Hoops Hobby

In recent years, it’s a good bet that if I’m opening a blaster box or hanger packs, the product is going to be NBA Hoops. You get the most cards for the price, and it has a nice mix of inserts, rookies, and parallels. Does it feel repetitive in a lot of ways from year to year? Sure. But it’s the first opportunity to see new rookies in NBA uniforms. And this year, it actual feels different.

This year, Panini Hoops includes one Opti-Chrome card per pack, rather than releasing a separate Premium Stock product. I’m a fan of this because it feels like 2009-10 Topps, where Chrome cards were sought after because they were a part of the Flagship Topps release. And on the baseball side we’ve seen this with Bowman products for years, including Chrome versions of the prospect cards.

I’m also a fan of the 2024-25 design, which has more in common with base sets from the mid-2010s than it does with base set Hoops releases from the past few years.

I ordered a blaster on Target’s website ahead of time, but then I happened across one on the shelf in the store and I had to grab one, so I’ve now opened two blasters, and I expect to open more of this product while it’s readily available.

And from a Pacer collector perspective, this product has the first cards for second round draft picks Johnny Furphy, Enrique Freeman, and Tristen Newton. It’s going to be tough to hold off on buying autographs of these players right off the bat for my Pacers autograph project. But if you have any Furphy, particularly any Holo inserts, I’m interested.

I’m going to share the results of the first blaster box here- I won’t show every card because there’s 15 cards per pack, but I’ll show the rookies, inserts, parallels, and the most noteworthy base cards from each pack.

Pack 1

41 Bruce Brown, Raptors
62 RJ Barrett, Raptors
73 Peyton Watson, Nuggets
76 Kyle Lowry, 76ers
136 Jerami Grant, Trail Blazers
150 Max Strus, Cavaliers
161 Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors
178 Cole Anthony, Magic
202 James Harden, Clippers
255 Pacome Dadiet, Knicks RC
280 Bronny James Jr, Lakers RC
284 Nikola Jokic, Nuggets Tribute
Arriving Now 18, Kyshawn George, Wizards
Blue 133, Daniel Gafford, Mavericks
Opti-Chrome 157, Derrick Jones Jr, Mavericks

First pack wasn’t all that exciting, unless you’re a Mavs fan, or you are interested in picking up Bronny’s first NBA licensed rookie card.

Some good photography on some of these from the first pack, in particular the Watson. Not sure if Gobert’s distracted or if he’s just getting out of the way. Either way, it’s a fun shot.

I’m all for pulling inserts of the newest rookie class, but I think Panini’s taken the continuity too far.

I like the clean look of the Tribute cards. The Jokic is easily my favorite from the first pack.

Pack 2

36 Cameron Thomas, Nets
52 Andrew Nembhard, Pacers
60 Dennis Schroder, Nets (now with Pistons)
95 Bradley Beal, Suns
99 Jaden Ivey, Pistons
102 Jose Alvarado, Pelicans
114 Russell Westbrook, Nuggets (shown as Clipper)
140 Keldon Johnson, Spurs
172 Jayson Tatum, Celtics
181 Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
240 Cody Williams, Jazz RC
241 Matas Buzelis, Bulls RC
Rookie Greetings 1, Reed Sheppard, Rockets
Red /75 281, Luka Doncic, Mavericks Tribute
Opti-Chrome Green 122, Jaylen Brown, Celtics

First Pacer of 2024-25, and it’s Andrew Nembhard. He’s secretly (not so secret to Pacers fans) the key to this year’s team. He went out earlier in the season and the team completely fell apart. His perimeter defense and pushing the issue on offense is so critical. I’m a big fan. Oh yeah, we also have cards of Edwards and Tatum, they’re OK.

This was easily the best pack in the box. A couple of the better rookies in Buzelis and Sheppard, a Green Chrome Prizm of Jalen Brown – great looking card, and a Red numbered parallel /75 of Luka.

Another nice Mavericks card (I know he’s on the Lakers now).

Pack 3

47 Kelly Olynyk, Raptors (now with Pelicans)
81 Paul George, 76ers (shown as Clipper)
129 Malcolm Brogdon, Wizards (shown as Blazer)
141 Stephen Curry, Warriors
163 Jalen Suggs, Magic
170 Jabari Smith Jr, Rockets
189 Terance Mann, Clippers (since traded to Hawks)
212 Brice Sensabaugh, Jazz
215 Nick Smith Jr, Hornets
270 Oso Ighodaro, Suns
277 Antonio Reeves, Pelicans
290 Zion Williamson, Pelicans Tribute
Blue 163, Jalen Suggs, Magic
Pure Players 3, Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
Opti-Chrome Silver 202, James Harden, Clippers

This pack is brought to you courtesy of Little Caesars.

That’s a lot of players in a jersey that is not their current team. The Joker is again my favorite from this pack, although a Silver Harden is nice. I need some of the Holo inserts, soon. They are just such an improvement on the regular versions.

