A few weeks ago, reports emerged that Panini America is planning to sell. While this hardly causes me to shrug, given the performance of the baseball market over the past fifteen years, it is concerning in another way.
One of the most interested parties in purchasing Panini is Topps/Fanatics. Topps is interested in Panini’s global reach and this would fit right in with the Fanatics’ desire for world domination. While a sale to Topps would allow some of the Panini brands that didn’t meet my expectations (like Donruss and Diamond Kings) to be turned into looks I might like better (i.e. with team logos), it also raises the possibility that Topps continues its lazy treatment of many of its sets… or doesn’t publish them at all, as seems to be Fanatics’ way.
But what Panini did with baseball sets certainly didn’t interest me, so it’s mostly just a shrug of the shoulders.
I haven’t bought a pack of Panini of any kind in a long time. The last time was maybe three years ago. And we’re talking about a single rack package. As a team collector, I have been much remiss in adding Panini’s Dodgers to my collection over the past three or four years. That’s why it’s smart of map bloggers like Cards on cards to send me Panini Dodgers. Chances are I don’t have them and haven’t even created a wish list.
The main theme of the latest envelope from my longest standing blogging trading partner (17 years!) was definitely 2025 Panini Baseball. I’ll admit, I didn’t do anything with those sets.
These are cards from the Crusade set, which Panini made into a standalone set a few years ago after it appeared in the Chronicles set, which apparently ceased to exist in 2024.
Crusade is a set intended to appeal to people who think the late 1990s was the pinnacle of card collecting. Of course I don’t think so and the ones from back then obviously look a lot better than this one. But they have a bit of charm for a set with a chaotic checklist of legends yet to come.
More guys from the 60s playing on the same team with guys from the 2020s. I was never fond of Prizm (it’s not a warm set), but did like some of the color parallels with some Panini designs (I’m thinking 2019/2020). This probably has the best chance of transferring to Topps if that sale happens, just because Prizm seems to be very popular with certain collectors.
Pee Wee Reese has appeared several times in both Panini and Topps products in the same year. I don’t know how that works, but maybe it’s common for competing sets to be licensed to legendary players. I don’t pay much attention to non-Dodgers.
There were also a few Topps cards in the envelope with all that Panini.
Here’s a Dynamic Duos insert from this year’s Topps, carrying the same insert look and theme for the past 15 years. Kershaw and Koufax have also appeared together in many of these films.
Diamond duos in 2011
Historic Thru Lines in 2019
Greatness returns in 2019 Chrome
Master and Apprentice in 2019 Gallery (An Abomination)
And a whole series of now-and-then in heritage
Finally a map that goes all the way back to 2003! This is a refractor. I know Cards on Cards really likes the blue borders from 2003, so I appreciate this.
As I’ve said many times, I won’t miss Panini when it’s eventually gone. But I do wish there was a third card making company that could make something better than the Topps/Fanatics “what’s the bottom line” productions.
(NOTE: Following Blogger’s pattern this past week, my posts don’t appear on the blogger dashboard or blog rolls until five hours after I post them. For example, yesterday’s post was ready at 7:30 a.m. It didn’t appear until after midnight. This is a good reason to check for updates daily with Night Owl Cards!)
#license #drive