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Does The Fabulous Design Of 2023 Panini Black Football Justify The Price? [Checklist Added]

What is the 2023 Panini Black Football release like?

Do you like football cards that have a lot of black in their design? Well, do we have news for you? The 2023 Panini Black Football release lives up to its name, with lots of black and football and is on our list as one of the best releases for October 2023.

How does it stack up in terms of value and overall quality? We have seen some erosion in the quality of Panini products since they lost their licenses to the NBA and NFL. Is this another one of those cautionary tales? Find out in our  2023 Panini Black Football Review.

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History of the 2023 Panini Black Football release

Like many other hobby innovations, this release’s roots can be traced to Upper Deck. Their release, 2009 UD Black Football, was a sharp-looking set with sleek black backgrounds for fantastic action shots.

It didn’t last in the Upper Deck roster, but a suspiciously similar product appeared in the Panini release schedule three years later.

The 2012 Panini Black Football release was undoubtedly one of the highlights of that year’s offerings. The designs were top-notch. That is no surprise; I mean, let’s face it. Black is a very cool color, and the designers delighted in bringing out light and shade in various ways.

But Panini also made an effort to render high-quality edges to the cards. As any hardcore collector knows, black edges show even the slightest chipping in a way no other color can duplicate.

Just take a look at 1971 Topps Baseball for the best-known example. But these stood up to a lot of punishment and got far better grades than you would expect from a black-edged release. The release also featured one of the best auto lists of any football release of the day.

Because of their notably high quality, Panini charged $180 per box, one of the highest prices. Better days, I know. Since then, Panini Black Football has had a regular place in the release schedule.

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 2023 Panini Black Football release date

We are happy that a 2023 NFL season product is coming out during the relevant season. Indeed, the 2023 Panini Black Football release comes pretty early in the season, currently scheduled for September 27th, which is a delightful surprise when you look at recent Panini and Upper Deck releases. Hopefully, this will become a broader trend for upcoming Panini releases.

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 2023 Panini Black Football formats

Panini Black Football was a high-end hobby box only released when it came into our lives. And though it is considered less prestigious today, it has remained loyal to its roots. That is good because no one wants to see Panini Black Football blasters at Walmart.

There have been First Off the Line (FOTL) box releases. But it is unclear if we will see one for 2023 Panini Black Football. Here are the specifications for the hobby box.

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Hobby Box  

  • 5 cards per pack
  • 1 pack per box
  • Look for 1 rookie patch autograph, 1 additional autograph, 1 memorabilia card, 1 base, and 1 parallel per box on average.
  • 12 boxes per case
  • A box presells for $449.95
  • A case presells for $5,299.95

 2023 Panini Black Football pros

The release has garnered some enthusiasm from collectors for the most recent designs. Particularly appealing is the use of shadow ink for the autographs. That is a type of inking that changes shades depending on the level of saturation. You don’t often see it in cards, but Panini Black Football offers an excellent use.

One remarkable feature of this release has always been the high level of inserts. This time, Panini has really outdone itself in this regard, at least if the few samples the company has released can be believed.

I would say this release may have the best inserts of any Panini product, and this year’s crop appears better than the super-high norm.

The other great advantage of this release is a guaranteed RPA. And Black RPAs are pretty darn sweet, at least in their appearance. We will examine their resale value later in this article.

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 2023 Panini Black Football Review Of The Cons

One persistent criticism of the Panini Black product is that it is not unique enough to warrant its release. There is a substantial similarity to Obsidian and Noir, two other Panini releases emphasizing darker color schemes.

And some collectors prefer the different choices to this one. However, I must say that I disagree. Overall, Black has better designs, and that seems doubly true in the 2023 Panini Black Football case.

We can all agree that the price for Panini Black Football is too high. It is currently selling for $450. That makes it uncomfortable between the fun low-end and super-valuable high-end cards.

Considering that this release doesn’t maintain the prestige it once had, that seems like a lot to pay; as one Blowout Forums user put it, “Beautiful cards. If the hobby crashes, I might even be able to afford some boxes in a few years.” I guess the good news is that the price is down somewhat. At the peak of the COVID-19 bubble, these boxes cost well over $500.

Due to the high price of the box, some collectors take offense at including a base card and a single miserable parallel in what should be a box with hits only.

This product is not meant for set collectors. There are only five cards per box, and only one is a base card. That makes the inclusion of these cards completely pointless.

Honestly, the existence of base cards here seems like an absolute waste. Still, I think the guaranteed RPA makes up for that. But what do I know?

Finally, Panini Black Football is known for having a lot of redemptions. The new release is not out yet, so it might be different this time. However, we have no reason to believe that it will be.

