Box Break - - 2010-11 Panini Zenith Blaster Box

The cards you find in retail are generally focused around what most would consider the low-mid range products.  During the 2010-11 hockey season, Panini revived the Zenith brand but decided to market a "retail" version of their product in addition to the normal hobby boxes.  What a great idea....

That was until you saw the price tag.  $29.99 for 3 packs of 5 cards!!  That's 15 cards for about $30, making it $2 per card.  Quite the steep price tag for anyone interested in busting retail, including myself.  I wasn't even interested in the hobby product at the time.  Not even the "Dare to Tear" promotional gimmick suckered me in either.  My LCS at the time had a Mark Messier Box Topper and they obliged the masses by mutilating the card only to find an EPIX Duncan Keith insert.  Good for a Chicago-land card shop but definitely a downer.

Fast forward a little more than 2 years and we now have these boxes still sitting on some retail shelves.  But our friends at Target are not about to have them sit much longer.  They have slapped everyones favorite round clearance sticker on these and have them market at $9.99.  So at about $.66/card, it might be easier to swallow.

Lets see what comes out of a blaster box of 2010-11 Panini Zenith.

First, here are some samples of the base cards.  There are both current stars (#1-115) and "short-printed" legends that are high numbers (#116-140).

I also pulled a GU card....

This card comes from the Winter Warriors insert set, not to be confused with the Donruss version of these called Boys of Winter.  Here we have Jared Boll of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  At least he still plays for the same team.  It's a plain blue swatch, if you can't already tell.

Finally, I pulled one Rookie Roll Call insert (not a jersey version but still)...


wait for it....

Taylor Hall.  In 2010-11 Hall and Seguin were the two big draws for the rookie class.  Getting a Hall out of this box was pretty cool considering how much 10-11 hockey I opened without as much as a peak of Mr. Hall.  I did pull a few Seguin's back then but alas, no Halls.  I have picked up a few since then but it's not the same when you unwrap one of the bigger draws of a set.

Now that the price has dropped, I would say pick up a box or two if you can find them.  You can even get a hobby box under $70 (I even saw one for $62).  They are nicely designed base cards, will probably yield a few nice hits, and are probably an easy set to put together for all you set chasers out there.

Card Show Recap - - Sun Times Sports Spectacular

Every trip to a card show should be accompanied by some collecting goals.  Otherwise, it becomes just a melee of ridiculous purchases and time spent ogling things you have no intention of ever acquiring for you collection.  A couple weeks ago now, I made my bi-annual trek out to Rosemont, Ill. to take in the sites at the (eh, em) 46th Annual Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectibles Convention.  Considering this happens twice a year, I'm not sure you can call this an "annual" event.  Bi-annual maybe?  What do I know?  I'm not a marketing guy.  At any rate, I picked Saturday to hit the show floor as there is never enough time on a Friday and Sunday just seems too rushed.

(Check out this link from the Herald to see a few pictures of the show)

As I said, you need a game plan at these shows.  The sheer amount of dealer tables, merch vendors, industry businesses, and memorabilia peddlers can be overwhelming when you consider the 220,000 square feet of show floor these things take up (and that was the small hall).  The National will be here too this year but we will save that for later.

So my goals on this trek...

1. Pick up some set needs to try and knock out an incomplete set or two.  Never an easy task considering many of the "common" tables have very large men parked two deep in chairs, actively engaged in a feeding frenzy over all the $.10 cards they can get their greasy fingers on.  This will require strategy and cunning unlike has ever been seen (not really but you have to have some flare for the dramatic otherwise it isn't interesting).

2.  Find some cards for my Player PCs (Guerin, Lemieux, Jagr, Tangradi [I doubt it] perhaps a footballer or two).  This is usually an easy one considering they guys I collect have a plethora of cards out there that I have been unable to acquire over the years.  I don't really think I will ever complete a comprehensive player list of any of these guys but as long as I keep collecting, I'm sure gonna try.

3.  Pick up some autographs for my Penguins project I started last year.  This is something that has always kind of just happened but was never a priority.  This time that changes as I have an extensive list of guys I need to cross off my roster. 

4.  Do some trading.  What fun would a show be without the aspect of the hobby we all love?  Not very.  That's why I spent the better part of my free time over the few days before the show, digging through wantlists of the collectors/bloggers I knew would be there.  Trading is my favorite part of the show.

5.  Pick up some cards for my Team PCs.  Again, this is usually an easy one as my teams of choice tend to be popular ones.  I try to get at least one cool card from each sport (hockey, baseball, and football) that I don't already have.  Keep in mind, cool is in the eye of the beholder.

