2012 Panini Americana Legends & Heroes Trading Cards Box Break Recap And Review

Card sets based on Americana tend to include a fun mix of humor and nostalgia, seldom featuring the other side of what makes America great, the people who rise up to represent the citizens of this country.  With the bottomless pit of attention paid to news about entertainers, celebrities and Honey Boo Boo Child, it is refreshing to celebrate the people who’s accomplishments go beyond self interest and make us proud to be a part of this nation.  2012 Panini Americana Legends & Heroes takes a look at our Presidents, Astronauts, Tuskegee Airmen and members of our National Sports Teams and provides an important set collectors to consider building.

Panini Americana Legends & Heroes falls under our classification of trading cards.  Hobby Boxes contain 18 – 10 card packs and feature 3 memorabilia or autograph cards.

Here is a look at some of the cards we pulled.

Base Set

Presidents of the United States

 George Washington, front and back

 Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt

 Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman 

 Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan

To see a video montage featuring all 44 Presidents of the United States of America, use this link

 First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Barbara Bush  

Astronaut

Al Worden, Dick Gordon, Scott Carpenter 

Allen Bean,  Kathlyn Thornton, Fred Gregory

 U.S. Athletes

 Bonnie Blair, Scott Hamilton 

 Kerri Strug, Bart Conner, Carly Patterson 

Mark Spitz, Greg Louganis, Lenny Krayzelburg

 Bruce Jenner, Frank Shorter, Dick Fosbury

Tuskegee Airmen

 Charles McGee, Herbert Carter, Eugene Richardson

Roscoe Draper, Floyd Carter, Roscoe Brown

U.S. Women's Soccer 

 Alex Morgan, Abby Wamback, Hope Solo

Heather Mitts,  Carli Lloyd, Kelley O'Hara

Base Set Numbered Parallels

George H.W. Bush color version #/299,  Kelley O'Hara Silver Proof #/50

 Inserts

 Bob Beamon

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Lisa Fernandez

Sally Ride, Edgar Mitchell 

George T. Sakato, Theobald G. Wilson 

 Nicole Barnhart & Shannon Boxx

 Amy Rodriguez, Stephanie Cox

The Hits

 Edgar Mitchell Memorabilia #/299

Amy Lepeilbet Autograph #.179 

 Eric Heiden Autograph/Memorabilia #/99

Overall Look

Panini chose to go with all black and white photography for the base cards, reserving color photography for numbered parallels and inserts, a choice I feel works for this set.  The write on the back of the cards are well done.  All of the inserts look great with some really nice layout work. Hit cards are well designed and executed.

Quality and Variety of checklist.

This is a great mix of people.  The corresponding numbering of the Presidents’ cards from 1 to 44 is an excellent choice, but the arrangement after that is confusing.  It appears there was an original list of cards that were done in alphabetical order according to first name and then others were added arbitrarily within that list.  A minor point but not enough to detract from the subjects on the cards, like the inclusion of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Do the hits hold up?

I really like these hits.  The sticker autos are placed neatly on the cards and blend in with the design.  There are lots of desirable hits with good secondary market values like the top members of the US Women’s Soccer team and others.  The highlights of the product are the four Eisenhower cut signature cards that include an actual U.S. Army General’s star from his uniform.

Will you want to collect them all?

This is one of those sets that should be highly desirable for set builders.   At the very least you will want to one of the complete 125 base card sets.

Rating

 5 out of 5

2012 Panini Americana Legends & Heroes is a great tribute to a group of people worthy of recognition.