A Quick Panini Golden Age Update

Now that 2013 Panini Golden Age Baseball is down to only a week until it is released Panini is still making some announcements of what to expect when the product is released June 26^th.  So far we found out that Evel Knievel is in the set, Hell yea! In the past two weeks we found out that Fonzi, Bo Derek and the Bad News Bears will have their autographs included and today we now know that there will be a John Belushi relic on the checklist, this will be Belushi's first relic ever. Additionally, following in the footsteps of last year’s release there will be a relic from another disaster, the 1937 Hindenburg disaster. Last year there was the Titanic relic.

 

A quick update to previous posts, the base cards for the Bad News Bears have been previewed now. Initially I thought the cards were to be silver or red, they will actually be tan colored like the other base and mini cards, only the autograph cards will be red. Other names from the unannounced checklist include a couple of Little Rascals, Red Grange, Bigfoot, Wyatt Earp, Bob Denver, Stan Lee, Dale Murphy and Gene Tunney.

 

Evel Knievel... Oh Yea...And 2013 Golden Age Baseball

In June Panini will be releasing the second incarnation of Golden Age Baseball. In short, the set looks better than last year’s gold and sepia release. The designs are better and the gold coloring is gone, two of my biggest problems with last year’s release.

 

A box will run $65 and contain 24 6-card packs; you will pull one on-card autograph and one Museum Age Memorabilia card plus 14 inserts and a Headline News box topper. This year they are bringing 1933 Delong Gum cards in to the mix and the Three Stooges are back for a nine card insert set.

 

I have to admit, the reason I decided to look more in to this year’s set is this guy…

I grew up in the 70s, this guy was legendary and the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle was one of the coolest toys any kid could own at that time. I just pulled up a commercial for the cycle on YouTube, just hearing the sound of the wheel winding up as the handle turned brings me back to when I got a Stunt Cycle for Christmas.

 

Panini and Famous Fabrics have included Knievel in recent sets and he still draws some big numbers even though it has been 6 years since he passed away. I plan to chase after some singles after Golden Age Baseball is released, with Evel Knievel at the top of my list.

Mini

1933 Delong Gum

Headline Box Topper

Three Stooges Insert

Oh, A Wise Guy, Eh?

When Panini releases Golden Age Baseball in late November there will be an additional “Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk”. In an announcement the other day Tracy Hackler discussed the partnership with C3 Entertainment, the Three Stooges license owner. The Three Stooges will make a 4 card appearance in the set, the first time they have been immortalized on cardboard since Breygent’s Three Stooges release in 2005.

 

So far only one card has been posted, containing Moe, Curly and Larry, so I do not know if all 6 of the Stooges will be included in some manor or another. I am a bit disappointed about Panini using a colorized image, I asked Tracy if all cards are colorized but I have not received an answer.

A quick run-down of the Three Stooges who appeared in television of films over the years:

1930-1932: Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Shemp Howard

1932-1946: Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Curly Howard

1946-1955: Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Shemp Howard

1956-1958: Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Joe Besser

1958-1971: Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Curly Joe DeRita

 

There were two other men connected to the Three Stooges who were never “officially” considered a Stooge though. When Shemp died in 1955 Joe Palma stepped in to fill his roles in unfinished movies. He was usually filmed from a distance or from behind so he was a stand-in only. Then in 1971 when Larry had a stroke Emil Sitka was going to take over his role in a television show they were working, the show was eventually shelved, but then in 1975 the team began work on the movie Blazing Stewardesses with Sitka but Moe died during production so the film was completed with the Ritz Brothers taking over the roles originally set for the Three Stooges.

 

The Three Stooges legend spanned 54 years and withstood alcoholism, abuse, legal involvement, threats of violence and deaths. These men entertained multiple generations and even now, over 90 years after Moe began his career as a Stooge, they are still making people laugh. .

Early Preview: 2012 Panini Golden Age Baseball

One of Panini’s upcoming products is the 2012 Golden Age Baseball release, set for a late November release date. Each 24 pack box (6 cards/pack) should run in the $70-75 range and will include an interesting collection of baseball related cards along with historical related cards.

 

The set consists of 150 base cards (there are 25 SP variation cards), 150 mini parallel versions (two different colored backs), 50 Historical Signatures, 50 Museum Age memorabilia cards and a Triple Crown Winners signature card. The Historical Signature autograph cards will have cut signatures from deceased personalities and sticker autographs for living personalities. The preview images show the cards as hard signed but with the white mist at the bottom where the auto goes leads me to believe it will contain a sticker.

 

Box Break:

1 Historic Signature
1 Museum Age relic card
24 Mini Parallels
2 Headlines
2 Batter-Up
1 Newark Evening World Supplement
1 Box Topper (Either a Ferguson Bakery Pennant or a 5x7 Movie Poster)

Mini Parallel

This set was created with the intent of offering up a historical view at baseball and Popular Culture and with a low price-point Panini will probably sell through pretty easily. I know that there are collectors who do not care for this type of mixed product but personally I get a kick out of stuff like this because of the history connection.

 

On the down side I am not a fan of the design and I do not like the use of gold/tan coloring. I know it plays on a sepia type coloring, which is often used to generate feelings of vintage and historical, but the color and design elements do not appeal to me. The base card is depicted above with the Loch Ness Monster.

 

Some of the highlights of the product:

Autographs and memorabilia from the past 100 years from both sports and non-sports personalities

 

 

 

Headlines: These cards cover various headlines from major historical events

 

Batter Up: Pop-up cards based on the 1934-36 Batter Up cards

Original 1934-36 Batters-Up Charles Gehringer card for example

 

Newark Evening World Supplement: Cards based on the original 1907 Newark Evening World Supplements set, though significantly smaller than the original 7.5x11 sized cards. The originals were included in the Newark Evening World newspaper, any of the original 15 card in the set are nearly impossible to find

Original 1907 Newark Evening World Supplement cards for example

 

Box Topper: The box topper will be either a

Ferguson Bakery Pennant (miniature version)

Or

5x7 Movie Posters

 

 

The 1916 Ferguson Bakery Pennants were a 2.5x5.75 felt pennant that contained a picture of either a baseball player or a war hero. The Allied Hero versions contained a black and white photo of the hero along with “Allied Heroes” across the pennant while the baseball player versions had the player picture along with their name and team name across the pennant.

Original 1916 Ferguson Bakery Pennants for example

 

 

The movie posters are based on reprints of original Golden Age cinema. Some of the posters will even contain a relic from an actor/actress in the movie depicted.

 

Buybacks: Each case will include 1 Buyback card from the 1930s or 1940s and according to Panini’s sales materials this includes Goudey Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig cards

 

Black Sox Bats: A Joe Jackson bat relic card, I am not certain how many of his bat cards will be printed. Additionally, while some of their sales materials only show a Joe Jackson card they have posted on their web site “…and memorabilia cards featuring the infamous 1919 Black Sox” so I am wondering if there are other players from the team.

 

 Triple Card Winners Autograph: A hard signed triple-autograph card from three living Triple Crown jockeys

 

Even though I do not care for the elements of the card design I still expect to pick up some packs to get a hands on review, who knows, maybe once the cards are in my hand I may feel differently. It is also hard to argue with what you will pull from a box when you are only paying $75 a box. The Batter Up, Newark Evening World Supplement and Ferguson Bakery Pennant reprints alone peak my interest, toss in an autograph and museum relic along with the possibility of pulling a buyback and I am almost ready to buy in right now.