By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

Panini America is starting up the crusades again.

The company previewed 2013 Rookies & Stars Football today, showing off its inserts and hits including Crusade cards, which is set to come out in late August.

“For starters, there’s the return to glory of the landmark Crusade insert, which will bring back the authentic hypnotic designs and printing technology that made those original 1998 gems instant classics,” Panini’s Tracy Hackler wrote on the company blog.

Rookies & Stars debuted 15 years ago and Panini is bringing back some of what collectors enjoyed about the set.

Each hobby box will contain 24 packs with eight cards in each pack, including at least one Rookie Card.

Two Crusades cards will be in every hobby box, on average. Crusades will be featured with different colored parallels numbered to either 99, 49, five or one.

In addition to Crusade, Panini is returning:

- Rookie Premiere Slideshow Signatures (numbered to 125 or less)
- Team Chemistry dual-signed cards (numbered to 99 or less)
- Rookie Materials Signatures (Longevity and Team Logo foil background parallels available)
- Game Plan insert
- Touchdown Club insert

Panini will add some new elements as well, including Cross Training Materials with standard and prime material inserts featuring top performers from the NFL Combine.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook and Twitter.

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

For those of you who will be looking for the debut release of Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout in SportsPicks form this month, there’s an added element of surprise.

McFarlane Toys has created a chase figure that includes an MLB-authenticated piece of one of his stolen bases from last season.

Limited to just 200 serial-numbered figures, this figure from the 31st series of MLB figures from the Arizona-based company includes a slice of Trout’s 48th stolen base last season. He hit is 30th home run that same day. Trout won the American League Rookie of the Year award after a campaign that included the first 30-30 Club performance from a rookie in MLB history.

The figures will be randomly mixed into cases with others in the seven-player series that also includes Derek Jeter, Clayton Kershaw, reigning NL Rookie of the Year Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Felix Hernandez and Andrew McCutchen. Kershaw also will have a game-used element for his chase figure with “real baseball pieces” promised on his, according to the company.

McFarlane has added autographs on the figure bases as chase elements in recent years with players such as Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers, Florida Gators great Tim Tebow, baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and Detroit Tigers star Prince Fielder signing for the company.

If found at retail, the chase figures will cost the same as any other — approximately $15 or less — and the bonuses are visible through the packaging.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Basketball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Need a checklist or Online Price Guide for past McFarlane figure sets? Click here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

Upper Deck has taken hold of the Fleer Retro name this year, bringing back inserts that many thought died in the 1990s.

Fleer Retro Football is out with a number of cards from the new set showing up on eBay.

Fleer Retro is not about the hits in the recent sense of the word. There are autographs in the product, but the real excitement seems to come when pulling one of the rare inserts such as this Jambalaya Joe Namath card.

Precious Metal Gems also seem to be popular out of the gate – there are just 10 copies of the Emerald version like this Aaron Rodgers card.

Fleer Retro was popular in basketball this season. Many cards sold for hundreds, even thousands of dollars on the secondary market. Some of the inserts might not translate as well to football, but it will be interesting to see how collectors respond to this college-centric product.

There are names that could draw a lot of attention such as John Elway, Robert Griffin III and Doug Martin.

Here are other notable eBay auctions from Fleer Retro Football so far:

2012 Fleer Retro Football Nick Toon Autographics
2012 Fleer Retro Doug Martin Metal Universe
2012 Fleer Retro Kirk Cousins Autographics
2012 Fleer Retro Robert Griffin III Metal Universe
2012 Fleer Retro Garrison Hearst Precious Metal Gems Ruby
2012 Fleer Retro Doug Martin A Cut Above
2012 Fleer Retro Steve Young Playmakers Theatre

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow Beckett Media on Facebook.

By Dan Good | Contributing Editor

While the Super Bowl comes once a year, the event lives on in cardboard – with numerous sets and singles devoted to NFL championship lore. Here’s a look at key Super Bowl sets, as well as other notable cards that showcase football’s most significant (and sometimes humorous) moments.

Top sets

1990 Pro Set Super Bowl MVPs – Pro Set had its flaws, with mass production and errors leading to the company’s demise. But sometimes the results were stunning, and such was the case with 1990 Pro Set Super Bowl MVPs, an insert set highlighting the big game’s biggest players. Each card shows a painting of Super Bowl MVPs, starting with Packers QB Bart Starr and leading to 49ers legend Joe Montana, the most valuable player of Super Bowl XXIV. Pro Set produced a number of Super Bowl-themed releases, but these cards are the most memorable.

