Panini America Ushers in a new Era of USA Baseball Cards

One of the biggest surprises at the Industry Summit in 2012 was the announcement that Panini America had become the new partner for USA Baseball.

They promised big things, exciting new ideas and now the time to see the efforts put forth by all has arrived.

The 2012 USA Baseball box set is here, priced at $100, the 63-card set features players from the 15U, 18U and Collegiate National Teams. There are 9 hits in the box, a combination of autographs and memorabilia cards from the next generation of baseball stars.

My friend the Voice of the Collector posted a video shortly before mine, so for you USA Baseball fans, collecting prospectors and anyone else that's interested in seeing what creative team in Texas has dished out for this new partnership, look no further.

Have a look at what you might find inside two USA Baseball box sets:

I am Absolutely ready for some Football.

Today marks the final week of regular season play for the NFL. I cannot believe how quickly it has passed. We've seen a lot of stellar play from rookies and one of the greatest returns to form in NFL history. The Andrew Luck/Peyton Manning saga has been one of the greatest stories in all of sports and it could come to a head to decide the AFC before it is all said and done.

Cam Newton got a case of the Sophomore Jinx, the Jets unraveled and Tim Tebow's Wildcat got cornered and skewered by the media, and its unfortunate because the guy didn't do anything wrong. The Jets are the plague of the NFL and need a massive change internally to move forward.

Who will come out on top? If you asked me now, I'd pick the Falcons and the Broncos.

As for NFL products, we're about to look at one of the top contenders for football product of the year...

2012 Panini Absolute Football:

Baseball's Biggest Prospect Gamble is Back - 2012 Bowman Sterling Box Break

It's an expensive endeavor, nearly $300 to take a shot on the future stars of Major League Baseball.

Many will do it, many will success while many will fail. Are you up for the game, this one isn't for the kids, but then not to many products are these days.

With 18 or more autos in a box, surely something has to stick... or does it?

 Check out a box of Topps Bowman Sterling Baseball:

2012 Panini Black Football Box Break

Awhile back I was pretty vocal about my feelings on stagnation in the trading card industry. There are insert sets, products and themes that are very similar, if not direct copies from all companies. It's a beg, borrow or steal world, I just live in it.

Today I had the pleasure of opening Panini Black Football. It is an amazingly good looking product. Sleek designs, dark, ominous, but it is also so close to the Upper Deck version with the same name, its appeal is lost on me.

However, I can appreciate a card product if it is a good one.

Try as I like, it is difficult not to interject some opinion into my work. I don't want to sound like a fool, nor do I want you to be uninformed.

If this product had any other name, I'd love it. I didn't get the greatest box in the world either. I am basing my level of like for Black to the artistic characteristics of the product, and the possibilities it has. Even the packaging is slick, and I wouldn't usually care if it was in a spiffy package, wrapped in a piece of salami, or was simply in a brown box with no info on it.

Black is not without flaws, it is sensitive to chipping, the quality control on the autographs should have been better. Some players used pens that were far to light on ink, or not shaken enough before being used, and the cards in the product suffer for it.

While it has issues, it also delivers some of the best looking cards bar none of 2012.

Have a look for yourself...