One
of my favorite sets of the year is Panini’s 2014 Prizm World Cup, which came
out in May. I am a huge soccer fan and every four years during the World Cup I
am in heaven so this set is ideal for me.
I
have not been a big fan of Panini’s Prizm releases, they just never sat well
with me, but the collaboration of soccer and Prizm works well here. I dig this
release and have decided to put together a set, something I have not done in many years. The set itself is not huge and consists of the base set
(201 cards), ten inserts (210 cards total) and three autograph sets (62 cards
total) for a total of 472 total cards on the checklist. I plan on skipping the
autographs for now so the 411 base card/insert set shouldn’t be too difficult to
put together. I may pick up a hobby box but so far I have been slowly building
the set using hanger boxes and singles.
As
I entered my cards in to Zistle I noticed that the base set was added but
nothing else. Zistle uses “Set Experts” to keep individual sets up to date and
complete as possible and there was not a set expert for the 2014 Prizm World Cup release so I applied and was accepted. I put in some serious time this
weekend and was able to complete the entire checklist for the release. As I was
verifying the checklists I noticed the total amount of cards on the checklist
is an insane 5,688 cards.
I
feel sorry for the completest set collectors who need every single card an all
of its parallels. The main 472 cards are manageable but the problem here, as
with most modern sets, is that there are tons of parallels. Most of the cards
have 10-12 parallels with some, the Black and El Samba parallels, limited to
1/1, there are also parallels limited to #/5, #/7, #/10, #/25, #/99, #/149 and
#/199.
This
product is made for the set collector and the positive thing about collecting
this set is that there have been so many cases busted, Panini actually sold out,
that you can pick up base cards cheap on the secondary market. It is actually
cheaper to pick up a lot of 20-25 cards for $5 than it is to purchase a $20
hanger box with 24 cards. It is going to take some time but I look forward to the challenge.
hanger boxes are the way to go if you want inserts. Here, packs are $6, but hanger boxes are 4 packs for $20. $5 a pack. So they're cheaper, and unlike hobby boxes, have two inserts in each pack. The auto odds are the same.
ReplyDeletetougher to build a base set, but give you more colours and parallels...
I didn't think about that. My local Walmart only has the hanger boxes so they were the only thing I have opened, I didn't even look at the inserts odds versus a hobby box.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on this set, Corky. I bought a hanger box at a local Target, and when I saw the dizzying array of parallels in the set, I threw up my hands and said "the heck with it" or something stronger but like that. Just too many parallels and a pretty expensive set to put together.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck on your set. I went to the wholesalers and considered buying a box of this stuff, but I just couldn't get myself to drop $95. I ended up grabbing two boxes of the sticker boxes instead.
ReplyDelete