The Official Panini America Blog
On the surface, basketball trading cards and tie-dye anything (with the possible exception of a Bill Walton tribute set) seem like completely incompatible assets. But then along comes Panini America’s 2014-15 Select Basketball to swat that notion into the cheap seats. Ultimately, with the help of a little Prizm technology, tie-dye does work on hoops trading cards — magnificently so as a matter of fact.
Yesterday afternoon, Panini America’s Tracy Hackler and Keith Hower sat down with two boxes of the live-today 2014-15 Select Basketball to film a long-overdue episode of Panini Unwrapped. For 2014-15, Panini America officials revamped the Select franchise by introducing a three-tiered base set and a bountiful rainbow of new Prizm parallels, including the intoxicating basketball debut of Tie-Dye Prizms.
Talk about perfect timing. Panini America’s 2014-15 Select Basketball arrives in hobby shops across North America tomorrow, just as the Easter Bunny begins plotting and placing his own brand of goodies high and low. Indeed, the hunting season is upon us — and there’s a good chance that basketball collectors will be filling their baskets with Select all Easter weekend long.
A three-tiered base set boasting various levels of scarcity. A dizzying array of new designs, new colors and new finishes that take full advantage of Panini America’s Prizm Optichrome technology. Stirring nods to USA Basketball royalty. Autograph and memorabilia rosters deep with the game’s hottest rookies, brightest superstars and greatest legends. Oh, and the bold basketball …
Panini America’s groovy-great Tie Dye Prizms that seemed so far-out in 2014 Prizm Football earlier this season are crossing over to the NBA — and it’s safe to say that 2014-15 Select Basketball will likely be a whole lot more funky as a result. But rest assured that the product will have a whole lot more than cosmically cool new Prizms going for it when it arrives in early March.
In this special episode of Panini Unwrapped, 2013-14 Select Basketball takes a starring — yet somewhat belated — role as Tracy Hackler sits down with Panini America NBA Brand Manager Cory Hollingsworth, making his Unwrapped debut. Watch as the unlikely duo struggles to find on-screen chemistry but has an easy time finding many worthwhile hits from two boxes of the colorful Select Basketball.
With a trio of new releases hitting hobby shops across North America tomorrow, our Panini America’s titanic Teaser Gallery Tuesday continues here on The Knight’s Lance, this time with an early two-box break of 2013-14 Select Basketball. The colorful, Prizm-infused Select returns to the market tomorrow packaged in its familiar two-mini-box format. Each two-mini master box delivers 14 packs, two autographs, two memorabilia cards and at least six Prizm parallels.
In exactly six days, the next Prizm-infused, hardcourt creation from Panini America — 2013-14 Select Basketball — will arrive in hobby shops across America, deftly equipped with new Prizm possibilities (including some fantastical Purples), a stacked autograph checklist and some downright vibrant colors.
In late June, Panini America’s 2013-14 Select Basketball arrives for a new year bolstered by the confidence of a rousing debut in 2012-13 and equipped with all of the expected bells and whistles — headlined by stunning Prizm technology, plenty of collectible Prizm parallels and popular inserts such as White Hot. In addition, Panini America officials are adding a few new hues to Select’s Prizm chase with the inclusion of Purple (#’d to 99) and Blue (#’d to 49).
Judging by the sheer density of hustle and bustle taking place on Friday afternoon back in the double-wide hallway that connects the Panini America Acquisitions area to the rest of HQ, it was obvious that something shiny and new had just been delivered from the production facility across town. And considering the significant bling bouncing of the shiny assortment of cards strategically placed on two massive sorting tables, Panini America’s spectacular Prizm technology was involved.