Hobby Box question..

[Dannyb92]

Hey everyone! It's been a long time since I've collected. Longtime lurker here so I thought I'd ask a question. What hobby boxes are of interest this year? I'm seeing a lot of the "collegiate" hobby boxes but is that all that's being sold or do the typical NFL boxes eventually come out? Trying to google and find out but a bit lost. All the help is appreciated.

[Mcsizzle81]

Prestige NFL has already come out, as well as a few hobby only products(luminance, element,etc), and this week Orgins is released. PANINI .COM Has a schedule of product releases as well. I myself am pumped for Mosaic! Hope that helps-Rick

[Dannyb92]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. Is there any sort of boxes people seem to gravitate towards? Even if it's not out yet. Just trying to learn what I should be looking into and not buy the wrong items.

[turnpipe]

There are no wrong items really, but finding what you will be happiest with can certainly be confusing. Collegiate products are somewhat more available because they are somewhat less desirable to many people. Once pro jersey sets come out a lot of the interest and prices erode traditionally. With that said I am a college collector and I have tons of collegiate cards I like a lot, and I do buy singles from those sets. Pro sets can be hit or miss at times. I would recommend checking out designs of anything you are looking to spend real money on. I always stay away from practice/combine jerseys as much as possible. High end will usually sell for more and low end will sell for less. There is a bit of a curve to values depending on player. With high end sets most cards will sell for more for longer, but with low end everything will usually bottom out aside from the stars within years.

[jplcom]

A good question to ask yourself is what are your goals for collecting. Are you a set builder, team collector, player collector, investor, or somewhere in between? Do you have a thirst to break wax or are you fine buying singles and lots towards your collection? Do you have a budget and willing to not go over it? That'll help you identify what you want to go after. If you want the best bang for your buck, look to pick up rookies from 2018-2020. There's still prospect value there but aren't the new hot fire 2021 stuff. Buying wax at current bubble prices thinking you'll be making a good investment is the same as buying a brand new car, driving it off the lot and directly off a cliff. Maybe insurance money pays out better, but 99% of the time you'll lose.

In terms of product getting released this year, Panini more or less releases the same stuff each year with maybe variation on 3-5 products. Last year they released 44 different products and I imagine we'll see the same or more this year. Some of their longest running brands are Absolute, Certified, Contenders, Elite, Limited, National Treasures, Prestige, Rookies and Stars, and Score. All of those have consistently been released since they fully integrated the old Donruss/Leaf/Playoff brands in 2010.

If you like shiny chromium looking cards, check out Donruss Optic, Prizm, Phoenix, Contenders Optic, and Select.

More interested in traditional designs? Then Donruss, Legacy, Playoffs, Prestige, and Score may be up your alley.

Got deep pockets with high end gambling money? Look no further than Flawless, Immaculate, or National Treasures

They have even more out there. An easy thing to check is going to comc.com and type in 2020 Tom Brady or 2020 Patrick Mahomes. Sellers will absolutely list the best selling players so you should find a good representation of sets doing a search like that. See if there are some designs that catch your eye and follow Panini to see when they'll release that product for 2021. Undoubtedly designs will be refreshed but the same essence will be there.

Good luck!

[Dannyb92]

Thanks for all this information. Is there a list for the release dates for most of the NFL pro sets? I can't really seem to find it on the Panini site or what they display is limited. I'm definitely interested in the Optics/Prizm sets from what I've seen on previous years but I cannot seem to find the Pro dates for those releases. Thanks for the introduction back into the hobby!

-Danny

[jplcom]

Thanks for all this information. Is there a list for the release dates for most of the NFL pro sets? I can't really seem to find it on the Panini site or what they display is limited. I'm definitely interested in the Optics/Prizm sets from what I've seen on previous years but I cannot seem to find the Pro dates for those releases. Thanks for the introduction back into the hobby!

-Danny

@Dannyb92 - https://www.cardboardconnection.com/...lease-calender

[Mcsizzle81]

All about what u like bro. Last year I went nuts with Illusions hobby(bought half a case!) Prizm and Mosaic are always hot but alot of hobby only stuff is sweet