The Panini America Quality Control Gallery: 2011 Gold Standard Football (49 Images)

November 30, 2011

For millions of Americans, returning to work earlier this week following the long Thanksgiving break was a painstaking grind. But that wasn’t the case for me, especially after I received the following text message from Panini America NFL Brand Manager Carlos Torrez at 7:20 Monday morning: “Gold std FB qc @ 8 am sorry for late notice.”

Translated, Torrez was telling me that the quality control process for 2011 Gold Standard Football was starting at our printing facility in 40 minutes. And that, ladies and gentelemen, is how you kickstart your work week.

I ripped through a shower, bypassed my other two traditional Monday Morning S’s and swiftly set out to the southeast like some modern-day gold-digger looking for football card treasures. Eureka! As you’ll see in the glimmering gallery below, I definitely struck it rich with a pan-filling stash of preview images.

Enjoy this exclusive first look at one of the most stunning products of the season. And stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance later this week for more golden glimpses, including images and a video detailng some of 2011 Gold Standard Football’s most unique inclusions — trading cards embedded with pieces of real 14-karat gold and diamonds.