Must-See Video & Gallery: Panini America's 2012 NFLPA Rookie Premiere "VNR"
Every year in conjunction with the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, Panini America officials work closely with the future NFL stars in attendance to produce a comprehensive Video News Release (or "VNR" as it's known in mainstream media circles) chronicling the day's events. Once the final cut of the VNR has been approved by the NFLPA, usually some time late Saturday night,…
Panini America On Location: Day Three at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere (40 Images)
LOS ANGELES -- The cavalcade of football's newest trading card superstars continued Friday for Panini America at the 2012 NFLPA Rookie Premiere, kicking off bright and early with a special one-player shoot at the fabled Rose Bowl to accommodate early-departing Arizona Cardinal Michael Floyd. Floyd spent a few crisp, early morning hours yesterday posing for photographs and conducting interviews wearing…
The Great Panini America Spring Training Tour of 2012 Continues with More Autos
For those who may have missed the post on The Knight's Lance last weekend, Panini America Baseball Acquisitions specialist Tone Stakes is making the rounds at spring training right now securing autographs for Panini America's upcoming MLBPA-licensed products, primarily 2011 Limited and 2011 Prime Cuts. To help bring collectors as close as possible to the action, Stakes has been documenting…
Video & Gallery: Panini America Production Line Confidential with 2011-12 NBA Hoops
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpgZeswIuYk&w=590&h=330] Last Friday we tipped the weekend off right with a smashing sneak peek at 2011-12 NBA Hoops Basketball and promised an expanded examination of the first NBA card set since last September's release of 2010-11 Elite Black Box. Today we make good on that promise. Above you'll find a splendid and revealing video shot Friday at the Panini…
Panini America Behind-the-Scenes Gallery: Preparing for an On-Card Onslaught
For once yesterday afternoon, the commotion emanating from the Panini America Acquisitions department had nothing to do with me performing a cross-body splash onto a prone Joe White from atop his cubicle walls. On this particular Tuesday afternoon, the hum of activity audible throughout the building was the furor of seemingly half of Acquisitions and Product Development preparing a stunning…
Panini America Rewind: The Knight’s Lance Super Bowl XLVI Week in Review
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Panini America crew hit town Monday morning in preparation for an unprecedented six-day Super Bowl span that included seemingly countless blog posts, Tweets, Facebook status updates and a monumental slate of marketing activation. In fact, with so much going on, it's quite possible that you might have missed some key Panini America developments in the last 144…
The 5th Annual Pop Warner Panini Classic Highlights a Most Super Saturday
INDIANAPOLIS -- NFL rookie sensations Andy Dalton and Von Miller were joined by record-setting University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum in headlining the 5th Annual Pop Warner Panini Classic skills clinic on Saturday, lending undeniable star power to an event that benefited the Northern Indiana Pop Warner organization. Dalton, Miller and Keenum spent quality time with more than 100 Pop…
Panini America On Location: The Frenzied First Few Days of the 2012 NFL Experience
INDIANAPOLIS -- The 2012 NFL Experience officially kicked off Friday, but yesterday was the first full day of fun at the Indiana Convention Center. Only a few "cold weather" cities have hosted the Super Bowl, but fans kept things hot inside the 500,000 square foot football exhibit. While names like Joseph Addai, Donald Brown and Kyle Rudolph drew huge lines for free autographs…
Massive Gallery: On Location at Packout for 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Baseball
OK, so yesterday wasn't officially "Take Your Kids to Work Day" at Panini America. But when duty calls, even during the holiday break, you drop what you're doing and go. So I packed both Hackler boys with me for the serendipitous sojourn to the Panini America production facility to take in the packout process for 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition…
From Russia with Inscriptions: The Unique Story of Two Cards from 2010-11 Dominion
In this age of omnipresent technology and immediate communication, where our next exchange is merely a text, Tweet, Facebook post or instant message away, never underestimate the barrier-breaking, international language of Panini America trading cards. More specifically, two cards from 2010-11 Dominion Hockey that were intended to be autographed by Russian superstars Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni…