REVIEW:2017 Panini Illusions Football

One of Panini's newest football products released not too long ago. It combines many fun aspects and one that is very reminiscent of the 90's to me.

How did my break go and what were my thoughts? READ ON!

In every box of 2017 Panini Illusions Football you will find 10 packs of 5 cards each. You should find 2 autographs, 2 memorabilia cards, one autographed memorabilia card and one box topper per box. Boxes running not at a bad price for all that this comes with, $125.

My box topper, or I should say bottom topper as it was found in the bottom of the box, was this Trophy Collection Blue parallel /100 of Demarco Murray and Eddie George. We will talk about the two on a card in a second. Anyways, the only way to pull the parallels from the product is from these box toppers. Find red /50, green /25 and purple 1/1. Even though it has the name Trophy Collection, there is no dufex technology involved.

 

The base set is an intriguing one. It features 100 cards but of two players per card. There is a featured player in the forefront with their "illusion" player in the background. The design is very similar to one that Flair used in the late 90's early 2000's. I totally dig the design and concept.

Here is a further look at some of the base

These acetate inserts fall one-in-every-other-pack and are the only inserts the product offers. Totally dig acetate and I think it fits well in this product. The designs on these are also very trippy.

Now onto the hits. They are basically an amped up version of the base.

First Impressions covers the rookies. These have parallels as well of, Blue /100, Red /50, Green /25, and Purple 1/1.

Spotlight Memorabilia looks like something you would have found in Gold Standard. Nice sharp card. Parallel cards are, Blue /100, Red /15, Green /5, and Purple 1/1.

Rookie Signs. Some of the lesser known guys are included in here. I can't count the amount of times I have seen Solomon Thomas this year and I haven't even busted that much football.  Parallels include the green one I pulled of Mr.Thomas below. Others are, Blue /100, Red /50, and Purple 1/1

And my last pull, First Impressions Autograph Memorabilia of John Ross.These have parallels of, Blue /100, Red /50, Green /25, and Purple 1/1.

 

Other hits not found in my box include, ELUSIVE INK, VETERAN SIGNS, Rookie Dual Signs, Rookie Endorsements,Award Winning Autographs,Legacies Triple Memorabilia, Legacies Dual Memorabilia, Rookie Idols Dual Memorabilia, Rookie Reflection Dual Patch and Rookie Reflection Dual Patch Autographs.

OVERALL: Not a bad product. I like the design throughout the product. It's finally something a bit different on the market instead of the same layout and designs. The illusions part of the base set is a good concept as well.

My box wasn't the best, but looking at what you can pull vs the cost of the product and it's pretty reasonable. There are definitely big hits waiting to be had.

Please take a minute out to thank Tracy Hackler and Panini America for today's review break. Some of the cards you see above will be included in the Mystery Panini Giveaway! Check out Panini America on all social media sites and visit their site HERE as well for cards and more.

REVIEW:2017 Panini Absolute Football

One of my favorite NFL releases every year is Absolute Memorabilia. I can't explain why, it just is.

I think one of my favorite things about the product is the Tools Of The Trade memorabilia line. Some cool swatches I have pulled in the past and the variety of memorabilia is fun as well.

Let's see how the 2017 version went.

 

In every hobby box of Absolute Memorabilia football, there are 3 box packs with 5 cards per pack. Boxes come with 5 hits including three autographs. Boxes run around $130 which for 5 hits isn't terrible. There will also be one parallel and one insert per box as well.

 

The 200-card base set includes 50 Retired players and 50 Rookies, each numbered to 499. The base design sticks to the normal foil background and player forefront like it always has.

Key Rookies to find in here are, Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Williams, John Ross, Corey Davis, Leonard Fournette, O.J. Howard, Dalvin Cook, Kareem Hunt, DeShone Kizer, Corey Davis, Kenny Golladay, and Chris Godwin.

Like with every product, there are parallels. Mine was a Spectrum Red /100 of Cardinals Chad Williams.

 

There is also Spectrum Blue, Spectrum Green #/25, Spectrum Purple #/5, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Rookie Roundup was my insert pull. Very reminiscent of something you would find in Unparalleled.

Other insert finds you can find are Fantasy Flashbacks, Glass, Kickoff,Unsung Heroes, and Hurdles.

 

Now onto my hits! My box actually had an extra pull.

 

My first finds were Absolute Rookie Jerseys /99.

Here was my Tools Of The Trade pull of Raiders dominant Khalil Mack. To me, it looks like football, glove and jersey. I did read the back but no info was given on where these are from. Actually, the back design was very bland just saying it was "player worn". I think I liked past designs where they had a player and the pieces were pointed to which part of the uniform they were from.

Here are some of the pieces of memorablia you can find this year in Tools of the Trade! Find unique materials including jerseys, gloves, footballs, pants, socks, shoes, helmets, hats and jackets! How cool is that!!!

My first autograph pull was this Absolute Heroes Autographs of Gilbert Brown. It's fun to find players autographs you had long forgot about. Makes it even better for team collectors.

 

My next find was this Solomon Thomas Rookie Reflex Signatures /25. He seems to be stalking me this year.

 

My final pull was this RPS of Evan Engram. These are apart of the base set technically but like I said I don't count auto/mem cards as apart of the base set in my mind. There are 40 cards to collect and you can find 3 and 4 and 5 piece versions with that unique memorabilia as well. This obviously jersey, football and then I don't know. Pants maybe? The texture is different.

Other hits not found in my box include, Absolute Heroes Autograph Jersey Number ,Absolute Ink Autographs, Absolute Ink Jersey Number, Ground Hoggs Relics , Historical Duals Relics Prime, HOF Jersey Autographs,HOF Jersey Autographs Prime,Team Tandem Duals Relics, Tools of the Trade,Triple Relics Autographs,Tools of the Trade Quad Relics ,Tools of the Trade Five Relics, Tools of the Trade Double Relic Autographs Prime, Tools of the Trade Double Relics, Historical Trios Relics Prime, Historical Trios Relics, Historical Duals Relics, Head to Toe Relics, Catching Fire Relics, Canton Absolutes Relics, Air Raid Relics, Iconic Quad Autographs, Jumbo NFL Shields , Jumbo Cleats
Jumbo Relics , Iconic Ink Trio Autographs, Iconic Ink Dual, Iconic Ink ,Marks of Fame Autographs

Marks of Fame Jersey Number Autographs, and Rookie Force Relics. 

A LOT OF HITS TO FIND!!!

OVERALL: I didn't hit it big, but I was really happy with the outcome and that's not just because of the future Pro Bowl TE Evan Engram or finding an extra hit. I was happy even before that. I like the designs and the memorabilia options you can find in here. There is plenty of cool hits waiting to be found from rookies to Hall of Famers and even some underdogs. 

I think for the amount of hits found, the box price is where it should be. I also think for those of you who like to wait for prices to drop that isn't a bad idea either.

My only problem with the product was the lack of card back detail. The card backs for the autographs and memorabilia cards lacked any form of writing other than saying it was authentic and the memorabilia on the front wasn't specified which makes the search fun but it would be nice to know what the specific item used was.

Other than that, I am once again happy with Absolute Memorabilia.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Panini America for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add more cards to my Player Of The Day contest.