Panini reveals NBA product lineup for 2011-12

Posted Dec 20, 2011 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Dec 20, 2011 at 06:01 PM

The NBA season finally begins Sunday on Christmas Day, and Panini today unveiled its lineup for its 2011-12 product. There will only be five sets this season, as opposed to nearly a dozen last year, and only two sets from last season return for the new season—Limited and Gold Standard.

This is going to be a case where less could be more. And the debut product will be a high-end doozy.

That will be Preferred Basketball, which will be released in late February. The cost will be $200 per pack, but each pack will include three autographs and one six- or eight-piece memorabilia booklet.

In March, Panini will release Hoops, which will have a $1 price tag per pack for retail and $2 per pack for hobby. This set will mirror the Score hockey set recently released by Panini—very affordable. The basketball version will include autographed buybacks of Hoops’ 1989-90 debut set. Collectors who spring for the hobby box will be rewarded with two autographs, 29 inserts and autographed copies of original 1989-90 Hoops cards.

In May, collectors can look forward to Limited, followed by Past & Present in June and Gold Standard in July.

I like the idea that Panini is pulling back and not flooding the market with too much basketball product this year, particularly since the NBA labor talks were acrimonious and likely turned off a good chunk of collectors. So, it’s better to put out five really high-quality sets than to spread it out.

Will collectors respond positively? Well, so far, Panini has put out some very attractive basketball sets. It stands to reason that a lot of collectors will at least test the waters and see what Panini puts out. If it’s good stuff, then the “less is more” will prove to be an excellent strategy.