2012 Panini Prizm

You don't see this kind of higher-end product on the shelves of the big-box stores so I look out for this sort of thing when I'm at a card show. One of the dealers had loose packs of 2012 Panini Prizm. Pricey at $6 for a 6-card pack so I only bought one.  The pack had 4 base cards and an auto.  The 20-pack hobby boxes promises 2 autos per box so the insertion rate isn't too bad.

Here's what I got.

2013 Panini Prizm #69 Jose Reyes

The shiny mirror finish doesn't scan real well but these are attractive cards in a Topps Finest sort of way.  The backs feature current year stats. The card backs say "2012 Prizm Baseball" on the lower left although they are copyrighted 2013. The product was released in April 2013.

2013 Panini Prizm #85 Kyle Lohse

I'll spare you the backs on the rest since they are all the same. Notice the Player's Association logo in the upper left. Panini still doesn't have a contract with the MLB so on logos or team names.

2013 Panini Prizm #102 Alex Rios

Panini is taking the old-fashioned approach to not showing logos by removing them from the photographs. None of the crap that Upper Deck and Donruss pulled by having photographs with partially obscured logos. MBL won lawsuits against both companies for that.

2013 Panini Prizm #121 Frank Thomas

I'm always happy to pull a Big Hurt card from a pack. According to Wikipedia, Frank is a record producer these days.

2013 Panini Prizm #153 Wei-Yin Chen

The rookie card backs are a bit different. I wonder if Panini is following the rules that MLB laid down a few years ago about what players could have "Rookie" on their cards. They sure aren't using the rookie logo. Although I wouldn't consider collecting a set like this I like to buy a pack or two for my reference books. Getting a rookie card is a bonus.

2012 Panini Prizm Autographs Josh Willingham

It's a sticker auto and it's only Josh Willingham but I'm happy to have pulled an auto. There are 108 of these. The auto card has a little Topps Chrome vibe going on. Note the color along his back and how the creases in his uniform are picked out in white. Auto cards for comparable players are going for about a buck on eBay.