6.  Bust some wax.  Usually I have a list of boxes that I am targeting, whether for set building or otherwise.  This time around, with many popular hockey releases cancelled, I don't really have a certain type in mind.  I will just see what has the best bang for my buck and go from there.

Let's see how we fared this time around.

1. Pick up some set needs to try and knock out an incomplete set or two.

In typical fashion, the cattle were a grazing.  Big Time!!  There wasn't space to be had at many tables, even just to take a peek at what was on them.  That makes for a long day when you are a set building on a quest for completion.  So instead, I stuck to the quarter, three for a dollar, and other discounted bins, hoping to find something, anything that will fill my goals.  As luck would have it, I was able to pick up quite a few cards from my Parkhurst Champions set I'm working on as well as a few Victory Rookies I still needed.

But the big score came during trading.  Guys knocked out my 4th complete base set for this years Upper Deck Series I and also contributed to numerous other sets.  I can successfully say that I completed a set (albeit a duplicate one).

2.  Find some cards for my Player PCs (Guerin, Lemieux, Jagr, Tangradi [I doubt it] perhaps a footballer or two). 

No brainer here.  I got a handful of Lemieux's, a handful of Jagr's, a couple Guerin's and one Bettis card for my secret, unpublished "Bus" collection.  I already showed every one the Jagr's the other day after he got his 1,000 career assist and the Lemieux cards too.  Here were the other's in case anyone wanted to see...oh, no?  No scans?  Ok, then.  Moving on.

3.  Pick up some autographs for my Penguins project I started last year.

Surprisingly, this came easy too.  I found two tables with cheap auto cards, mostly certified, and they had plenty o'Pens.  In fact, there was one table that I even put some back from my stack that I pulled because I felt like I was going overboard.  These will all be posted over on my Auto Project blog that you can get to from this link or over on the side panel.  I will say this though, I have 12 more players crossed off the master list.

4.  Do some trading.

Again, no brainer.  There is always at least one trade going to go down at these shows, assuming another trader will be there.  This time, there were three.  Unfortunately, I didn't know about the third until it was too late so I had nothing available for them.  Next time, though.  Trades at these shows goes something like this...I find a small-to-large stack of things from a persons want list, they find find things off my list, and we swap.  Nothing fancy, no book values, no worrying about who gets the better deal.  No pressure.  That's the way I like it.  I ended up with a bunch of stuff for my set lists including the final UD cards I already mentioned up there.  I also ended up with some other really cool things which will be posted about later.  Thanks to Sal & Nick for all the goodies.

5.  Pick up some cards for my Team PCs.

I picked up 6 Steeler cards, 2 Pirates, and a bunch of Pens stuff.  I would say that this goal was met in spades.

6.  Bust some wax.

Wax is obviously a misnomer nowadays.  But I will still call it that probably forever.  I didn't really have a target product this time around.  I had an idea of some things I would have liked to see at certain price points but all of it was high-end and none of it was in my budget.  What I did wrestle with and finally compromise on was a box of 12-13 Panini Classics Signatures, which I already posted about, a box of 11-12 Panini Rookie Anthology, which I already posted about, and a box of 11-12 ITG Between the Pipes which I haven't posted about but will in the near future.  All the boxes yielded some really nice stuff as you can see if you check out the box break reviews.  I was very fortunate and the breaks were a lot of fun.  

Box Break - - 2011-12 Panini Rookie Anthology

Back in June 2012, Panini released an end of the year product called Rookie Anthology.  Reviews were mixed for this in the beginning as the price point (over $100) was a little steep considering this is a mish-mash or all the previously released sets.  What does that mean, you ask?  Think of Upper Deck's old Rookie Update sets from the early-mid 2000s and you would be pretty close to a match.

(Contrary to popular belief, I am over the age of 9, therefore I was able to purchase and open this product without legal ramifications for both the seller and my parental guardian.)

Rookie Anthology packs "updated" rookie cards of late entry rookies and players that got to see action further in the season from their card releases earlier in the year.  This is a great improvement over jamming early releases full of redemption cards.  Crown Royale, Pinnacle, Luxury Suite and Limited are all featured with additions to the Ice Breakers checklist, the Rookie Royalty and Silhouettes checklists, and the Limited Phenoms checklist.  In addition, Panini added their own base cards as well as Rookie Treasures which feature a dual sweater or patch plus an autograph of any of the plethora of rookies.

Each box contains 10 packs with 5 cards per pack.  Guaranteed in each box are 1 Rookie Treasures card, 1 additional autograph card, and 2 memorabilia cards.  

