Perched quietly and patiently in the back there, perhaps disguised by the considerable buzz of recent Panini America sports releases such as 2012 Prime Hockey, 2012 Rookies & Stars Football and 2012-13 NBA Hoops Basketball, sits the upcoming 2012 Americana Heroes & Legends, an eclectic, history-soaked tribute to Olympians, astronauts, presidents, Medal of Honor recipients and so much more.
Late Friday afternoon, Ben Ecklar, Panini America’s Director of Product Development, hand-delivered a revealing sleeve of hits from the recently completed quality-control process for 2012 Americana Heroes & Legends, a stunning compilation of tributes to the likes of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, past gold-medal-winners, American war heroes and the legendary Tuskegee Airmen.
We’ll have much more on this historic release in the coming days, including a gallery of Tuskegee Airmen cards and autographs and a look at the unique four cut-autograph cards featuring actual General stars from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Army uniform.
But for now, enjoy the first part our extensive QC gallery: