A new year of Panini Prizm cards from a @CrackinWax break.
Panini continues to soldier on with a limited baseball release calendar and a couple of lawsuits on the docket. As with their earlier Donruss offering, I wasn't even sure what a Prizm baseball release would look like in 2023. It turns out that the checklist is pretty similar to what they did with Donruss, but there are some strange names popping up. As much as I thought it was interesting that Panini lucked out with some of their prospects (like Jordan Walker) actually debuting in MLB at the start of the season, there are some big names in Prizm who debuted in 2022! What is Bobby Witt Jr. doing on this checklist? What about Hunter Brown? These guys aren't minor leaguers by any stretch. I'm curious to know what the MLBPA thinks of these unlicensed cards, although I'm sure they have more pressing matters.
I bought into a Prizm box break from Crackin' Wax recently, which has turned into a full-blown marketplace powered by the iso platform. Yours truly even has some cards listed for sale up there. Let's check out some of the Cardinals from the set, as I like to do.
Along with familiar retired faces like Ozzie and Vince, we get cards from some of the team's top prospects like Masyn Winn. It's looking like Winn may get to make his big league debut before the season is out. What do the Cardinals have to lose at this point? Not much, as it turns out.
Jordan Walker pops up again.
Whitey Herzog cards in 2023? This is a welcome site indeed.
Unlike Donruss, the entire base checklist uses the same design. It's weird seeing no real distinction between retired legends and youngsters like Tink here.
Well, you do get the occasional black and white photo. That's a big clue.
Jimmy Edmonds' inclusion means there's a whole new rainbow for me to chase.
Lou Brock is rocking the powder blues on this one. With Brock turning away from the camera a bit, there wasn't a ton of Photoshop needed on this one.
I only snagged a couple of inserts. Panini came up with something different here (Future Supers) since these inserts primarily deal with prospects.
I haven't been participating in as many box breaks lately, so it's been awhile since I've pulled an autograph for my team collection. Gordon Graceffo remains one of the team's top prospects, but his numbers at AAA this year haven't been thrilling. Hopefully he's just working on some stuff, as they say.
The design is actually pretty nice. Maybe I’ll find some in the wild soon.
ReplyDeleteVery odd to see legends players on that design.
ReplyDeleteI saw blasters of this at Target the other day, but passed since I knew little about the product.
ReplyDeleteUnless it was highly discounted... I don't ever see myself opening a box of this stuff. But if I find that Whitey in a dime box, I'd be all over it.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how they're using guys who played in the majors last year, either, but there's got to be something. I can't imagine Panini is just violating MLBPA rights but only on a limited basis...although then again if you follow A Pack To Be Named Later I don't know how the heck Leaf is using WWE intellectual property either, so who knows?
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned on another blog, it would be nice if Panini got the rights to some of the current managers, but I won't say no to a Whitey Herzog. (I actually answered a question on Quora recently from someone who heard an ESPN announcer mention "Whiteyball" and thought it was a racial thing!)
The checklist is also weird--and I mean the actual numbering. Like, the Mets prospects are all from 26 to 31--but 27 is Ken Griffey Jr.! Either mix it up or make it in blocks, but I don't understand why you'd be so inconsistent like that.
It doesn't look like they've done anything too different with the design, but it is nice to see some of those names included in a 2023 set.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Tink's number on the Future Supers card is a comma...?
ReplyDelete