The Panini America Quality Control Gallery: Target-Only 2015-16 Prestige Basketball

The venerable Prestige Basketball franchise made a huge splash last season as the first of three 2014-15 NBA products that Panini America officials transformed into Target-exclusive releases. While the reconfiguration seemed to catch many collectors by surprise, it didn't take long for many of them to adjust to and embrace a small number of retail-exclusive releases.

Panini America 2015-16 Prestige Basketball QC1

The venerable Prestige Basketball franchise made a huge splash last season as the first of three 2014-15 NBA products that Panini America officials transformed into Target-exclusive releases. While the reconfiguration seemed to catch many collectors by surprise, it didn’t take long for many of them to adjust to and embrace a small number of retail-exclusive releases.

Given that backdrop and with a year of Target-exclusivity under its belt, the all-new 2015-16 Prestige Basketball is on its way to Target stores now boasting four unique SKUs and bolstered by full-bleed action photography, a compelling array of autograph and memorabilia content, some of the first Rookie Cards of the season and more.

In the extensive gallery that follows, we showcase many of the gems that surfaced during the recent Quality Control process for the Plus edition. Before the gallery, though, here’s a breakdown of 2015-16 Prestige Basketball’s four configurations:

Plus
Four autograph or memorabilia cards per box on average, with at least one on-card rookie autograph; look for six different SKU-exclusive autograph inserts including including NBA Passports featuring an on-card rookie autograph numbered to 99; find jumbo rookie swatches in Freshman Fabrics Jumbo and exclusive Checkerboard parallels numbered to 99.

Blaster
One autograph or memorabilia card and four Acetate Rookies per blaster box on average; find exclusive insert parallels numbered to 99 or less; look for Blaster-exclusive
memorabilia cards from 10 of the NBA’s top rookies with prime parallels numbered to 25.

Gravity Feed
Find one Rookie Card and one Gravity Feed-exclusive Brilliant Beginnings insert per pack, on average; look for rare Brilliant Beginnings Starburst parallels falling one in every nine packs, on average. Find rare Gravity Feed-exclusive Crystal insert parallels numbered to 125.

Hanger Box
Find two Rookie Cards and one Acetate Rookie Card per Hanger Box, on average; also find Hanger Box-exclusive Freshman Flashback Jumbo cards featuring memorabilia from Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and more.

We’ll have plenty more on all versions of 2015-16 Prestige Basketball in the coming days right here on The Knight’s Lance. Until then, though, enjoy this up-close introduction to the product’s stacked Plus version.

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13 Replies to “The Panini America Quality Control Gallery: Target-Only 2015-16 Prestige Basketball”

  1. Whats with this “on average” garbage? Is your QC so poor that you cant deliver on guarantees? Simple concept, guarantee 4 “hits”, deliver 4 “hits”

  2. I’m liking the changes to Prestige this year! I like the base cards, the look of the Old School Autographs (kind of has an Authentix vibe going on imo), and the True Colors Jersey cards! Looks like I will get a box this season! Thanks guys!

  3. Great looking cards! You’ve really stepped it up this year. I am impressed…and I am happier with Panini products than I’ve been in some time. The photography in the Old School Signatures is especially nice. Hopefully my Target will actually put them out…they still have not put Hoops on the shelf yet, as of 10/31. Nice to see some ABA inclusions as well. I am still hoping that someday we will get a New Jersey Americans card. (I’d love a History of the ABA set, but I am not really expecting it. ABA pre 1971 is basically totally missing from card history, but I digress)

    Can you confirm that this year’s set will be the same cards at different price points, instead of last year’s different cards at different price points for this release? It seems that way to me but I want to be sure.

    So far every NBA set I’ve seen from 2015-16 has been great. Keep up the good work!

  4. If the aim was to make an impressive basketball product, Panini certainly hit the Target (see what I did there?). That Distinctive Ink set really lives up to it’s name. Thanks Tracy!

  5. Interesting. For some reason I always think that some cards needs to keep secret so people will be surprised when they get something unexpecting but then again I dont think that many Target customers read this blog.

  6. Sad that it’s at Target that I don’t have local, but loving the look of the product and that rookies are on acetate!

  7. Loving the look of this years product! Too bad it’s only at Target. Don’t have one. But the addition of more retail options and rookies in acetate has me interested!

  8. Nice looking product. Love acetate cards. Just PLEASE don’t make blasters $30 again like last year. That’s way too much, especially when NBA Hoops blasters (which also guarantee a hit) are $20. If Prestige guaranteed an auto, though, that would be a different story.

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