Prime Examples: The Hand-Picked Patches Headed to 2011-12 Prime Hockey (Gallery)

Contrary to what some New Jersey Devils fans may believe, the image above is in no way intended to serve as an editorial comment regarding how the Los Angeles Kings have sliced and diced the Devils during the first three games of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.

Instead, that splendidly spliced specimen of an Adam Larsson-worn jersey is meant to illustrate the jaw-dropping quality of the massive 2 inch-by-3 inch patch pieces hand-selected for the Prime Colors insert in the upcoming 2011-12 Prime Hockey.

The product created massive amounts of buzz when it was first announced in April. It will undeniably create even more once hardcore hockey collectors see the gallery that follows detailing some of the sickest, heavily-hued patches the hockey hobby has ever seen.

Indeed, when Panini America NHL Brand Manager Chris Barr hasn’t been taking over the Panini America Twitter account during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s been logging massive hours with the rest of the hockey team back in Acquisitions, painstakingly pinpointing the perfect prime pieces for inclusion in Prime Colors. The team’s high-level handiwork is detailed below.

The following patches will be incorporated into Prime Colors as scarce collection-makers limited in quantity from 25 all the way down to one.

“We couldn’t call a product ‘Prime’ without providing the choicest patches to collectors that our jerseys had to offer,” Barr notes. “That boiled down to our team hand-selecting specific patches and logos from our vast inventory of jerseys. The team went through the arduous task of scrutinizing each jersey we had and identifying unique pieces we wanted to feature in the Prime Colors set.

“Once the swatches were picked, many long hours and weekends were spent cutting each individual patch for the set. We can only imagine the excitement when a collector pulls one portion of a patch. But if any collector is adventurous enough to re-build an entire patch, that will be quite a feat.”

Jonathan Toews game-worn jersey patch.

Cal Clutterbuck game-worn logo.

Brent Burns game-worn shoulder patches.

Shane Doan game-worn shoulder patch.

Cory Schneider game-worn logo.

Ondrej Pavelec game-worn shoulder patch.

Ondrej Pavelec game-worn logo.

Martin St. Louis game-worn shoulder patch.

Martin St. Louis game-worn shoulder patch.

Dustin Brown game-worn shoulder patch.

Mario Lemieux game-worn shoulder patch and number.

Mika Zibanejad event-worn logo.

Mika Zibanejad event-worn logo.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins event-worn logo.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins event-worn logo.

Pekka Rinne game-worn shoulder patch.

Pekka Rinne game-worn shoulder patch.

Jaromir Jagr game-worn logo.

Jaromir Jagr game-worn logo.

Tomas Vokoun game-worn logo.

Tomas Vokoun game-worn logo.

Gabriel Landeskog event-worn logo.

Gabriel Landeskog event-worn logo.

Bernie Nicholls game-worn logo.

Bernie Nicholls game-worn logo.

Claude Giroux game-worn shoulder number.

Claude Giroux game-worn shoulder number.

Chris Pronger game-worn logo.

Chris Pronger game-worn logo.

David Backes game-worn logo.

David Backes game-worn logo.

Adam Larsson event-worn logo.

Adam Larsson event-worn logo.

Dustin Brown game-worn logo.

Dustin Brown game-worn logo.