Bowman Platinum 2011 Baseball: 4 Packs

I picked up 4 packs of Bowman Platinum 2011 baseball during my boxing day shopping spree. I had never purchased this product before and had not bought Bowman baseball cards since the early 90's. The packs were on sale but were regularly priced at $10 each. This is the same price point as the NHL Artifacts cards and I figured the Platinum product should produce some good results because of this. I was only somewhat right.

In all I pulled 6 hits, consisting of 2 parallel cards, 3 prospects and one auto redemption card. I also pulled 3 rookie cards, none of which were serial numbered and are part of the base set.

The base cards are printed on a slightly thicker than average paper stock that is roughly half the thickness of the Ultimate NHL cards. The backs have a clear design with a hefty amount of text that doesn't read like a book. The number on the back is placed within a red bubble on regular cards and green ones for rookies, which is helpful since the only other difference between base and rookie is that there is a small RC printed on the front. The front of the base and rookie cards is slightly glossy with a silvery sheen that makes the photos pop! The backgrounds are blurred to allow the player to stand out, and each player is featured in an action shot. The front graphics are isolated to the bottom 1/5 of the card and are very clear and the palyer's name is printed in a reflective silver over top a dark and non-reflective background. Overall these are excellent looking base cards and would make an outstanding looking set.

I pulled three prospects subset cards, all of which where printed with chrome fronts. The design is almost identical to the base cards except that there is more text and no stats on the backs. I also pulled two parallel cards, one of which is a prospects parallel. This parallel is of Yasmani Grandal and is dubbed a X-Fractor, which fall 1 in 4 packs. The second parallel is a gold base card, which is identical to the base cards except that the front has a gold tint. Gold variation cards fall 1 in 5 packs. None of the parallels or prospects I pulled were serial numbered.

The final hit of the 4 packs is a Trevor Bell auto relic card base; I believe this will be a signed jersey card. This came as a redemption card, so hopefully I won't have to wait too long for the card to arrive in the mail. This is also the first redemption I've pulled from a Topps product (Bowman is produced by Topps).

Compared to the 4 packs of Artifacts that I opened, the Bowman product was much weaker. However, I still came out with 3 rookies and an auto. I'll be trying my hand at this product again if not just for grabbing a few more of the excellent looking base cards.

Upper Deck ICE 09 /10: 2 Box Break

Upper Deck Ice had been one of my consistently favorite hockey card products because of its beautiful design, rare and uniquely designed rookie cards, and generally fantastic hits. The boxes also have a reasonable price tag, which allows everyone to afford a few boxes. The 09 /10 Ice product is perhaps the weakest of the product's line due to the ghastly looking base set and what seems to be poor hits per box. The lineup of rookies in the 09/10 season was also not extremely strong, and while beyond the control of UD it did not help the attractive value of the Ice product as their main selling point are their rookie cards. As it would turn out, the 09 /10 Ice would be the last year this product would be sold in boxes as the 10 /11 season would see individual packs of the products inserted into the UD SPX boxes as a bonus.

What I pulled:

Rookies: The reason why Ice is an attractive product to invest in is because of their rookies. You average around 6 per box, each embossed with a serial number. There are a few levels of rarity in the rookies cards, ranging from print runs of 1999 to 99. The cards feature great looking silhouette photographs of the players on top a clear acetate card, which is a feature not found in any other product. Another positive note is that a small bio is presented on the back of the cards. While I prefer to see some stats, a bio is nonetheless appreciated as so many other rookie cards in other products do not list anything at all. From the two boxes I did not manage to pull any low numbered rookies, but did pull a couple solid names such as James Reimer and Cody Franson.

Materials: I pulled two Fresh Threads jersey cards; one card in each box. These are the same idea as the rookie jersey cards from the series 2 UD products, except with slightly larger jersey swatches. My problem with the 09 /10 design is that the backgrounds are far too dark. While the blue motif is logical and easy on the eyes, they should have used lighter shades of the color and perhaps one other color (sparingly) to add a bit of contrast. The cards are also not serial numbered, which is a shame because the rookie cards are. For these cards I pulled a Sergei Shirokov and Jakub Voracek Fresh Threads.

I also pulled two Frozen Fabrics jersey card, and again these were found 1 per box. This line of jersey card features classic or current star players instead of rookie players like the Fresh Threads. The Frozen Fabrics cards are similar to the Fresh Threads in that they have a similar sized swatch of jersey and are not serial numbered. However unlike the Fresh Threads, the Frozen Fabrics have a better design because a contrasting color to the blue was used here (that being red). Also, the background to the player's photo is ghosted, allowing the player himself to pop forward while still retaining the context of the shot. Very nice cards, in which I pulled a Pavel Datsyuk and Steve Shutt. Two very good names to pull.

