A Gallery of 2011 Prime Cuts Baseball’s Historic Barrel Cards & Booklets

Ysponder

You want to see Panini America Director of Baseball Product Development Ben Ecklar dance a jig? Bring him a sleeve of history-making Loop 7 cards to QC before they get randomly inserted into packs of 2011 Prime Cuts Baseball.

Most days, Ecklar is reserved, soft-spoken and rarely prone to outward displays of emotion. But yesterday at the Panini America printing facility was not most days — not when one particular sleeve of cards revealed the first Shoeless Joe Jackson bat barrel card ever made.


The mere thought of seeing that card for the first time caused Ecklar to stand back, wipe his hands, do a little hop and smile in an effort to ready himself for what he was about to witness.

The Jackson card created a social media buzz Thursday morning when an image of it made the rounds following a Panini America Tweet. Beckett Baseball editor Chris Olds, in a story that appeared almost immediately on the front page of Beckett.com, called the card “as serious as it gets.”

It’s one of several bona fide history-makers in 2011 Prime Cuts Baseball that has anticipation for the product at or near frenzy level. Without question, the set’s scarce Barrel Up bat barrel insert (including the likes of Nellie Fox, Eddie Murray, Paul Waner, Jim Bottomley and Ichiro) and booklet cards (combining cut autographs and game-used memorabilia from the likes of Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams and more) are guaranteed to deliver several “Card of the Year” candidates.

Many of those are included in the gallery below.

For additional galleries of our exhaustive 2011 Prime Cuts Baseball reveal, check out the links below:

Preparing for Prime Time: Panini America Previews 2011 Prime Cuts Baseball
Prime Examples: Panini America Previews More Gems from 2011 Prime Cuts Baseball
A Panini America Easter Weekend Preview: 2011 Prime Cuts Baseball (24 New Images)