I’m not a fan of Panini for the most part. There are way too many sticker autographs from them. However, I miss them in hockey because I liked a lot of these hanger packs. Typically, you get three smaller packs inside and also an additional pack of colored cards that are a retail exclusive. I’ve always thought that added touch for the retail pieces was nice.
The only thing other than hockey that I am really into are football cards showing players in the college uniforms. I am a college football guy. Maybe it’s growing up in a college town. Maybe it’s that my alma mater has been close to winning national championships three times in my life. What I know is that I love college football and the NFL bores me to tears.
I saw these hanger packs at Walmart and decided to pick one up. I knew Kevin White had been in multiple of the early Panini sets. Also, Dreamius Smith and Mario Alford were in Contenders, so even not knowing the checklist for these cards, I figured there was a chance. Each pack has three individual packs of four cards and an additional pack with three “Red Power Prizm” cards. Retail is $9.99 per hanger pack. This seems high to me if you end up hitting a bunch of commons, but it’s consistent with the Panini hockey retail products that used to be out there. They are very feast or famine.
Out of the three normal packs, I ended up with nine base cards, two parallels and one insert. The name selection I ended up with left something to be desired. If I was an Ole’ Miss alum, I suppose I would have been more satisfied with my base cards.
The one insert that I pulled was the biggest name.
The first of the parallels I got was the basic Prizms of former Michigan receiver Devin Funchess. I’ll probably throw it into my dollar box for shows.
The second parallel was definitely the best card I hit overall. It is a fantastic hit, minus the name. The good is that it is the Orange Prizm parallel and is serial numbered 1/5. The bad news is that it’s Jay Cutler. Bears fans seem to hate him. He played at Vanderbilt and I don’t know that there are many, if any, hardcore Vandy collectors out there.
Finally, the three Red Power Prizms weren’t anything fantastic. What are you going to do though? It’s not like there was anything wrong with them. If I’d hit Kevin White, I’d have jumped through the roof. It’s a big set and the odds of opening the pack to find a particular one you want aren’t good. I put each of these three up on a Facebook auction page the night I opened them and couldn’t even get a buck for any of them.
As it applies to the overall hanger pack, the Cutler saved me. I’ll try to get $15 or so out of it to get my money back and maybe a couple of extra bucks. The other inserts and parallels will go into the dollar box and the base into the quarter box for when I set up at shows. Like so many retail products from Panini, there’s not much bang for your buck here unless you hit something outstanding. This was the first football product I’ve bought in over a year and it satisfied the urge to open a few packs. At the end of the day, that made it worth it. The hobby should be about fun, not money. If you’re in it for money, please get out.
If you like what we’re doing and would like updates when we post new pieces, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Please take the time and also look through some other pieces on the site. I’m still looking for more folks that would like to contribute, so let me know if you are! You can follow me on my other Twitter handles at @kin_kinsley and @DFW_Card_Shows.
Still have the Cutler to /5?
Nope, lost it on eBay for $0.99 on an auction. Since then, have not listed on auction on there.
Okby. Thanks