One for the Record Booklet: Panini America Appreciates a True National Treasure

It's not often that a single trading card warrants its very own blog post. But the card we're about to appreciate is not some ordinary trading card. On the contrary, it's quite extraordinary. Perhaps even otherworldly. It's a history-soaked stunner that honors 12 of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. A museum-quality history book(let) that should qualify as one of the single greatest cards of the modern era.

Panini America 2015 National Treasures Football Treasure Chest QBs1

It’s not often that a single trading card warrants its very own blog post. But the card we’re about to appreciate is not some ordinary trading card. On the contrary, it’s quite extraordinary. Perhaps even otherworldly. It’s a history-soaked stunner that honors 12 of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. A museum-quality history book(let) that should qualify as one of the single greatest cards of the modern era.

It’s perhaps the most coveted of all the Treasure Chest booklet cards that appeared in last season’s 2015 National Treasures Football. After being initially inserted into the product as a redemption, the card finally is ready for its closeup. And no matter who tops your list as the greatest quarterback the NFL has ever known, chances are he (and his autograph) are featured on this card.

Joe Montana. Tom Brady. Peyton Manning. Terry Bradshaw. John Elway. Brett Favre. Troy Aikman. Dan Marino. Joe Namath. Drew Brees. Steve Young. Roger Staubach. That’s not a dirty dozen. It’s the filthiest, nastiest, absurdest dozen imaginable — all on one sublime card that only intensifies in stature with every flap you flip.

A quick look at the mind-boggling math looks something like this: One card. 12 autographs. 17 NFL MVP awards. 25 Super Bowl rings. 3,831 combined touchdown passes. 560,514 career passing yards. It’s a card deserving of more than just an exploratory blog post. We’re thinking more like a permanent place in Canton.

But until that happens, the following imagery will have to do. Showcased below are the 1/1 Magma version of the card as well as the version limited to three. Enjoy the up-close look and be sure to check out our little Instagram video tease from earlier today, too:

 

 

 

Share

19 Replies to “One for the Record Booklet: Panini America Appreciates a True National Treasure”

    1. Just to put the 12 MVPs together in a room to sing would have been impossible or to have sent the card to each one of them for signing would have damaged the card in the process and would have taken forever to get the card back. I think it is beautiful as is. Happy they all agreed to have their auto on this card. It may never happen again…. Awesome job Panini!!!

  1. To be truly epic, cards like this 1/1 should NEVER have sticker autos ! When you come up with something like this, take the time to do it right.
    When you have the exclusive NFL license you need to bring it big time. You guys are better than this.

    1. In a perfect world, every autograph we ever produce would be on-card, and we strive to deliver more on-card autographs every year. We’ve heard — and appreciate — the feedback on this particular card being stickers. We understand that. This card likely wouldn’t make it to market — at least not anytime soon and likely not in good condition — if it was signed on-card. Getting a card like this to 12 different players would be a colossal undertaking in and of itself. That’s 12 different trips it must take. Twelve different players handling the card. Twelve different players unpacking and packing it back up. It’s a big endeavor.

      We do have opportunities when we have multiple players together in one location — such as the NFLPA Rookie Premiere or the NBA Rookie Photo Shoot or the Spring Training Road Trip or the NBA All-Star Game — to get multi-signed cards hard-signed and we try our best to take advantage of those opportunities. It’s just not feasible to do it every time.

      In the end, this is a truly epic card. And it really comes down to the question of: Do we do this card as a sticker autograph or do we not produce it at all? Again, we appreciate the feedback and we will continue striving for more on-card autographs.

  2. I’ll take it if nobody wants it..lol..Doesnt bother me one bit. Rather would have a clean, non damaged card in the end.

  3. In addition, anybody who knows about cards and the industry understands that there are contracts behind signatures and special cards, mainly for big names. Panini may not tell you that for ethical purposes, but there are players that do not like to sign with anybody. Hence to have them all agree to have their signature in this card is impressive and may have taken too much time, negotiation and effort, otherwise you may have seen this card in the past already. It is not like Panini has a stock of signatures in their closet to use whenever or wherever they want. There is a huge liability to have the super star’s autos with stickers and used them properly. I am positive that the players, including attorneys, agents, etc. knew their signature would be in this card and that for the benefit of the collector, it would have been the best thing to use “stickers” (still their autos) in order to keep the integrity and beauty of the card.
    As said, this card may not happen again ever…. Thank you Panini!!!

    1. Couldn’t disagree with you more AV. Obviously you can’t get them all in one room, who would expect that ? However, careful planning to pull this off as a hard signed card would make a difference. How many were at the HOF ceremonies in Canton ? You could let one person build up some flyer miles and pull this off without a hitch. Sure stickers save time but I’ve waited over three years for redemptions. I’d have no problem waiting for this to be done properly. As for keepng the card clean, it’s not like these are little children handling the card especially since you’d have your rep there to handle it for them. The real question is how will this card look in 40 years or so with stickers ? Nobody knows just how long they’ll stick or keep a bold auto from fading.
      As someone who’s been collecting since the ’70s and around the business side as well since the ’90s it’s obvious what happened here. Panini took the cheaper way out. Let’s call it like it really is instead of making excuses. This is one card they should have spared no expense with to be truly epic. Just my honest opinion.

      1. I see your point but one thing is what one would have liked this card to be or have been done with it and the other one is what it could have actually been done. It would have taken 1 guy to make a bad signature and ruin the card or even to touch it incorrectly and damage it…

  4. I can only DREAM of owning such a beautiful card like that! THAT would be one I would NEVER part with, it would be handed down to my son and grandson, AWESEOME!

Leave a Reply to patsfb Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *