Panini America Provides a Preliminary Look at 2014 Immaculate Baseball (Gallery)

You’ve seen some of the early autograph returns coming to the highly anticipated baseball debut of 2014 Immaculate Baseball. Today, we’re going to pull the curtain back just a little bit more. Panini America’s 2014 Immaculate Baseball is set to arrive in hobby shops across North America on September 24, buoyed by many of the attributes that helped make its basketball counterpart an instant collector favorite — most notably a stunning design, massive pieces of game-worn memorabilia, a legendary autograph checklist and scarcity.

Every card produced for 2014 Immaculate Baseball will be numbered to 99 or less and each six-card box will deliver five autograph or memorabilia cards. With more than 9,500 prime-memorabilia hits and an impressive array of jumbo prime memorabilia (including jersey nameplates, batting gloves, fielding gloves, shoes, hats, sweatbands and more), Immaculate looks to live up to the brand’s reputation in a big way.

The product highlights are many and include . . .

• Immaculate Rookie Material: Rookie Cards featuring oversized pieces of memorabilia numbered to 99 and featuring Prime versions numbered to just 10.
• Immaculate Rookie Autograph Material: The game’s top rookies come together in a compelling combination of prime pieces of jersey and an autograph on cards numbered to either 99 or 49; the checklist includes the likes of Gregory Polanco, Nick Castellanos, Oscar Taveras, Billy Hamilton, Michael Choice, Xander Bogaerts, Yordano Ventura, Taijuan Walker and more.
• Accolades Material: If you’re looking for legends, this is your insert. It features 25 of the greatest players to ever step onto the diamond on memorabilia cards numbered to 99 or less; Prime versions are numbered to 25. The checklist features the likes of Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Honus Wagner, Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Satchel Paige and many more.
• Immaculate Swatches: Immaculate Swatches features memorabilia cards of 95 veterans, rookies and prospects #’d/99 or less, with Prime versions numbered to 99 or less and Premium versions numbered to 20 or less. The Premium chase features a mixture of brand logos, laundry tags and buttons that total more than 850 cards of players like Masahiro Tanaka, Yasiel Puig, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr., Bo Jackson, Chipper Jones, George Brett, Byron Buxton, Xander Bogaerts and more.
• Immaculate Ink: Immaculate Ink combines two popular technologies (acetate, gold or silver-ink autographs on black stock) to give this on-card-autographed insert a classy, timeless look. Look for parallels numbered to 10, five and only one. The checklist is loaded with elite-level current, former and soon-to-be-stars like Jose Fernandez, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Freddie Freeman, Oscar Taveras, Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken Jr., Carlos Correa, Javier Baez and more.
• The Greatest Signatures: The name says it all. This 14-card checklist features the who’s who of former greats all with on-card glory. Checklist superstars include George Brett, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr., Nolan Ryan, Mariano Rivera, Bo Jackson, Rickey Henderson, Frank Thomas, Chipper Jones, Bob Gibson, Ryne Sandberg and more.

We’ll have much more to preview on 2014 Immaculate Baseball here on The Knight’s Lance in the coming days. But for now, enjoy this extended sneak peek: