At $40,000 for 10 cards, Panini Eminence Basketball returns with a bang

Ultra high-end product is back after multi-year hiatus, offers chase for coveted Logoman cards

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Boxes of 2024-25 Panini Eminence Basketball will feature nine autograph cards and one memorabilia card, on average. (Credit: Panini)

Panini America’s most ultra high-end product made its return Monday after a multi-year hiatus with a retail price of $39,999.95 per box.

Releasing for the first time since the 2021-22 set, boxes of 2024-25 Panini Eminence Basketball feature a single 10-card pack containing nine autographs and one memorabilia card, on average.

In addition to Rookie Patch Autographs, including the highly coveted Logoman, Eminence contains cards with diamonds and bars of real silver, gold or platinum.

Known for on-card autographs and game-used memorabilia, Panini’s Eminence brand is among the most expensive and high-end products ever released by any manufacturer.

The Eminence brand made its debut with 2014-2015 Eminence Basketball, and similar to releases for 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Basketball ($500 per box) and 2012-13 Panini Flawless Basketball ($1,000), stunned collectors with a retail price of $6,000 per box,

Along with Monday’s release of Eminence Basketball, Panini is expected to release 2024 Eminence Football in October. A retail price isn’t currently listed for that set, though retailer Blowout Cards has a placeholder price of $22,999.95 per box.

Eminence cards carry a significant premium on the secondary market due to their high-end designs, game-used patches and on-card autographs.

According to data tool Card Ladder, the record sale for any Eminence card at public auction is the $150,072 paid for the 2022 Panini Eminence FIFA World Cup Lionel Messi Optimum Patch Autograph 1/1 at Goldin in 2024.

The record for a sealed case of Eminence on the secondary market is the $66,000 paid for a box of 2017 Eminence Basketball dedicated exclusively to Kobe Bryant — that set, which received input from Bryant, featured a 234-card checklist chronicling his Hall of Fame career.

Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.