This year's Panini VIP Party is coming -- you can get it all here

[baseballbunez]

Originally Posted by Hockey24xx

Hopefully we get some kind of information from Panini today with the show a week out. They are usually 5 blog posts in about the national by this point. Really indicative of what is going on inside that company.

Last year was the same, hardly any info leading in to it. They didn't start announcing guests at party til week of event, and I want to say the pack list wasn't publicly posted early but was shared around from dealers. Either case, we'll all know more soon enough!

[ddearing]

FYI - They almost never tell you who is going to be at the party this early. Usually, they will release a name or two each day the week of the show.

Also - historically, we never "know" who is going to be included in the packs and what they are going the be like until we start seeing them opened. We guess, we assume, we hear rumors from other who have guessed and assumed, but nobody really knows until we start seeing them opened. Take it from someone who has been dealing in the packs since the first ones in Baltimore many years ago.

We usually get the NFL Players for the first time in their NFL uniforms and that is a nice selling point. I expect that again. We also usually get the top MLB RCs on a card with the "RC" logo. We will not be getting that this year since Panini no longer has the MLBPA agreement. We usually get the previous year's NBA RCs in their pro uniforms (would be Banchero RC class) and sometimes we get the players that were just drafted, but not in their NBA uniform. Obviously having Wembanyama would be a huge selling point in this, but nobody "knows" anything until Panini tells us or we start opening the packs.

[ddearing]

What I am expecting soon though is the list of products that we can purchase at the show from BO (and the others, but you should buy from BO) to redeem for the silver packs. That normally comes out about now. For example, this was last year's list:

2022 Panini National Convention Wrapper Redemption Products

2022 Select UFC - 2 packs
2021-22 Court Kings Basketball Int. Blaster - 1 pack
2020-21 Chronicles Basketball Asia - 1 pack
2022 Chronicles Draft Picks Football - 1 pack
2021-22 Chronicles Soccer - 1 pack
2021-22 Mosaic Serie A Soccer - 1 pack
2022 Absolute Baseball - 1 pack

[jdhaugh11]

Originally Posted by ddearing

What I am expecting soon though is the list of products that we can purchase at the show from BO (and the others, but you should buy from BO) to redeem for the silver packs. That normally comes out about now. For example, this was last year's list:

2022 Panini National Convention Wrapper Redemption Products

2022 Select UFC - 2 packs
2021-22 Court Kings Basketball Int. Blaster - 1 pack
2020-21 Chronicles Basketball Asia - 1 pack
2022 Chronicles Draft Picks Football - 1 pack
2021-22 Chronicles Soccer - 1 pack
2021-22 Mosaic Serie A Soccer - 1 pack
2022 Absolute Baseball - 1 pack

Hopefully the products for the silver packs are better this year, because this list from last year is not very good IMO.

[ddearing]

Originally Posted by jdhaugh11

Hopefully the products for the silver packs are better this year, because this list from last year is not very good IMO.

I agree. Last year was the first time in 10 years that I didn't open any wax at the show for silver packs. I had a bunch of VIP deals, so I got silver packs for that, but I redeemed exactly ZERO boxes at the show for silver packs because the list was so bad and the pack ratio just didn't make sense. The year before, I probably redeemed 250 boxes for silver packs. Last year I did a LOT of Topps boxes instead. Their deal made sense.

[notoriousrmb]

Originally Posted by jdhaugh11

Hopefully the products for the silver packs are better this year, because this list from last year is not very good IMO.

The last few years the list has been like this - the whole point of their promotion is to use the packs to move the less desirable product. If its a top product, they have no reason to try to move it with promo packs.

[packman80]

Originally Posted by notoriousrmb

The last few years the list has been like this - the whole point of their promotion is to use the packs to move the less desirable product. If its a top product, they have no reason to try to move it with promo packs.

Yep it's a way to clear out old inventory just like Blowout and mystery boxes.

[ddearing]

Originally Posted by notoriousrmb

The last few years the list has been like this - the whole point of their promotion is to use the packs to move the less desirable product. If its a top product, they have no reason to try to move it with promo packs.

Yes, but last year it's like Panini decided to see how much they could stretch it and still get someone to buy. It pushed out guys like me. It wasn't just the bad products, but the ratios of silver packs you got for them. It was much lower than previous years.