Autographs: From each box of Ice you can average 2 material cards and 1 autograph card. Off E-Bay I scored two very cheap autograph cards to add to my meager collection of 09/10 Ice. These two auto cards belong to the Glacial Graphs series, which are an absolutely beautiful set of autographed cards. First off the autos are hard signed; no stickers here! The cards are made of acetate like the rookies, which has a great look for showcasing an autograph. The photos are crisp and silhouetted atop a geometric background and ghosted background image from the original photograph. Further, the autos themselves were signed in blue ink, which is always more interesting than the generic black. The only downside is that again no serial number was provided for these cards. It seems that Ice is very reluctent to provide serial numbers except for their rookie cards.

Notice how the auto blends into the blue of the flag?

I pulled 'The Champions' auto from the first box I had picked up of Ice. This series of autographs feature hard-signed autos from Olympic Athletes that are not serial numbered. Some card fans were upset about pulling these autos as it frequently featured people who did not play hockey. Personally, I think it's a pretty neat idea as the Olympics occurred the year before and provides you with an autograph of someone you would rarely obtain one of. That being said, I do wish that these would be a bonus autograph because I do agree that if UD says you will receive at least one autograph per box then at least one of those autographs belong to an NHL hockey player. From this box I pulled a Natalie Darwitz auto, who is the captain of the US women's hockey team (not bad at all really). The auto looks great, but I do wish they had provided a larger light colored space for the auto as it could be much more prominent in comparison to the background.

The final hit I have came from the second box. This is a mammoth, case break hit of a Signature Swatches of Mario Lemieux. This is an absolutely beaut of a card with a huge black swatch of Lemieux's jersey with his autograph in silver laid over top. The card design is perfect  and I couldn't be happier. On second thought there are two things that would make me happier. One is that again there is no serial number which is completely unacceptable for a case break hit. Second is that the auto has a small smudge on the 'L', which shows a lack of care in UD's part during packaging. Nonetheless, this is a beautiful card that is one of the best in my hockey card collection.

In sum, the UD Ice 09/10 product is a solid product that has a few problems. While not shown here, the base card design is poor in comparison to previous years. The lack of serial numbers are also frustrating but become more so on the case hit. On the positive side I received some good hits from my two boxes, and the rookie cards again deliver some of the best looking and most unique looking cards out of any product on the shelves. The rookie cards are the reason to pick up the Ice product, and for that reason alone the 09 /10 Ice product is worth putting some cash down on the counter for. Ice is still a cold and crisp pickle!

Certified 10/11: 3 Pack Break

Certified is a product of Panini's and was one of their first products in the re-entry to the world of Hockey cards. As with many new products I like to try a few packs to gauge if I'd like it, especially since this was one of the initial products by Panini. Panini's Score was a home run in my opinion for it's incredibly low price, nice retro design, and hard-to-find hits. Crown Royale, discussed previously, is also a product by Panini and was an excellent product despite the high price tag. Certified bucks the trend of the Crown and Score products in that it is an absolutely horrid product, except (oddly) the base cards.

What I got:

Front of base cards

Back of one base card

Base: The base cards have great photographs with an eye-catching shimmer and foil to them. The cards are not serial numbered, but look incredibly sharp and stand out against any of the other base cards produced by UD or Panini this year. The back of the base cards is regular card stock with a somewhat lackluster design that still manages to compliment the fronts. The base cards are almost worth collecting by themselves.

Back of Champions card.

Front of Champions card.

Non-Material or Auto Subset: I pulled one Certified Champions card, numbered out of 500; this was the hit from one pack. The card has a similar style to the base cards and features images of Corey Perry & the Anaheim Ducks from when they won the Stanley Cup a few years back. The card looks OK but I've never been a huge fan of these types of subset cards, where events are highlighted from previous years of the NHL. However, at least it's not highlighting something completely random but instead showcases Stanely Cup winning teams, regardless of how tired that theme is in the world of hockey cards. In contrast, the In Harm's Way subset from Crown Royale is interesting for it showcases goaltenders being in physical conflict with other players, which is a different idea for hockey cards (however, the NHL & NHLPA prohibit sport cards from depicting photographs of fights so this Crown subset is treading a fine line).

Notice the big negative space 

around fabric.

Back of Varlamov card.

