Accepting Panini

Look back on my blog six or seven years ago and you'll see a couple of posts wondering what the point is of Panini cards.

 

The cards contained no team logos nor words on the uniforms. The designs were primitive, ugly even. The photos lacked imagination and looked the same from one to the next. I berated Panini for robbing collectors of their money.

I look back on those Panini cards in my collection and they still suck. And I still have some of the same feelings about Panini's baseball cards. The inability to show MLB logos creates boring, unappealing cards. Panini's card backs remain unreadable and useless.

Yet, Panini's baseball sets continue to this day and remain popular in some collector circles. What's more is I am more accepting of those cards in my collection. I also seem to get more Panini cards from other collectors than I did a few years ago.

I came up with a few reasons why the change:

1. Panini continues to be the only "other" option: Ever since Upper Deck departed from the baseball scene a dozen years ago, all MLB has done is re-up its agreement with Topps. Then, when MLB finally separated itself from Topps and joined with Fanatics, Fanatics bought Topps. Panini has been the only other option. That option is going away soon, though, and there won't be any Panini baseball to accept.

2. Panini added more sets: Panini's Donruss set has limited appeal. Those who enjoyed the original Donruss probably gravitate toward Panini Donruss designs. Most of the time they aren't for me. You can take Donruss' '86 and '87 designs and chuck them. Panini's Donruss look hasn't gotten better, but what's really helped is there are more Panini baseball sets, stuff like Diamond Kings, Absolute, Select and Prizm.

3. One of those sets was Chronicles: To me this is the major player in why I've accepted Panini more and also why they're still in the game. Collectors love Panini's Chronicles, even while it's impossible to collect. There is so much variety -- the most varied set of all-time -- that there is something for everyone. And there are a lot of collectors out there who aren't set collectors (this makes me sad), so Chronicles doesn't need to be "completed" for them. Just open it up and look at all the pretty colors and search for autographs. Chronicles takes your attention off the boring, jail jump-suit, sanitation-engineer look of the players through a variety of wild designs. It's been a really effective strategy.

So I've been receiving many more Panini cards in my collection. And I accept them, even if I don't know what they are half the time.

I received two small envelopes recently that each contained Panini cards. In fact each one featured the same Panini card.

This one. That's the trademark wild Panini Chronicles look that I was talking about.

The card arrived in each envelope, one from Bru and one from Kerry of Cards On Cards. Showed up on the same day, too.

There is the Betts cards from some other current Panini cards from Bru.

I may accept Panini more than I used to but I still can't say a lot nice about many of their cards. Those Contenders cards are about as lifeless a card I've seen. I suppose it would be fun to see what the seat-row-section references on each card means but I don't have time for that, just give something interesting to view!

 

Bru did send some more familiar Topps cards. The above one was probably the most obscure, although I do have some Hot Button Dodgers in the collection. All that's missing is the Beltre now!

 

 

 I've done virtually nothing with my 2021 Chrome Dodgers needs, so you bet I needed this Albert Pujols card.

 

Probably another reason why I accept Panini more is that I accumulate the Topps cards that I want each year too quickly. My Series 1 needs are finished, except for those inserts. And all that's left for the Heritage needs are the Dodgers short-prints.

 

So, heck yeah, send some Panini Dodgers. Chances are I don't have those! Whatever they are!

These were from Kerry and he added some interesting parallel/insert action that pulls in Panini customers, too.

 

Very colorful. Very shiny.

I'm not one of those people that say "Panini's cards blows Topps away," as I've read from some collectors. Topps does have issues with its inserts though, as they phone in the same topics over and over. Panini's insert themes aren't great either, but at least they color them up.

 

Then these things are just wild. I think these are the base cards in Chronicles - I don't know. I feel like I shouldn't be saying anything about Panini cards because I'm at the risk of spreading misinformation. So I'll just say, I really like the look of them and they're impossible to store ... and I don't know know what they really are.

Kerry added a few Topps needs, too, a 2022 insert and two needed cards from Opening Day. The Bomb Squad inserts are nice. I find myself accumulating them.

 

Both senders added some Buffalo content. Bru sent a sticker of Jeff Skinner (yay, still with the Sabres!) and Kerry sent these two Bills. The Josh Allen is variation from Donruss, which I've shown already. The other card shows Buffalo pariah Cole Beasley, who was booed by Bills fans every single time he touched the ball thanks to his covid vaccine views. Not shocking that he's not with the team anymore.

So, yeah, I'll take those Panini Dodgers of your hands.

And then I'll puzzle about what they actually are.

And then I'll probably put them in my team binders in the wrong order. I'll either group them with the wrong set or even the wrong year.

But at least I won't throw the cards directly into the trash.

I may have done that with a 2014 Panini Donruss card or two. 😏