搶先看:2013 Golden Age Baseball

Ysponder

By many accounts, Panini America’s 2012 Golden Age Baseball was one of the most eclectic and entertaining new products of last season, helped immensely by, among other things, a stacked checklist of base cards, autographs and memorabilia that was as historic as it was fun, a hardcore throwback feel, a collectible cache of minis and card-back variations . . . and the Three Stooges.

The obvious question now, of course, is what does Panini America have planned for an encore? Well, for starters, there’s more Stooges, new minis, new card-back variations, more old-school bliss, more history, more multisport magic and more majestic memorabilia.

2013 Golden Age Baseball will arrive in late June boasting a familiar and attractive pack and a bevy of bells and whistles, including . . .

• The addition of Delong Gum inserts: Nearly 85 years after their original release, Delong Gum cards return with an all-star lineup of talent seeded an average of one per box making them collectible once more.
• Exhibits! Exhibit cards from the 1940s through the final years in the mid-1960s captured the image of the depicted athlete like few other cards did. A new 40-card run of Exhibits will be featured in 2013 Golden Age as box-toppers.
• A 150-card base set featuring prominent personalities from the worlds of sports, entertainment and politics, complete with a popular mini parallel set with six different collectible back variations.
• A nine-card Three Stooges insert that represents the largest Stooges trading-card presence since the 1960s.
• A new lineup of Historic Signatures on-card autographs that includes Sugar Ray Leonard, Yogi Berra, Thomas Hearns, Bo Derek and legendary comic book artist Stan Lee, among others.
• New insert sets such as Bread for Energy (10 cards),  Tip Top Bread Labels (10 cards) and Golden Age Playing Cards (52 playing cards plus two jokers).
• An average box break that should yield one Historic Signatures card, one Museum Age Memorabilia card, 24 Mini Parallels, two Bread For Energy inserts, two Delong Gum inserts, one Three Stooges insert, one Tip Top Bread Label, eight Golden Age Playing Cards and one Exhibit box-topper.
  

We’ll have plenty more to preview on 2013 Golden Age Baseball in the coming weeks and months. But for now, take a moment to bask in the following preview images.

All information is accurate at the time of posting. Content is subject to change. Card images are solely for the purpose of design display.

                            

小陳

右下角那是因為填充氫氣而爆掉的飛船嗎XD

Ysponder

是的，Hindenburg興登堡號飛船

Ysponder

Happy Day: The Fonz, Greg Brady and More Show Up at Panini America HQ (Gallery)



Days like today are precisely why working at Panini America is akin to some adrenaline-riddled romp on a white-knuckled roller coaster ride that makes a loop-to-loop through Christmas morning before coming to a stop in a candy store. Funny what the arrival of hard-signed autographs from the likes of Henry Winkler, Barry Williams, Barry Switzer, Curly Neal and so many others can do for the kid-like psyche of a 1970s child.

Such was the case this morning, when a must-see slew of early returns from the upcoming 2013 Golden Age Baseball release instantly jettisoned me back three decades or so to my living-room floor, where I spent countless hours watching “Happy Days,” “The Brady Bunch” Oklahoma Sooners football and the Harlem Globetrotters. It was a euphoric experience to be sure, and one that foretold of a stunning follow-up to last season’s Golden Age debut.

While Fonzie and Greg Brady top my shortlist of hard-signed Golden Age autos that have been returned to Panini America HQ so far, there’s plenty more  ’70s-era splendor worth mentioning, too. Like Eve Plumb (Jan Brady), Dick and Tommy Smothers, Stanley and Barry Livingston (“My Three Sons”), Carlton Fisk, Mario Andretti, Jim Kiick, Sugar Ray Leonard, Yogi Berra and Ron Cey.

We’ve provided many of the highlights in a most golden Golden Age preview below. The product is slated to go live June 26, so stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for news on additional arrivals, including six history-makers in particular that must be seen to be believed. More on those later.

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The Panini America Quality Control Gallery: 2013 Golden Age Baseball (121 Sweet Pics)



The great thing about a product like Panini America’s 2013 Golden Age Baseball is, well, everything. Delivering easily one of the most eclectic and enjoyable card-collecting experiences since last year’s Golden Age, the polished sequel picks up where that one left off with one of the most diverse checklists imaginable.

From Bob Hope and Bo Derek to “The Bad News Bears” and Buckwheat, 2013 Golden Age aims to pay tribute to, as the box suggests, “some of the nation’s greatest athletes, entertainers and newsmakers from the Golden Age of America.” It does so remarkably well with a product high that is steeped in content, aesthetics and fun.


After all, where else can you find a product that encompasses, say, the Fonz, The Three Stooges, Carlton Fisk, Barry Switzer, Bo Schembechler, “Bewitched” and a headband-wearing Bigfoot?

Panini America Baseball Brand Manager Mike Payne spent the latter stages of last week at the company printing facility overseeing the Quality Control process for 2013 Golden Age Baseball, which goes live a week from Wednesday. Among the myriad highlights he witnessed: Memorabilia cards devoted to the Hindenburg and John Belushi, autographs from six major players from “The Bad News Bears” and so many other professional on-field superstars, miniature parallels, card-back variations, oversized box-toppers and honest-to-goodness playing cards.

Boasting a checklist chock full of U.S. presidents, inventors, stars of the big and small screens, golf, horse racing, boxing, and the four major sports, 2013 Golden Age Baseball clearly has something fun for seemingly every kind of fan and collector.

The massive gallery that follows represents a small glimpse into the product’s greatness. Enjoy, and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional coverage of the product in the coming days.

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UPCOMING PANINI GOLDEN AGE SET INCLUDES HINDENBURG RELIC, FIRST JOHN BELUSHI MEMORABILIA CARD AND MORE



When Panini America‘s sophomore release of Golden Age baseball cards arrives later this month it will include not only the first cards of the original Bad News Bears.

It also will include one of the biggest stars of the 1970s as well as a memorabilia card from one of the biggest disasters of the 1930s.

The star is John Belushi and the disaster is the Hindenburg — and they’ll both be found in packs of cards as Golden Age includes an eclectic mix of sports, pop culture and more.



While a final checklist for Golden Age has not yet been released, Panini teased a gallery of its inclusions on Monday. Among them were cards for the Saturday Night Live, Animal House and Blues Brothers star who died of a drug overdose in 1982. Belushi has appeared on a handful of trading cards in the past with just two cut autographs and no previous memorabilia cards in the Beckett.com database. Most of his appearances came in 2011 when Topps included him in its American Pie set, which also examined pop culture like Golden Age does.

The Hindenberg card, like the Titanic wood card in last year’s Golden Age set, may spark some controversy while also piquing the curiosity of history buffs. In 1937, the German airship caught fire while trying to land in New Jersey, exploding into flames and killing 35 of the 97 people on board.  The only card featuring the disaster in the Beckett database was released decades ago in the 1956 Topps Hocus Pocus set. This card will feature a piece of the ship embedded into the card.

Golden Age also will include cards for Bigfoot, Buckwheat, Bob Hope, Bo Derek and more when it arrives next Wednesday.