搶先看:2016-17 Panini Aficionado Basketball

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Panini America is breaking out a proud name from collecting’s past and bringing it to basketball for the first time, providing hoops fans and hobbyists with the chance at a proper introduction to the uniqueness of the Aficionado brand. A baseball-only release that burst onto the scene with a one-season run in 1996, Aficionado stood out on the strength of its base-card aesthetics. As you’ll see in this extended preview, the good looks return — along with a bevy of modern niceties that weren’t necessarily commonplace two decades ago.

As 2016-17 Aficionado Basketball’s solicitation suggests, the product is “designed, built and tailored to be a true collector’s product” and “showcases the most uniquely designed insert cards of the year.” On average, each box of the product (eight cards per pack, 10 packs per box, 12 boxes per case) will deliver one autograph, one memorabilia card and 20 inserts or parallels.


The highlights of the product are many and include . . .

• A 150-card base set featuring the Global Icons and Inducted subsets.

• Collect three of the sharpest-looking autograph insert sets of the 2016-17 release year in Endorsements (featuring the top names in the game, both active and retired), International Ink (featuring foreign-born stars set against their home country’s flag) and First Impressions (featuring members of the 2016-17 rookie class).

• Eye-popping designs on some of the year’s most collectible inserts in Meteor, Power Surge and Slick Picks. Also look for Single and Dual Authentics memorabilia cards.

• The Signatures insert features a fresh look and on-card autographs.

We’ll have plenty more on 2016-17 Aficionado Basketball, which releases in late March, in the coming weeks right here on The Knight’s Lance. Until then, here’s an extended sneak peek.

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Ysponder

Panini America’s never-been-done before Aficionado Basketball brand takes its lead, at least aesthetically, from 1996 Aficionado Baseball, a product from a proud collecting era that made a name for itself with just one solitary release. Fast forward more than 20 years and Panini America’s Basketball Product Development Team is preparing to introduce NBA collectors to the Aficionado experience with Friday’s release of 2016-17 Aficionado Basketball.

Back in 1996, Aficionado stood out on the strength of its base-card aesthetics. As you’ll see in the Quality Control Gallery that follows, the good looks return — along with a bevy of modern niceties that weren’t necessarily commonplace two decades ago. As 2016-17 Aficionado Basketball’s solicitation suggests, the product is “designed, built and tailored to be a true collector’s product.” On average, each hobby box (eight cards per pack, 10 packs per box, 12 boxes per case) will deliver one autograph, one memorabilia card and 20 inserts or parallels.


Two of those parallels in particular — the super-rare, blue-foiled Tip Off and Opening Night — fall just once per case.  Other key inserts include Meteor, Innovators, Craftwork, Slick Picks and Power Surge. A 150-card base set is rounded out by the Global Reach and Inducted subsets. A little bit of everything that 2016-17 Aficionado Basketball has to offer is previewed in the must-see gallery that follows.

Enjoy the extended look and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for continued coverage.