First Look: 2014-15 Panini Luxe
By Stephen Laroche | Beckett Basketball Editor
Even though the current NBA season is in its final days, Panini America will still be busy in the coming weeks and months finishing out their production schedule with several high-end releases. This year, they have added an all-new product to the mix and 2014-15 Panini Luxe promises to be an exciting new part of their lineup that is expected to deliver plenty of autographs and colorful memorabilia pieces.
Arriving on store shelves in mid-July, Luxe will contain four premium cards per pack and three of them are hard-signed autographs. The other item inside is a jumbo prime memorabilia card and some of them will be die-cut. On top of that, every card is sequentially numbered to 99 copies or less.
What is expected in packs of 2014-15 Panini Luxe? Find out more and view an extensive gallery after the jump.
Collectors may be impressed with the strong lineup of players representing the past, present, and future of the game and Die-Cut Autographs have a clean design which will earn some accolades. Luxe Autographs, however, may gain an even greater following as they are the first cards from Panini with metal borders. Those who love to see a signature paired with a piece of a jersey will want to collect Memorabilia Autographs and there is a prime parallel which is limited to 25 copies or less.
The big pieces keep coming with Luxe Memorabilia Prime and those looking to collect a rainbow of parallels are likely to enjoy the Red, Blue, Gold, and Black Memorabilia Die-Cuts Prime which are numbered as low as one-of-one.
Stephen Laroche is the editor of Beckett Basketball and Beckett Hockey magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at slaroche@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Stephen_Laroche.
More Panini High-end releases? Awesome!!!!
Doesn’t this just seem an awful lot like Immaculate? The design just seems so similar…
Another over priced product. This is why I hardly buy cards anymore
I think Panini does a great job of replicating themselves over and over and over again. They have now reinvented the wheel 100 times over with the same design in all there products. I wish another company, any company, could make NBA cards again. I have stopped collecting NBA cards when Panini got sole ownership of the rights. At least Topps in MLB products makes the cards look different, come on Panini.
Anyone else not like the “luxe” at the bottom of every card? It’s tacky to me.
product name D U M B and looks the S A M E as almost every non prizm panini product they make
Just another Panini product that looks like other releases,just with minor tweaks.I’m glad to see they can have live Bernard King autos,but I’m still waiting on one from 12-13 Innovation.So much for “we’re still waiting on the player to sign”.
I agree on the high cost. These high dollar cards are out of reach for most people. We want our collections to be worth something, but not at $1000 per box. Sure isn’t for kids anymore.
Another new product? Shocker (not really). When will they ever learn?
Another Panini high-end product that offers up low-end autographs. Who wants to pay $250-300/box for the chance to pull Alex English and Scott Skiles autographs?
Panini’s High End Basketball products are the best performing (retail sales) in the hobby. Immaculate, National Treasures, Flawless, Spectra all produce my best profit margins (above my normal 16.7%). LUX Basketball was designed and produced for a $270 internet retail sales price point. However, as with any product, final retail sales price is dependent on supply and demand. I predict demand will result in a retail sales point well above $270.
The reason no one is pre-selling LUX today is all the retailers are trying to get as much LUX as they can and they are having a hard time getting it for cheap from their sources. 2014-15 LUX Basketball is the lowest allocated product since 2012-13 Flawless Basketball. . Two years ago, Flawless Basketball initially retailed for about $1500 and today you probably can’t find it for under $2500. This year, Immaculate Basketball was made for internet retail at $360 and most retailers are asking $580 or more. An outstanding 2014 Rookie Class and low availability will make 2014-15 LUX Basketball another Panini America success story. If you think LUX is just another Immaculate, buy LUX and get a good deal.
To me, the design is ugly for a complete set. I guess Panini believes people want a high end, pricey set packed with parallels that looks like inserts cards. Maybe I’m getting too old for the hobby. I know I’ll be too poor for it soon.
To Charlie DiPietro:
My comment on Luxe being just another Immaculate was based mainly on the design. I’m relatively neutral on the merits of the product itself. High end seems to be doing well, like you say. But if I were Panini, I would be careful. The brands you mention, Flawless, Spectra, National Treasures, and Immaculate all have a distinct market. Flawless for Super High End. Spectra for chrome high end. National Treasures for a classic look with high end. Immaculate for current look with high end. Each fills a niche. To me, Immaculate and Luxe fill the same niche. In short, Luxe should have a different gimmick. The base Luxe cards could have their names changed on the bottom to Immaculate and I couldn’t tell the different.