Usually - the deal works like this. Panini has bad products to move. They make BO, D&A & Steel City purchase more of that bad product (can't use existing inventory) at a certain price that is likely above the actual wholesale value for that product. So, BO, D&A or Steel City have to sell that product at a higher price than they would normally, but we still buy it because Panini makes up the difference with the silver packs.

For example, at last year's National, Chronicles Draft Picks Football was wholesaling at around $120ish and BO probably had it on their site for $140ish before the show. At the show, all three dealers were probably charging $175-200 for it, but you got ONE silver pack to make up the difference. No thanks. I passed.

What did it used to be like?

Here is what it was in 2015 since I have that list in front of me.
2014-15 Certified Basketball -
Box price at the show $75 and you get 4 Silver packs.

2014-15 Prestige Basketball -
Box price at the show was $150 and you get 7 silver packs

2015 Prizm Draft Picks Football Hobby -
Box price at the show was $60 and you get 5 silver packs.

Yes, the times are different now and prices are higher and Panini will say that the Silver packs are much better now (I'd argue that about last year's packs), but you see the difference?

[packman80]

Would it just be easier to just go buy silver and gold packs off someone instead of buying junk wax to get the packs for "free"?

[cj828282]

Originally Posted by packman80

Would it just be easier to just go buy silver and gold packs off someone instead of buying junk wax to get the packs for "free"?

Yes, I have done that many times, especially with Panini silver packs. Product not worth the price or hassle.

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by packman80

Would it just be easier to just go buy silver and gold packs off someone instead of buying junk wax to get the packs for "free"?

No doubt in my mind.

[ddearing]

Originally Posted by packman80

Would it just be easier to just go buy silver and gold packs off someone instead of buying junk wax to get the packs for "free"?

And that is why I do what I do. Come see me.

You have to be careful who you purchase them from. I'd say 50-75% of the packs sold loose on the floor have been searched/felt up. It's easy to feel the autos and jumbo patches. I will not buy packs that walk up to the table from people. If my staff doesn't get it directly from Panini, we won't sell it.

You can 100% trust the packs you buy from BO, Steel City and D&A. They don't mess with them. Same for me. We don't touch them. We don't let you pick your pack. We sell them in groups of 10 and you get them from the top of the sleeve. Last year, we only moved through our VIPs worth of packs, so around 600 packs, but usually, we move through thousands of packs at the show.

[notoriousrmb]

Originally Posted by ddearing

Yes, but last year it's like Panini decided to see how much they could stretch it and still get someone to buy. It pushed out guys like me. It wasn't just the bad products, but the ratios of silver packs you got for them. It was much lower than previous years.

Usually - the deal works like this. Panini has bad products to move. They make BO, D&A & Steel City purchase more of that bad product (can't use existing inventory) at a certain price that is likely above the actual wholesale value for that product. So, BO, D&A or Steel City have to sell that product at a higher price than they would normally, but we still buy it because Panini makes up the difference with the silver packs.

For example, at last year's National, Chronicles Draft Picks Football was wholesaling at around $120ish and BO probably had it on their site for $140ish before the show. At the show, all three dealers were probably charging $175-200 for it, but you got ONE silver pack to make up the difference. No thanks. I passed.

What did it used to be like?

Here is what it was in 2015 since I have that list in front of me.
2014-15 Certified Basketball -
Box price at the show $75 and you get 4 Silver packs.

2014-15 Prestige Basketball -
Box price at the show was $150 and you get 7 silver packs

2015 Prizm Draft Picks Football Hobby -
Box price at the show was $60 and you get 5 silver packs.

Yes, the times are different now and prices are higher and Panini will say that the Silver packs are much better now (I'd argue that about last year's packs), but you see the difference?

Oh I'm well aware of the difference between now and 2015, and those days aren't coming back anytime in the near future. Might as well be comparing to 1998 with all the recent changes in the hobby. I've been at every National in the last 12 years and have seen the changes myself.

Since the pandemic, manufacturers have no reason to push promos unless it is to move dead product. So of course its watered down, no need to have it for good products, and anyone thinking its going to change is unfortunately in for disappointment.

