Over on the Panini blog, they posted some previews for their Rated Rookie boxed set that will be released at the beginning of next year. The set looks to be aimed at lower end collectors who want to get some guaranteed cards of the top rookies for a cheap price, and personally I think its great. They have already released some pictures of the autographed content in the set, and for once, I think they have this set 100% right.

First off, the cards themselves have a great design with a retro feel to the set. and the stickers are even done well. In fact, I believe that Panini may be on to something with a base Donruss set like this. Many collectors, even if they are not baseball focused, remember the great Donruss sets of the early and mid 80s, and Im sure that would carry weight in a market like we have now. Topps flagship sells well because of brand loyalty and recognition and with cards that are consistently produced on this level, Panini may be able to cut into market share. Considering they really have nothing but 10-15 products that do nothing but blend together due to lack of creativity and design, this product could be a welcome departure from their boring norm.

The problem I could see is the fact that  autographed rookies like Bradford and Tebow may not be in this set, which could deter some people like myself from even breaking out one of these boxes. Who knows though, these could just be great cards for TTM at the most.

Check out the pictures to see what I mean: