The Panini America Quality Control Gallery: 2017 Diamond Kings Baseball (100+ Pics)
Panini America’s vaunted Diamond Kings brand long ago turned the hobby of baseball card collecting into an art form. With its striking stylings honoring the game’s greatest current stars, rising rookies and all-time greats, Diamond Kings initially earned and has since maintained a fiercely devoted following, both as a standalone release and as an insert set. So it was huge hobby news back in 2015 when Panini America officials announced that Diamond Kings would be making a triumphant return as a stand-alone product for the first time in more than a decade.
Two years and two popular releases later, it’s no stretch to call Diamond Kings one of the greatest comeback products in baseball history. And the elements that have helped lead that comeback in both 2015 and 2016 (including Framed parallels, Variations and Short Prints) are back for 2017 Diamond Kings Baseball, which arrives in hobby shops across North America tomorrow.
On average, each hobby box of 2017 Diamond Kings Baseball (eight cards per pack, 12 packs per box) will deliver two autograph or memorabilia cards (all autograph cards include memorabilia). Adventurous collectors will find Variations and SPs aplenty, including all 50 Rookie Cards and all Image Variations. (Spoiler alert: Variations are easy to identify by looking at the card backs. Base versions feature a square frame on the back; Variations feature a circular frame.)
2017 Diamond Kings Baseball also offers a unique tribute to the legendary Ted Williams with the Ted Williams Collection, a memorabilia insert that features Williams-worn baseball and military uniforms among other unique material. Of course, Williams also is featured in the sublime Diamond Cuts insert that delivers cut autographs of some of the all-time greats.
Take a stroll through the 2017 Diamond Kings Baseball exhibit in the Quality Control Gallery that follows and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for continued coverage.