I had to show the Nick Smith Jr since my younger son (5) loves, and I mean LOVES, the Hornets, bless him.

Pack 4

8 Jarrett Allen, Cavaliers
12 Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
70 Brandin Podziemski, Warriors
84 Tyrese Maxey, 76ers
158 Nicolas Batum, Clippers (shown as Sixer)
159 Anthony Black, Magic
164 Paolo Banchero, Magic
182 LaMelo Ball, Hornets
208 Mitchell Robinson, Knicks
251 Yves Missi, Pelicans RC
276 Cam Christie, Clippers RC
295 Matas Buzelis, Bulls Tribute RC
Frequent Flyers 8, Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
Purple 250, Jaylon Tyson, Cavaliers RC
Opti-Chrome 90, Cameron Johnson, Nets

Through four packs I have four Jokic cards. I’m not opposed to this, other than the fact that Jokic count is 4 and Pacer count is 1. The Buzelis is a nice card, probably the nicest in the pack.

I’m going to say, partly because I want my 5 year old son to be happy, but also because I actually think he should have made it – LaMelo should have been an All-Star. The fans wanted him there (#1 in voting), the players wanted him there (#3), and shouldn’t that be enough to get him in? The media has him #7, because of course they do, which drops him down to only the #3 guard, and he doesn’t make it at all. Don’t Hornets fans deserve some joy? They can’t even trade for Dalton Knecht.

Pack 5

46 Nicolas Claxton, Nets
49 T.J. McConnell, Pacers
58 Tobias Harris, Pistons (shown as 76er)
121 Lauri Markkanen, Jazz
144 Andre Jackson Jr, Bucks
151 Amen Thompson, Rockets
154 Grayson Allen, Suns
166 Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
185 Jacob Poeltl, Raptors
258 Ryan Dunn, Suns RC
275 Jamal Shead, Raptors RC
286 Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves Tribute
Skyview 23, Zaccharie Risacher, Hawks RC
Blue 297, Tim Duncan, Spurs Tribute
Opti-Chrome 228, Derrick Lively, Mavericks

Opening a T.J. McConnell card makes this a winning pack right away. Add to that a parallel of one of my main PC players (Duncan), and this is a great pack for me.

It’s impossible to read the name on the Jazz cards. Surely that had to be noticed prior to printing these. Fortunately I recognize Markkanen without needing to see the name, but the Jazz rookies, I don’t.

I saw the Jacob Poeltl and thought, he’s been around a long time. Well guess what, he’s in his 10th season at the age of 29 and is averaging a double double for the Raptors putting up the best stats of his career (14 and 10). My goodness.

Seeing the Risacher as card #23 of an insert set makes me realize how large some of these insert sets actually are. Still yet to open a Holo insert, though.

Pack 6

54 Saddiq Bey, Wizards
55 Jamal Murray, Nuggets
66 CJ McCollum, Pelicans
82 Evan Mobley, Cavaliers
111 De’Aaron Fox, Kings (now with Spurs)
127 Anfernee Simons, Trail Blazers
132 Al Horford, Celtics
188 Marcus Smart, Grizzlies (now with Wizards)
205 Jalen Johnson, Hawks
247 Dalton Knecht, Lakers
272 KJ Simpson, Hornets RC
281 Luka Doncic, Mavs Tribute
Arriving Now 24, Rob Dillingham, Timberwolves
Rookie Remembrance Relics, Donovan Mitchell, Jazz
Opti-Chrome 115, Luka Doncic, Mavs

Does a player worn/used flashback relic count as last pack magic? For a Hoops blaster, I’ll say yes. The design on this one I do like. Feels like a 90s Skybox card with a jersey swatch added to it.

After watching the Pacers play the Cavs in back-to-back games semi-recently, Mobley is absolutely a huge reason the Cavs have leveled up this season. He himself has leveled up, in a big way. Even with the gaudy record, I wasn’t scared of the Cavs, until I saw them play with Mobley. Now I legitimately think they can beat the Celtics in the playoffs.

Some final counts from this blaster. Out of 90 cards and 6 packs:

5 Mavericks parallels
4 Jokic
3 Doncic
2 Pacers
1 Numbered card
1 Player worn relic card
0 Holo inserts

I won’t do many posts like these, well, because I don’t open too many boxes or packs these days. But I will post the results of the other blaster (spoiler: it wasn’t as good as this one), and two hanger packs (one of the hanger packs beat the blaster).

I enjoyed this break. The addition of the Opti-Chrome cards as one-per-pack really adds value to the product. The variety of inserts and parallels made me excited to see what was in the back of every single pack. I don’t expect every blaster would be this way, but I didn’t feel like I just threw away my money like I have after most blasters I’ve opened in the last 5 years.

Lastly, send me your Furphy cards. I like his game from the little action with the Pacers I’ve seen. He doesn’t shy away from the action, which is half the battle. And I’ll probably try to grab the Pacers team set of Opti-Chrome and Silver Prizms.