The majority of Panini’s basketball products since taking over sole ownership of the NBA’s license have been, to be honest, retreads of previous Donruss/Panini products without much in the way of flair or innovation.  Not only that, they’ve all been predominately low and mid-range cards without anything that could truly be considered high-end on the level of Upper Deck Exquisite.

With the announcement of Court Kings, at least one of those two things should be changing.  While not on the level of UD Exquisite, Panini’s upcoming release of 2009-10 Court Kings should be a higher-end product than everything else that they’ve released so far.  Holding at about $100 per pack, each 11 card pack will have four autograph or memorabilia cards, three numbered base, a parallel, a 5×7 box topper and three other cards.

Release Date: June 2, 2010
Price Point:  $100/pack
Product Loadout:  11 cards/pack, 1 pack/box, 15 boxes/case.
Hit Ratios: 4 autographs or memorabilia cards per pack, at least one autograph.  Each case will have one or more of the following autographs:  Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neal, Stephen Currey, Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings.  Also two 5×7 autographed box toppers.

Product Information:

• 150 card base set (1-150)
• Gallery of Stars (20 cards)
• Artistry (30 cards)
• Hardwood Heroes (20 cards)
• Masterpieces (20 cards)
• Dribble Kings (15 cards)
• Supreme Court (20 cards)
• Portraits (20 cards)
• Il Bello Cinque (5 cards)
• 5×7 Box Toppers (50 cards)
• Kobe Lithos (5 cards)

Parallels and Game Used/Autographs:

• Bronze base parallel (#’d to 149)
• Silver base parallel (#’d to 99)
• Black base parallel (1/1)
• Materials base parallel (#’d to 149 or less)
• Signatures base parallel (#’d to 49 or less)
• Gallery of Stars Bronze (#’d to 99)
• Gallery of Stars Silver (#’d to 49)
• Gallery of Stars Black (1/1)
• Gallery of Stars Materials (#’d to 299 or less)
• Gallery of Stars Signatures (#’d to 99 or less)
• Artistry Bronze (#’d to 99)
• Artistry Silver (#’d to 49)
• Artistry Black (1/1)
• Artistry Materials (#’d to 299 or less)
• Artistry Signatures (#’d to 99 or less)
• Hardwood Heroes Black (1/1)
• Hardwood Heroes Materials (#’d to 299 or less)
• Hardwood Heroes Signatures (#’d to 99 or less)
• Masterpieces Black (1/1)
• Masterpieces Materials (#’d to 299 0r less)
• Masterpieces Signatures (#’d to 99 or less)
• Dribble Kings Black (1/1)
• Dribble Kings Materials (#’d to 299 0r less)
• Dribble Kings Signatures (#’d to 99 or less)
• Supreme Court Black (1/1)
• Supreme Court Materials (#’d to 299 0r less)
• Supreme Court Signatures (#’d to 99 or less)
• Portraits Black (1/1)
• Portraits Court Materials (#’d to 299 0r less)
• Portraits Court Signatures (#’d to 99 or less)
• Il Bello Cinque Signatures (#’d to 24)
• 5×7 Box Topper Autographs (#’d to 49 or less)

Man, that’s a large number of parallels.  This product is similar to a combination of Leaf Limited and Ultimate in that it’s a one-pack product for about $100 giving you four hits, with the base cards being numbered.  The only real drawback that I can see in the set design is the sheer number of parallels and inserts weighing the product down, along with a 150 card base set that would require at least 50 packs to complete.  While I’m a fan of base sets as a whole, I’m starting to see the point that some sets don’t need them as much, with Court Kings being a definite contender.  That being said, the number of parallels and inserts may be something that works for Panini.  If it does, more power to them.

The autographs appear to be a combination of on-card and sticker, and it’ll be interesting to see how the card design works out on the base and inserts when it comes to the autograph and game-used materials.  The number of parallel and insert sets as well as the base set worries me a bit.

[View with PicLens]