SCF Official Review: 2009/10 Panini Contenders

**Enigma** · 02-20-2010, 09:43 PM

First and foremost, I'd like to thank our sponsors at Panini for providing us with this box.

24 packs per box
5 cards per pack
Current Retail Price: 109.99 - 119.99 (online)

Product Description
Per Box Items (On Average)
- 4 Autographs
- 1 Rookie Of The Year Contender
- 1 Legendary Contender

CASE BREAK (on average)
Look for one of the following autographs:
Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Oscar Robertson!

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

SEASON TICKETS:
This 09/10 Playoff Contenders base set captures the top playmakers in the NBA!

ROOKIE TICKETS:
The top Rookies of the 09/10 NBA season are featured with beautiful silver foil!

CLASSIC TICKETS:
The NBA's legendary names make up the remainder of the Contenders base set!

WHAT WE PULLED

Base: 89/100 (89%)
Dupes: 0
Classic Ticket (3): Bernard King, Larry Bird, Artis Gilmore

Award Contenders (2)
Draft Class (3)
Draft Class Gold /100 (1): Yi Jianlian
Draft Tandems (2)
Draft Tandems Black /50 (1): Deron Williams/James Harden
Legendary Contenders (2)
Legendary Contenders Gold /100 (1): Patrick Ewing
Lottery Winners (3)

One Two Punch (2)
Perennial Contenders (2)
Rookie Of The Year Contenders (1)
Round Numbers (3)
Round Numbers Black /50 (1): Dwyane Wade/Stephen Curry

Terrence Williams Auto Redemption
Earl Clark Auto (On-card)
Sam Young Auto (On-card)
Jodie Meeks Auto (On-card)

FINAL RATINGS

Base: 4.5/5
Design: 4.5/5
Fun: 5/5
Value: 4.5/5
Rebuy: 4.5/5

Total: 23/25 (92%)

Panini has brought one of its staple football products to the court. Contenders is a perennial favorite among football collectors. The base cards utilize a design to give the illusion of a game ticket. Instead of Section, Row and Seat, you get the player's Position, Jersey Number and Years In The League. There are 100 cards in the base set.

Inserts sets proliferate a box of Contenders. A couple of the main ones are Legendary Contenders and Rookie Of The Year Contenders. By name alone, you can tell one focuses on former players and the other on future stars. There are parallel version for all the insert sets.

The big draw of Contenders has always been the four rookie autographs per box on average. For basketball, Panini has brought the same collation. However, in an attempt to please the collectors is the push to have on-card autos.

This is a wonderful first-run for Panini with Contenders in basketball. You almost get a full base set in a box. Each pack yields at least one insert, even in packs with an autograph. The fact that all the autos we received were on-card (outside of the redemption) is amazing. Looks like the issue with the football version was corrected with the on-card autos here. Definitely a great buy for basketball collectors.

Once again, I'd like to thank our gracious sponsors at Panini for giving us the opportunity to open and review this release. For more information on all their products, be sure to check the out at www.paniniamerica.net.

**trevorp121** · 02-22-2010, 12:56 AM

Nice looking product! Thanks Panini America!

**Captngeetch** · 02-22-2010, 06:00 AM

Love the Look...they really seem to "pop". Really like the Auto's..hard signed and large ! Looking good Panini

**JKC** · 02-22-2010, 02:20 PM

Very nice break and review! Thanks, Panini, for providing this!

**garnett_21** · 02-22-2010, 02:53 PM

Great break and review! Love all the inserts in this product, and having all on-card autographs is just amazing. Thanks, Panini!

**RenegadeLonghorn** · 02-22-2010, 05:49 PM

Love the on card rookie autos. Insert design is nice too. Not liking the price for a box! If you look at the hits the redemption books $25 and the other three autos $15 each. I'd personally be disappointed if I got this particular box.