2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball Review

The concept of Panini One and One Basketball is appealing and straightforward. It is the ultimate crapshoot, offering only two cards, so you immediately know if you have a stud or a dud.

Generally speaking (though it gets a bit more complicated than that), one of the cards is a hit while the other one is not. You are banking on that one card to pay the entry fee for the box, which at $800 or so is considerable for just two cards.

They made these for the folks out there who have a good budget for cards and don’t have much spare time or storage space to mess around with endless base cards. That means this product is certainly not for the average collector. It is a very specifically tailored set.

It is right for you? And do the two cards in this release provide enough bang for your buck, considering how few cards are involved? We have the answers in our 2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball review.

History of Panini One & One Basketball

The hobby’s movement towards smaller, high-risk, and high-reward boxes has been slow but consistent. The development of the Panini One & One Basketball release is an indication of that.

First, the One & One product came to football with the 2019 Panini One Football release. That was a revolutionary idea that made many headlines at the time.

When Panini moved the product into the basketball realm, they added a second card to the mix and changed the name to Panini One and One. Meanwhile, the football team remained with one card. Why? I have no idea. But you have to admit, the basketball name is catchier.

And it gives you an extra card! However, I guess if you wanted more cards, this wouldn’t be your choice to begin with. And let’s get super honest here: no one is ripping this for the base cards.

It was a good move on Panini’s part. They predicted where the hobby was going: to showy rips and big cards for breaks and away from set completion and collection.

It was forward-thinking to see base cards as a complete waste of time at the time. Today that seems to be the standard attitude. I say that, sadly, as a set completist by nature.

It took some tinkering with the formula until Panini found the right cards to include in Panini One and One Basketball. In particular, including Downtown cards instead of the parallels standard in this release’s first couple of years was a step in the right direction.

2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball Review of the Release Date

The release date for this product was December 20, 2024. Every time I review a Panini release, this part becomes a diatribe about the lateness of the release date. But what can I do?

This is how things are right now. An expensive box like this should not be released before Christmas or the year after. However, this problem will continue to plague Panini until they lose their rights to the NBA and NFL. At that time, they will get things under control.

2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball Review of the Release Formats

This is obviously a hobby box-only release. There is only one format, and it has two cards.

Hobby Box

• Cards per pack – 2
• 1 Autograph Card per Box, look for 1 Base, Parallel or Insert Card per Box, search for the RARE Downtown Insert, new On-Card Autographs in The Oneders, search for On-Card Rookie Patch Autographs.
• Packs per box – 1
• Boxes per case – 10
• The cost per box is $789

FOTL

• Cards per pack – 2
• 1 FOTL-Exclusive Autograph Parallel #’d/15 or #’d/3 and 1 FOTL -Exclusive Base, Base Rookies, or Base Legends White Parallel #’d/7
• Packs per box – 1
• Boxes per case – 10
• The cost per box is unavailable.
• Cost per case is $15,999

2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball pros

The set has very immediate and inarguable advantages. You can get either an auto or a Downtown insert as the hit. Those are legitimate hits, unlike the mediocre stuff that passes for hits in many other releases.

The Downtown and the One & One autos are beautiful-looking cards as well. Panini has made this a rather compelling release.

One of the advantages of this release has long been the design for Timeless Moments. As the name suggests, these cards are beautiful and commemorate some of the previous season’s highlights. They come with crisp on-card autos and sell relatively well.

Fans love this kind of card when it comes to autos, and everyone has a dream moment they would like to see commemorated this way.

It appears that Topps was inspired by this when they launched their new Dynasty Black line of cards with a patch auto to mark significant moments with relevant memorabilia.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, though that would be faint comfort for Panini as it is getting run out of business.

2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball cons

It is no big mystery. The biggest con of the Panini One & One Basketball release is that you can strike out immediately and unfailingly. There is always a chance of that with any box. But with One & One, you can’t even console yourself with a bunch of nice cards for your collection or some mid-level stuff for eBay.

You have that immediate and yawning chasm of the two cards that immediately makes it clear that you just wasted your money.

In a terrible situation, you can end up with a nothing auto and a nothing base card and end up with cards worth less than $100. It is less likely to get nothing here because the guaranteed hits are pretty good. But even they can fall flat.

