When you don’t have an MLB trading card license, you look for an edge wherever you can find one. Panini America opted to strike a deal with Steiner Sports and get Derek Jeter to 
autograph a bunch of his old Donruss cards for insertion into upcoming products.
Jeter recently conducted a signing with Steiner, which has affixed its hologram to the back of each ‘buy back’ card as a measure of authentication.
The 2001 and 2002 Donruss Classics Baseball cards were returned to Panini’s Dallas offices and will be inserted as random hits in 2014 Panini Classics Baseball, set for release on November 19. It’s the first time Jeter autographs will be in Panini/Donruss products.
While it doesn’t have a contract with MLB, Panini does have a partnership with the MLB Players Association.
Other Buy Backs signed by Jeter including original cards from Certified, Diamond Kings, Studio, Limited, Absolute and other Donruss releases, will be issued in other Panini products next year.
Getting a Jeter autograph in a pack of cards is the rough equivalent of pulling a Jordan autograph out of a current Upper Deck product. See what authenticated Jeter autographed cards from the 1990s are going for on eBay by clicking here.
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