We’ll be into the spring and starting to look forward to next season when it arrives, but 2020 Contenders Optic Football IS still coming. The shiny version of Panini’s long-running regular Contenders product, Optic has a few twists of its own. It now has a release date of March 31, but as always, that’s subject to change.
Optic offers one pack per box with six cards per back. Cases will hold 20 boxes. Expect two autographs, one insert, one parallel and two base cards per box.
The big change this year will be the addition of non-autographed Rookie Ticket cards, which will give a lower cost, base option for collecting rookie cards of a promising 2020 draft class.
Season Tickets will once again feature the top veterans in the NFL.
Both will have parallel versions including:
Silver
Red #’d /175
Bue #’d /99
Orange #’d /50
Green Pulsar #’d /27
Cracked Ice #’d /22
Gold #’d /10
Nebula #’d /2
Gold Vinyl #’d 1/1
There will be multiple subsets that offer autographed rookie cards but as always, the Rookie Ticket Autographs will be the primary target for those who open boxes.
Featuring on-card autographs from the likes of Justin Herbert, Chase Young and Joe Burrow, parallel versions will include:
Silver
Red max /199
Teal max /99
Blue max /75
Orange max /50
Green Pulsar max /27
Cracked Ice max /22
Gold max /10
Nebula /2
Gold Vinyl 1/1
Rookie of the Year Contenders is another possibility to find first year autos.
In addition to the regular version, parallels will include:
Blue max /75
Orange max /50
Green Pulsar /27
Gold /10
Nebula /2
Gold Vinyl /1
Contenders Throwback Rookie Autographs, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of the set that gave us Tom Brady’s valuable Contenders rookie autograph.
Panini has remastered Russell Wilson’s Rookie Ticket Autograph, giving it the opti-chrome touch for 2020 Contenders Optic.
There’s a new insert for this season’s Contenders Optic product, too. End Zone will feature in-game action photography taken from that area of the field.
All-Time Contenders, MVP Contenders and Winning Tickets will be three other insert sets to look for.
The SRP for 2020 Contenders Optic Football is $120 per box, but the current market will determine how close that is to reality.