Hobby Musings: Revisiting 2016 Panini Classics Football – Getting the itch to do some cheap busting, I picked up a couple boxes of 2016 Panini Classics Football. Featuring last year’s rookie class, the product came back into Panini’s stable after a six-year absence. Classics Football offers a lower-priced chance at pulling rookies and autographs of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. There’s also the chance to pull some other impressive autographs and memorabilia cards. After doing the ripping, these were the big results from my two boxes.
- Vernon Adams Jr. autograph #d 31/49
- Jarran Reed autograph #d 037/199
- Carl Eller Classic Material #d 42/99
- Jan Stenerud Classic Material #d 166/199
- Ron Jaworski Timeless Tributes parallel #d 20/25
- Eddie Lacy Timeless Tributes parallel #d 56/99
- Darron Lee Timeless Tributes parallel #d 94/99
Unfortunately, I didn’t do too well with the autographs. Classics has legendary autographs like Tom Brady to be found, so there is some pretty good upside in the product’s ink. On the plus side though, I came away with two nice Hall of Fame memorabilia cards in Carl Eller and Jan Stenerud.
While this year’s release of Classics has a memorabilia card in every box, its predecessor has no such guarantee. That makes it all the more interesting in pulling two from two consecutive boxes. Both memorabilia cards featured one-color swatches of what was noted as game-used material. They’re not exactly two players that you pull every day, so it’s a nifty set of pulls.
Besides the autographs and memorabilia cards, I came away with three total numbered parallel cards. The highlight was a Ron Jaworski numbered to 25. While the numbering on the cards is fairly easy to spot, be sure regardless to keep a keen eye out so you don’t miss out. Classics also offers a nice amount of inserts per box to help break up the base set. One of the cooler insert sets in the product was the Next Level dual-sided cards. These featured a player such as Carson Palmer in their collegiate uniform on one side and one of their NFL uniforms on the other side.
One of the great things about Classics is the versatile and inclusive checklist. Besides the 2016 rookies, Classics includes a good mix of current veterans and retired legends. Interestingly enough, I came away with one rookie each of Prescott and Elliott, and both were pulled in the same pack. The regular base cards come on a soft stock, which makes them great for autographing. However, they’re not so flimsy that they get damaged easily. Each box has 14 packs with 10 cards per pack, so you do get a decent amount of cards, though two boxes wasn’t enough to put together a complete set.
Overall, this was an enjoyable set of breaks. While I may have not have pulled a cornerstone card for the collection, I came away with a few nice items and had some fun with a longer box break. One small downside, depending how you look at it, is that the rookies are still featured in their collegiate uniforms. If you’re someone who finds value in players over pro uniforms more, then Classics won’t have it as much as some of Panini’s products that were released later in the year. That being said, it is a chance to score some nice Dak and Zeke cards at a relative fraction of the price. Boxes are currently being sold around the $34-$40 mark online, so a box or two won’t set you back too much if you feel inclined to give it a try.
Hobby Musings: Revisiting 2016 Panini Classics Football – Image Gallery
Hobby Musings: Revisiting 2016 Panini Classics Football
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