Wednesday, November 14, 2012

2012 Panini Gridiron Football Box Break Recap And Review


For anyone that collects football cards, there is one overriding reason to add 2012 Panini Gridiron Football to you collection, the outstanding photography.  Artistry through action is the best way to describe the images captured by Panini’s photographers.  These cards should be on display, it would be a shame to think of them being boxed and stored away. 

Gridiron Football falls under our trading cards category.  Each box contains 18 – 8 card packs.  It says on the box you get 4 Autograph or Memorabilia cards with at least 2 Autos per box.

Here are some of the cards we pulled.


Base Set

Drew Brees, front and back 
 Ben Watson, Dez Bryant
Larry Fitzgerald, Brian Orakpo 
 Santonio Holmes, Jamaal Charles
 Beanie Wells, Julius Peppers
 Jermaine Gresham, Von Miller
 J.J. Watt, Aldon Smith

Rookies
 Matt Kalil, front and back
 Brandon Hardin, Sean Spence
 Morris Claiborne, Devon Still, Nick Perry

Inserts 

Monday Night Heroes
 Santonio Holmes, Javid Best

Air Command
 Mike Wallace, Greg Jennings

Crash Course
 Mario Williams, Jerod Mayo

 Arms Race
 Joe Flacco, Blaine Gabbert

 Numbered Parallels
Karlos Dansby Crash Course Silver #/250, Janoris Jenkins Rookie Silver X #/250
 Wes Welker Base Silver X #/250, Anthony Fasano Base Silver X #/250
 Ed Reed Base Silver X #/250, Greg Olsen Base Gold X #/1000
Mohamed Massaquoi Base Platinum X #/25

Code Cards
 Panini Hall of Fame Holiday Sweepstakes

The Hits
 Michael Floyd Rookie Gridiron Kings Memorabilia #/299

DeAngeleo Peterson Rookie Auto #/499, David DeCastro Rookie Gridiron Kings Auto #/99 

 Nick Toon Gridiron Gems Auto #/299, closed and pulled out


Overall Look
As you can see, the photograph is fantastic.  The use of embossing for the X and O cards is a great idea.  This is one great looking set of cards.

Quality and Variety of Players
There is a fine selection of 200 veteran players. At 100 total, the rookie cards checklist is deep.  There are a wide variety of strong players in the hits checklist too.

Do the hits hold up?
Gridiron Gems, the pull out autograph card returns, and with a better design I might add, pulling from top inside of the side.  We scored three autographs, which is usually a good thing.  Unfortunately with Nick Toon and First Round Draft Pick David DeCastro on Injured Reserve and DeAngeleo Peterson on the Redskins’ practice squad, the values of these hits are a wait and see proposition.  For the release as a whole, the distribution and quality of quality hits is excellent.  The Die cut swatches for the Rookie Gridiron Kings looks great.  There are plenty of great pulls here.  Gridiron is also the only football release that includes code cards to enter the Panini Hall of Fame Holiday Sweepstakes where you can win a trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Will you want to collect them all?
Absolutely.  As a matter of fact, I wish I could blow up some of these cards, frame them and display them on my wall.

Rating
4 1/2 out of 5

2012 Panini Gridiron Football is a dynamic release that should be a part of any football set builders’ collection.

1 comment:

  1. Back when Donruss first released Gridiron Gear it was one of my favorite releases. I just really liked the hits. But this year looking at a lot of the relics and autos it doesn't really do it for me. Is it bad that I find the base and inserts more interesting and appealing? It's nice to see Panini putting out a set with the player on the field and not just cropped onto the card.

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