And is it that awesome to have a guaranteed RPA when it comes out as a redemption? We all know Panini has a severe problem with redemption backlogs. Also, we don’t know how long the company will be in business. They are going through it right now.

 2023 Panini Black Football checklist review

The base set consists of 242 cards, although we have already discussed the seeming lack of purposes of that set. And there is no need to have an extensive checklist for this release. Either way, 100 of those base card rookies.

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Parallels

The 2023 Panini Black Football release doesn’t have a vast array of parallels. But the very low-numbered ones have a fair market value. And the good news is no parallels are numbered below 75.

  • Royal – #/75
  • Sapphire – #/35
  • Citrine – #/25
  • Emerald – #/10
  • Gold – #/5
  • Platinum – 1/1

Inserts

We have said it before and will repeat it: Panini Black Football has killer inserts. I wish we had more pictures of the ones in the upcoming release. But the ones we can see are fantastic. Here is some info about the inserts included in this set.

Forcefield

The name of this insert says it all. It shows the player in action, with an impressive and colorful forcefield in the background. It’s nothing awe-inspiring conceptually, but it looks pretty good, like most cards in this product.

The problem is, Panini is pretending this is some big deal case hit. While the cards may be scarce, they aren’t all that desirable. The biggest sale I could find for one of these was a Trevor Lawrence for $511. But most of these sell for meager prices by case-hit standards.

Prolific

A new insert that seems aimless, displaying a player with an action shot and a close-up facial portrait. I am assuming the back shows some achievement, but the photo provided by Panini does not allow me to know for sure. Nonetheless, it is an attractive insert. But I can’t imagine it will have too much value.

Vanata

A new addition from last year, Vanata is about as uninspired an insert as this release features. I had no idea what the words meant, so I googled it. Turns out that Canada is eggplant in Romanian, so at least I learned something from this.

White Night

White Night is a superb insert. It reverses the night, making the sky white and the stars black. If that sounds dumb, it is, but it makes for a beautiful background for football action shots. Please don’t ask me why. It just does.

And unlike the Forcefield cards, these sell for decent prices and live up to their billing as case hits. With beauty and value, I wouldn’t be surprised if this set’s rookies are worth much more in one day.

Autos

There are two autos per box in the 2023 Panini Black Football. And they seem to be particularly attractive. So, there is a lot to look forward to here. The giant cards among these are easily the Rookie Patch Autographs that come one per box.

The great news is that all the autos here are on the card, using exceptionally high-quality ink, and are generally breathtaking.

Even the base ones are only numbered to 199 copies. But you can also get Royal (/99 or less), Citrine (/50 or less), Emerald (/25 or less), Gold (/10 or less), and finally, the biggest of all, Platinum (1/1) parallels. These aren’t the only types of RPAs the product offers.

You can also hit the Rookie Signature Materials cards. They have smaller material swatches but make up for it by having two different types. The base is numbered significantly lower at 99 copies and includes the following parallels: Royal (/75 or less), Citrine (/50 or less), Emerald (/25 or less), Gold (/10 or less) and Platinum (1/1) versions.

We are all less interested in the veteran autos, of course. But they have those, too. They include Capstones, Midnight Signatures, Shadow Ink, Smoke Show Signatures, and Spotlight Signatures.

The preview photo for the Shadow Ink auto, in particular, looks spectacular. One of the best-looking Panini cards I have ever seen. The Iconic Impact Ink also looks excellent, creating an acetate frame around the action pic, with a beautiful on-card auto right in the middle of the card. Yes, please!

Memorabilia

No one buys a box of 2023 Panini Black Football to score a bunch of memorabilia cards. But there is one in every box, so let’s hope for the best. They include Futuristic Rookie Influx and Starlight Materials.

Though they are not particularly valuable cards, they have that Panini Black Football magic working for them. In other words, they are beautiful cards and exceptionally incorporate the apparel into the design concept.

 2023 Panini Black Football Review Of Value

There aren’t many cards in these boxes. Therefore, they better be worth it, coming at $450 per box. Many people buy these boxes because they like the beautiful cards. But you want them to be worth something. Let’s see how they do in that regard.

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Wax

The price of these boxes has decreased slightly over the last two years. It is good that they are more affordable, but does it also reflect the falling value of the wax products from this line? Let’s crunch the numbers and find out.

ReleaseValue
2019 Panini Black Football Hobby Box$400
2020 Panini Black Football Hobby Box$825
2021 Panini Black Football Hobby Box$495
2022 Panini Black Football Hobby Box$489

The conclusion here is obvious. These boxes do not seem to appreciate much in value over time. The 2020 product is worth a ton (by comparison) because of the presence of Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow.

