Of the myriad lessons we learned last year from the debut release of Flawless Basketball, perhaps none was more poignant than this: Diamonds, as it turns out, are not just a girl’s best friend. They’re a pretty big hit with high-end basketball collectors, too. Even now, almost a year after the groundbreaking release of 2012-13 Flawless Basketball, diamond-embedded base cards from that inaugural release remain in serious demand. And that bodes extremely well for the upcoming release of 2013-14 Flawless Basketball.
No one will argue with the fact that the premiere Flawless release left some gigantic shoes to fill for the follow-up. For the last 11 months, the Panini America Basketball Product Development Team has been diligently preparing a sequel designed not just to to meet those heightened expectations, but to exceed them. And that’s why you’ll notice more precious gems in 2013-14 Flawless Basketball (diamonds and emeralds have been joined by rubies and sapphires). Another development? The incorporation of even larger diamonds in the set’s 1/1 parallels. When you’re talking about diamonds, size absolutely matters — and bigger is better.
Base diamond cards are numbered to 20, rubies are numbered to 15, sapphires are numbered to 10 and emeralds are numbered to five. The 1/1 diamond masterpieces speak for themselves. In the stunning preview gallery that follows, we showcase a sparkling ensemble of 2013-14 Flawless Basketball’s jewel-embedded gems for your weekend viewing pleasure. We still have plenty to showcase before Flawless releases, but we figured this dazzling sneak peek would be enough to keep folks buzzing for a while.
Enjoy, and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional coverage.
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