First Cuts: A Pre-Production Look at Some of 2011 Panini Americana’s Cut Autographs
Loyal readers of The Knight's Lance were treated to their first look at 2011 Panini Americana in early March. Not long after that, I noticed preliminary designs for the product's Combo Cuts cut-autograph cards sitting on the fabled Panini America Routing Table. So I took a few pictures. (more…)
Mining & Pining: An Early Exploration of 2010-11 Panini Gold Standard Basketball
If I could be recast in card form as any basketball product in the entire collecting universe, I think I'd want to be the breath of fresh air that is 2010-11 Panini Gold Standard (and I'm not just saying that because I work here). The uniquely themed high-end offering, due out May 25, is unapologetically lustrous from beginning to end -- packed with enough…
On the Routing Table: Zenith Hockey, Gold Standard Basketball, Prestige Football
It's been way too long since last we visited the fabled Panini America Routing Table, what with its seemingly never-ending stack of early looks at products in various stages of early development. Admittedly, its location in the new building near Product Development and Design -- far, far away from the marketing department -- makes frequent sojourns to its four-legged loot more difficult, but…
Panini Peek: 2011 Michael Jackson
We all know that good things come to those who wait. Sometimes, collecting history does, too. More than a year after details were first released regarding Panini America's plans for an official Michael Jackson trading card set, the product will finally will make its celebrated debut in early June. 2011 Michael Jackson is a rich, colorful tribute befitting the King of…
On the Routing Table: February 3, 2011
Leave it to the revealing hearth of the Panini America Routing Table to provide warmth and comfort during this strangely frozen week in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Days marked by wintry mixes, sub-20-degree temperatures and below-zero wind chills left many of us working from home this week. But when I was finally able to make it into the office, I…
On the Routing Table: January 3, 2011
Is it wrong that one of the first things I thought about on the way to work this morning following the long holiday weekend -- after analyzing for the umpteenth time Tim Tebow's solid performance against the Chargers -- was the Panini America Routing Table? For such a modestly sized table, the thing is a veritable goldmine of product-previewing goodness almost every day.…
On the Routing Table: January 3, 2011
Is it wrong that one of the first things I thought about on the way to work this morning following the long holiday weekend -- after analyzing for the umpteenth time Tim Tebow's solid performance against the Chargers -- was the Panini America Routing Table? For such a modestly sized table, the thing is a veritable goldmine of product-previewing goodness almost every day.…
On The Routing Table: National Treasures Football, Pinnacle Hockey, More . . .
As per its custom, Panini America's fabled Routing Table was its resplendent, revelatory self in the last few days before Christmas break. On it late last Thursday evening were scene-setting sneak peeks of such ballyhooed coming release as 2010 National Treasures Football, 2010-11 Contenders Patches Basketball and 2010-11 Pinnacle Hockey. The table provides an eye-candy buffet virtually every time I…
Material Bliss: A Peek at Key Patches Primed for 2010 National Treasures Football
Panini America production team member Jeremy Johnson strolled over to my little piece of cubicle heaven Friday afternoon a man on a material mission. In front of him was a push cart that runneth over with only the choicest cuts of prime player-worn memorabilia, all bagged and ready for their closeup -- which will come in the highly anticipated March…
A Belated Panini Peek: 2010 Plates & Patches Football
It occurred to me earlier this week after receiving a question regarding preview information for 2010 Panini Plates & Patches Football that The Knight's Lance launched in late October just days after we sent that information to the masses. In other words, the official Panini Peek preview of Plates & Patches never ran on your favorite trading card manufacturer blog.…