[jdhaugh11]

I have made notes of current prices of boxes that I am interested in. I want to see if they are cheaper or more expensive than the current online prices.
When I went to the National 4 years ago in Chicago, I felt like the products with the silver packs were not more expensive. Hopefully this recent trend is coming to an end now that the card market has cooled off from the past few years.

[Tonic3]

So did anyone go to the VIP party and open any gold packs/exclusive VIP boxes/etc...? Last year's had all kinds of weird animal parallels. Just curious if it was the same this year?

[notoriousrmb]

Originally Posted by Tonic3

So did anyone go to the VIP party and open any gold packs/exclusive VIP boxes/etc...? Last year's had all kinds of weird animal parallels. Just curious if it was the same this year?

There were no packs/boxes at the VIP this year. Those are all being shipped after the show to prevent theft.

[Hockey24xx]

Originally Posted by notoriousrmb

There were no packs/boxes at the VIP this year. Those are all being shipped after the show to prevent theft.

It was not to prevent theft, they did not have them ready in time.

[solt0131]

Originally Posted by notoriousrmb

There were no packs/boxes at the VIP this year. Those are all being shipped after the show to prevent theft.

These boxes will be live in hand on Friday. The silver packs have gone up slightly due to the sell value of the Wembanyama, so I expect the gold packs to be an absolute Home Run.

[hammerva]

Not sure what value these Silver packs have now given how they handed all the really strong cards to people at the show for influencer clicks

all the videos I saw on the Panini Party makes me wonder how many of those people actually went to the National. Maybe they did but were at the VIP sections and vendor area away from the littles.

[notoriousrmb]

Originally Posted by Hockey24xx

It was not to prevent theft, they did not have them ready in time.

They were ready, the Panini employee responsible for setting up the party said there had been too many attendees having their items stolen over the last few years, and to avoid people focusing on packs and theft, a decision was made to send them out after everyone returned home.

[CalderCityCards]

Originally Posted by notoriousrmb

They were ready, the Panini employee responsible for setting up the party said there had been too many attendees having their items stolen over the last few years, and to avoid people focusing on packs and theft, a decision was made to send them out after everyone returned home.

I have no idea if they were or weren't ready in time, but if they were ready, I'd be interested in the logic behind shipping them out after the show vs. handing them out at the show when people picked up their silver and FD packs.

I've been to the party a few times and it makes complete sense to me to not handing them out there.

[90skid]

Packs are out in the wild and singles showing up on ebay. Giraffe's in full swing this time with a scope effect added. I haven't seen any checklists posted yet, but the amount of parallel's has gotta be nuts again.



I have the full rainbow of Shaq from last year's VIP Gold but I don't think I've got it in me to chase this years, esp. since they rehashed yet again another prizm generic photo.

[baseballbunez]

Originally Posted by 90skid

Packs are out in the wild and singles showing up on ebay. Giraffe's in full swing this time with a scope effect added. I haven't seen any checklists posted yet, but the amount of parallel's has gotta be nuts again.



I have the full rainbow of Shaq from last year's VIP Gold but I don't think I've got it in me to chase this years, esp. since they rehashed yet again another prizm generic photo.

The animal print looks to be 3-4 per box. There is also a color blast style SSP /10 inserted it seems. So far on non #d parallels have personally seen- Giraffe/Tiger/Scope as being ~1 each per VIP box and Hyper as being 20-25 per VIP box. #d parallels are Red /199, Blue /149, Green /99, Pink /75, Purple /50, Green Yellow Blue /25, Red White Blue /15, Gold /10, Black Gold /5, and Black /1

[CalderCityCards]

Originally Posted by baseballbunez

The animal print looks to be 3-4 per box. There is also a color blast style SSP /10 inserted it seems. So far on non #d parallels have personally seen- Giraffe/Tiger/Scope as being ~1 each per VIP box and Hyper as being 20-25 per VIP box. #d parallels are Red /199, Blue /149, Green /99, Pink /75, Purple /25, Green Yellow Blue /25, Red White Blue /15, Gold /10, Black Gold /5, and Black /1

Out of curiosity, have you seen anything Wembanyama come out of the Gold packs? I pulled the one from the Silver packs, but haven't seen anything yet out of the Gold. I expect my VIP box to be here tomorrow....