The Immaculate Collection

I'm not a high-end breaker. If I spend three figures on cards it's usually a graded vintage single, not a box of new product containing 6 cards or less. But if I were a gambler, Panini Immaculate Collection would be my brand of choice.


Sometimes I wish I could talk myself into busting open one of these beauties. And then I search the prices at top retailers..
 
Three years ago, a box of 2018 Panini Immaculate Collection Football cost well over $600 - for 6 cards. And that was the sale price!



Instead of buying a box, I began to run a tab documenting all my purchases of Panini Immaculate singles. The goal was to acquire as many of these cards as possible for less than the cost of an actual box of Immaculate -- which now sells for ... 
 

Oh holy sh*t. My original plan was based on the 2018 prices for a six-card box, or even lower. I'd made an offer on an older box of Immaculate at $400 and it was declined. So... that's as close as I'll ever come to buying a box of this stuff.

Since I could theoretically buy hundreds of singles for less than $2,000 I'm going to set the bar at $400. What kind of Immaculate collection could I compile for that amount of money? Here, I'll show you:


Scherzer and Barnes are the only two Immaculate singles I've received from bloggers (Dennis and Gavin respectively).




Here's the total breakdown for baseball: 

2014Immaculate Swatches PatchrelicMax Scherzer49$0.00Dennis (TMV)
2015Shadowbox Signatures GoldautoMatt Barnes23$0.00Gavin (BCB)
2015Shadowbox SignaturesautoJosh Harrison99$2.25COMC
2016Immaculate Duals RedrelicDavid Ortiz15$13.00COMC
2017Immaculate CollectionbaseBuster Posey99$2.05COMC
2017Immaculate SwatchesrelicTommy Henrich99$2.97Beckett Market
2018Immaculate CollectionbaseJoe Jackson99$1.52COMC





$21.79baseball total


 

Gone but not forgotten: I flipped this Paul Waner relic on COMC for $10.13 before I'd officially begun hoarding Immaculate cards.

If Panini had an MLB license I'd have a lot more of these. Probably 25 or so, going by my totals in two other sports.














Here's the total breakdown for basketball:

2012-13Immaculate QuadsrelicBrooklyn Nets50$2.50COMC
2014-15Immaculate CollectionbaseLarry Bird99$2.88COMC
2014-15Immaculate CollectionbaseKyle Lowry99$1.15COMC
2014-15Immaculate StandardrelicGoran Dragic50$2.40COMC
2014-15Immaculate StandardrelicGary Harris75$2.02COMC
2014-15Immaculate StandardrelicBrook Lopez75$1.35COMC
2014-15Shadowbox SignaturesautoTom Chambers49$3.97COMC
2014-15Shadowbox Signatures GoldautoAlex English10$9.60COMC
2015-16Immaculate CollectionbaseGordon Hayward99$1.00COMC
2015-16Immaculate CollectionbaseDirk Nowitzki99$1.65COMC
2015-16Immaculate Coll. BronzeparallelTim Duncan49$3.25COMC
2015-16Immaculate Coll. BronzeparallelNerlens Noel99$0.78COMC
2015-16Immaculate Dual MemorabiliarelicDeMarre Carroll25$1.75COMC
2015-16Immaculate Memorabilia RedrelicAl Jefferson25$1.67COMC
2015-16Immaculate StandardrelicRay Allen75$4.90COMC
2015-16Immaculate StandardrelicSerge Ibaka75$1.15COMC
2015-16Shadowbox SignaturesautoDavid Thompson99$4.30COMC
2016-17Heralded SignaturesautoKenny Anderson99$6.00card show
2016-17Heralded SignaturesautoDan Majerle99$6.00card show
2016-17Historical SignifiganceautoRick Barry99$12.00card show
2017-18Immaculate Swatches GoldrelicXavier McDaniel10$7.30COMC
2018-19Marks of GreatnessautoHorace Grant99$15.00card show
2018-19Modern Marks GoldautoKevin Love10$15.00card show
2018-19 Immaculate SwatchesrelicChristian Laettner99$1.62COMC



total basketball (24)
$109.24

Outside of COMC these singles get more expensive. I don't mind paying a premium at a card show though.

 

Four Immaculate basketball cards I purchased are no longer in my collection. I flipped three of them on COMC, earning a grand total of $1.44 in profit (I should have just kept the cards) and I sent one to Kerry (Cards On Cards).

I've spent about two-thirds of the 'budget' on football singles.




My favorite subset/insert set under the Immaculate brand are the acetate relics from 2015 football. They're numbered to each player's uniform number, which makes certain players very tough to obtain.

 




I've got a lot more wide receivers than any other position, thanks to their traditionally high uniform numbers. That said, the lowest-numbered Immaculate Numbers relic in my collection is T.Y Hilton here.


Was this ArDarius Stewart Rookie Cleats card really sitting in a card show dollar box? Thankfully Dennis (TMV)  plucked it out and sent it to me.









Here's the total breakdown for football: 

2015Immaculate CollectionbaseLen Dawson99$0.95COMC
2015Immaculate CollectionbaseMarshall Faulk99$0.95COMC
2015Immaculate CollectionbaseAdrian Peterson99$1.75COMC
2015Immaculate CollectionbaseLaDanian Tomlinson99$1.22COMC
2015Immaculate CollectionbaseRoddy White99$0.88COMC
2015Immaculate Collection GoldparallelJulio Jones25$1.00COMC
2015Immaculate Collection GoldparallelMichael Strahan25$1.45COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicEric Dickerson29$14.27COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicAndy Dalton14$21.31eBay
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicSteve Smith Sr.89$10.00Beckett Market
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicJonathan Stewart28$10.13eBay
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicDerrick Brooks55$12.00COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicAdrian Peterson28$22.99Beckett Market
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicTim Brown81$5.00COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicJordy Nelson87$16.25COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicJulius Thomas80$2.12COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicJordan Matthews81$6.16eBay
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicLaDanian Tomlinson21$24.00eBay
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicT. Y. Hilton13$4.52COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicRoddy White84$1.95COMC
2015Immaculate NumbersrelicSteve Largent80$8.75COMC
2017Immaculate Rookie CleatsrelicArDarius Stewart15$0.00Dennis (TMV)
2017Immaculate CollectionbaseJohn Elway99$1.25COMC
2017Immaculate CollectionbaseEric Dickerson99$1.62COMC
2017Immaculate CollectionbaseBrett Favre99$2.20COMC
2017Immaculate PatchesrelicJordan Reed8$8.45COMC
2018Immaculate CollectionbaseLeonard Fournette99$0.95COMC
2018Immaculate CollectionbasePeyton Manning99$2.00COMC
2018Immaculate CollectionbaseDavante Adams99$1.12COMC
2018Immaculate CollectionbaseDrew Brees99$1.65COMC
2018Immaculate NumbersrelicTerrell Suggs55$2.50COMC
2018Immaculate PatchesrelicKeke Coutee25$1.99COMC
2019Immaculate Players GU/AUMorten Andersen99$26.66eBay
2021Immaculate NumbersrelicDavid Montgomery32$2.25COMC





$220.29football total


I flipped one football card on COMC: a Steve Largent gold parallel which earned another $1.34 in profit. 
 
 
 
 
Shoulda brought this one home, too.


Including cards I've flipped for a tiny profit on COMC (and the one card I sent to Kerry) I have spent a total of $369.32 on 72 Immaculate singles as of 12/24/22. There aren't any "sick hits" in my stack but I think it's a better value than a 6-card box - even at pre-Covid pries:






Thanks for reading!





~





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