U.S. Soccer stars arrive via Panini Instant before World Cup qualifiers

The U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team will be suiting up for World Cup Qualifiers next month and the women’s squad will be in action in September, too, giving Panini America its latest shot at a big goal.

More soccer collectors.

How does that happen? More cardboard — and we’ve got the details after the jump.

Gallery: 2016-17 Panini Black Gold soccer autographs

With all of the high-end releases from Panini America this week, it’s this one that might have the most global appeal — with a lower price, too.

It’s 2016-17 Panini Black Gold soccer, and it’s a brand that includes stars from around the world inside its boxes, which arrives in hobby shops beginning today.

First Buzz: 2016-17 Panini USA Soccer cards

What: 2016-17 Panini USA Soccer cards
Arrives: Oct. 12
Box basics: One autograph and one memorabilia card per 75-card box set (10 boxes per case).

What’s buzz-worthy: Panini America spotlights the stars of the USA Soccer squads — b0th the men’s and the women’s National Teams — in this annual box set that’s jam-packed with inserts atop the standard cards.

Keep reading for more info and a full gallery.

UFC star Ronda Rousey leads long list of athletes in SI Swimsuit Issue — and many can be found on cards

It’s February and that means that we’re set for the Super Bowl and some mass-marketing from SI.com over the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

And in reality the hype for both already has begun.

The last time we saw Ronda Rousey, she was suffering the first loss of her UFC career. Up next she’ll be in the annual issue for the second year in a row. More publicity won’t hurt her already-in-high-demand cardboard. She’s one of a long list of athletes to appear in the issue and part of an even longer list of models who appear on cards and have certified autographs and even memorabilia cards for collectors to chase.

For the traditional models, there actually were SI Swimsuit card sets released each year from 2003 to 2009 from Stellar Collectibles and then a later retrospective set. In those sets, we got autographs, memorabilia cards and even paint cards from photoshoots. Meanwhile, for many of the athletes who have appeared in the issue since, there are autograph appearances in sets like Topps’ Allen & Ginter (and many other sets) where collectors can also sometimes find the models. Kate Upton and Chrissy Teigen have been found there for example, and they sell very well.

Here’s a rundown of a few sports stars who we’ve seen in the issue.