1970s and 80s Fleer Team Action cards – Fleer didn’t own an NFL Players Association license during this stretch, meaning the company couldn’t create cards identifying stars such as Walter Payton and Dan Marino. But Fleer found a loophole by creating “Team Action” cards showing generic action shots from previous game action and Super Bowls. Highlights include 1985′s Super Bowl XIX card, showing Montana throwing to running back Roger Craig in San Francisco’s 38-16 victory over Miami.

2000 Upper Deck Super Bowl XXXIV Special Moments – This 10-card jumbo set includes football heroes such as Steve Young, Brett Favre and Emmitt Smith shown during their moments of glory. The photos used are crisp and evocative, and the card’s backs feature detailed nuggets about Super Bowl milestones. Each card is numbered to 2,000, providing added value while still maintaining affordability.

2011 Topps Super Bowl Legends Giveaway Die Cuts – These cards, available through an online redemption program, are shaped like championship rings and provide some of the most stellar Super Bowl cards to date. The checklist features such icons as Troy Aikman and Jerry Rice, with Joe Namath signing a limited number of his cards.

2012 Panini Super Bowl Pylon cards – How close do you want to get to the Super Bowl action? Pylon cards put you into the endzone, with the orange foam markers designating the difference between paydirt and dejection. Pylon cards have been appearing in packs since 2001 (starting with Donruss and Playoff) but never before have such large foam pieces been used as they have for recent Panini releases. Panini included Super Bowl XLVI pylon cards in its 2012 Black Friday promotions, showcasing the best players – and on-field materials – from the Giants’ 21-17 victory over the Patriots.

Other notable cards

1973 Topps #139 – Super Bowl VII
The 1972 Dolphins remain the only NFL team to finish a season undefeated, with the final victory coming in Super Bowl VII against the Redskins. While stars such as Bob Griese and Larry Csonka provided scoring opportunities, Miami was fueled by its aptly-named “No-Name Defense.” That unit held Washington’s offense scoreless in Super Bowl VII (the Redskins’ lone points scored on a botched field goal attempt). So it’s fitting that card #139 in the next season’s Topps set shows Miami’s defense – led here by lineman Manny Fernandez – suffocating its opponent.

1999 Sports Illustrated Autographs Doug Williams AU
Doug Williams turned in a historic performance in Super Bowl XXII, leading his Redskins to a 42-10 win over the Broncos. With that victory, Williams became the first – and to date, only – black quarterback to lead his team to an NFL title. The moment was captured on the cover of the Feb. 8, 1988 cover of “Sports Illustrated.” “WOW!” declared the magazine cover. Williams autographed cards showing the cover in 1999 Sports Illustrated, a one-off football set featuring a deep checklist of retired stars.

2002 Topps #SBMVP Tom Brady FB AU/150
Topps released a number of game-used autographed Super Bowl cards in the early 2000s, but none features the star power of Tom Brady’s card from 2002. Brady started the season on the bench, but an injury to starter Drew Bledsoe gave him his chance – and he used that opportunity to become a star, leading his Patriots to victory in three Super Bowls in four years. More than a decade after New England’s triumph in Super Bowl XXXVI, Brady’s 2002 Topps football autograph insert remains one of his most collectible cards.

2011 Packers Topps Super Bowl XLV #27 Super Bowl XLV Champs/Aaron Rodgers/Clay Matthews
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers has spent years celebrating successes with a championship belt gesture, something popularized by professional wrestlers such as HHH – and celebrated in those “Discount Double Check” commercials. So naturally when the Packers won Super Bowl XLV, Rodgers draped an actual championship belt over his shoulder pads, a moment commemorated on a handful of Topps cards.

1991 Pro Set #350 Whitney Houston
As United States troops battled in the Gulf War, Whitney Houston’s rendition of the National Anthem before Super Bowl XXV served as a powerful display of patriotism and hope. Pro Set commemorated the moment on an NFL Newsreel card, with the card representing the transcendence of America’s most popular sporting event.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

The sixth week of the NFL season was highlighted by the rookies. Everyone was essentially talking about Robert Griffin III on Sunday with a small dose of Russell Wilson beating the New England Patriots.

