOR GOOD PRO/CON FEEDBACK.
5. Also leave me a comment telling me the card numbering /25 for the Nik Stauskas above
6. Must do BOTH 5 and 6 to be entered or entry will be null.
7. The ones who guess the right number or are closest without going over will be entered in the giveaways.
8. Sport Card Collectors or it's owner (person who runs the blog), WILL NOT be held responsible for lost, stolen or damaged mail. Sorry had to add this in since someone tried to scam me once about this.
9. Contest starts today, ends on January 22nd 2017. Winner will be announced in a separate post on January 23rd 2017.
10. Don't forget to thank the above sponsor of this contest and I won't mind a thank you as well :) 

Good luck to those that enter!!