Panini Eternal Trading Cards Take a Print-on-Demand Approach to Classic Events

Panini Eternal is taking a different approach to print-on-demand trading cards. We’re still in the early days of such products but those that do exist, like Panini Instant, Topps Now and Leaf Live, have used time to their advantage. They’ve all relied on quick turnovers to create cards of recent events quickly.

Panini Eternal is flipping that with cards of big moments in sports from the past and including memorabilia from these games and events.

The short selling window and online-exclusive elements that Panini has used for their Panini Instant lines is still the same. Each Panini Eternal card is available for 48 hours through the company’s online store. At that time, only those cards that have been ordered will be printed.

Each card comes with a few different versions. It starts with a base card that is as traditional for on-demand cards. These are just basic cards. Select cards also have open-edition memorabilia versions that don’t have a set print run in advance. Parallel memorabilia versions come in a few levels and are numbered /99 ($99.99), /50 ($199.99), /25 ($349.99), /10 ($799.99), /5 ($1,249.99) and 1/1 ($2,499.99). Rarer versions come with more premium memorabilia pieces with distinct spots or logos.

But not all 2016-17 Panini Eternal cards come with traditional memorabilia. Hall of Fame Collection uses gems instead. These have just three tiers of parallels: Diamond (/20), Dual Emerald (/5) and Triple Gem (1/1).

A 15th anniversary tribute to the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl XXXVI win doesn’t have any memorabilia at all. Rather there’s an open print run base card and two parallels, Blue (/5, $99.99) and Black (1/1, $149.99).

As for the base cards, individual copies are $9.99 each. Lots of five are $29.99 and ten run $49.99.

2016-17 Panini Eternal kicked off with a Peyton Manning Super Bowl 50 card. The memorabilia consists of a football used in the game. The approach is similar to what 2016 Topps Now Baseball has done a few times and sold out quickly each time. However, with the Topps Now relics, they have been sporadic and more of an offshoot for the larger line. Here, memorabilia is a focal point.

2016-17 Panini Eternal is an ongoing and evolving set. The company plans to release new cards each week. It was originally announced to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday for new releases, but that changed after just a few weeks. Shortly after Panini Eternal’s launch, the card maker announced that their Friday cards would focus on Kobe Bryant for 20 weeks, one for each season in his career. Those came out for two weeks before taking a break, so it’s apparently not 20 consecutive weeks. Also, starting with #PE-KB4, the parallel structure for the Bryant cards changed to a base card and towel patches numbered to 24, 8 and 1.

2016-17 Panini Eternal Checklist

As the set grows, so will this checklist. We’ve included full card details including what memorabilia was used for the memorabilia versions and the date they were released. Known print runs for base cards are noted. Cards are listed in release order.

*notes players with an open-edition base memorabilia card.

Memorabilia Parallels:

• Purple – /99
• Gold – /50
• Blue – /25
• Green – /10
• Orange – /5
• Black – 1/1

Hall of Fame Collection Gem Parallels:

• Diamond – /20
• Dual Emerald – /5
• Triple Gem – 1/1

15th Anniversary Patriots Super Bowl Collection

•Blue – /5
• Black – 1/1

UEFA Euro 2016

Jerseys are player-worn, not game-used.

• Yellow Jersey Number – /40
• Blue Nameplate – /25
• Green Team Tag – /10
• Gold Brand Logo – /7
• Orange Team Logo – /5
• Black Laundry Tag – 1/1

USA Basketball

• Red Basketball
• Blue Basketball – /25
• Green Basketball – /10
• Orange Basketball – /5
• Black Basketball – 1/1

PE-PM1 Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos – Super Bowl 50 Champions (September 7) – 180

PE-KI1 Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2016 NBA Champions (September 9)* – 158

PE-SC1 Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors – 2016 NBA Finals Game 4 | 38 Points (September 12)* – 199

PE-KB1 Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers – Celebrating 20 Years (September 14) – 187

PE-KL1 Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2016 NBA Finals (September 16)* – 121

PE-KT1 Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors – 2016 NBA Finals (September 21)*

PE-KB2 Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers – Celebrating 20 Years: ’96-97 (September 23)

PE-BF1 Brett Favre, Green Bay Packers – Hall of Fame Collection (September 26) – 169

PE-TT1 Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2016 NBA Finals (September 28)*

PE-KB3 Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers – Celebrating 20 Years: ’97-98 (September 30)

PE-MH1 Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts – Hall of Fame Collection (October 3)

PE-AI1 Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors – 2016 NBA Finals (October 5)*

PE-DZ1 Dak Prescott/Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys – Week 1 Game-Used Football (October 7)*

PE-JB3 Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh Steelers – Hall of Fame Collection (October 11)

PE-NE1 Tom Brady, New England Patriots – 15th Anniversary Patriots Super Bowl Collection (October 11)

PE-JR1 J.R. Smith, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2016 NBA Finals (October 12)*

PE-NE2 Troy Brown, New England Patriots – 15th Anniversary Patriots Super Bowl Collection (October 13)

PE-CR1 Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal – UEFA Euro 2016 (October 14)*

PE-TB4 Tim Brown, Oakland Raiders – Hall of Fame Collection (October 17)

PE-HB1 Harrison Barnes, Golden State Warriors – 2016 NBA Finals (October 19)*

PE-NE3 Troy Brown, New England Patriots – 15th Anniversary Patriots Super Bowl Collection (October 20)

PE-KD1 Kevin Durant, USA Basketball – Team USA Gold Medalist 2016 (October 21)*

PE-MS5 Michael Strahan, New York Giants – Hall of Fame Collection (October 24)

PE-LJ1 LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers – 2016 NBA Finals (October 26)*

PE-NE4 Willie McGinest, New England Patriots – 15th Anniversary Patriots Super Bowl Collection (October 27)

PE-KB4 Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers – Celebrating 20 Years: ’98-99 (October 28)

Comments? Questions? Contact Ryan Cracknell on Twitter @tradercracks.