Material: I pulled one Fabric o the Game card and this is where much of my disappointment resides. The card features a moderate sized square red jersey swatch from Semyon Varlamov, with a serial number of 250 on the back. Varlamov is not a bad player to pull, but the card's design is incredibly boring. The photo of Vaarlamov is dark and placed on top an equally dark background, making the photo disappear. The design itself is erratic as it appears to represent part of a jersey (?), with a long tag stretching down one side in which the jersey swatch is located. The tag is long enough to accommodate more than one jersey swatch, which is the idea as there are different levels of the jersey cards (eg. 1 or more jersey swatches or patches). This is a very lazy design that leaves a lot of unused space on the card around the jersey swatch, which is also a very lightly colored area that makes the card unbalanced as the player's photo is dark. Furthermore, I prefer to see the serial numbers on the front, as this is part of the key attraction to the card, material or auto + rarity + player photograph = a good card!

Notice the poor quality punch of letters.

Back of Toews card.

Moving on. The second material card I pulled was a Fabric of the Game Jonathan Toews three piece jersey. The card is numbered out of 25 (again printed on the back side) and has the identical design to the previously mentioned Fabric of the Game. It appears that three different parts of the uniform /jersey were used for this card, and the fabrics are inserted below a cutout of the letters NHL. All the previous negative comments from before apply to this card plus with one additional flaw. This flaw is that the letters NHL are cut out incredibly poorly, with jagged pieces sticking out along the margins of each letter as though this was done by a child. Such poor quality can be glossed over on cheaper products, but not one where each pack runs you close to $15 and especially since a card numbered out of 25 would suggest this would be one of the better cards in the set.

This is a really poor product mainly due to the quality and design behind its material cards. Additionally, that one of the hits was a subset card numbered out of 500 leaves you wanting a lot more when you plopped $15 down for that pack. For that price the subset card should be on top of a jersey or lower numbered card, however this argument can apply to many other products such as Artifacts. Overall I would not buy this product again and I regard this as one of if not THE worst product of the 10/11 season. I rate this product as one soggy, half molded over sour pickle.

Artifacts 2010-11: Two 3-Pack Adventures!

On two separate occasions I picked up 3 packs of 2010-11 Artifacts. I really enjoy this product as it has a low price-point that produces a hit per pack that could either be a serial numbered card or a material /auto card. Also, the cards look really sharp with a flashy foil accents on the borders.

The hits I pulled:

Legends: Pulled 1 Cam Neely Legends card numbered out of 999. The card is without auto or material attributes, but nonetheless is a nice looking card. The card is not part of a subset but rather belongs to the regular set which is broken into base cards, rookie cards, legends cards, and stars cards. This is the same organization as the previous years' Artifacts product.

Rookies: Pulled 2 rookies, both numbered out of 999. The rookies weren't big names (Tokarski & Hamill), but the cards are still sharp looking serial numbered rookies that always adds depth to a card collection.

Jersey Cards: I pulled a base card parallel where two small swatches of jersey were placed at the bottom, and the card numbered out of 150. This is a great way to produce a base card parallel, and while the jerseys are white and the player is not a big name, the card is still very sharp looking and a fine addition to the collection. The second jersey card I pulled was of Roberto Luongo and is also numbered out of 150. The card belongs to the Frozen Artifacts subset and features two square jersey swatches, with one above the other. Not a bad looking card of an A-list player.

Patch Cards: This is perhaps the best patch card I have ever pulled from an Artifacts product. This is a duel patch card of the Tundra Artifacts Tandems subset and features the two A-list players of Henrik Lundqvist and H. Zetterberg. The card is numbered out of 15. The patches are of the same size and shape as the jersey cards: two squares over top one another. The patches are really unique as the Lundqvist patch is all white, but the material is looks like looped wool; really neat looking. The Zetterberg patch is also very nice looking, with a seem on the left side, showing a splash of red along the squares border.

Overall I felt I did quite well with these 6 packs. Artifacts continues to be a strong product, but I do wish they would make the jersey and patch windows a bit bigger.

Crown Royale 2010-11: 2 Packs

Crown Royale is one of my favorite products of the 2010-11 season, and definitely the best product yet produced by Paninini. This is one of my favorites because the design is excellent, the photos spot on, it has on-card autographs, produces two hits per reasonably priced pack, and the base cards (while not serial numbered) have die-cut and foil trimmed tops in the shape of a crown. Beautifully designed set.

Enough gushing. Awhile back I picked up two packs of Crown Royale (on two separate occasions). As I know I will receive two hits per pack (one material or auto and one serial numbered non mat /auto), I like to pick up one pack when I am buying individual packs of a cheaper product such as Upper Deck srs 1 or 2. This way I know I will have one pack when leaving the card store that will definitely have a great card. However, I have found I have much better luck pulling the big rookies and case breaks when purchasing say 8-10 packs of UD than I do buying a box.

