Check It

Panini has once again resurrected a dead insert set.  This years 2012-13 Score release has reintroduced to the world to the Check-It set.  This punishment themed set coincides well with the NHL's new policies that crack down hard on the very existence of what this set glorifies.

Fine by me.  Checking is a vital part of the game and a well executed one can be the most exciting moment of any game.  They can change the momentum.  They can get a crowd into a game.  They can make a statement.

Back in 1995-96, Score made their statement, unleashing this set onto the world.  Let's take a look.

 

Then again in 1997-98, Score's Pinnacle release, their "high end" at the time, brought back the set for a second time.  As many of the Pinnacle release inserts, they went all out in their presentation with a holofoil printing (I don't think it was dufex because that wasn't invented yet...I could be wrong).

Fast forward fifteen years to 2012-13 Score and we have it again.  These are the only two I have.

I like these sets, I like the subject material, but I don't like the photos.  Why?  How many of these cards actually show a check being dished out?  I count 4.  The rest of these are events either before, after, or some kind of awkward positioning.

A few of the highlights here...

Chris Pronger gets the honor of being here twice (only because I had them handy).  The first one features him cross-checking Troy Loney into the boards.  The second one has him holding down a NJ Devil player (although I don't know who that is)...NOT CHECKING.  Jagr is shown digging a puck out, more than likely by the boards..NOT CHECKING.  Brind'Amour is in the middle of a spin move in his synchronized skating event with his partner...NOT CHECKING.  Dino Ciccerelli is mugging a Ranger with a half-nelson, sleeper hold move...I'll give them that one.  Derian Hatcher is about to give a slough foot to Paul Kariya...NOT CHECKING, YET.  Owen Nolan is doing something, I'm not sure what, but it isn't CHECKING.  It looks kind of like he just avoided being checked.  Maybe a better name for this set could be Awkward Positioning, or Penalty Potential.

Any thoughts? 

The Franchise

Panini brought back another set in this years Score Hockey called The Franchise.  I don't remember these ever being in the hockey release at this level.  The Franchise subset had always been comprised of mostly all-star players and the main stars from each team.  This years set does have more of the same.  But Panini added a retro-themed Franchise set very similar to the design I remember from back in 1992.  The only difference was, that set was in baseball.  Here they are now...

 There was also an autographed version of these as well as a triple panel card with 3 autos.  But I'm not talking about baseball here.  Let's take a look at this years set.

These are the regular Franchise cards.  They are all horizontal oriented with a large team logo about the size of a POG (remember those?) and an action shot of the player.  Honestly for me these are not very appealing, kind of a bland design, and for the most part...boring.

But the retro-themed Franchise are a different story. 

This set is a 6 card set (they are all here) that was originally thought to only be in retail boxes but I pulled all of these out of hobby boxes.  There are also two checklists that are a much harder pull.  Each of those features three of the players together. There are redemption autographs on each of these that are numbered out of #/10 and are practically impossible to find.  I haven't seen any on the Bay yet but I'm sure they are out there and will fetch a hefty tag.

I think it's interesting that the Bobby Hull that I pulled isn't the same as the original preview release.  I wonder if the preview card is the autographed one?  Who knows?