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.
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