Panini America Explores Undeniable Beauty of 2013 Rookies & Stars Football’s Crusade

Next Wednesday, Panini America’s 2013 Rookies & Stars Football will release in hobby shops across North America boasting a bevy of the bells and whistles that have made the brand a collecting industry staple for more than 15 years. But it’s one insert in particular — the colorful, legendary, technologically unparalleled Crusade — that’s likely to command most of the attention.

Crusade, a proud staple of the Rookies & Stars brand since its original release in 1998, returns to its glorious roots for 2013 with a still-stunning-after-all-these-years design and technology — and a few new color combinations to scintillate player collectors everywhere.

This year’s Crusade insert features five different colors of hobby-exclusive collectibility: Red (numbered to 99), Purple (numbered to 49), Gold (numbered to 25), Green (numbered to 5) and Black (numbered to only one). Unnumbered Blue versions can be found in both hobby and retail versions of 2013 Rookies & Stars Football.

We’ll have a complete Quality Control Gallery starring 2013 Rookies & Stars Football tomorrow right here on The Knight’s Lance. But an insert as historic, as mesmerizing and as magical as Crusade clearly deserves its own gallery. In the one that follows, we profile almost every color of the 2013 Crusade rainbow (we’re missing a Gold for now, but we’ll post a glimpse of that as soon as we can get our hands on one).

Enjoy.