Since the beginning of the new modern era of Certified, the Mirror Black 1/1s have always been a player collector target, much like the Superfractors have become in Topps Chrome. With Certified, the addition of NFL logo patches have made the cards some of the most expensive rookie cards of the year, even with major design flaws that have occurred in recent years. So much so, that when Panini gave the 1/1 Mirror Black Sam Bradford quad logo auto away as a redemption replacement, the hobby blogosphere and messageboards exploded.

Here are some of the big ones already pulled from 2012 Certified:

2012 Certified Justin Blackmon NFL Logo Mirror Black 1/1

2012 Certified Doug Martin Quad Logo 1/1 Auto

2012 Certified Bo Jackson Immortals Mirror Black 1/1

2012 Certified Barry Sanders Immortals Mirror Black 1/1

This year’s Mirror Black cards for the rookies are going to be tough to forecast, as the change in uniform branding made the new jerseys very tough to come by at the 2012 Rookie Premiere. As a result, Panini has some of the new logos for the cards, but also a handful of helmet logos as well. Sure doesnt help that the design, once again, is sub par, with the swatch windows being too small to truly showcase the logos.

On the veteran side, I have always disliked the logo cards, as the NFL shield was so big on the swatch windows, that it practically covered up the entire player. The rookie non-auto shields are much better this year, as the design Panini chose lends itself much better to cards without the sticker. Last year, it was much different, with the quad logo autographs having a much better aesthetic appeal than the hideous single logos.

Certified will forever be a collector favorite, as long as Panini keeps the structure similar to what it is today. Even with poor design, people refuse to give up on this product, and that is something that Panini has to bank on each and every year. I guess that is why I am so surprised that so little effort seems to have been devoted each of the last few years. Maybe they will learn their lesson, one can dream.