On Wednesday, Panini released a new set of basketball cards, the 2020-21 Panini Impeccable.
This set of Panini Impeccable Basketball cards features a theme of player autographs, metal cards and other premiums in one of the most anticipated releases of the entire year. More than half of the cards in every nine-card box are signed by players, all directly on the piece.
Here is what you need to know about some of the most premium basketball collector cards of 2021.
The Autograph Checklist
Keep an eye out for some of your favorite players in this autographed set. This set of cards features current rookies, stars, and some of the best players of all time.
The Elegance Rookie Jersey Autographs should be some of the most sought-after cards in the set. Each card features the player’s autograph in addition to a piece of a jersey.
Impeccable has a large variety of autograph inserts that dig into the number in a variety of ways including stats, jersey numbers and the players’ draft picks. The numbers incorporated into the design and display runs well with the layout of the card.
The Rookie set of cards features a white chevron with a team color mixed in the middle between a black chevron at the top. The insert is on the left side of the guard. The print of the card’s name and the trim is gold.
The Draft Number Card
One of the ways that Panini is able to make some of these cards stand out is with the overall draft pick printed in a large, chrome font across the top. Under the number is a picture of the player, often from their rookie season, below the picture, is the player’s autograph.
These cards have a slick design with a frame being placed around the player. However, so part of the players like their head and hands come out of the frame to make the picture appear three-dimensional.
In addition to the overall draft selection number, Panini also included cards with the players’ induction into the Hall of Fame. This is reserved for players that are already in the basketball Hall of Fame.
The Metal Card
Much like metal credit cards are really cool, having a metal sports card has to be really cool.
Most of these cards are Stainless Stars, simply meaning that it is made out of metal. These cards are not autographed, but they come in really vibrant, bright colors of the players’ team. For example, Obi Toppin’s Stainless Stars card is bright orange with streaks of blue and black across it. The design is supposed to look like paint brushed over the primary color of the card.
Meanwhile, the player is in a stand-alone position without a frame, often in an action shot. Despite no autograph, these are some of the coolest cards in the set.
The gold and silver bars card
Collectors will also find cards that have strips of gold and silver bars in them. This set sounds really cool in theory, but odd gimmicks like this sometimes completely miss the mark. One big potential problem with this card is that the image of the player is cut off by the cut-out for the gold or silver strip to be placed in the card.
The text color on the card matches that of the metal that you get. These cards have the potential to be really awesome, but you might want to see them with your own eyes before you make a final conclusion on this set.
That seals the deal for our piece on the all-new Panini Impeccable Basketball cards! What do you think of them? Do you like the designs?
