2024 Luminance Football Checklist: Shrouded By A Murky Mess 

2024 Luminance Football is coming soon but, pre-release, we have a lot of questions and concerns about the product – most of which are related to the ongoing fraction between Panini and Fanatics that’s nerfing the hobby as a whole.

In today’s review, we’ll try to answer those questions and more. 

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2024 Luminance Football introduction

Luminance 2024 drops September 20th, 2024, and it’s the first product to offer rookie autographs in their licensed NFL threads. (Score, of course, has college-uni autos). It’s not a high-end product and not one that has aged particularly well, but it’s an exciting product early-season.

Each box contains 3 autographs, 1 memorabilia card, 5 parallels and 12 rookie cards and they’re pre-ordering for $299. 

Let’s look at some of the drama for this year’s edition. 

What to expect from Luminance Football 2024 :

There’s a lot to like about Luminance Football 2024. This year, they changed the font. Thank the good Lord. The set boasts a fresh crop of rookies, giving collectors the opportunity to chase after highly coveted rookie cards from the 2024 NFL Draft.

Notable rookies like JJ McCarthey, Rome Odunze and Michael Penix Jr. are signing their first licensed autograph cards.

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But… that’s where the drama sets in.

At the time of writing this, there’s a lot of unknown.

For one, Caleb Williams seems absent entirely from the Score set. Not just autographs, either – I’m talking a complete no-show. So there’s potentially a “Caleb Williams is not working with Panini at all” bomb poised to drop. Or, perhaps, the checklist for Luminance comes out and he’s rookie #1. Who knows. 

On top of that, some of the autographs being teased are from athletes who are committed to work exclusively with Fanatics. We have preview images of the autographs of Rome Odunze a signer in this set, but he’s now Fanatics-exclusive.

He signed these cards before agreeing to work only with Fanatics, but how many other Fanatics-exclusive signers will have licensed NFL autos in this set? That list could include AD Mitchell, Malik Nabers, Brendan Rice, Jayden Daniels, Brian Thomas Jr., Xavier Worthy, and Drake Maye.

These athletes agreed to no more autos with Panini, but they could still have some in this set. And, if they do, having a licensed NFL-uni auto will be a big deal to investors. Those cards could/should go for a lot of money. 

Even, at the time of writing, Panini doesn’t seem to know what’s going on. They’re advertising “Joe Milton” as a key rookie for this set. 

But that’s not all. For the first time, Panini is including college athletes in the pool of autographs. This is not a good move — it’s desperation. The sales notes say: “2024 Luminance Football features some of the first on-card signatures from the standout members of the 2024 NFL Draft Class, freshly signed at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere.

Also look for autographs from some of the best to ever do it, too. NEW in 2024 – Look for NIL autographs from the following players: Arch Manning, Quinn Ewers, Jalen Milroe, Luther Burden III, Dylan Raiola, Julian Sayin and more!”

While Luminance serves as one of the NFL’s first officially licensed products of the season, it doesn’t come with much clarity. And, most importantly, this is not a major release. It’s a good release, sure. But it’s not top 10… maybe not even top 20. It’s just an early release that’s better than some surrounding it. The unanswered questions, at this point, are what’s keeping it interesting. 

A breakdown of parallels

Since there’s full-bleed photography, the parallels have to do with changing the foil that’s used to print the text and logos on the card. Here’s what to look for:

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• Base Luminance
• Base Luminance Gold – #’d /250
• Base Luminance Blue – #’d /150
• Base Luminance Green – #’d /100
• Base Luminance Orange – #’d /50
• Base Luminance Teal – #’d /35
• Base Luminance Red – #’d /25
• Base Luminance Pink – #’d /10
• Base Luminance Platinum – #’d 1-of-1
• Base Luminance Auto – Max #’d /150
• Base Luminance Gold Auto – Max #’d /100
• Base Luminance Blue Auto – Max #’d /50
• Base Luminance Green Auto – Max #’d /25
• Base Luminance Pink Auto – Max #’d /10
• Base Luminance Platinum Auto – #’d 1-of-1

Investing in sealed boxes

Disclaimer: at this point, with all the unknowns, it’s hard to figure out how to even think about investing in this product. But, considering the release price of $300 for 2024 Luminance, let’s at least look at the value of sealed Luminance boxes in recent years (as of 7/17):

• 2020: $440 (First release)
• 2021: $300
• 2022: $199
• 2023: $260

Bear in mind that all these boxes are complete with all the rookie autos except 2023. Fanatics has completely bombed the 2024 set, though, and a lot of the sales notes make it seem like Panini is struggling to scrape together a set.  

So what do we do with all this? Let’s talk singles. 

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Investing in Luminance singles

In the case of Luminance, there is only one card I’m potentially buying: licensed rookie autograph cards of players who are now committed to exclusively sign with Fanatics.

Again, as of 9/13, that list could include  AD Mitchell, Malik Nabers, Brendan Rice, Jayden Daniels, Brian Thomas Jr., Xavier Worthy, and Drake Maye.

There’s a world where this product is the only product that has an autograph of, say, Jayden Daniels in his NFL jersey. If that’s the case, that card could be worth a lot of money, just like the 2023 NFLPA CJ Stroud autos (pictured).

Other than that, though, I’m out on Luminance. This light has been extinguished by Fanatics to the point that I’m feeling bad for a company I constantly rag on. 

In conclusion: Rip, hot or pass?

Luminance is a reflection of the tough spot Panini has been put in. It’s not their fault, but the product has been bombed by an opposing force. 

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