What’s Hot: Panini Black Friday is Back

Some collectors will be doing their Black Friday sports card shopping online but for collectors lucky enough to have a card shop nearby, it’s a weekend to mark on your calendar.

2019 Panini Black Friday is here and live (unless your city got 14″ of snow from Monday night until Tuesday and you’re still waiting for your packs to arrive like one certain card shop owner and columnist).

Guys, I’m by no means saying you should trek over today (I have to be here to hopefully receive the 2019 @PaniniAmerica Black Friday packs), but the shop will be open until at least 3:30. I’m glad to offer personal box breaks for those of you who prefer to snuggle up at home. pic.twitter.com/iVbccaEYct

— Michael F (@MikesStadiumSC) November 26, 2019

Waiting for my Fed Ex truck Wednesday reminded of the wait on #bowmanday or what it’s going to be like next Wednesday when 19/20 Prizm NBA is supposed to land.

As they’ve done for several years now, Panini supplies participating shops with Black Friday exclusive packs which are handed out free with the purchase of certain boxes. How many packs you receive depends on the box you buy. This year, the list of participating products includes current year releases like Chronicles MLB, Hoops NBA, Phoenix NFL, Unparalleled NFL, XR NFL, Prime Racing and Prizm Premier soccer.

Once again, there are two different styles of packs. There are those tied to football card boxes and then there are the “Everything Else” packs with a mixture of mostly baseball, basketball and a sliver of racing and soccer content. The checklist includes a pretty great selection of retired superstars and current hobby favorites as well as particular attention paid to the current year rookies as well.

Here are the downloadable checklists for each:

2019 Black Friday Football Checklist

2019 Black Friday NBA MLBPA NASCAR Soccer Checklist

Highlighted autographs include Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Zion Williamson, Trae Young, Alex Bregman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Dalvin Cook, Jimmy Garoppolo and Kyler Murray. It is a bit difficult to determine who else signed cards since the checklist states autographs of the players on the list. I would suggest checking to see which player autos are posted to eBay to get a little better information. It might be necessary since LeBron made the list and I’m quite sure I would have heard by now if he’d bolted from his exclusive deal with Upper Deck.

So far, Panini has offered two picture previews of the cardboard goodness they have created this year and between the base, parallels and memorabilia, there are some sweet singles for you to pursue. For the base set, look for parallels like Future Frames (# to 99), Swirlorama (# to 50), Galactic Windows (# to 25), Escher Squares (# to 10), Pyramids (# to 5) and Diskettes (# to 1). You heard it here first: there will be Fruitcards in the 2020 Panini Black Friday release numbered to 1992, the year my shop opened.

Back once again among the Black Friday memorabilia cards are the mostly loved and rather distinct Santa hats, towel relics and while I don’t usually collect much myself, the Basketball Hall of Fame relic card set looks mighty impressive.

Please make it to your nearest card shop to grab some boxes and free packs before the weekend is out– and make sure you also have 12/7 on your calendars for National Hobby Shop Day when more fun times will be on the agenda.

Mike Fruitman owns Mike’s Stadium Sportscards in Aurora, CO. His column normally focuses on what products are selling best in hobby shops. He’s got thousands of cards for sale on COMC.com under the ID cardmn5150. Enjoy new arrivals and big hits from Mike’s on Twitter. Mike’s is always looking for more friends on Facebook and you can email him at [email protected].