First Impressions: 2022 Paninin Diamond Kings

I found myself at the local Wally World, and of course I stopped to look at the card aisle. Funds were low, but not low enough that I couldn't grab a small pack. Options were limited in that area, and I settled on a hanger pack of 2022 Panini Diamond Kings, which really has been the only Panini product that I've been able to enjoy somewhat. The set has been going downhill for years though, so I wasn't expecting much more than a brief card-ripping adrenaline rush. 

I entered self checkout and scanned my pack. You really want my first impression? It was:

Oh, hell no!

From WM's web site, but you get the gist...

 

I get inflation would cause an increase in the hobby, but this is beyond ridiculous! I couldn't justify paying that much for 20 cards of low-end unlicensed cardboard. I don't know if you ever had the experience of calling over an associate to take a pack of cards off the register, but it's a weird feeling.

Still, I was curious as to what the cards looked like, what Red Sox would make an appearance, etc. so I hopped over to the TCDB and looked up the set. I've never been so happy with a decision to not buy cards. This set looks awful. Rather than keep with the Diamond King "brand" they basically turned it into an offshoot of their Mosaic line.

 

 

You get your base cards. Granted, there's some interesting cards in there, like Hall of Famer Mule Suttles. (Underrepresented Negro League players are always welcome, at least in their case I can justify Panini rehashing the same photo over and over). The design is a little more bold than what I expect from PDK. I think if they went with just orange and green I could live with it, but that blue in the corner clashes.

Then comes the first block of rookies, and the set takes a sharp turn into this:

 

 

Again, more of a "Mosaic/Bowman Platinum/Topps Fire" design than what I would think of when I think of Diamond Kings.

Up next is a block of short-prints, keeping to the design as the base set. (This is actually where Mr. Suttles resides, but I used a little creative licensing of my own.) Nothing set collectors like more than base set short prints!

After the short prints you get round two of rookies in this eyesore design:

 

Followed by another round of rookies with this more subtle but completely off-brand look:

 

Followed by a 4th block of rookies, all super short printed with yet another unique design. (TCDB didn't have an image for me to use here). Nothing set collectors like more than base set super-short prints!

That's a lot of different looks for just a 200 card set. That's not even mentioning all of those parallels and framed borders.

 

Aside from the circular "pink-eye" design, I wouldn't really mind if a whole set were made from just one of these designs, but thrown in as a hodge-podge it doesn't really do anything for me. Throw in that 85 of those 200 cards are rookies (Did I mention that SSP block just doubles up on certain rookies already seen in the set? *cough* Wander Franco over saturation *cough*) and this is a set I won't be giving a second though to. Could easily be the worst set to come out this year.