But that is more a comment on their tremendous potential than this release’s value. The bottom line is that these are not a good wax investment. Most years do not have quarterbacks that good, and in those years, you can find a better investment anyway. You don’t want to buy a $500 box of cards and see no discernible appreciation in value over four years.

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Singles

You can get some big hits from this product like the RPAs or case hit inserts. But as we know, having a big card in theory and one that sells for a firm price on the market are two very different things. So, do the big cards from Panini Black Football justify the high cost of entry? We already know the boxes don’t.

CardValue
2021 Panini XR Black 1/1 Patch Football Relic RC Auto DeVonta Smith Eagles (Raw)$650
2020 Panini Football Black Joe Burrow Rookie Silver Rookie Card /75 (PSA 9)$499
2022 Panini Black Football Aaron Rodgers Smoke Show Signatures /10 (Raw)$350
2021 Panini Black Football Troy Polamalu James Harrison Dual Auto /10 (Raw)$311
2020 Panini Black Football Justin Jefferson Rookie Jersey Auto /25 (Raw)$300

The high sales outside of case hits (which aren’t worth as much as case hits from other releases either) are not exceptionally high. It seems pretty unlikely that a single hit will make up the price of a box. Ultimately, these beautiful cards just aren’t worth all that much.

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Final word of the 2023 Panini Black Football release

There is a lot to like about this release. So many Panini products seem like afterthoughts and have poor or regurgitated designs. But the 2023 Panini Black Football is nothing like that. It has some genuinely fabulous designs and strong quality overall. You also get a guaranteed RPA, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Nonetheless, the value issue is challenging to get past. Put, Panini is pricing these boxes as if the product is more popular than it is. But the truth is that people do not particularly want to buy these boxes or invest a lot of money in Panini Black Football rookie cards.

Therefore, pricing these hobby boxes at $450 is a bit of a rip-off. I have also seen some breaks, and they were brutal. So, buy these if you want the beautiful cards. But don’t expect to get your money’s worth. You won’t.

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Full 2023 Panini Black Football checklist

For a full list of cards, see our 2023 Panini Black Football checklist, fully searchable and customizable.