Let's take a look at what we pulled.

First, the BASE CARDS:

When I first saw these out there, I didn't think they were anything new or fresh.  Just basically your run of the mill Panini set.  The more I saw them, though, they kind of have a way of growing on you.  

The base set cards feature a zoomed in shot of the player, fully colorized to stand out from the background.  The color coding matches the team colors on the boarders and design.  There is a, believe it or not, fairly unobtrusive product logo in the top left corner, and a gold foil stamped team logo on the right.  The players name, number, and position are arced across the bottom in a ribbon/banner type design.  They are clean, bright, and look very nice side by side in binder pages (its only a 100 card base set).  

ROOKIE INSERTS:

The interesting thing as I already mentioned, with Rookie Anthology is that it is much like the old Rookie Update sets from Upper Deck back in the day.  Panini created new updated rookie cards with high numbers for the various sets produced that season and inserted them into this product.  Here's what we pulled...

From 2011-12 Crown Royale.  This is a Rookie Royalty card of Warren Peters.  Warren is in the Penguins system now after signing with the team as a free agent in July 2012.

 

Here are the Ice Breakers from the Pinnacle "Update" set that I pulled.  With the Nufex technology in full effect, it's hard to see what is going on with these scans (especially since my scanner now wants to put stripes on everything).  And on top of that, I forgot to flip them before I uploaded them.  Clockwise, I pulled Cody Eakin from the Capitals, Calvin De Haan from the Islanders, Peter Holland from the Ducks, and Anders Nilsson from the Islanders.

GAME USED/AUTOGRAPHS:

I pulled one Rookie Rivalry card.  Here it is and features Toronto's Matt Frattin and David Rundblad from the Coyotes.  For some reason, I pulled Rundblad in a few products as a hit.  Too bad I don't collect Portland Pirates cards, or Coyotes, or Rundblad.

Here was my Rookie Treasures card which features Tomas Kubalik dual memorabilia and autograph numbered out of 499.  These RT cards are numbered either /99, /199, or /499 with an additional run of /15 inserted as case hits.  Kubalik has played 12 games for Columbus but has not had a call up this season.  He has split time in the AHL between the Springfield Falcons and the St. John's Ice Caps.

But the next card made the whole box (and then some).  If you follow my Twitter, you probably already know what is coming.

Sorry for the crooked scan.  The picture I posted on Twitter was much nicer I think.  I even got a retweet by Panini because it's such a crazy card.  This is the big one of the checklist.  The RNH  #/99 auto/dual multi-color swatch card has been moving on the secondary market, albeit at a much slower pace now that we have some time between release and now.  It's kind of funny to see the differences in final sale prices between the plain swatch ones and the multi-color ones too.  But still, I had a heck of time even pulling basic RNH cards out of products last season.  Now this???!!!  I was pretty happy as I haven't had much luck on rookie autos as of late.  Very nice card, indeed.

BONUS PACK CARD:

In every box of Rookie Anthology, there is a bonus pack that contains an additional card.  This card can be anything.  More times than not, it will contain one of the hits of the box or an extra hit.  On occasion, I have seen some of these with only base update rookies.  Mine....??

We had another pretty awesome autograph...

This is a 2011-12 Panini Limited Stanley Cup Winners Auto of Brad Marchand.  The card is some type of hybrid acetate/thick glossy/plastic-like material.  So much so, that Brad (and all the others) had to sign with a silver sharpie marker.  Brad's signature leaves something to the imagination but there is no question that it is his.  He even put his number on there.  Very nice looking card.

Overall, this is a nice Panini product.  The base cards are nice and at 100 cards for a set, it isn't too difficult to track down the ones you may need to fill a checklist.  The hits are plentiful and the opportunity to expand the base checklists of the earlier releases makes the set building chase even more challenging.

I would definitely recommend anyone to pick this up, especially at the current price point under $60.  Check around and you will find some great deals on this one.  You will probably get plenty of bang for your buck.  I know I did.

Box Break - - 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures

One of my goals when I go to a big show like the one a couple weekends ago at the Convention Center in Chicago is to bust some wax.  98% of the time I am successful at that goal but the quality of the products sometimes leave something to the imagination.

This time, after many months of debating whether it was a good deal or not, I decided to take a stab at Panini Classics Signatures.  This product is the first time Panini put that name to their hockey line of cards and I'm sure, won't be the last.

The reason for my early trepidation on purchasing the product was the price point.  It was running upwards of $180 per box for basically 30 cards.  That was way out of my price range for a product considered mid-high end.  But the more I saw of the boxes being opened, and the more product ended up on the secondary market, the more I started to swing my vote to the "yay" side of the argument.  Finally, at the show, boxes were down under $115.  It was time to get off the fence. 


