The Panini America Quality Control Gallery: 2012 Rookies & Stars Football (77 Images)

After spending most of the morning scrutinizing the contents of the 2012 Rookies & Stars Football Quality Control cases, here’s how I can best sum up the venerable product that has been rejuvenated by new twists, throwback nuances and nods to past parallels: It feels like a refreshingly different Rookies & Stars experience.

And that’s a good thing for a product that turns 15 years old this season.

Panini America’s fourth product of the 2012 NFL collecting season will be live in hobby shops everywhere next week, but thanks to NFL Brand Manager Aik Tongtharadol, we get an exhaustive first glimpse at the product today.

From the 1998-era True Blue parallels to Longevity parallels that are broken down by card stock (sequential #’s 1-49 are on Double Rainbow, sequential #’s 50-249 are on Metallized) to the still-fascinating Slideshow insert, there seems to be a little something for everyone in 2012 Rookies & Stars Football — and quite a lot for rookie collectors, including a bold new RC design.

Take a look for yourself in the following gallery — and be sure to share your thoughts when you’re done.

Oh, and we’ve also added the complete 2012 Rookies & Stars Football checklist in both Excel and PDF formats.

Here’s the checklist in Excel format: 2012 Panini Rookie Stars FB Checklist

Here’s the checklist in PDF format: 2012 Panini Rookie Stars FB Checklist