Collectors can get nervous around highly anticipated sports card releases. And when the cost can be upwards of $1,000 for a single box of cards that is understandable. That brings the new release of the 2021 Panini National Treasures Collegiate Football Hobby Box being released on October 20, 2021. This release does hold many Treasures as its name would suggest, but that does not mean that the so-called “money cards” are assured to be in every box. With boxes already being shown pre-sale at over $1,000 it’s fair to ask if collectors will treat this new release as instant gold or if they will feel it’s a rip-off.

The 2021 Panini National Treasures Collegiate Football Trading Cards Box are effectively the top draft picks of the 2021 NFL Draft. Collectors are not guaranteed to get all of the players. Chasing the top draft prospects from the 2021 NFL Draft in College Materials and College Silhouettes Signatures should be half of the fun to some collectors. That said, with a high cost and with no guarantees, this may leave some collectors feeling a void.

Here are the facts about the release. Card dealers are limited to 5 boxes per transaction. Some dealers have already listed boxes on eBay ahead of receiving the boxes, and the prices are already over $1,000 per box.

According to Panini’s own description sheet, each Panini football trading card box “should have 7 autographs or memorabilia cards and 1 base or parallel on average.” Panini’s description also showed two more highlights verbatim:

• Chase the top draft prospects from the 2021 NFL Draft in College Materials and College Silhouettes Signatures!
• Also look for College Materials Signature Booklets of the top draft picks!

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means collectibles are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds or other traditional investments. Many collectibles now cost thousands of dollars, and a new collegiate football chase of this year’s top NFL draft players definitely fits that bill. Collectors with a passion to own a collectible for years have to compete directly against investors whose only desire is to make a profit in the future.

As for the chase, Trevor Lawrence is likely the top prospective card that collectors will want. The set also features players who went in the 2021 draft Zach Wilson (who was also shown to have a dual auto-card with Trevor Lawrence), Mac Jones, Jaylen Waddle, and Justin Fields. (Trevor Lawrence card image by Panini America)

As for what $1,000 gets you per box, there is 1 pack per box and 8 cards in each pack. Each case is made up of 4 boxes. The entire set size was represented to be 193 cards by Beckett data. The actual NFL draft of 7 rounds ended up being 259 total players drafted.

According to an outside report from StockX:

The set covers the incoming 2021 NFL Draft Class wearing their college uniforms, which means this is a rookie card-only product. While there is a base set checklist and base color-variation parallels, collectors are solely after the autographs and relics in this set, especially the Jumbo Rookie Patch Autographs that feature on-card signatures and large multi-colored pieces of the player’s game-worn college uniforms.

At the end of the day, whether or not collectors are happy with each one of these boxes is really just going to boil down to what cards are in each “chase.” This also comes with the reminder that a chase does not come with the guarantee of a catch.

(Box image by Panini America)