2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review

Cardlines December 24, 2021

On December 15^th, Panini debuted another new basketball set with Panini’s Flux. How does it measure up? To find out, keep reading our 2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball.

Unfortunately, the buzz surrounding the new product has been less than stellar. In addition, there has been a distinct lack of promotion from Panini.

Panini gets a little busy this time of year. They were busy dealing with other sports, hotter sets, and preparing for a new future without owning the NBA license. That said, it appears Panini was simply looking for a quick profit by pushing out the latest set late in the year. With the license loss looming, the company is not overly concerned about flooding the market.

History of Panini Flux

In 2017, Panini created a basketball card set that would take cards from all their sets and combine them into the Chronicles product. They had no idea that one of the NBA’s deepest draft classes would emerge in just two seasons. It made the 2019-20 Chronicles set one of the hottest cards in the hobby ever.

They debuted 26 different card brands that season, including Prestige, Luminance, Essentials, Marquee, XR, Recon, Majestic, Gala, Titanium, Vanguard, Crusade, Phoenix, and Score, Rookies & Stars, Classics, Threads, and Flux.

The Chronicles release also introduced the Panini Flux series. It quickly became one of the more popular brands in the product, partly thanks to Zion Williamson and Ja Morant collectors. For their reasons, Panini has now turned Flux into a standalone product.

So let’s step right into the newest basketball series from Panini, Panini Flux, and review the cards, inserts, autographs, parallels, and everything else that comes with deciding whether or not to collect Panini’s newest basketball set.

The 2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review of Release Formats

Hobby Box

• 12 Boxes per Case
• 10 Packs
• 5 Cards per Pack
• 1 Uncirculated Encased Insert, Parallel, or Autograph Box Topper
• Autograph (1), Atmosphere Insert (1), Prizm Insert (1), Additional Inserts (3), Silvers (3)
• Presells at $249.95

The biggest hits from the Panini Flux set will be the uncirculated encased insert, parallel, or autograph box topper. There are few other highlights. Unfortunately, Flux has few numbered sets. However, most of the ones included are numbered to five or one.

1^st off the Line Box (FOTL)

• 12 Boxes per Case
• 10 Packs
• 5 Cards per Pack
• 1 Exclusive Flux Purple or Gold Scope
• 1 FOTL Box Topper
• Autograph (1), Atmosphere Insert (1), Prizm Insert (1), Additional Inserts (3), Silvers (3)
• Presells at $399.95

Retail Blaster Box

• 6 Packs
• 3 Cards per Pack
• 2 Exclusive Mojo Prizms, 1 Silver/Color Prizm, 1 Insert/Insert Prizm
• Presells at $34.99

Some of the exclusive retail-only inserts included in Flux are Flux Appeal, Freshman Year, Double Take, and D Lux. They also have exclusive parallels such as Light Blue Prizms and Pink Prizms and autograph exclusive sets including Flux Rookie Signatures, Flux Freshman Signatures, and Flux Signatures.

The main reason the Flux blaster boxes will be tough to keep on the shelf will be the Mojo prizms, which are exclusive to only the retail boxes. The Mojo Prizms include a Silver Mojo, Blue Mojo, Red Mojo, Gold Mojo, and Black Mojo.

The 2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review Of Checklist Information

For its’ inaugural season, the Panini Flux Basketball set will feature a 250-card base set that includes 200 veterans and 50 rookies. By using the popular opti-chrome technology, the Panini Flux cards have a chance to dominate the basketball card market until next summer.

We are nearly halfway through the 2021-22 NBA season. However, this set still covers the rookie class from the previous year. That means you can still have a chance to collect rookie cards from players like Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and James Wiseman.

The 2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Parallels

Panini Flux includes a ton of the Gold (only numbered 10) and Black (only one) parallels. This decision makes the parallels tougher to get and, therefore, more valuable.

Panini Flux 2020-21 Parallels

• Parallels: Light Blue, Moonlight, Pink, Red, Silver, Sunrise, Blue (#/99), Supernova (#/75), Solar Eclipse (#/49), Lunar Eclipse (#/25), Purple Scope FOTL (#/18), Gold (#/10), Gold Scope FOTL (#/8), Green (#/5), Black (1/1)
• Cracked Ice Parallels: Blue, Red, Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)
• Laser Parallels: Laser, Gold (#/10)
• Mojo Parallels: Silver, Blue (#/99), Red (#/49), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)
• Asia Parallels: Gold Wave, Red Wave, Silver Wave, Lucky Envelope (#/8)
• Factory Set Pulsar Parallels: Pulsar, Black, Blue, Green, Red
• Fanatics Factory Set Cracked Ice Parallels: Cracked Ice, Green

The 2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review Of Inserts

While collectors are always going to chase after the autographs and lower numbered cards, one of the exciting features about Panini Flux is their Atmosphere insert. The insert features five different levels: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, and Exosphere.

