Panini Peek: 2011 Rookies & Stars Football

Panini America's Rookies & Stars Football, one of the sport's most eagerly pursued early season products, returns to enchant collectors in late July boasting a bevy of rookies, a new wrinkle in the embroidered patch arena and a resplendent array of veteran stars to ensure the product lives up to its name.

Panini America’s Rookies & Stars Football, one of the sport’s most eagerly pursued  early season products, returns to enchant collectors in late July boasting a bevy of rookies, a new wrinkle in the embroidered patch arena and a resplendent array of veteran stars to ensure the product lives up to its name.

2011 Rookies & Stars, the 14th installment of the venerable brand, arrives July 27 with a $4 pack SRP and a per-box promises that includes four autograph or memorabilia cards (at least one autograph guaranteed), 24 Rookie Cards, one Rookie Revolution insert, one Studio Rookies insert and six additional inserts or parallels.

But the primary reason collectors should be excited about the newest Rookies & Stars is easy to identify for Carlos Torrez, Panini America NFL Brand Manager.

“For starters, it will be the earliest program to feature more than 130 NFL rookies and there will be one base Rookie Card in every pack,” Torrez says. “There will also be 35 embroidered-patch rookies starring the players who attend the 2011 NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere.”

“This product puts the ‘rookies’ in Rookies & Stars and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Other highlights of the product include:

  • SP Rookie Signatures featuring signed, embroidered team patches featuring the likes of Blaine Gabbert, A.J. Green, Julio Jones and Jake Locker
  • Team Chemistry dual autographs from 2011 rookies drafted by the same team
  • All American Patches featuring autographs from former college All Americans such as Jones, Kendall Hunter and Randall Cobb, among others
  • Prime Cuts Signatures embedded with one or two prime game-worn jersey pieces and autographed by top NFL stars such as Aaron Rodgers, Darren McFadden and Matt Ryan

Each case will yield at least four autographs from a roster that includes Rodgers, Ryan, Michael Vick, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady and 2011 rookies Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker and Christian Ponder among others.

“Collectors have told us they want a new twist in this area and we provide it this year with the all-new All America Patches, incorporating an American flag and autographs from former college All Americans such as Julio Jones, Kendall Hunter and Randall Cobb,” Torrez notes. “This is one insert football fans and hardcore collectors alike can really appreciate.”

Enjoy the follow 2011 Rookies & Stars preview gallery and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for future updates.

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12 Replies to “Panini Peek: 2011 Rookies & Stars Football”

  1. PLEASE stop the manufactured patches. Not only are they killing autos, they are not very pleasing to look at. You can barely recognize the player on the card.

    /end rant
    Otherwise the base reminds me of 2005 Throwback Threads. The others don’t look too bad though.

  2. I always love Rookies & Stars and i think the manufactured patches are alot better than a plain auto. I am a HUGE Aaron Rodgers fan and i try to collect as many autos of his that i can. If you get any pics of any Rodgers autos from Rookies&Stars or any other upcoming products,can you show us on here Tracy? Keep up the great work guys!

  3. LOVE the base design. Honestly the rest seems just WAY TOO BUSY. All of the angles of the “design elements” of the Reggie Wayne and the Phillip Rivers cards take away from the awesome patches. In my opinion, a card collector should never have to strain their eyes to see a patch/gu piece.

    Most collector’s I know want timeless cards that they can collect and hold onto for years to come in their personal collection. I have a horrible feeling that, years down the road, these ultra-busy designs will look as “bad” in retrospect – as the flashy outdated tacky cards from the 90’s look today.

    1. I agree with you on the Reggie Wayne card — I hate those angled swatch designs — that’s one reason I didn’t like the EPIX relics — the “X” relic was awful looking, and the other parallel swatches doesnt give enough room to show a multi colored swatch. It does strain your eyes when you think its a 3 color compared to 2, because the swatch has a funny angle to it.

  4. Carloz Torrez, the Brand Manager says “This product puts the ‘rookies’ in Rookies & Stars and we couldn’t be more excited.” Seriously? I bought a “fat pack” which contains 40 cards and there were a whopping TWO rookies in the pack. How can you make a statement like the above and only have two rookies amongst the 40 cards in the pack? How can you call a product “Rookies and Stars” when the ratio in a pack is 20:1 stars over rookies? I like the quality of the cards but the disproportionate quantity of the rookies versus the stars will most likely keep me from buying any more packs.

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