Inside the Black Box: Hawaii Trade Conference preview

We’ve gotten our hands on a pair of Panini America‘s famous Black Boxes, which will be one of the highlights for attendees of the upcoming Hawaii Trade Conference: Florida Edition on April 20-22.

Everyone who attends Panini”s session will receive a six-card wooden box (think Prime Cuts) absolutely loaded with goodness containing four autographs total and three one-of-a-kind press plates (two of which will be autographed).

Each box also includes one unsigned card (all embossed with a Black Box Authentic seal), while one card of the bunch will be encased in a tamper-proof Donruss holder.

What did we find inside?

Here’s a preview …

Black Box No. 1

Orlando Cepeda 2008 Prime Cuts baseball encased autograph — serial-numbered 1/2

Fred “The Hammer” Williamson 2008 Leaf Limited football autograph (with nickname) yellow press plate — 1/1

Braylon Edwards 2008 Leaf Certified football autograph yellow press plate — 1/1

Dick “Night Train” Lane 2008 Donruss Classics football magenta press plate — 1/1

Lou Marson 2008 Donruss Threads baseball autograph —  1/5

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson 2008 Playoff Prime Cuts baseball Icons — 4/5

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Black Box No. 2

Tony Curtis 2008 Donruss Americana II Hollywood Icons — 3/10

Louis Mandylor 2008 Donruss Americana II autograph — 3/5

Gloria Stuart 2008 Donruss Americana II autograph — 5/5

Tony Canadeo 2008 Leaf Limited football black press plate — 1/1

Greg Jennings 2008 National Treasures football autograph yellow press plate — 1/1

Barry Sanders 2008 Donruss Classics football encased autograph yellow press plate — 1/1

It looks like there will be an interesting mix of products and sports to be found in these boxes. While one of the boxes was more of an Americana box, it probably contained the biggest card of the bunch in Sanders. The first box was a very consisent selection with some pretty big names from the past.

Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.