Short Story: Panini America Begins Leaking 2012 Contenders Football SP Quantities

Almost immediately following the celebrated release of 2012 Contenders Football earlier this week, the annual frenzy commenced as collectors across North America began scrambling to determine the relative scarcity of the set’s ample selection of Rookie Ticket SPs and variations.

It’s a captivating phenomenon that takes place every year and explains, for instance, how a base Rookie Ticket of New England Patriots speedster Jeff Demps can sell for $21.95 on Wednesday while another sells for $76.01 just one day later. Indeed, it didn’t take savvy researchers long to figure out just how short Demps’ RC is. (For the record, it’s limited to 99 copies, while his variation is limited to just 25 copies.)

Although it took some consistent groveling from yours truly late Friday afternoon, I finally managed to coax the first of what promises to be many 2012 Contenders Football SP lists from Panini America Production Manager Carlos Torrez. This one is by no means complete, but it does provide a tip-of-the-iceberg illustration of Contenders’ scarcest Rookie Tickets and RC variations.

Oh, and if you’re looking for a surefire visual tell-tale to differentiate the base Rookie Tickets from the variations, you can find it on the backs of the cards (check out the image below). The base versions include each player’s draft, college, height and weight information. The variations do not.

Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance as we’ll have much more to share in the coming days. Below, you’ll find a few examples of the cards listed above.