Panini Announces Plans for Toronto Expo

Panini America will be making its second straight appearance at the Fall Expo when this year’s2011 Toronto Sportcard and Memorabilia Expo begins Nov. 11 at the Toronto International Centre.

Panini has developed a unique show-exclusive, nine-card redemption set featuring three key rookies that just laced ‘em up and took the ice, three Legends (limited to just 299 copies), two Team Colors cards (limited to just 299 copies) and wait for it . . . the return of the signed Rookie Patch cards (limited to just 25 or less).

Randomly inserted into packs will be limited-edition autographed versions of the base set (including Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos) and the rookies (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Gabriel Landeskog).

Collectors will receive two-card Expo-exclusive packs for opening boxes of Panini America’s NHL roster of products, including (details on how many per box to follow):
– 2010-11 Pinnacle
– 2010-11 Luxury Suite
– 2010-11 Contenders
– 2010-11 Zenith
– 2011-12 Score Hockey

Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance to find out about the company’s plans for instant-win prizes and Box Wars at the Expo, but for now here’s a look at the checklist and an early look at some of the base cards.

1 Alex Ovechkin
2 Steve Stamkos
3 Tim Thomas
4 Sidney Crosby
5 Nicklas Lidstrom
6 Corey Perry
7 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
8 Gabriel Landeskog
9 Adam Larsson

HOF Doug Gilmour
HOF Joe Nieuwendyk
HOF Ed Belfour

TOR Phil Kessel
TOR Dion Phaneuf