Hot-Button Topic: Panini America Prepares 2012 National Treasures Baseball (Gallery)

In the interest of full disclosure, know this: I didn’t get to the office until after 1 p.m. today. But I have a really good excuse: I spent my entire morning — and some of my afternoon — over at the Panini America production facility as Stephanie Carlson, Ben Ecklar, Micah Layton and Carlos Torrez put the finishing touches on packout and quality control for 2012 National Treasures Baseball.

Truth be told, there’s no place else I’d rather be following a long weekend on the road — and over the course of the next several days, you’ll understand exactly why. Today, however, we have visual proof that Panini America’s most super-premium baseball product ever is all buttoned up and ready to go.

Indeed, among the  myriad magnificent memorabilia inclusions slated for 2012 National Treasures Baseball, perhaps the most unique, most visually arresting and most likely to start a conversation are the product’s many game-worn button cards. These rare cards (most are numbered to six or less) incorporate buttons from game-worn jerseys worn as recently as last season and as far back as early in the last century.

The checklist is a generation-spanning sensation that includes — among others — Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish, Lou Gehrig and Satchel Paige, Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson, Nolan Ryan and George Brett, Burleigh Grimes and Yogi Berra and many, many more.

Below is a button-busting gallery of just some of these gems. Enjoy this first look and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance in the coming days for more sneak peeks at 2012 National Treasures Baseball, due out in hobby shops next Wednesday.