Panini Mosaic started as a variant of the Prize line in 2016-17, but for the 2019-20 release they have dumped the Prizm name.  That doesn’t mean the dumped the “shiny” though!

The Breakdown

The 2019-20 Panini Mosaic checklist consists of 300 cards and is made up of a variety of rookies, veterans, and subsets.  One of the biggest draws of the set are the 50 rookies which range from 201-250 on the checklist.  In addition, 20 of those rookies also get a “NBA Debut” subset card.  Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and Coby White are three of the players with two rookie cards in the set. Fourteen rookies also have image variations which provide yet another chase for collectors.

There are 22 different parallels in the product with varying levels of scarcity.  Some are serial numbered and some are not.  Collectors should note, that some of the parallels such as Genesis are fairly limited even though they are not numbered.

The 300 card base set is robust, but Panini didn’t quit there.  Putting together a master set is going to be quite a challenge as there are 15 insert sets adding a total of 300 more cards!

The product released in both Retail and Hobby packaging and continued the recent trend of high prices on the secondary market.  $20 blaster boxes consistently sold for $50-$60 and $55 mega boxes sold for $150+ soon after release.  Hobby boxes had a MSRP of $120 but were selling for almost $700!  Many found it was hard to “get value” out of boxes at that price.

Autograph chasers will also be happy as they fall one per hobby box as well as in a more limited fashion in the retail packaging.

Box Break

On a recent trip to Wal-Mart I stumbled upon an employee restocking the card shelf and he had just put out the Mosaic!  I picked up a few boxes and ended up flipping a few and keeping this mega box for myself!

Here’s what was inside.

I think the Zion base card is the only one I’m going to keep for the PC, and I’ll be looking to sell the rest on eBay or Sportlots.  The Taco Genesis parallel is probably the best card in the box, but I anticipate the other parallels and rookies selling well.

Wrapping It Up

At MSRP this is a fantastic product.  A nice mix of rookies, vets, and legends make up a comprehensive base set, and a ton of cool inserts make this a solid product.  However, I can’t recommend paying the inflated secondary market prices which were seen immediately after release.  The value just isn’t there.  

Checklist

I recommend checking out the checklist on Trading Card DB