The fan favorite basketball product of the year is here! 2022/23 Panini Contenders Basketball Hobby has hit the shelves at Sports Card Market and is available for purchase in store and online.
In every hobby box you’ll find on average:
- 2 Autographs
- 8 Inserts/Parallels/Variations
In past years I’ve been a big fan of Contenders basketball however I’m unsure of how to feel about the product this year. In the past there were 12 packs per box with 10 cards in each pack. However this year they switched up the product to be only 4 packs per box with 8 cards in each pack. A lot less base cards, but a lot less packs to open.
If you’re someone who is just looking for autographs and numbered cards then this product will feel like an improvement. But if you’re like me and prefer to have thick packs with lots of cards the product seems a little disappointing. Combine that with the fact that we didn’t get any cards worth much value made for a disappointing box break.
The positive note on this box is that we didn’t hit anything good, which means that hopefully the rest of the boxes are loaded with value for you! Below are all of the hits from our box including 2 rookie autographs.
Starting off with some of the inserts including 3 rookies in the Lottery Ticket inserts and the Rookie of the Year insert!
Next up is my favorite insert set in Contenders, Suite Shots! I really like the images Panini uses for these cards and wish they used this action shot style more often.
We had 1 die cut in our box of future HOF Lebron James. Love him or hate him you can’t deny Lebron is one of the greatest players of all time.
We hit 2 different numbered cards in our box. A Tre Mann numbered /199 and a Ja Morant /75. Hopefully the Grizzlies can put together a run and go far in the Playoffs this year.
Finally we have our 2 autographs. Extremely underwhelming autographs, we definitely were not looking for either of these rookies.
Overall our box was not very good, but hopefully that means we got the bad box out of the way for you! If you’re interested in purchasing a box for yourself you can do so here (2022/23 Panini Contenders Basketball Hobby Box).