2012 Topps: "Rookie Patches" Insert Set
2002 Upper Deck Sweet Spot: "Rookie Gallery Jerseys" Insert Set
1997 Proline: "Emerald Autographs" Insert Set
2012 Topps: "Rookie Patches" Insert Set
Jay's Football Cards
Panini's Chaos Collection
My Panini Collection (Updated December 24th, 2021)
2012 Panini Limited: “Brandon Weeden” Blue Chip #3
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2013 Panini Absolute: “Ravens” Team Trios #1 (Back)
No other company gives me as many mixed feelings about its products as this company does. Some card companies I absolutely love; Leaf, Donruss, Playoff, Upper Deck. Some I hate; Collector's Edge. And then there is Panini, stuck right smack dap in the middle. So who or what is Panini? It sounds like a bread option you can get at the "St. Louis Bread Company".
Panini was founded in 1961 by two Italian brothers. They originally started selling figurines which they then added football, (ie Soccer), cards at some point in the 60s. It wasn't until March of 2009 that Panini acquired Donruss and formed the new subsidiary, "Panini America". So all the Leaf/Donruss and Playoff titles which were my favorite titles were soon under the Panini umbrella.
The main issue I have with Panini is that they really didn't release any of their owns titles, they just continued what Leaf/Donruss and Playoff already had in place. Maybe that was part of the agreement when Panini bought them. That I do not know. Whatever the reason, it makes it very difficult to categorize them into my collection. Are they still Leaf: Rookies & Stars, Donruss: Gridiron Gear and Playoff: Absolute titles or do I place them into a new collection called Panini: Rookies & Stars, Panini: Gridiron Gear and Panini: Absolute?
My 2nd issue with Panini is that they took a page out of the Collector's Edge handbook. And one page from Collector's Edge is one page too many. That page was flooding the released title with a parallel set after parallel set after parallel set. Didn't the demise of Collector's Edge and Pro Set
2013 Panini Absolute: “Aaron Dobson” Rookie Premiere Materials Autographs Over-size Jersey # Prime #201
2000 Donruss Preferred: “Boomer Easison” Preffered Materials (B) #PM-19
2001 Leaf Quantum Leaf: “Ray Lewis” Hardwear (B) #HW17
2001 Playoff Absolute: “Chris Samuels” Ground Hoggs (B) #GH-9
My 3rd issue with Panini is that they add a huge amount of memorabilia cards in each release. Normally, I take no issue with that, however in this case, even though it says, "This swatch was taken from an actual game-used jersey", it really doesn't tell you who wore it, (See the 2013 Panini Absolute: “Ravens” Team Trios Prime #1 above left or the 2013 Panini Absolute: “Robert Griffin III” Plates & Patches #18 right). Donruss, Leaf, and Playoff were notorious for showing a picture on the back of the actual jersey that the swatch was taken from and who wore it, (See the 2000 Donruss Preferred
2013 Panini Absolute: “Aaron Dobson” Rookie Premiere Materials Autographs AFC Prime #201
Now My last issue with Panini is that some of their cards don't look like they were done designing them. It was almost as if, "Damn. We got a deadline to meet. Let's get this shit done!" And what they had is what you got, (See the 2010 Panini Gridiron Gear “Sam Bradford” Rookie Gridiron Gems #251 below right or the 2011 Panini Gridiron Gear "Von Miller" Rookie Gridiron Gems #1 below left). I mean seriously, both of those card fronts look incomplete. No positions stated. Nothing about "Game-Used Jersey or Ball or Patch. Just a whole lotta nothing. C'mon, guys. Put some effort into this.
