Long before Tuesday’s headline-making announcement that Panini America had inked Kobe Bryant to an exclusive multi-year contract, the company had conducted its first signing with the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
The results of that premiere session — all on-card autographs — will first be unveiled in next week’s release of 2009 Prestige Basketball, a product that, according to company spokesman Scott Prusha, will have zero redemptions.
Until then, here’s a sneak peek at some of the Kobe autographsyou’ll find (and a few images of his first Panini memorabilia cards).