Ryan Barone (@ballcardgenius, Card Expert) is a lifelong member of the hobby. He has been quoted in PSA Magazine, and his content has regularly been mentioned in “Quick Rips” (the Topps RIPPED Newsletter) and across other hobby publications. hello@ballcardgenius.com; Last Time Ago LLC dba Ballcard Genius.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As I am a part of the eBay Partner Network and other programs, if you follow these links and make a purchase, I’ll receive commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
While “best” is a relative term, here is my best shot at answering which Panini football cards might be best for you. From Prizm to Select, and many more, there are plenty of options depending on your wants and needs.
Best of the Best: Prizm
A favorite in the hearts and collections of many, Prizm can be thought of as the best of the Panini card brands. Thus, it’s also typically the most valuable, and yes highly sought after.
What makes it great? Besides the fact that it has simply been crowned so by the card community, here are a few other thoughts.
One, everyone loves a shiny card. Just like Topps Chrome will outshine (pun intended) flagship in most occasions, Prizm is a favorite because of its heavier stock and shiny finish.
Second, there are a ton of variations—and not just your everyday silver and different colored prizms, but animal prints like tiger stripe and more.
Third, the design? Actually, I’m not quite sure about that, as I personally have never really loved the design, but many probably do.
As with most Panini products, we are mostly talking about football and basketball, as Panini is to those sports as Topps is to baseball.
Best for All-Around Fun: Donruss
OK, no matter what I put here there was bound to be some disagreement, but hear me out.
One, I wanted to pick a line that was applicable to all three major sports (football, basketball, and baseball). Which, with that said, most Panini products could check that box, but there is just something about the relationship between Donruss and baseball that transcends the others.
Secondly, fun comes in a variety of forms—some find it by spending thousands of dollars on a case or special box and seeing what big hit they’re going to walk away with, while others find fun down different avenues.
Read More: Donruss Football 2023
Me personally? I’m a different avenue kind of guy, with fun having a much greater chance of showing up to the party if I’m not worried about making my money back in the process.
Last, on to the cards themselves, there is just a lot of entertainment for the dollar spent with Donruss. Here are some examples.
With football, Donruss offers a lot of the same fun and retro feel as mentioned above, and there are fun inserts like “Crunch Time,” fashioned after a box of cereal.
Grabbed 2 Donruss blasters and 2 loose packs of Series 1! Can someone explain to me how rare these Crunch Time Galatics are? I pulled 2 in 2 blasters but I’m seeing that they are case hits/SPs??? ??♂️ pic.twitter.com/gf9uM9GsMW
— bthawks (@bthawks) March 9, 2023
One of the main draws is the collector-favorite “Downtown” inserts, though in 2022 we were treated to “Super Bowl Downtown” with cards that feature where players starred during a Super Bowl performance.
Best for Nostalgia (and Variety): Chronicles
The reason I say this about Chronicles is well, one, it’s in the name—a “chronicle” is an account of a historical event, right? So, when you open a pack, you can expect to find designs that are reminiscent of yesteryear, or perhaps not even that far into the past, but across different product lines including Select, Score, and more as is the case with Chronicles Draft.
Looking at Panini Chronicles across the different sports, here are a few examples of what I mean. One, you’re going to have a new base set every year, but in addition, you’re going to have a “rehash” or spin on an existing brand. In this case, you see Prizm Black, which is of course a branch off of the Prizm brand.
In addition, the 2021 checklist features these familiar brands:
- Clear Vision
- Crown Royale
- Flux
- Gridiron Kings
- Panini
- Playoff Momentum
- Timeless Treasures
Best Prizm Alternative: Select
Basically, for all the reasons people crown Prizm the best, you can name Select the best Prizm alternative. Simply, you have the shine on the thick card stock, the many parallels, and just an all-around similar look and feel.
One thing that sets Select apart from other sports card brands is its tiered checklist. Meaning, rather than having, say, 400 “base” cards, Select has different “levels” including Concourse, Premier Level, Club Level and Field Level. That list is in order of most common to most rare, and the cards themselves have slightly different designs between them.
Best “Just Not for Me” Mosaic
This is just personal preference, really, but I don’t see the appeal of Mosaic, which is odd, because I’m a huge fan of shiny, in-your-face flash, and everything that Mosaic stands for. Really, and it sounds even weirder when typing it out, I think it comes down to the fact that Mosaic card photos don’t have natural backgrounds.
That is, when you think of a sports card, you think of an athlete in their element—on the court, on the field, etc. But, Mosaic removes all of that and just features a player on top of a design. I don’t know, not a great reason, but the best reason I can come up with for now.
But, enough about me! Others love Mosaic, and here are a couple of reasons why.
Well, the design of course! For all of the reasons I don’t love the Mosaic design, others really enjoy it. Thus, parallels become even that much cooler with honeycomb, peacock, and nebula, and with so many colors, team color matches galore.
Football TBD:
- Score
- Absolute
- Optic
- Prestige
- Illusions
