Collectors, Rejoice: The Kobes are Coming!
The defending World Champion Los Angeles Lakers came through town earlier this week for a Western Conference clash with the Dallas Mavericks. What turned out to be one small step backward for the defending champions was one huge leap forward for Kobe Bryant collectors everywhere.
At least those Kobe collectors who’ve been patiently waiting for his 2010-11 Panini America autographed trading cards.
Indeed, Kobe’s business trip to Big D left him just 20 miles from Panini America corporate headquarters, providing the perfect opportunity for a highly anticipated signing session with the company’s superstar exclusive spokesman. On Tuesday afternoon, we dispatched a serious, signature-seeking contingent that included Panini Authentic‘s Brian Bayne, and basketball acquisitions specialists Samantha Newman and Laurel Baker.
A few hours later, the team was clutching — with a death grip — a collectible cache of Kobe autographs, all on card and all spectacular. The cards, included as redemptions in 2010-11 products such as Donruss, Timeless Treasures and Threads, will be sent back out to collectors in the coming days.
Until then, here’s an exclusive gallery of the cards that had the entire office buzzing for two straight days.
Stay tuned next week to more news regarding Kobe Bryant and autographs and . . .
The Knight's Lance 
Nice, so when is Prestige John Wall autos shipping out? Are they on-card autos?
Will have to check. But he tweeted recently that there were more on the way after he returned his leather pieces for Timeless Treasures.
Great looking cards. His autograph looks different then from years past – I wonder if all his injuries to his fingers has something to do with it. Go Lakers!
what about Kobe prestige autos? i have been waiting for a bit now…
I’ll check on Monday and let you know.
any news to our queries?
Never heard back about what was up with the ryan mathews redemptions Tracy… They sent out live ones in Gridiron and I am still waiting for my Certified autos…
I think Mathews has returned everything he owes us. Now it’s just a matter of QC’ing the invetory, building the cards and fulfilling.
Tracy, I’ve always been curious about this. When Panini signs a contract with a player and receives what they believe to be *fake* autographs signed by brother’s, sisters, friends, etc. what’s their reaction?
The athlete is in breach of contract, but it’s in neither his nor Panini’s best interest to actually do anything about it. If Panini sues the athlete, word of mouth won’t be pretty.
Does Panini send the autographs back to the athletes and demand new signatures?
You’d have to assume that at some point Panini’s received what they believe to be counterfeited signatures and to say otherwise would be kidding everyone; so there has to be a policy, right?
Does anyone even look at the autographs to ensure continuity?
Interesting question, but that’s a situation that, as far as I know, hasn’t happened to us. We thoroughly QC every signature that passes through our office to ensure authenticity.
Those do not look like Panini’s best effort. I thought the Football line this year was pretty decent, so why does the basketball stuff look so bland?
As always, the feedback is appreciated. I guess beauty remains in the eye of the beholder.
dig the uniforms
Hey does anyone know if they sell this individually or do we have to buy the packs and HOPE we’re lucky enough to find one inside? THANKS for any replies…and GO LAKERS…haha…had to throw that in there…3peat
They start off randomly inserted in packs but quickly end up on the secondary market individually, usually on auction sites like eBay or in card shops around the country.
those are cool! congrats to those who will receive them. but i got a question, though. my Kobe auto redemption were signed by him already. problem is, Magic Johnson hasn’t signed yet ( ’09 Elite Passing The Torch autos). is there any news on when Magic will be signing it? All-Star weekend maybe? thanks and keep up the good work!
Let me check for you on Monday.
Great cards guys, but I’m not seeing any of the Limited redemptions in the gallery, nor were they mentioned in the post. I assume they’re part of this signing, but I gotta ask…are they part of this signing? I’ve got one outstanding…
I’ll look into it for you next week.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHEN THE KOBE / KEREEM DONRUSS AUTO FROM OVER A YEAR AGO WILL SHIP ? I SENT IT IN OVER ONE YEAR AGO
So what about auto’s from other products, such as Prestige? When are those going to be shipped out? Did these get signed? Are they on card?
Great questions, guys. I will look into all these outstanding redemptions on Monday and let you know what I find out.
It’s been a few Mondays, Tracy…any news for us?
just want to say alot of people are annoyed with the fact of how many redemption cards you put in. It is not fair to the collector. You should not be making as many products or have big checklists if you can’t make the cards in time.
Panini is excellent about getting redemptions done, unlike that OTHER company in Carlsbad, Calif. Patience is a virtue.
…Though while we may find them annoying, it is definitely appreciated that Panini stays on top of the filling of those redemptions. On various forums, there seems to be a general consensus that Panini’s customer service is light-years ahead of the other brands in the industry, and, heck, lot of other major companies!
CAN YOU TELL ME WHEN THE KOBE / KEREEM DONRUSS AUTO FROM OVER A YEAR AGO WILL SHIP ? I SENT IT IN OVER ONE YEAR AGO ???? this is very disapointing
When Panini will send “10-11 Kobe auto cards” to collectors?
Many of them are on their way to collectors now. Which ones in particular are you waiting on?
Oh~very fast reply! thx
I reserved a redemption card…..and I’m waiting on “10-11 Timeless Treasures MVP meterials” Kobe auto card.
My card is in that pictures 🙂
You’re welcome. If your card is one of the gems pictured, it should be on its way or will be very soon.
That’s good
I really wanted to hear that news.
Now that I’ve be waiting a few days until Panini send card !!
Did he sign 2010-11 Prestige auto’s? If so, are they on card or sticker? Thanks.
Has kobe signed his 10-11 Limited Redemption?? Its been four months now. Why make him sign donruss and timeless when products like limited came out first??
So, when are his Prestige and Rookies and Stars auto’s going to ship. I was told by Panini within 4 to 6 weeks and that was 7 weeks ago. Not good to say something and not deliver on it. Bad for business.