2021 Panini Contenders Baseball Cards Checklist

Let’s be real.. It’s 2021. If you buy retail, you’re getting over printed base cards for $1 apiece with either no chance of autos/mems or a tiny chance of auto/mem in 1/100 blasters from a 300 player checklist, 270 of which are currently free agents. On top of that the autos are stickers and patches are fancy napkins and not game worn. The card quality is crap and misprints or choppy edges are pretty much expected. The “parallels” are just a tiny bit green or red or whatever with no numbering. If you buy hobby you’re paying $500 a box for 12 cards and even if you hit the case hit chase card and the auto is a rookie you’re still probably not going to make your money back.

Let’s not even mention the below average rookie class we’re all fighting over. Anyway…

If you’re trying to make money on ripping baseball cards in 2021 you should probably reconsider.

So why are we still ripping packs? Well… Because it’s fun, and to collect our favorite players and sets.

And this set? It’s probably the most enjoyable retail I’ve opened all year.

– The cards themselves are very good quality – good thickness, nice edges, and fairly consistent centering.
– The checklist isn’t bloated with 400+ players you’ve never heard of.
– The inserts are an interesting mix of veterans rookies and prospects and again, each check list is a nice manageable assortment of relevant players… Not bloated with 50+ retro players (COUGH*TOPPS*COUGH) or random events and milestones like the time some guy blew his nose on the field
– Nearly 1 Auto/Mem per blaster!?! Find me another retail product with those kind of odds. Plus it’s not 99% undrafted free agents who are chugging beers on their couch by the time you pull the card
– Seemingly good chance of numbered cards.

The only major downside is that it’s an unlicensed product. But honestly? What’s the point of a licensed product if all you’re getting is crap quality thin & miscut base cards from a 750 card checklist including parallels?

I opened 3 blisters and got 2 patches (both game worn, rookies) and 2 numbered cards (/299)

That’s basically like ripping a hobby box or two of a Topps product at $450 a pop

Blasters at 24.99 are a tad high for 6 packs. If it was 19.99 I’d buy it again. red/green Optic cards do look great, but not much value otherwise.