However, there were other performances this week that certainly stood out.

Veteran of the Week
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers: The Packers’ quarterback had an impressive game against the previous unbeaten Houston Texans. Rodgers completed 24-of-37 passes for 338 yards and six touchdowns. Additionally, it brought Green Bay back to .500 on the season and looking like the team many expected this season.

Chase cards
- 2012 Elite Aspirations /88
- 2012 Prestige Stars of the NFL Materials #13 /185
- 2012 Topps Field General Medals /50

Rookie of the Week
Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins: Griffin nearly single-handedly beat the Minnesota Vikings. He finished 17-for-22 for 182 yards with a touchdown and an interception. But he also added 138 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, including a 76-yarder.

RG3 led Washington to a 38-26 win, and now NFL fans just want to see what he could do next.

Chase cards
- 2012 Bowman #200 SP (running pose)
- 2012 Topps #340 SP (scrambling pose)
- 2012 Upper Deck 1993 SP inserts

Breakout Performance of the Week
JJ Watt, Houston Texans: The defensive end has solidified himself as a top pass rusher this season. The second-year player has 9.5 sacks through six games, already more than he had last season (5.5 in five games).

Watt is turning heads with his breakout season. He’s recorded at least one-half sack in every game.

Chase cards
- 2011 Absolute Memorabilia Spectrum Gold Autographs /299
- 2011 Certified Mirror Red Signatures /250
- 2011 Prime Signatures /199

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

Card companies are working to get collectors into hobby shops across the country.

Panini America’s latest endeavor involves the 13th annual NFL Player of the Day promotion, which 550 stores nationwide will take part in. Panini exclusively took over the promotion in 2009.

Collectors can get cards and other prizes as part of the promotion. It all starts Sept. 15.

Here’s how it works: Buy a pack of any 2012 Panini NFL product at a participating hobby shop. Open the pack in front of a store employee and if you pull the Player of the Day or the Wild Card (Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III), you win a prize.

Four times during the promotion, the hobby shop will randomly select one of the daily winners as a weekly prize winner and will get a prize in the awards kit.

At the end of the 32-day promotion one of the four weekly winners will be named the NFL Player of the Month winner and will be awarded the store’s grand prize, an autographed card. In addition, each grand prize winner will be put into a national sweepstakes to spend a day with an NFL player.

There are cards to be had in this promotion for everyone who takes part.

There is an 11-card base set that includes Aaron Rodgers, Jared Allen and Tom Brady. Some of the autograph cards will be signed by Doug Martin, Ryan Broyles and Greg Little.

Click on this link to find a participating dealer.

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Football magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

When getting a dual autograph sometimes a collector wishes different players could have been paired together. Perhaps even hoping to have two favorite players on one card that share no real bonds.

With a new autograph set in 2011 Exquisite Football, collectors can actually make the dual and quad autographs they want by mixing and matching special cards – of course, within the scope of the checklist.

Upper Deck took its removable autograph slot cards to another level by with Choice Signatures, slot cards on one larger card. Some of the original pairs include Jake Locker/Blaine Gabbert, Eddie George/Gale Sayers and Andy Dalton/Colin Kaepernick.

But what if you want Locker and Dalton on one card instead?

That’s simple. Remove the slot cards with the on-card autograph and replace it with a player that you want.

“We’ve heard from consumers, collectors why did you put this combination together?” Upper Deck product manager Greg Kohn said in a video on YouTube. “Now, we’re giving you the opportunity to put any combination together you want. … You have the option of building any type of autograph card you choose. Anything you desire.”

Upper Deck only has a college license, so all the players appear in their college uniforms. But that hasn’t stopped collectors from grabbing these cards.

On Wednesday, a Barry Sanders/Steve Young combo of Choice Signatures sold for $400 on eBay.

There is a redemption card in this set that lists the players as TBA. As soon as Upper Deck updates that information, we’ll add the information to this blog.

Some of other players with Choice Signature cards that appear on the checklist (which is subject to change) include Adrian Peterson, Aaron Rodgers, Bo Jackson, Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Dan Marino, John Elway, Jerry Rice and Troy Aikman.

If you could pick, what combo of players what you put on a card?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Football magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

For a football team be a contender, it needs a good quarterback. Someone with vision, ability and knowledge. Considering these merits it’s no surprise when 2012 Topps comes out next week, the company will have a big focus on quarterbacks – old and new.

There are several ways Topps will commemorate this position: die cuts, relic cards, manufactured medals, film strips and more.

Quarterback Rookie Reprints will have some of the most memorable Rookie Cards with Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Joe Namath. Many of these cards will also have autograph or relic parallels. Sometimes even both.

But Topps is really focusing on the men over center with Quarterback Immortals, a series of inserts that highlight QBs in different ways.

The Quarterback Immortals insert will feature up to 30 retired players and Hall of Famers. But then there are Quarterback Immortals Plaques variations with players immortalized on bronze.

NFL Field Generals features 30 current subjects, including Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Eli Manning with manufactured military style medals embedded in the card.

Quarterback Milestones will have up to 50 current and former players. Some of them include Montana, Brady, Brees and Rodgers. These NFL Milestones cards will have a two-sided die cut medallion.

Two sets of die-cut trophy inserts will highlight quarterbacks who were named NFL or Super Bowl MVPs.

The last of the inserts highlighting QBs is Game-Winning Drives with film strips showing moments when they drove their team to victory. The usuals are on this checklist with Tim Tebow thrown in.

Aaron Rodgers does get a little special treatment from Topps. Considering the Green Bay Packers quarterback put up one of the most impressive seasons in 2011, there is one card commemorating his MVP season.

Susan Lulgjuraj is the editor of Beckett Football magazine. You can email Susan here with ideas, comments and questions. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

What do Eli Manning, Tim Tebow, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Rob Gronkowski and Calvin Johnson have in common?

They are the cover boys for Panini America’s 2012 NFL Sticker & Album Collection.

With 72 pages and 494 stickers (354 glossy, 100 holographic stickers, 40 micro-etched stickers), collectors are going to need plenty of time to chase down a complete book. Seven-sticker packs are $1 each and albums are $2.

“Our Official NFL Sticker & Album Collection continues to grow in popularity every year and over its first two seasons has been enjoyed by millions of fans and collectors,” Panini America CEO Mark Warsop said in a press release. “It’s a unique fan experience that is fun and affordable for the entire family while also appealing to the most hardcore fans. We’re truly excited about the launch of the 2012 edition.”

The album will have special sections of top rookies for the upcoming season, which includes Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck, a recap of the 2011 playoffs and Super Bowl XLVI.

There will also be a one-page tribute to the 2012 Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductees.

In connection with Panini’s partnership with Pop Warner football, the card company is promoting concussion awareness. By collecting 2012 NFL Sticker wrappers, Pop Warner teams will be eligible to receive new helmets.

“As millions of kids suit up for the upcoming football season, the NFL Sticker Collection serves as a unique platform to help parents, participants and coaches understand the symptoms to identify concussions,” said Jason Howarth, Panini America Vice President of Marketing. “As kids collect their favorite NFL players and look to complete their 2012 NFL Sticker Collection, we look forward to awarding new helmets to Pop Warner programs around the country.”

Susan Lulgjuraj is the Beckett Football Editor. You can email Susan here with any questions, ideas or comments. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor

When opening 2012 SPx football from Upper Deck, collectors may have found a little surprise within their packs.

Shawdowbox cards are back, but this time Upper Deck allows the collector to change what is inside the card. In essence, collectors can create new cards while sitting at home.

SPx came out in June with Shadow Slots, and according to Upper Deck ‘s blog, the company has a patent pending on this type of card.

Shadowbox cards are multi-dimensional with a top layer of acetate that has designs around its edges. You can see through to the background creating a 3D-like card. Upper Deck now allows you to take out the background and add a new one.

The interchangeable acetate cards fall about three per box on average. The Shadowbox cards fall about one per case.

Some of the players with Shadow Slots include Aaron Rodgers, Trent Richardson, Barry Sanders and Robert Griffin III.

There are also autograph slot cards that can be put into the Shadowbox cards.

Some of the autographs include Steve Young, Dan Marino and Michael Floyd.

Upper Deck has a video explaining the Shadow Slots process. Note that Gregg Kohn, UD’s collegiate brand manager doesn’t give out autograph run numbers, but does say that there are no more than 15 of any player.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.