[rjcj2017]

Banger bros,

Waaaaaay back in February of 2022 (!), I pulled this card out of a blaster of 2021 Illusions Football ...





It's hard to tell from the picture, but the bottom left corner on this Sam Ehlinger rookie auto was too dinged even for me to keep.

I strongly debated sending it in because of Panini's ongoing customer service shenanigans, but I ultimately decided to go for it because I didn't want Panini to get away with such crappy quality control.

Welp, after 18 months of excuses, incorrect information and amidst the notion that Paniiini is a sinkling ship whose demise is imminent, I decided to sell out and take their offer of three 2022 NFL Sparkle packs to close out the ticket.

My package arrived today:





The packs have 3 cards each, the two base are red sparkles and the third card is a parallel.

First pack, I was alread off to a better start than my Sparkle basketball break last week:


 


Patrick Mahomes COLOR MATCH BANGER!!!

However, the best card was in the middle of the third pack ... Let's Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!





Aidan Hutchinson NFL Debut "rookie card" ... GEM FIRE BANGER!!!

As for the rest of the cards, the only ones of note were new uniform cards of Russell Wilson (blue) and Deshaun Watson (red).

I also got a Cade York red RC (Browns kicker) as well as a Cameron Thomas (Cardinals defensive lineman) gold SSP.

[Speak917]

Those are niiiiiice!!!! And I’m not a fan of Mosaic.

[rjcj2017]

Those are niiiiiice!!!! And I’m not a fan of Mosaic.

It's funny you say that, because my basketball sparkle packs last week were 2022-23 Prizm ...

https://www.beckett.com/forums/thread-16...pid2751714

Also, the third card in each Prizm basketball pack was a numbered parallel, whereas they were not in the 2022 Mosaic football packs.

So good on Panini, I guess, for adding slightly more value to the basketball packs.

Honestly I am amazed at how well I did in both breaks, given that the sparkle sets have the same checklist as the main flagship sets:

https://www.cardboardconnection.com/2022...ball-cards

Meaning, with 3 packs you have a 9 in 400 chance - a little more than two percent - of landing a specific player, and the odds are even steeper than that when you consider there are only two reds and one parallel in each pack, if you're looking for a certain color.

To come away with a numbered Curry card out of three basketball packs as well as a Mahomes and Hutchinson out of three football packs is actually very good.

Am I happy that I will never see the Pistons PC card or the rookie QB auto that I sent in for replacements?

No. But given the state of the industry in general and Panini's struggles in particular, I'm glad I got something good.

[jplarson]

Dude amazing hits and congrats! For all their faults, their sparkle packs are really nicely done. Even if it were 3 dud players, they are still a sharp looking card. And having originally been a Sam Ehlinger auto? 100% came out ahead!

[kerryandbeth]

It's nice to see people happy for a change...temporarily.

[jaderock]

It's nice to see people happy for a change...temporarily.

Back to regular Panini'ing next week 

Congrats on the Awesome Sparkle cards RJ!

[rjcj2017]

LOL, thanks my friend.