The design for 2023-24 is a step up from the horrible ones we saw for 2022-23. The logo was too big, and it was a general mess. The logo has been made less obtrusive this time, and there is more room to breathe.

But I still rate this as a net negative because the design is nothing to write home about. Some have described it as “busy” and “unappealing.”

Finally, when you bust a 2023-24 basketball box, you want to get a Wemby auto. But of course, the Spurs star has an exclusive contract with Fanatics and does not appear in this set.

2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball checklist

The checklist for this product includes a base set of 200 cards. Why a set with so few cards has such a large base set is a question that has always troubled me.

But it would be an enjoyable hobby quest to complete the entire base set of Panini One & One. It’s so weird, but it is almost worth doing.

All the parallels are fairly low pop:

• Blue – /35
• Purple – /25
• Red – /15
• Gold – /10
• Green – /5
• Black – 1/1

Review of the Rookie Class

The most crucial player in this rookie class is, of course, Wemby. And he does appear in the set. However, he has no autos in it, which is doubtless an unfortunate occurrence.

The Thompson twins and Scoot Henderson are also highlights of this class. However, as with all Panini products from this year, the way that Topps poached the most prominent names, such as Wemby and Brandon Miller, undermined the product’s appeal.

However, that is somewhat mitigated by the presence of the Wemby Downtown card in this set. Easily the most significant hit you can get in this release. But you can also get some good autos, such as the Keynote George rookie patch auto.

Review of autographs in 2023-24 Panini One and One Basketball

I won’t repeat the complaints about the autos. It is what it is. Let’s focus on the good part, which is, without a doubt, the Timeless Moments cards. The Precision Rookie Jersey Autographs are the best RPA cards in the release and look nice.

Meanwhile, the Quad Patch Autographs are arguably the most beautiful and feature some of the best veteran names in the game. Aside from that, several other auto cards are available in the checklist.

They include Day One Signatures, Number Ones, Once Upon a Time, The Oneders, Presenting, and Prolific Signatures.

Inserts

The main attraction of this release is the Downtown insert. Aside from the even more valuable and beloved Kaboom!, it is probably the number one insert in any Panini release.

Panini has spiced it up a bit this year by including a horizontal Downtown card as well. Not everyone likes it, but it’s good to keep things fresh.

2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball value

It can be difficult to determine the value of some boxes, especially those with many cards. However, the One & One Basketball product is straightforward to navigate.

Look at the big card and see if it made up for the box. That is all. But first, let’s take a look at how well wax has performed.

Wax

One & One Basketball is generally a rip kind of product, perfect for breaking and your sportscard YouTube channel. But is there any upside to keeping these things around unopened? Let’s take a look at previous years’ releases and see how they hold up.

Have you ever seen such a consistent and even price for a product over four years? I don’t think I have. It has to be said that it hasn’t always been like this.

When I reviewed this product last year, the first box was selling for over $1,400. Now, it is at close to half of that value. The other boxes have also dropped in value, though not by as much. That is a bad sign for those keeping this box. It looks like the market has decided that its opening price is about right, and the various years do not matter much.

That makes sense since downtown cards vary less depending on whether they are rookie or later career cards.

Singles

We have established that Panini One & One Basketball is not the way to go if you want wax. This product is made to be ripped and can be judged only by the value of the hit.

So, with that said, here is the value of some of the bigger hits and the prices they have commanded recently on the open market.

There are autos as well as Downtown cards that cover several times the value of the box—quite a few of them. So, opening these boxes can really be a good and immediate reward. The market likes One & One and gives the cards better value than some equivalents.

As you can see, the Wemby Downtown cards are very popular and quite gorgeous. That means this is a release worth considering.

Final Word of the 2023/24 Panini One & One Basketball Review

Many products do not live up to their billing. But Panini One & One Basketball does. It is the hobby version of a scratch ticket but with higher odds (somewhat).

While many Panini products suffer from the lack of Wemby and other high profile, this one fares better than most. You will want to hit the Downtown here anyway.

The way this product’s wax has plummeted in value makes the decision very simple. Either rip or don’t. You will immediately know if you made the right decision.