Prospecting collectors are a disciplined bunch who will invest heavy into a product, working to acquire a position on it in some cases, and then just sit on it. They patiently wait for what they believe to be inevitable; for a player to break out in the product creating huge consumer demand. Prospecting in football products however was not something that really existed to any great extent until Upper Deck released the company’s 2011 and 2012 USA Football box sets featuring content from high school stars yet to play in college.

Unlike other stories recently about autographs of prospects causing peril for players, these USA Football box sets does not jeopardize the eligibility status for the players since they are playing for their country and Upper Deck is the exclusive trading card manufacturer from the USA Football team. And what this release really means for collectors is they have the opportunity to collect limited-edition trading cards of top college stars including autograph and game-used memorabilia cards. There are dozens of top recruits found in these sets and some are starting to make a huge impact with their collegiate teams!

Collectors can find the first-ever football cards of Florida State star Jameis Winston in 2012 Upper Deck USA Football.

After the performance Jameis Winston had this season, many of these prospectors who purchased these sets are strongly considering breaking them down and start selling them off because of the content for Winston in the 2012 set. Those who watched Winston play in his first game against Pitt this weekend immediately bought into the hype around this 19-year-old freshman who was nearly perfect, completing 25 of 27 passes for 356 yards with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.

His record setting performance quickly earned him the nickname, “Famous Jameis” and he is going to be a name on the top of many card collecting hot lists for the near future. He dazzled Florida State Seminole fans all season long and collected just about every award available at the quarterback position in college football this season. He is a prospect in high demand. The only problem is, there are hardly any football cards of him out there to collect, except from Upper Deck’s 2012 USA Football box set. Take a look at his first-ever football card (card #26), found in every 2012 set:

This is the first-ever licensed football card for Jameis Winston, found in each of the box sets.

There are also quite a few insert cards of Jameis Winston in the product as well that feature autographs and game-worn memorabilia. Here is a checklist for those to be on the look out for as more of these sets are opened.

There has not been much posted through online auction sites for Winston memorabilia and autograph cards from the set which means most is likely still waiting to be discovered in sealed box sets.

You can find the first autographed licensed football cards of “Famous Jameis” in the USA Football box sets.

In case you are not familiar yet with Jameis Winston, check out this highlight reel!