Before I show off what was in here, I'd like to point out that there were a few things I like about the product and a few that I don't.  First, my issues. 

1.  The price point.  I already mentioned it above.  $180 was just too steep of a price for what I was initially seeing coming out of the box breaks.

2.  The checklist is just too large for a mid-high end set.  I love the fact that Panini went all out to try and get 200 of the best legends that have ever played the game into their product.  But precisely for that reason, this shouldn't have been a $180 box out of the gate.  100 cards is probably the max that any product like this should have been.  Save the rest for short prints, inserts, and other goodies (a la Parkhurst Champions). 

3.  The card design is just too plain and under the radar for a higher end set.  I could even live with that if they would have used more of the card for the photos.  But you can't win them all.

But despite those facts, there is still a lot to love about this set.

1.  The Autographs.  There are a ton of autos jammed in this product.  At one auto-per-pack, every break is bound to turn a hall of famer or two.  Plus with the Line Combo cards, there is the potential for dual and triple autos of some great linemates.

2.  The player selection.  The guys featured in this set are the best ever (except Gretzky).  If there is a legend to be had, they have at least one card in this set (except Gretzky). 

3.  The photography.  While the card design leaves something on the table, especially for a higher end product, the photos used on the cards themselves are terrific.  Nostalgic is the only word that comes to mind when looking at player cards with old jerseys, teams that no longer exist, and logos that have been changed once or twice since these guys laced up their skates.

I won't leave anyone in suspense any longer and I will get right to showing off what was in here.  The box configuration is 5 cards/pack, 6 packs/box for a total of 30 cards.  There is also one autograph card per pack for a total of 6 autos.  I don't believe this set has any memorabilia cards.

First, the base cards...

As I said, the base card design kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially if you paid the MSRP initially at $180.  These kind of look more like a design for the basic Score, Donruss, or Pinnacle sets (minus the Nufex).  However, as I said before, the player selection and photos used are great.  Here we have Stan Mikita, now announcer Bill Clement in the old Atlanta Flames uniform (there are B&W photos mixed with color), Kevin Dineen in the classic green Whalers jersey, and Ron Francis sporting the Captain C for Pittsburgh.  You can tell the time frame of the Francis by looking at that old Diet Pepsi ad behind him.

There were also Retired Number Banner cards too.  These fall at a rate of one per pack.  Here are the six that I pulled... 

But I'm sure what everyone came looking for was to see the autographs that were pulled.  Here they are in no particular order...

If you were a Flyers fan, this would have been a great box.  Not one, not two, but three Flyers autos.

I even pulled two Kings autographs.  One of a player I already had an auto of, one with an epic goalie mask.

And the one auto that I was kind of excited about was this...

The first Ranger to have his number retired and a member of the famed "goal-a-game" line, Rod Gilbert.  Look at how neat that signature is.  He even put his player number.  I also like how he didn't want to cover up his image with the auto so he put it over on the side below his stick.  Very nicely done.


But wait...There's more...

For some reason, six autos weren't enough.  This box had 7.  And what an auto to have as a bonus.  When I saw this card of the Roadrunner in here, I first thought it was Guy Lafleur because anytime I see a Hab without a helmet I seem to think it is Guy.  But Lafleur's linemate, 10 time Stanley Cup winner and HOFer is just as good in my book. 


But wait...There's more...

I don't know if this can be considered a "hot box" or not with the bonus autograph but this might give it that extra push...

If you can't see it because of my crappy scan, this is a redemption card for a Classic Combos - Trios auto of Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, and Yvon Cournoyer.  That's right!!  A triple auto card of three of Montreal's greatest legends.  As far as I can tell, this one will be numbered either out of #/50 or #/25.  Either way it was quite a surprise. 

So if you consider the autos by themselves, this box yielded 10 autographs.  Not bad at all for the price point, although at the normal rate of 6, it would still probably be a good deal assuming I would have pulled the same types of cards (including the redemption). 

Overall, I like this product but just wish Panini wouldn't have gone so crazy with the checklist.  There is some potential for big cards and from what I can tell so far, a great secondary market for the ones that don't fit your collection.

New Mario's For The PC

I picked up some Mario Lemieux cards at the last Sun Times show in Chicago.  I think I may have already had a bunch of them.  In fact, I'm almost sure of it but I don't care.  You can't have too many Mario's. 

I don't really have much else to say other than enjoy the scans.

This is just a parallel version of the one above.  It's known as "full length".