By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

The auctions have ended, the numbers have been crunched. The ranges have been tabulated and the OPG has been posted.

The 2011 Limited baseball card set from Panini America has arrived on Beckett.com with the prospects, legends and more all in tow. Let’s take a look inside the numbers crunched by Beckett Baseball Senior Market Analyst Brian Fleischer  — and see even more — after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Total value … of all priced cards in product: $9,423.25.

Average price … of all priced cards: $14.43.

Highest-priced card … 2011 Limited Hall of Fame Gear #1 Ty Cobb/25 ($150-$250)

Notable card … Tigers catcher and All-Star Alex Avila’s first certified autograph can be found here. It’s limited to 49 copies and has been a surprisingly strong seller.

Other notable cards:
– 2011 Limited Draft Hits Signatures #1 Josh Bell/149
– 2011 Limited Draft Hits Signatures #10 Trevor Bauer/99
– 2011 Limited Draft Hits Signatures #12 Archie Bradley/99
– 2011 Limited Draft Hits Signatures #26 Danny Hultzen/99
– 2011 Limited Greats Signatures #14 Pete Rose/30
– 2011 Limited Match-Ups Signatures #2 Gerrit Cole/Josh Bell/25
– 2011 Limited Match-Ups Signatures #4 Archie Bradley/Trevor Bauer/25

Fleischer’s Focus: While the product may seem like it’s loaded with prospect autographs, there many attainable hidden gems to be found from game-used cards from Joe Jackson and Ty Cobb to autographs from top sellers like Frank Thomas, Will Clark and Ken Griffey Jr.

Olds’ Opinion: Limited’s lower price point (compared to Prime Cuts) makes it a bit more fun, but it seems that some cards are still a bit soft. To me, that’s an invitation to buy right now as there is plenty available. The singles route on cards could be fun for some sets in the product — check out sets such as the Limited Gamers for something different, affordable and collectable.

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

Join Beckett Baseball‘s Brian Fleischer and Chris Olds as they rip into a pair of 2011 Playoff Contenders Baseball boxes from Panini America in this latest edition of Box Busters.

What will they find inside? Watch and find out …

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

Topps announced Monday a free authentication and grading program for some new baseball autographed cards that were released recently without a key way to assure that they are real and not unsigned cards that have had fake autographs added to them.

The cards are the seven Aflac autographs found in 2011 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects which were released without serial-numbering to differentiate them from the unsigned cards that were given to the pubic during the prep all-star event.

The players are Archie Bradley, Dylan Bundy, Larry Greene, Travis Harrison, Francisco Lindor, Robert Stephenson and Blake Swihart.

To alleviate this problem, Topps has joined with PSA to get the autographs authenticated and the cards graded — for free.

The cards will be marked on the slab that they were part of the program and only the cards found in packs will be accepted. The offer is good until July 1, 2012.

Cards should be mailed to:

AFLAC Certification Program c/o Topps
1 Whitehall Street
New York, N.Y. 10004

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

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

The arrival of the first Panini America baseball card set under its new deal with the MLB Players Association is just weeks away.

Today, we have for you a few exclusive preview images of autographed prospect cards to be found in 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition once the boxes start arriving on Dec 21.

Each 20-pack box will include six autographs. Meanwhile, four Hot Boxes per 20-box case will include 10 autographs. For those not quick enough to do the math, that’s 136 autographs per case.

There will be 150 prospects signing for the product, which will include several new insert lines, including Building Blocks (dual, triple and quad autographs), Best Compared To (a draft pick and a present major-leaguer paired) and Two-sport Stars. The base set will include 150 prospects and 25 present MLB players.

Other items worth noting for the product include 50 on-card autographs and a full array of the familiar diecut cards from the past — Aspirations and Status.

Look for another exclusive gallery — for 2011 Playoff Contenders, which arrives in January — in the next issue of Beckett Baseball.

If you absolutely can’t wait to see some other Contenders sigs, click here.

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