2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball Cards
Product Details
With the NBA returning, so too are the cards. 2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball is a high-end, all-hits release that kicks off the abbreviated 2011-12 NBA season. Every four-card box comes with three autographs and one book card that has either six or eight memorabilia swatches. Print runs for individual autograph cards are low, with none having more than 99 copies. Collectors may recognize some of the designs, as they're heavily influenced by older sets, including triangular die-cut Panini's Choice modeled after Pacific Cramer's Choice cards. The set also uses designs influenced by Crown Royale Silhouettes and Donruss Signatures. Other highlights in 2011-12 Panini Preferred include tons of one-of-one autographs, the first cards of Chris Paul in a Clippers uniform and a smattering of autographs from retired stars. Basketball card collectors can expect to pay around $200 for a four-card box of 2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball.
Product Configuration: Four cards per box
Price Point: High-End Basketball Card
Target Audience: Hit Seekers, Autograph Collectors, Book Card Collectors, Collectors Thirsty for New Basketball Cards
2011-12 Panini Preferred Box Break
- Three Autographs
- One Book Card
- Four Total Cards
2011-12 Panini Preferred Product Highlights:
- All cards in the release are hits.
- Every box comes with three autographs and one six- or eight-swatch book card.
- All autographs numbered to 99 or less.
- Ten retired stars featured on die-cut Crown Royale Autographs checklist.
- Set features first autographed cards of Chris Paul in a Los Angeles Clippers uniform.
- Includes designs from three sets: Panini's Choice, which mirrors the triangular die-cut design of old Pacific Cramer's Choice inserts, Crown Royale Silhouettes and Donruss Signatures.
- Nearly 300 one-of-one autographs spread across the print run.
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Product Review
2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball Product Review
Reviewed by Kerwin Leong
Good: One of the best looking basketball products. There are no base cards in this product. Every card in the box is either an autograph, autographed relic, autographed patch or multi-swatch book card. All autographs are numbered to 99 or less. The Crown Royale Silhouettes Autograph Materials look amazing. Autographs are highlighted by superstars such as Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, and Chris Paul. 2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball also has autographs of retired greats like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Dennis Rodman, John Stockton, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson.
Bad: Like all high-end products, the autographs and book cards can be hit or miss. You only get four cards per box, which averages out to about $50 per hit. The Panini Signatures design has stickers. For such a high-end product, all autographs should be signed directly on the card. Unfortunately there are no autographs of Lebron James or Dwyane Wade in this product. Also, there are no rookies from this year's draft class.
The Bottom Line: 2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball is a high-end basketball product which costs around $200 a box. Even though you only get four hits per box, there is a significant chance of pulling a rare card of a big-time superstar. This is an ideal basketball product for serious basketball card collectors.
Card Design: 5.0/5.0
Panini Preferred has five different designs: Panini Signatures, Crown Royale Autographs, Crown Royale Silhouettes Autograph Materials, Panini's Choice Autographs, and Multi-Swatch Book Cards. The Panini Signatures are sticker autographs that showcase the featured player behind a colored background. The Crown Royale Autographs make a return. This die-cut card is shaped like a crown and features on-card autographs. The Crown Royale Silhouettes Autograph Materials is a thick card with gold borders. The background of the card is white, which nicely reflects the blue on-card autograph. A jumbo swatch finishes off the great-looking design. It's my favorite card design in this product. Panini's Choice Autographs are triangular cards that also have on-card autographs. The Multi-Swatch Book Cards have either six or eight swatches each. There are many great combinations of players included in this set. Panini captures booklets of forwards, centers, decades, all-stars, assists leaders, rebound kings, rookies, and slam dunk champions.
Checklist: 4.0/5.0
There is a nice mixture of current NBA players, retired legends and Hall of Famers in 2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball. The autograph checklist is one of the strongest selling points, offering such signatures as Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, and Dennis Rodman. Unfortunately there are no autographs of Lebron James or Dwyane Wade in this product. The lack of rookies is a shame as well.
Value: 3.5/5.0
Each box has four hits and costs about $200. You are guaranteed three autographs and one book card. Set builders will likely want to look elsewhere. Considering this is a high-end box, there is a lot of risk involved. You can be lucky and pull some amazing autographs from this product or you can get a box full of common and semi-star players. Our box was not the best. A Toni Kukoc autograph was our best pull. Overall, this product can be fun if you are willing to take a chance on it.
The Fun Factor: 3.5/5.0
2011-12 Panini Preferred Basketball is the company's first high-end set of the shortened season. There are enough nice looking card designs to appeal for a wide-range of basketball card collectors. The autograph checklist in particular is enticing. Even though boxes carry a hefty price tag, the card designs help off set the high cost.
