Panini America will release 2014 Hall of Fame 75th Anniversary Baseball next month.
Changing up the configuration from its “Cooperstown” releases of the last two years, the product will offer fewer cards but more ink and bling. Online pre-sells would indicate the product will cost a minimum of $135 per box.
75th Anniversary Baseball celebrates the 1939 opening of the Hall. It will feature only 12 cards per box but promise two autographs and the random use of real diamonds, emeralds and sapphires, which have become staples of the company’s high end releases.
Panini is also bringing the Diamond Kings insert name to this product, with 100 all-time greats featured on canvas stock with five numbered parallels.
Four of the cards in each box will be numbered to 75 or less with one Elite Series insert, one Dominator insert, one Crusade insert, one Diamond King insert and two other cards.
Distributed at an average rate of one per case, Hall of Fame Cut Signatures will have cut up pieces of paper or documents bearing autographs of all-time greats such Ty Cobb, Dizzy Dean, Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial.
Exclusive deals elsewhere mean you again won’t see any Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle cards or memorabilia, however.
Hall of Fame Signatures return but this year, there will be five parallel versions numbered to 50 or less. Preliminary images provided by the company showed the autographs to be on stickers.
The product’s base set honors the Hall of Fame’s 75th Anniversary with three unique versions, each numbered to 75; look for five different parallels each numbered to 50 or less.
Crusade features six parallel versions numbered to 75 or less, including Red, Purple, Orange, Gold, Green and Black.
Hall of Fame 75th Anniversary: Hall of Fame 75th Anniversary gem cards feature sapphires, emeralds and diamonds numbered to 15, 10 and one, respectively. Look for gems on cards of players such as Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente, Josh Gibson, Cy Young and more.
One Cut Signature, one Gem Card (sapphire, emerald and diamond) and and one Hall of Fame Crusade die-cut will fall per case on average.
Panini has purchased more than 500 buy back on-card autographs for the product including Joe DiMaggio, Red Ruffing, Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Duke Snider.
Panini Hall of Fame 75th Anniversary Baseball is due out October 8.
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