2013 Panini Absolute: “Robert Griffin III” Plates & Patches (B) #18
2013 Panini Absolute: “Robert Griffin III” Plates & Patches (F) #18
2010 Panini Gridiron Gear: “Sam Bradford” Rookie Gridiron Gems #251
2011 Panini Gridiron Gear: “Von Miller” Rookie Gridiron Gems #1
In closing, Panini has potential. It's got some really good titles to work with. Their problem so far is the lack of effort. Or maybe its a lack of talent. I really hope its the former and not the later. If someone were
teach us anything? Don't flood the market. Pro Set would flood the market with crap and 25,000 cards of each common card. Collector's Edge flooded the market differently, they flooded it by releasing 25 different sets, each of which was numbered to 1,000. Regardless of how the market became saturated, it became saturated, nonetheless and both companies paid the ultimate price. So where am I going with this? Take a look at the Aaron Dobson cards on the right, (See the 2013 Panini Absolute: “Aaron Dobson” Rookie Premiere Materials Autographs #201 right), those 2 cards are 2 of 7 different autographed versions. I mean, really, do we really need to do that? Oh, and don't forget we have un-autographed versions as well.
“Boomer Esiason” Preferred Materials #CM-19 left, see the 2001 Leaf Quantum Leaf “Ray Lewis” Hardwear #HW17 below left and see the 2001 Playoff Absolute “Chris Samuels” Ground Hoggs #GH-9 below left). The point I'm trying to make here is if Panini acquired Leaf/Donruss/Playoff why don't they carry over that nice piece of authenticity on the back. It looks extremely professional and rather cool too.
2011 Panini Totally Certified: “Ryan Williams” Certified Future #18
to ask me if they should collect Panini, I honestly would not know what to say. They could end up with one of the Blue Chip cards, (See the 2012 Panini Limited “Brandon Weeden” Blue Chips #3 top left), which were decent or something like Ryan Williams' card, (See the 2011 Panini Totally Certified “Ryan Williams” Certified Future #3 below right), which was.....ugh.
I have complete sets:
Panini Absolute Series:
1) 2010 Absolute Set - Do Not Have
A) Ground Hoggs Materials Jersey #'s Insert
2) 2011 Absolute Set - Do Not Have
3) 2012 Absolute Set - Do Not Have
4) 2013 Absolute set - Incomplete ( 135 / 240 )
A) Hogg Heaven Insert
B) Leather & Laces (Football) insert - Incomplete ( 38 / 40 )
C) Leather & Laces (Shoe) insert
D) Plates & Patches Autographs insert - Incomplete ( 13 / 40 )
E) Rookie Jersey Collection Insert
F) Rookie Premiere Materials (NFL) Insert - Incomplete ( 34 / 40 )
G) Rookie Roundup Jerseys Insert
H) Team Quads Insert - Incomplete ( 10 / 20 )
I) Team Trios Insert - Incomplete ( 8 / 30 )
J) Tools of the Trade Rookie Materials Autos Insert - Incomplete ( 23 / 40 )
K) Tools of the Trade Materials Autos Insert - Incomplete ( 16 / 22 )*
Panini Certified Series:
1) 2011 Certified Set - Do Not Have
A) Shirt off my Back Insert
B) Rookie Fabric of the Game Insert
Panini Gridiron Gear Series:
1) 2010 Gridiron Gear Set - Incomplete ( 250 / 285 )
A) Rookie Gridiron Gems Jerseys Insert
B) Rookie Orientation Materials Triple Insert
2) 2011 Gridiron Gear Set - Incomplete ( 250 / 285 )
A) Rookie Gridiron Gems Jerseys Insert
Panini Limited Series:
1) 2012 Limited Set - Do Not Have
A) Blue Chip Insert - Incomplete ( 2 / 35 )
Panini Rookies & Stars Series:
1) 2010 Rookie & Stars - Do Not Have
A) Freshmen Orientation Materials Insert
Panini Totally Certified Series:
1) 2011 Gridiron Gear Set - Do Not Have
A) Totally Certified Future Materials Insert
*Note: I added 2 to the total set. The 2 cards I added were 1) a Marshall Faulk Helmet autograph, 2) A Marshall Faulk Face Mask Autograph.
