I was pretty excited about this product before I even got a box from Panini America, so we appreciate them giving us a shot at opening one. I really like the theme of this product, especially because Gold is selling for record high prices. I think that they could experiment with Silver, Titanium, rare stones/gems/rubies, and maybe even Platinum materials in future sets.
To start with some negatives, the cut windows on the autograph cards above cut off some of the signatures … so it’d be nice to see those larger. Also, the pattern in the background looks like a gold spider web, which isn’t quite the image I get when I think gold. A more elegant design, classy and simple would be good to see in future years.
The good thing is, there are lots of things to like and LOVE about this set. For RC card chasers, find another product to bust, this is a NBA fans dream … most everything in the checklist is veteran/star/HOF type players. Most of the time when you get a redemption in a box, its for a veteran player … in this product our redemption was for the RC, and we got all our veteran hits inside the box. While your odds at landing a Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant or Magic Johnson autograph might be slim … you’ve got more in this product than most.
The fact that this set uses the ‘Gold theme’ throughout the entire set, including the packaging … really helps it stand out among the vast array of products already on dealers shelves. Collectors won’t have any problem knowing what set these cards came from when flipping through boxes of singles, or scanning the pages on eBay … which is how most sets really should be. Hopefully we continue to see the development of brands like this in the future.
For basketball fans, it doesn’t get much better than this. You should find singles selling for reasonable prices … and boxes/cases can still be found at the current moment. The rookie cards are signed on-card, and I have purchased a Gary Neal myself (and I have been outbid at least 10 times on others:). I encourage you to take a look at this set … it stands out amongst all the Panini Basketball sets this year with a large checklist and nice theme.
