Something is bugging me, and I don’t really get it. Panini has been finally getting around to previewing the products from 2012, and there is such a gap between some of the previews and some of the others, that I wonder if there are two separate teams over at HQ. One team has done great work, much like the Prestige base cards, and the clear acetate signatures from Elite, where others are pretty much exactly the same as last year, like the previews for Gridiron and Momentum.

Prime Signatures, in my opinion, is the best preview we have seen this year from Panini. I liked the design of most of it last year, even though I thought the box configuration and checklist was about as bad as it can get. This year, it looks like Panini is returning to the same nice design for the rookie base signatures, but also adding some content that looks reminiscent of Upper Deck from 2009 and prior.

My favorite card, which I hope doesn’t end up as a 1/1 is the Blackmon Jumbo patch auto, as I think it is really just a stunning card. It has the right orientation and swatch size, and also uses my favorite white background and simple composition. The Griffin III previewed patch auto also plays on this same concept, and I think it is similarly well done.

My only worry is that this product will be another sticker dump like last year, and we wont have the quality checklist that it should display. As long as Panini keeps sticking to this road to improvement, you wont have any complaints from me. I love this style of card, and I think it is one that should be explored more often.

There will be a lot of stickers in this product, including the dual autographs which I find an improvement over the others they have done, but for a product at the price point this was at last year, its not that big of a deal. Upper Deck learned their lesson with 2009 SP Signature Edition and 2007 Chirography, I hope that Panini takes heed.

Here are the previews: