We got our first look at 2011 Limited Football in pieces over the last few months, but now we are getting the rest of the preview via Panini’s site. Although it looks like Panini is trying to keep up with Topps’ new MO of on card rookie autos, there is still more of the same old same old that we get with every Panini set. Again, this is going in the right direction, but what we are seeing are the best of the best, not the standard box hits, which will no doubt be right where they have been for the last few years.

First off, the base design is awesome. One of the worst parts of the Limited sets over the last few years is that the base cards have been completely hideous. Because a poor base design trickles down to the rest of the product, the whole thing has been a giant eyesore. Now that the base design is up to par with expectations, I think things are on the right track. Now lets hope they don’t do something stupid like BRIGHT ORANGE backgrounds for the legends cards, or other atrocities against the eyes that have happened over the last few years.

I like that the Phenoms are on card this year, which is a GREAT upgrade, but honestly, I get a Triple Threads vibe off these. Tiny player pictures and die cut windows match my feelings from my least favorite set. However, the diecuts are the word logos for the teams, which are some of my favorite in sports. Like that a lot.

Moving on, I really like the look of the Prime signatures cards. They look good for a dual signature, and hopefully the checklist will be strong. Its more stickers though, but for a set like this, its not as big of a deal as say National Treasures.

I also like the final parallel of the Brady card, but its obvious that the other 25 parallels without autos are going to look awful. There is no doubt in my mind that the rest of Limited will be a bunch of 2 dollar jersey cards and scrub autos just like it usually is, and this card will be a prime example. The auto jersey parallel looks pretty cool, but they wont move the swatch down lower on the card when the sticker is taken away for the plain jersey parallels. It will result in an incomplete looking card that is as if someone forgot the sticker. Cant wait for the NFL shield parallels of this set, which had BETTER feature the rookies in action shots and not those horrid studio poses from last year.

The Lettermen cards are an exact knockoff of 2010 Certified Fabric of the game cards, and that sucks for this set. Although the FOTG cards looked really good, these cards deserve their own identity. I don’t get that here. These cards will be highly collected and coveted, but I just feel slighted, as I usually do with Panini stuff.

Lastly, the Banner Season cards are cool with full game shots, but honestly, most of them will just be the junk hits you throw in the bargain bin. None, and I mean none, of these cards without autos will be worth anything, and THAT is exactly why I don’t buy any Panini products. They are overloaded with junk that never has any value. STOP making this crap.

Here are the highlights: