2024-25 Panini National Treasures Basketball Release Preview
For Basketball card collectors, there are a few releases each year that are worth circleing, and National Treasures Basketball is usually going to be one of them. This year, it is no different. The 2024-25 edition of the product will be hitting shelves on Friday, August 15th. This will be the final National Treasures release prior to Topps gaining the NBA license in October, so fans of the product may be feeling some extra nostalgia for this year's release.
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The box setup stays true with prior year's releases. There will be 9 cards per pack, with only 1 pack per box. Of the 9 cards, 4 will be autographed, 4 will contain memorabilia, and 1 base card will also be present. If a collector decides they want to go out and get a case, 4 boxes will be in a case, also keeping with prior configurations. The current price point for a box is not known at the time of writing, so collectors will likely have to wait until release time to see how much a box will cost.
The base checklist features 100 cards, all of which are numbered to only 75 copies. Given the high-end nature of the product, the base checklist does feature the who's who in the NBA, including names such as Lebron James, Stephen Curry, and Victor Wembanyama. Parallels can also be found of the base cards, including Royal (/25), Pink (/15), Gold (/10), Emerald (/5), Amethyst (/3) and Platinum (/1). For set builders, this would be a very difficult set to put together, given it's limited nature, in addition to the fact only one base card is included per pack.
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One of the biggest chases in the product comes from the autographs collectors can pull. National Treasures is most famous for it's Rookie Patch Autographs, which can sell for good money on the open market, depending on the player and the patch located in the card. One interesting autograph subset in this year's product includes triple autographs, which feature players either currently on the same team, or that played together at one time. Some of the notable triple autographs that can be found include: Kyrie Irving/Klay Thompson/Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard/Giannis Antetokounmpo/Kris Middleton. Other legendary autographs can also be pulled from NBA legends such as Larry Bird, Dwyane Wade, John Stockton, and David Robinson among others.
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Collectors will also be on the lookout for memorbila chases in the product, most notably the potential to pull Logomen and Laundry Tags. The logomen cards feature a player with the NBA logo that was located on their jersey as the relic in the card, while the laundry tags feature another piece of their jersey that is not the usual colors that are typically seen. These types of memorabila cards can often command a strong following, and have great eye appeal.
With the release of National Treasures Basketball coming up for the hobby, it will be interesting to see what major cards are pulled, and how they impact the overall Basketball market. National Treasures always seems to command a strong following, given it's high end nature. Collectors who look for a particular player are also likely to have their eye on this set, as National Treasures Basketball only comes once a year. The set is scheduled to release on Friday, August 15th, and boxes can be found on the Panini America website and other retailers.
Dylan is a collector based in Central Pennsylvania, and sports fan rooting for the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Pirates, and LA Lakers. He is currently attempting to collect a complete run of Topps flagship sets across football, baseball, and basketball. He is passionate about the history of the hobby including its continual growth and evolution.