The top Exosphere level will feature cards of LeBron James (#96), Luka Doncic (#97), Stephen Curry (#98), Giannis Antetokounmpo (#99), and LaMelo Ball (#100).

Panini Flux 2020-21 Inserts

• Atmosphere (100 Cards)
  • Troposhere (#1-40)
  • Stratosphere (#41-65)
  • Mesophere (#66-85)
  • Thermosphere (#86-95)
  • Exosphere (#96-100)

• D Lux (6 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Blue (#/99), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Déjà vu (40 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Blue (#/99), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Flow Motion (20 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Red (#/25), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Fluid (20 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Red (#/25), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Flux (30 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Blue (#/99), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Freshman Year (24 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Blue (#/99), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Full Capacity (25 Cards)
• Incoming (30 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Red (#/25), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Rookie Influx (30 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Red (#/25), Gold (#/10), Black (1/1)

• Titan (20 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Purple Scope FOTL (#/38), Purple (#/25), Gold Scope FOTL (#/18), Black Scope FOTL (#/8), Gold (#/5), Black (1/1)

• Titan Legends (10 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Purple Scope FOTL (#/38), Purple (#/25), Gold Scope FOTL (#/18), Black Scope FOTL (#/8), Gold (#/5), Black (1/1)

• Titan Rookies (70 Cards)
  • Parallels: Silver, Purple Scope FOTL (#/38), Purple (#/25), Gold Scope FOTL (#/18), Black Scope FOTL (#/8), Gold (#/5), Black (1/1)

The 2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review Of Autographs

Since Panini Flux is only in its first year, collectors will be cautious about purchasing boxes and cases. However, one of the key reasons first-year sets succeed is their selection of autographs. Thankfully, Panini Flux included an extensive selection of autograph cards featuring Rookies, Superstars, and Hall of Fame Legends. Additionally, collectors have one more reason to buy with the added exclusive parallels in the 1st off the Line boxes (Red Scope 1/1, Blue Scope #/5).

Autograph Influx Set

• Parallels:
  • Silver
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Black (1/1)

There is no Kelly Olynyk Black parallel in this set.

Equinox Autographs Set

• Parallels:
  • Wave
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Blue Scope (#/5) *FOTL Exclusive
  • Red Scope (1/1) * FOTL Exclusive
  • Black (1/1)
• Equinox Autograph cards are #’d to 25 except for the following player cards, which are all #’d to 15:
  • Anfernee Hardaway, Oscar Robertson, Collin Sexton, Isiah Thomas, De’Aaron Fox, Jason Kidd, Anthony Davis, Hakeem Olajuwon, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, Michael Porter Jr., Shawn Kemp, Rasheed Wallace, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Jamal Murray.

There is no Bryn Forbes Wave parallel in the Equinox Autographs set.

The Equinox Autos

Equinox Rookie Autographs Set

• Parallels:
  • Wave
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Blue Scope (#/5) *FOTL Exclusive
  • Red Scope (1/1) * FOTL Exclusive
  • Black (1/1)

Notes

Flux Freshman Signatures Set

• Parallels:
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Black (1/1)

Notes

Flux Signatures Set

• Parallels:
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Black (1/1)

The Reggie Jackson Flux Signature does not come in the Gold parallel.

Rookie Autograph Influx Set

• Parallels:
  • Silver
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Black (1/1)

There is no Jaden McDaniels Gold parallel in the Rookie Autograph Influx set.

Rookie Private Signings Icon Version Set

• Parallels:
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Platinum (1/1)

SwingMan Signatures Set

• Parallels:
  • Silver
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Black (1/1)

Notes

Ultraviolet Signatures Set

• Parallels:
  • Silver
  • Gold (#/10)
  • Black (1/1)

2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review of Singles Value

Since this is the first year that Panini Flux will be released as a standalone product, there is not much data available for comparison. Therefore, the only Flux basketball cards we have to look at are the ones from the 2019-20 Chronicles set. However, the prices are not representative since that year had a solid rookie class.

While we only have a few cards to look at, here is what the PSA 10 Flux cards from the 2019-20 Chronicles sets have performed value-wise:

Meanwhile, the 2020-21 set is currently selling for these prices:

2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review of Wax Value

There is not enough data on the product like the singles since it is in its rookie season. However, we can still look at some of eBay’s cases’ prices. That should give you an idea of the current market.

Hobby Box Value

Bottomline Of The 2020-21 Panini Flux Basketball Review

With the surprising announcement that Panini Flux would be released as a standalone product, the hype train had very little time to get going. Unfortunately, by the time Panini announced the official release date, collectors had forgotten about it.

Every year, the final products to hit shelves always find themselves undervalued and underappreciated either from the holidays or because collectors have moved on. Panini Flux looks like one of those products. But, frankly, it feels like a rushed cash grab.

There are elements of the product that collectors will enjoy, like the Encased and Uncirculated inserts. But the rest of the set is not that interesting. In addition, the lack of relics renders this set to be lackluster at best.