wdt_ID Set Player Team Position Card Number Number of cards
1 2022 Panini Black Football - Capstones Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 1
2 2022 Panini Black Football - Capstones Gold Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 1
3 2022 Panini Black Football - Capstones Platinum Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 1
4 2022 Panini Black Football - Capstones Silver Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 1
5 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Antonio Gibson Washington Commanders RB 1
6 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Cooper Kupp Los Angeles Rams WR 2
7 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 3
8 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Gold Antonio Gibson Washington Commanders RB 1
9 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Gold Cooper Kupp Los Angeles Rams WR 2
10 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Gold Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 3
11 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Platinum Antonio Gibson Washington Commanders RB 1
12 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Platinum Cooper Kupp Los Angeles Rams WR 2
13 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Platinum Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 3
14 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Silver Antonio Gibson Washington Commanders RB 1
15 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Silver Cooper Kupp Los Angeles Rams WR 2
16 2022 Panini Black Football - Midnight Signatures Silver Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 3
17 2022 Panini Black Football - Smoke Show Signatures Earl Thomas III Seattle Seahawks S 1
18 2022 Panini Black Football - Smoke Show Signatures Gold Earl Thomas III Seattle Seahawks S 1
19 2022 Panini Black Football - Smoke Show Signatures Platinum Earl Thomas III Seattle Seahawks S 1
20 2022 Panini Black Football - Smoke Show Signatures Silver Earl Thomas III Seattle Seahawks S 1
21 Base Justin Fields Chicago Bears QB 1
22 Base Chase Claypool Chicago Bears WR 2
23 Base DJ Moore Chicago Bears WR 3
24 Base Cole Kmet Chicago Bears TE 4
25 Base Kyler Murray Arizona Cardinals QB 5
26 Base DeAndre Hopkins Arizona Cardinals WR 6
27 Base James Conner Arizona Cardinals RB 7
28 Base Marquise Brown Arizona Cardinals WR 8
29 Base Lamar Jackson Baltimore Ravens QB 9
30 Base Rashod Bateman Baltimore Ravens WR 10
31 Base Roquan Smith Baltimore Ravens LB 11
32 Base Mark Andrews Baltimore Ravens TE 12
33 Base Desmond Ridder Atlanta Falcons QB 13
34 Base Kyle Pitts Atlanta Falcons TE 14
35 Base Drake London Atlanta Falcons WR 15
36 Base Josh Allen Buffalo Bills QB 16
37 Base Stefon Diggs Buffalo Bills WR 17
38 Base Gabriel Davis Buffalo Bills WR 18
39 Base Brian Burns Carolina Panthers DE 19
40 Base Laviska Shenault Jr. Carolina Panthers WR 20
41 Base Joe Burrow Cincinnati Bengals QB 21
42 Base Ja'Marr Chase Cincinnati Bengals WR 22
43 Base Tee Higgins Cincinnati Bengals WR 23
44 Base Matthew Stafford Los Angeles Rams QB 24
45 Base Cam Akers Los Angeles Rams RB 25
46 Base Aaron Donald Los Angeles Rams DT 26
47 Base Cooper Kupp Los Angeles Rams WR 27
48 Base Deshaun Watson Cleveland Browns QB 28
49 Base Amari Cooper Cleveland Browns WR 29
50 Base Nick Chubb Cleveland Browns RB 30
51 Base Myles Garrett Cleveland Browns DE 31
52 Base Dak Prescott Dallas Cowboys QB 32
53 Base CeeDee Lamb Dallas Cowboys WR 33
54 Base Micah Parsons Dallas Cowboys LB 34
55 Base Courtland Sutton Denver Broncos WR 35
56 Base Jerry Jeudy Denver Broncos WR 36
57 Base Russell Wilson Denver Broncos QB 37
58 Base DJ Chark Jr. Carolina Panthers WR 38
59 Base Jared Goff Detroit Lions QB 39
60 Base Jameson Williams Detroit Lions WR 40
61 Base Amon-Ra St. Brown Detroit Lions WR 41
62 Base Brandin Cooks Dallas Cowboys WR 42
63 Base Dameon Pierce Houston Texans RB 43
64 Base Jordan Love Green Bay Packers QB 44
65 Base Romeo Doubs Green Bay Packers WR 45
66 Base AJ Dillon Green Bay Packers RB 46
67 Base Jonathan Taylor Indianapolis Colts RB 47
68 Base Michael Pittman Jr. Indianapolis Colts WR 48
69 Base Alec Pierce Indianapolis Colts WR 49
70 Base Trevor Lawrence Jacksonville Jaguars QB 50
71 Base Calvin Ridley Jacksonville Jaguars WR 51
72 Base Travis Etienne Jr. Jacksonville Jaguars RB 52
73 Base Justin Jefferson Minnesota Vikings WR 53
74 Base Kirk Cousins Minnesota Vikings QB 54
75 Base T.J. Hockenson Minnesota Vikings TE 55
76 Base Patrick Mahomes II Kansas City Chiefs QB 56
77 Base Isiah Pacheco Kansas City Chiefs RB 57
78 Base Travis Kelce Kansas City Chiefs TE 58
79 Base Chris Jones Kansas City Chiefs DT 59
80 Base Jimmy Garoppolo Las Vegas Raiders QB 60
81 Base Josh Jacobs Las Vegas Raiders RB 61
82 Base Davante Adams Las Vegas Raiders WR 62
83 Base Chris Olave New Orleans Saints WR 63
84 Base Alvin Kamara New Orleans Saints RB 64
85 Base Derek Carr New Orleans Saints QB 65
86 Base Daniel Jones New York Giants QB 66
87 Base Saquon Barkley New York Giants RB 67
88 Base Darren Waller New York Giants TE 68
89 Base Justin Herbert Los Angeles Chargers QB 69
90 Base Keenan Allen Los Angeles Chargers WR 70
91 Base Mike Williams Los Angeles Chargers WR 71
92 Base Jalen Hurts Philadelphia Eagles QB 72
93 Base DeVonta Smith Philadelphia Eagles WR 73
94 Base A.J. Brown Philadelphia Eagles WR 74
95 Base Jaylen Waddle Miami Dolphins WR 75
96 Base Tua Tagovailoa Miami Dolphins QB 76
97 Base Tyreek Hill Miami Dolphins WR 77
98 Base Trey Lance San Francisco 49ers QB 78
99 Base George Kittle San Francisco 49ers TE 79
100 Base Christian McCaffrey San Francisco 49ers RB 80
Set Player Team Position Card Number Number of cards
Shaiel Ben-Ephraim

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim is the emeritus editor of Cardlines. He continues to write for several hobby outlets, including this one and Cardbase. He collects primarily vintage baseball and soccer and has a weird obsession with 1971 Topps.

In his spare time, Shaiel is sobbing into his bourbon when the Mets lose and playing Dungeons and Dragons. In a past life, Dr. Ben-Ephraim was a political science professor, journalist, and diplomat. But cards are more fun.
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