Pack Break - 10-11 Donruss Basketball

Over the last week I've had a little more downtime thanks in part to the winter area slowing things down.  In that downtime I've read on several blogs review of Panini's latest basketball release (Donruss).  I've been so intrigued that I just had to try a pack for myself.  Stopping one more @ Walmart for some sinus medicine I noticed the card aisle had some new product to choose from.  I finally saw the 2010/11 Donruss basketball cards.  I had rack packs and blasters to chose from.

I was never good in math growing up, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what the better deal was.  Rack pack yield 40 cards at the cost of $4.99.  Blasters have 10 packs with 8 cards for a total of 80 cards at the cost of $19.99.  As far as I could tell the inserts and odds were the same so I went with a rack pack.  I do love how Panini prices their rack packs for their various products.  Topps could learn a thing or two.

This probably marks the first pack of basketball cards I've bought period in the last 15 years (at least).  Ever since the old Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans I lost the desire to follow the NBA.  Recently however I have started to watch a few Charlotte Bobcats games and it's been fun.  With baseball season still a few months away and the NFL slowly wrapping up it's season I've found the occasional basketball game fills that sports gap rather well.  It helps that the local team has played much better since Larry Brown exited as coach with Paul Silas running the show.  Perhaps Michael Jordan's hands on approach is starting to make a difference?

Anyhow, back to the cards.  This is a card blog after all!  So I'm getting 40 cards for 5 bucks sporting an old school design that is very attractive.  I won't bother scanning in the base cards as plenty of other outlets on the web have covered those already, but I will share any hits I get (if any).  I'll start off with the top half of the rack pack.

#067 Andrew Bogut
#025 Andre Iguodala
#082 Aaron Brooks
#039 Joakim Noah
#096 Hasheem Thabeet
#054 Jonas Jerebko
#110 Tony Parker
#159 D.J. Augustin
#118 Kenyon Martin
#166 Dwayne Wade
#124 Darko Milicic
#171 Juwan Howard

#060 Dwight Howard - Production Line jersey (056/399)
#034 Al Horford - Production Line
#091 Aaron Brooks - Production Line
#211 Sasha Vujacic
#281 New Orleans Hornets Team Checklist
#207 Andrew Bynum
#236 Gordon Hayward - Rated Rookie
#280 Memphis Grizzlies Team Checklist
#223 Omri Casspi

Alright, a hit from a retail pack!  Only having watched a handful of games last season and this season I'm not familiar with a lot of the players, but the basic design (front and back) are enough to keep me interested.  Pulling a jersey card of a high profile player is a big plus.  Let's open the bottom half of the rack pack now and see what else we'll get.

#100 Trevor Ariza
#058 Tayshaun Prince
#016 Amar'e Stoudemire
#073 Drew Gooden
#030 Leandro Barbsosa
#116 Al Harrington
#164 Derrick Brown
#122 Kevin Love
#169 Mario Chalmers
#126 Corey Brewer
#172 Carlos Arroyo

#088 C.J. Watson - Production Line Emerald die-cut
#053 Jose Calderon - Production Line
#011 Gilbert Arenas - Production Line
#204 Derek Fisher
#294 Checklist
#257 Lazar Hayward - Rated Rookie
#215 Robin Lopez
#275 Miami Heat Team Checklist
#242 Larry Sanders - Rated Rookie

Thankfully I already knew about the die-cut cards in this product otherwise I would have thought that card of C.J. Watson was severely miscut!  Not a bad pack at all.  I don't feel jipped and it was fun opening the pack.  Will I buy more?  Maybe.  I can see the draw with this set as Panini has done a very good job in my opinion.  Now if only Panini could score a MLB license and give Topps some competition.  I've love to see the Donruss brand back on the baseball card scene.