You’re liable to find just about anything in a box of 2016-17 Immaculate basketball (yes, Panini still has one more ’16-17 product on the collecting calendar). These days you can always expect jersey swatches and tags but the upcoming release of Immaculate will also be serving up cards with the laces and tongues of player-worn shoes.
Sneaker Swatch Signatures is one such subset with some featuring stars and others that pair autographs from players like Shaquille O’Neal, John Stockton, and Karl Malone with pieces of shoes.
Set for an October 4 release, each one-pack hobby box of 2016-17 Immaculate will contain six cards, five of which will be autograph or memorabilia cards. There will be five boxes in each case.
Rookie Patch Autographs will be among the big drawing cards though, with on-card signatures promised. Dual, Triple and Quad Autographs, including Dual Rookie Logoman Patch Autos will be in the mix, including those that pair players from the same team, draft class, country or other connections.
The Milestones insert will celebrate important NBA moments from the past, with autographs from the players who achieved them.
If you’re into collecting the letters that make up a player’s name on the back of his jersey, there’s a relic insert called Nameplate Nobility.
Logoman cards will be 1/1 and carry a patch of the NBA’s famous logo.
Panini will utilize its new “1st Off the Line” program to offer direct sales of 2016-17 Immaculate Basketball to collectors a day or two ahead of the hobby shop release. What the company calls a “small quantity” will be offered online with each box containing an exclusive Emerald parallel numbered to 5.
Immaculate will cost in the neighborhood of $600-$650 per box.