Panini Instant is here for the NFL.
Panini America revealed the design for 2016 Panini Instant NFL and launched the real-time card set on Thursday with a card of Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton just hours before his team’s season-opening rematch with the defending-champion Denver Broncos.
It’s pretty obvious who won and who lost after Super Bowl 50 on Sunday night without a glance at the scoreboard that read Broncos 24, Panthers 10.
The storybook finish happened for one, an emergence for another. And for the losing team we saw the best and the worst possibilities — for guys who have plenty of good and now bad potential on cardboard. Here’s a rundown …
Von Miller — Not long ago he was a guy coming off a suspension and an ACL tear, but on Sunday night the Broncos LB became one of a handful of defensive stars named the Super Bowl MVP. He recorded six tackles, two forced fumbles and two sacks for a loss of 27 yards. His strip of Cam Newton in the fourth quarter set up the final score of the game. Miller’s Rookie Cards can be found in 2011 boxes and he’s undoubtedly seen an uptick in interest simply because defensive stars are often overlooked. Will it last? Probably not, but he’ll always have the MVP award in the record book. It will help, though, if he remains in Denver.
As part of the unending pre-Super Bowl coverage, fans will inevitably hear more about a guy who’s not been seen on cardboard much in recent years.
It’s Carolina Panthers tackle Michael Oher — the subject of The Blind Side, an Oscar-nominated film from 2009 that starred Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw as his adopted parents.
Oher was a first-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2009 and was a member of the 2013 Baltimore Ravens, which won it all. But since then he’s battled injuries and was released by the Tennessee Titans before the Panthers came calling. His story being revisited could spark added interest in his football cards.
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It’s a simple idea, but Buzz thought it should come to life.
With all of the game-used touchdown balls from the Carolina Panthers heading into the stands to young fans this season, wouldn’t there also be a football fan or two out there interested in a game-used ball card like this one? (I mean, look at the kid in the Auburn hat. You know he’d want one right about now.)
Buzz grabbed an old (admittedly low-res) Prestige card image of the likely NFL MVP Cam Newton from eBay and meshed it with a new photo to create this what-if card and simply present the following question.
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It’s a simple idea — and really something that’s already pretty commonly done just without the power of a timely and topical photograph. Something tells Buzz that a card like this would be popular right now — maybe even moreso in a couple of weeks if (or is it when?) the Panthers win Super Bowl 50. Or, perhaps there could be a set even more specifically branded to footballs for Panthers fans with a photo of Newton handing the ball toward the camera lens? Maybe a card in a commemorative Super Bowl championship set — or the key item in a kid-focused release.
Just an idea. This kid knows he’d want one.
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>> Click here to shop for football boxes on BlowoutCards.com.
Super Bowl 50 is less than two weeks away, but the commemorative cardboard is already here.
Topps revealed on Monday a pair of Super Bowl 50 team sets — 5-by-7 jumbo cards for each team that will be limited to just 50 serial-numbered copies per set.
We’re down to four NFL teams and we get a marquee matchup in the AFC Championship Game between quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
Plenty has and will be said about that one — and we have a likely league MVP playing in the NFC title game in Cam Newton — but we simply have a different question here.
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Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
>> Click here to shop for football boxes on BlowoutCards.com.
The Atlanta Falcons took a 7-7 record into their game against the undefeated Carolina Panthers on Sunday and thanks to one guy’s one big play they recorded their biggest win of the season.
The player was WR Julio Jones and the play was a 70-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter — the biggest part of a nine-catch, 178-yard day. Jones has been one of the better receivers in the league, but this is one play for the highlight reels that could live on for some time.
His Rookie Cards can be found back in 2011 products and, in general, his autographs aren’t all that plentiful. Combine that with interest from his past Alabama Crimson Tide fans and some of those early cards can be tougher to find.
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Keep reading for four more guys who generated some buzz on the field this week. (Note: This was published before the late games this week.)
It doesn’t take much for a running back to establish himself quickly these days — and it doesn’t take much for one to fade into obscurity, either — but one started that two-part journey with a big arrival game of sorts under the Sunday Night Football spotlight.
It’s Arizona’s David Johnson, who ran for a league-leading 187 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-17 win over the Eagles.
It was his third straight week of 92 yards or more but he’d gone scoreless in those other games, leaving him off Buzz’s radar — also probably since he’s a Cardinal, not on a team that gets much hobby attention. You can find his RCs throughout this year’s NFL lineup from Panini America and Topps. For the season, he has 517 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
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Keep reading for four more guys who generated some buzz on the field this week.
As the season winds down (and fantasy season’s like Buzz’s are flat-out over), some players are in situations where it’s just about tallying their stats to see how it ends. Others have postseason potential, but for the stars on those teams — like the undefeated Panthers and QB Cam Newton — the expectations are set and they are set high.
With an undefeated team, it goes without saying that Newton is a player to watch this week and you should’ve been eyeing his Rookie Cards from 2011 for some time now.
Keep reading for four more players to watch …
Buzz-worthy or bust-worthy — those might be the labels thrown around this week depending on what Cleveland’s Johnny Bench Football does as starter for the Browns.
Johnny Manziel has probably been a disappointment to many considering where his cardboard ranked among his rookie peers last year but this week’s game could end up being a coming out party showing or one where the moralists and scouts say “I told you so” before they bail on his cardboard.
Love ’em or hate ’em, Manziel is one to watch against the San Francisco 49ers. Keep reading for four more …
Gary Barnidge is in the midst of a career year with the Cleveland Browns — and he might be the team’s only weapon on offense considering the craziness that is the quarterback spot for that 2-10 disaster.
The tight end is eight years into his NFL career — he was a fifth-round pick out of Louisville in 2008 — and has 60 catches for 817 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Before this year? Just 44 receptions for 603.
He signed a new contract with the team today, but there are two things he can’t buy with that new cash.
With the Patriots jettisoned from the unbeaten ranks, all eyes are on MVP candidate Cam Newton as his 11-0 Carolina Panthers take on the high-powered offense and no-powered defense of the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon.
Newton has thrown for 2,466 yards and 20 touchdowns this season, scoring seven more times on the ground. His 2011 Rookie Cards have to be among the most-watched right now, too, with Topps Chrome and Panini Contenders autos among perennial favorites with more tradition-minded collectors who can’t swing for the high-end brands. (Or maybe that’s just Buzz.)
Something wants Buzz to call an upset here because the Saints have potential on offense, but … we’ll see.
Keep reading for four more guys to watch on Sunday.
Josh Norman is a cornerback for the 7-0 Carolina Panthers and in his fourth season after being drafted 143rd overall to of Coastal Carolina back in 2012.
And if he’s anything like most other defensive players in the NFL he’s not on the minds of that many collectors.
Champ Bailey knows a bit about playing cornerback in the NFL, though, as a 12-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of the Hall of Fame’s All-2000s team. He sees big money in Norman — enough for us to wonder if he might be a football card collector.
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