SCF Official Review: 2010/11 Panini Rookies & Stars

[Enigma]

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 (online): 74.99-84.99

Product Description

Box Break
- One Auto Patch and Three Auto or Mem Cards (#d to 499 or less)
- Two parallel cards including Gold (#'d 499) and Gold Holo foil (#'d to 199)
- 12 inserts including Sharp Shooters, Studio Combo Rookies, Gold Stars, Team Leaders and Moments in Time

Highlights
- Autographed NBA Team Logo and Logoman patches from 40 of the year's most anticipated rookies
- New Game Garb Prime Materials and Game Garb Prime Signatures insert cards display beautiful swatches from fan favorite players
- Hobby exclusive 15-card Sharp Shooters insert includes autographs and memorabilia from the game's best shooters
- Return of the Moments in Time insert that captures iconic moments in the history of the NBA

Set Consists Of
- 100 Commons
- 15 Retired
- 40 Rookie Auto Patches (#'d to 499 or less)
- 15 Rookie Base

WHAT WE PULLED



Base - 85/100 (85%)
Legends - 8/15 (53.3%)
Rookies - 8/15 (53.3%)
Gold /499 (2) - Brook Lopez, Andrei Kirilenko
Gold Holofoil /199 (1) - Jose Calderon



Moments In Time (2)
Moments In Time Gold /499 (1) - Patrick Ewing
Moments In Time Holofoil /199 (1) - Magic Johnson
Sharp Shooters (4)
Sharp Shooters Holofoil /199 (1) - Paul Gasol
Studio Rookies (1)
Superstars (2)
Team Leaders (3)
Team Leaders Gold /499 (1) - Orlando




David West Gold Jersey /299
Dress For Success Dwight Howard Jersey /299
Freshman Orientation Ekpe Udoh Jersey /399
Freshman Orientation Devin Ebanks Jersey /399
Prime Cuts Karl Malone 2-clr Patch /50
Retired NBA Team Patches Signatures Chris Ford Redemption
Sharp Shooters Pau Gasol Jersey /99
Team Patches Wesley Johnson Auto /25




Ratings:
Base - 4.75/5
Design - 3.5/5
Fun - 4/5
Value - 5/5
Rebuy - 4.25/5

Total - 21.5/25 (86%)

Panini follows up a successful rookie season as the sole licensed basketball card provider with aspirations of exceeding what they did in their first year. Enter Rookies & Stars. The base set has 100 veterans, 15 retired players and 15 rookies. The retired (legends) and rookies are short printed. You will see them appear on average at a clip of once in every three packs for each one. The cards feature the players in action in a full body color photo, outside of a couple in the retired group in which only black and white photos were available. The player's name can be found on the left side of the card and the team logo in the top right corner. In the top left is the set logo and the right hand corner houses the player's position. There are two regular parallels, Gold and Gold Holofoil, numbered to 499 and 199 respectively.

In typical Panini fashion, there are numerous inserts with additional paralles. Moments In Time focuses on retired players. Sharp Shooters and Superstars centers around current veterans. Rookies share the limelight with Studio Rookies as each card features two of them. And finally, Team Leaders showcases the top scorer, rebounder and assist man for each team from the previous season.

On average, each box will yield four autographs or memorabilia cards. However, as seen with this break, there are hot boxes which will double the amount of "hits". While there are plenty of sets that encompass a relic or signature, the two that shine above the rest are the Rookie and Retired NBA Team Patches Signatures Series. Each card contains a team logo on an oversized piece of fabric and the player's autograph on the swatch.

Rookies & Stars delivers exactly what its name states. The release fixates on a mix of current stars and this year's rookie crop with an intersperse of legends. However, if you are looking for the upper echelon of rookies, they will be hard to find. There are only 15 regular rookie cards and none feature the top picks. To find those, you have to heop they appear in either the Studio Rookies insert set or as a relic or auto card. The design of the base cards seems to be a rehash of the run-of-the-mill design we are used to seeing with Rookies & Stars. They are not unattractive, just trite and commonplace. But this doesn't mean an investment in boxes is not a worthwhile propostion. There's a lot to be found within a box and it is an entertaining venture. The cost versus reward is greatly in your favor, especially for a collector.

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful 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 them out at www.paniniamerica.net

[pacman213]

This looks like a really great set I look forward to picking a couple of boxes up.

[#50 Tyler Hansbrough]

nice break.. I got a box and was shorted a hit :(