Raising the Bar: Panini America Previews 2011 Preferred Basketball’s Silhouettes
Panini America spent most of this week previewing the throwback brilliance of 2011 Preferred Basketball’s Panini’s Choice and Crown Royale die-cut inclusions. But today, the company plans to raise the bar — and collector expectations — even more with the first extended look at the set’s stunning Silhouettes.
The absolutely beautiful die-cut, prime-piece memorabilia cards that collectors fell in love with in Crown Royale Football and Crown Royale Hockey make their long-awaited basketball debut in 2011 Preferred. And they might just be the greatest-looking basketball cards ever made. Period.
Epic? No question. Sick? Absolutely. And that’s before the autographs that will be added to every last one. Indeed, every non-booklet card in 2011 Preferred Basketball will be autographed on-card. But with all due respect to the other portions of the set, it’s likely that none will look as pristine perfect as Silhouettes.
The cards arrived at Panini America HQ on Friday morning to be counted, quality controlled and ogled. Then, they were packed with kid-glove care so that they could be expedited to the appropriate players for signing. Luckily for all of us, Panini America marketing comrade Chris Reed was there to document the process.
Here’s what he saw . . .
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The Knight's Lance 
The Kareem is nice!
That being said, I would not complain if Byron ever got a jersey/patch card either 🙂
You had me going crazy for just a few seconds because i thought the Bernard King was a Rasheed Wallace Bullets Patch Card! That would have been a dream card for me! but still a very nice Prime Set! Tracy, next time when you plan doing a Prime Set with such big Patches then please put Sheed in it 😉
There’s some National Treasure lookin’ cards! Beautiful issues, “royal court” players. Wish the product wasn’t a cost prohibitive $4-500 per box. The cost puts the product out of reach of all but the most well-heeled collectors.
The cost for Preferred will be $200 for three autograph cards and one six- or eight-piece memorabilia booklet card.
That’s certainly welcome news. Couple hundred sheckles is nothing to sneeze at, as Scott the well-heeled points out 8), but that dollar figure lies within the fiscal reach of those with shallower pockets. Like… me. Typically, the opportunity to pull an absolutely magnificent card, such as these, comes at 1:100,000 odds or rent-payment prices. Preferred appears to be an ill break. Looking forward to it.
Thanks for the correction, Tracy. Enjoy the games!
I’m a well-heeled collector but I doubt that I’ll be buying a lot of packs even though the cards look FANTASTIC. $50 on average for a card is a lot in this economy.
On the other hand, I’m very interested in what happens a year or so down the road in the secondary market when focus is somewhere else and there are no rookies to drive continued interest. That’s when I might make my move and scoop up a lot of these gems.
*Collects jaw from off the floor*
I need that Alex English card in my life! Multicolored rainbow piece, with part of the twill that makes up the mountains?! Sign me up.
I would love to see these in Football. A Raymond Berry, more specifically.
Were those patches worn in game by the player on the card or are they manufactured rubbish?
The veteran player versions are game-worn, yes.
And the rookie versions are either game-worn or were worn during the Rookie Photo Shoot.
Wow! lovin the Silhouettes. And seeing the Oakster…Charles Oakley..nice. Thats when I loved watching basketball and especially my Knicks. Is Ewing in the checklist as well?
Beautiful cards guys…..cant wait to see them signed and grab a few for my PC!
Well done!
Panini you did it again! Once again you raise the bar by making one of the SWEETEST designed cards ive ever seen! Ive loved the silhouettes cards since they premiered in 2010 and have been chasing them ever since. I cant not wait to try to pull one of those Kevin Durants out of a box! Keep up the great work Panini!!!!
These look really great… probably some of the best looking cards you guys have done in my opinion. I really like all the white space too… it’ll give the auto some room to breathe, reminds me of SP authentic a little in that way…
Hey tracy,
Any release date yet??
Looks nice…I hope there is a deng in the set???
Slated for a late-February release date.
OMG grant hill!!!!!
I never replied on here how slack! Drooltastic cards cannot wait to see some loose ones flow onto the secondary market i reckon they will attract a nice price as will some of the nicer booklets.
Oh Em Gee.
That Luke Babbitt is absolutely amazing. I mean, it’s Luke Babbitt for one…even though he just dropped 35 the other night in a D-League game, but it’s amazing.
I just heard from Keith Hower that all Panini’s Choice and Silhouettes will be hard-signed. But other aspects of the set will include some sticker autographs. Just wanted to keep everyone in the loop.
Great looking cards…. but ‘Nique in a Clippers jersey? That should never see the light of day!
Can’t lie I thought that luke Babbitt card was my dream card of an arvydas sabonis autograph..oh well..still have hope for some this season!
Just Stunning Patches all around! This set is sure to make a lot of eyes pop!
This is some excellent looking cards, that set would look great on my wall. Panini has a big hit everytime.
amazing set…beyond sick
“Indeed, every non-booklet card in 2011 Preferred Basketball will be autographed on-card.” (Panini)
Guess that was a lie.
I was mistaken and amended my statement early in the comments section after talking with Keith Hower in Product Development. My apologies for the confusion.
What Gives???? It states all non-booklet auto’s are ON-CARD yet preferred cards now popping up on e-bay from china and they are STICKER autos, What gives?? Most have pre-ordered at $200.00 a box and now it seems were going to get stuck with sticker auto’s after we were told all ON-CARD….Man hope you didn’t use that ploy just to sell the product because It looked like this product was going to rock….
Renee, I admittedly misspoke initially and, after being corrected by members of Product Development, posted comments correcting the information. All Silhouettes and Panini’s Choice autographs are signed on card; the Preferred cards are not. I apologize for any confusion and can assure you that we were not trying to use that as a ploy.
The comment about everything not being on card should be been a new post or at the very least a -edit- on the original post. It’s not something as minor as “so and so isn’t gonna be signing” but it was a MAJOR selling point for the majority of the collectors. I would have never known about it not being all on card and couldn’t have possibly been expected to check the comments for something as gamechanging/product-breaking as this.