The Panini America Quality Control Gallery: 2012 Elite Extra Edition Baseball (123 Pics)

The prospects for prospectors are looking up. Way up. Panini America’s 2012 Elite Extra Edition Baseball is on the way. But before the shipping process could begin, Panini America’s Mike Payne and Tim Trout first had to conduct a comprehensive Quality Control process on what annually is one of baseball collecting’s deepest, most enjoyable and value-delivered prospect releases.

They finished that over the weekend, providing more than 120 must-see images for the following preview gallery. Loyal EEE collectors will notice many similarities from this year’s set and those that have come before — but they’ll also ascertain some key additions, too.

Among the most notable: Radically redesigned Aspirations and Status die-cuts with a few new colors, USA Baseball autographs and autograph memorabilia cards, and super-tough new inserts such as High School All-Stars and Team Panini.

This year’s product will once again deliver six autographs per box on average, with Hot Boxes (seeded four per 20-box case) yielding 10 autographs, including signatures from Clint Coulter, Alex Yarbrough, Jake Thompson and Austin Schotts that you won’t find anywhere else.

2012 Elite Extra Edition Baseball releases next Wednesday and we’ll have what promises to be a must-see episode of Panini Unwrapped right here on The Knight’s Lance as soon as possible. But until then, enjoy the following ensemble of must-see preview images . . .