Some Pretty Awesome Booklets from 2012-13 Panini Preferred

I don't have much to say about these, other than they're just really cool cards. 

Panini Preferred is a high-end, four-card-per-box product that made its debut last season. Each pox contains four one-card packs, which will combine to three serial-numbered autographed cards and one multi-jersey booklet card. I opened up a box of the product last year and pulled an eight-jersey booklet of NBA Hall-of-Famers.

This year, not wanting to spend that much money on this particular product, I decided to just cut out the middle man and purchase a couple booklets. It's much cheaper this way, as the following two booklets made it my way for a combined $25 shipped. Much cheaper than dropping $170 on a box, only to get one booklet.

"FINALS" - James Harden, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Lebron James 139/199
This features the top three players from each team participating in the 2012 NBA Finals. I like Both Kevin Durant and James Harden (who is a Houston Rocket now), but to me, what makes this card great is that they didn't skimp out on the Heat players. If you have three slots, you HAVE to go with their Big Three of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

"LOTTERY" - John Wall, Derrick Favors, DeMarcus Cousins, Al-Farouq Aminu, Gordon Hayward, Greg Monroe, Evan Turner 141/199
This card features seven players who were selected by lottery teams (the first 14) in the 2010 NBA Entry Draft, although these are not the first seven. The order goes: Wall (1), Turner (2), Favors (3), Cousins (5), Monroe (7), Aminu (8), and Hayward (9). The two left out of the first nine were Wesley Johnson (4) and Ekpe Udoh (6). Overall this proved to be a pretty weak draft, as only one player out of the 60 total selections has even been selected for an All-Star Game or All-NBA Team, which was Paul George, selected 10th overall.

I'm not sure if the booklet thing will stick around long-term, but with Preferred, Playbook (football), and Dominion (hockey), Panini is working their hardest to keep it going. Let's hope the trend continues, because these are some fantastic-looking cards at some incredibly reasonable prices.