Panini producing shoe memorabilia cards

Posted Jun 8, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jun 8, 2012 at 02:04 PM

Panini America’s Father’s Day promotion reminds me of that old Eagles song, “Those Shoes.”

Remember the last two lines of the chorus?

“Oh, no, you can’t do that, 
Once you started wearin’ those shoes.”

Well, Panini can do that, since the company is the only licensee for NBA cards. And since shoes are such a crucial part of a basketball player’s game (there’s something almost hypnotic when you’re at a basketball game and you hear those sneakers squeaking on the court), Panini is producing game-used Kobe Bryant shoe cards and game-used net cards from last season’s NBA Finals.

The cards will be part of the company’s Father’s Day promotion and will be included in hobby shop promo packs. They will be available in time for Father’s Day on June 17.

Bryant has his own shoe line and is a spokesman for Panini, so it’s a natural fit.

Shoe memorabilia cards have been done before, but none have been produced since 2004. If you want a list, go to Beckett.com and check them out. The link is

http://www.beckett.com/search/#term=shoe&attr=223650&sport=185226&rowNum=250

Beckett shows 109 shoe cards starting with the 1998 Upper Deck MJX #GC2 Michael Jordan shoes card. Well, of course Jordan has a shoe card, right?

According to the Beckett database, Upper Deck produced shoe cards in various brands through the 2000-01 season, and then Fleer joined UD for the next season. Press Pass produced the last shoe cards, beginning in 2002 and ending in 2004.

And now they are back. If you love basketball, then there’s a good chance you will love those shoe cards from Panini.