After a fine showing at the NBA All-Star game where they proudly displayed the largest game-used trading card and introduced their new NBA trading card game – Adrenalyn, Panini is back with another loaded release 09-10 Certified reports Card Corner Club. 

If you would like a box of 09/10 Panini Certified Click Here.

The 10-pack box contains four big hits and lots and lots of glossy, shiny cardboard. Priced at about $85 per box Certified is a parallel collectors dream set. Its rainbow-colored variants have always been a favorite of collectors and so have the multi-level Fabric of the Game inserts. There are enough variations to make the most level-headed collector crazy – in a good way! The set also contains exclusive Kobe Bryant memorabilia and hard-signed Kobe autographs!

The NBA version of Certified is a 200-card set featuring 150 of today’s best players, 20 retired players and 30 autographed memorabilia rookie cards #’d to 399. In addition to the parallels and Fabric of the Game inserts, there are dual memorabilia cards in the Shirt Off My Back set. There are additional insert series including Gold Team, Certified Champions and Certified Imports.

Parallels, Parallels & More Parallels
Mirror Red, Mirror Blue, Mirror Black, they are numbered, they are limited and they span the entire Certified collection. Base set Red are #’d to 250, Blue to 100, Gold to 25, Emerald to 5, and Black to 1. Red Rookies are #’d to 100 and Blue to 50, Gold to 25 or less, Emerald to 5 or less and Black to 1. For a complete product breakdown, visit the Panini America website.

A lone box will provide only 29% of the base set and that’s without the veterans or rookie cards. I think that’s one of the better elements of Certified; to build a set you can choose to delve in a single level or multiple ones to achieve completion. However, completing the parallels will be a massive undertaking. It can also be a costly addition to your collection, but I can understand how many collectors enjoy this brand because the cards have always been stunning. This year is no different. Top notch NBA photos are framed in a chrome, black and white frame and the colors jump off the stock. The backs contain stats framed within a design that uses the featured player’s team colors.

Pretty much every pack has a hit in it, whether it is a parallel, insert, memorabilia or autographed card. Here’s what was in my box: 44 of the 150-card base set and…

3 – Mirror Red Parallels
#41 – Rudy Fernandez – 78/250
#95 – Samuel Dalembert – 143/250
#148 – Caron Butler – 135/250

1– Mirror Blue Parallels
#139 – Michael Beasley – 73/100

1 – Freshman Fabric Rookie Mirror Red
#178 – Brandon Jennings – 98/100

1 – Certified Imports
#5 – Hasheem Thabeet – 91/500

1 – Certified Imports Mirror Blue
#13 – Yao Ming – 35/100

1 – Fabric of the Game
#FOG-KB – Kobe Bryant – 144/250

1 – Fabric of the Game NBA Die-Cut
#FOG-PP – Paul Pierce – 7/50

1 – Certified Champions Materials
#23 – Paul Pierce – 83/99

Final Thoughts: As a fan of the Celtics/Lakers rivalry, this box delivered on all counts. Two amazing Pierce cards and his West Coast rival Kobe Bryant were all solid pulls, but without question the card of the box is the Brandon Jennings auto/gu/rookie. The Bucks rookie remains among the top 3 rookie stars in NBA.com’s T-Mobile rookie report, he was named Rookie of the Month for January 2010, and he’s averaging 18 PPG in 50 games. I’d say from the cards I unpacked that this box contained Certified NBA excellence. Thanks to Panini for providing the product for review.