The Hits:

In Harm's Way: This is a non-mat /auto subset card numbered out of 299. It is the first of this subset I have pulled, and it is also numbered 1 out of the set. The front of the card features a dynamic photo with very little flash compared to other cards in this product (flash being foil or die-cut). Nonetheless, this is a pretty neat concept for a subset where the back tells the story of one instance where the featured player was injured, or came into 'Harm's Way'. Not something you typically see on a sport card.

Regents: This is another non-mat /auto card but this time it is not a subset card but instead belongs to the set, fitting somewhere between the base cards and rookies. The card is numbered on the back to out of 499. Also on the back is one year of stats and small blurb about the featured player; in this case I pulled a Mario Lemieux. Regents is pretty much the same as the 'Legends' featured in Upper Deck products like Artifacts and O-Pee-Chee. Regardless, it is still fun to pull a classic player especially when it's Lemieux.

Rookies: I pulled a rookie in each of the 2 packs I had picked up. The first was of Robin Lehner of the Ottawa Senators. The auto is on card and signed with a blue marker. Really sharp looking as the background behind the auto is whitened while the rest o the card is fairly dark, making the auto really pop. The rookie cards have a low numbering (Lehner was 135/499) which is perfect for autographed cards, and it is a pet peeve of mine when autographed rookies are given high print runs as they were in SPA 10-11. The second rookie I pulled was of Brandon Yip of the Colorado Avalanche. The card was actually a redemption and was the first redemption I had pulled from any Paninini product. Going by UD standards, I figured I'd be waiting between 6 months and a year for the redemption but instead Paninini had that card in my hands within a month.


After another couple of packs, I am continued to be enthralled by the Crown Royale 2010-11 product. The cards look great in every aspect! Definitely a sweet pickle of a product that I will be reaching back into the jar for more of!

SP Authentic 2010-11

SPA is one of my favorite products every year because of its great design and solid output of autographed rookie cards, plus the occasional pull of an auto-patch rookie. However, with this year's product there are a few negative points that make it not the strongest product of the year.

In comparison to other products brought out this year, SPA did not appear to increase the quality or quantity of their hits. When Paninini re-entered the hockey card market I was worried it would flood the market and devalue cards much like what happened in the 1990's. Instead, I am finding that card value has remained constant but the quality and frequency of pulling hits has increased, which is a definite win-win for the consumer. Further, while UD has not decreased their price tags, Paninini is offering a product that is slightly less or comparable in quality to UD's but with a 1/3 to 1/2 the sticker price. SPA however, did not pick up on this trend of lower price tags and more /better hits. Instead, SPA is offering fewer hits at the same price as every other year's SPA set. Specifically what is missing from SPA are the parallel cards that are serial numbered. Granted they do have an enlarged patch /auto collection this year, but with their insertion rate of 1 per case good luck finding one! The parallels were always nice because you knew you'd pull one per box and there was always a chance it would be a low numbered rookie.

Other Problems: The design of the set is very crisp and dynamic, but the set layout is the same as every other year. By set layout I mean what types of cards are included, which in this case you get base cards, sp notables (serial numbered), non-auto rookies (serial numbered), auto rookies, and the subsets. I suppose making the layout the same brings the SPA line together as a cohesive product but I would like to see it take some level of a different form in next few years, otherwise it will become dry. The other problem is that you only receive three auto's per box on average. That's it! Compared to other products with a similar price tag there should be at 2 more autos per box! A third problem is that the serial numbered cards should have much lower print runs. The auto rookies are numbered out of 999, which is a huge number considering how many auto rookies you can pull in a box (at best 2!). A print run of 999 for the non-auto rookies is more than fair, but an auto rookie should have a print run of less than 750.

What I pulled from the boxes I bought:

Notables, Front

Notables, Back

SP Notables: I averaged 4 Notables per box. The cards have a very nice design, however the image of the player could be in more focus. The cards are numbered to out of 1999. The 'notable' players are notable and feature the greats of the current and past game. Fun to pull.

Non-Auto Rookies: I averaged 1-2 of these per box. The cards are numbered out of 999, which I think is a fair print run for a non-auto rookie card in a mid-range priced box of cards. The design of the cards is sharp and the best part is that the player's stats and draft info is listed on the back of the card. I don't know why it has become more and more uncommon to display this info on rookie cards, but in my opinion you shouldn't call a card a rookie without having some stats on the back. But I digress...

Auto-Rookies: I averaged 2-3 per box. The front design for the auto vs. non-auto rookies is almost identical but for the deletion of the team logo from the auto rookies, which I prefer being included. The back of the cards (much to my chagrin) is missing the player info /stats and instead has the UD generic 'congratulations' for pulling an auto that you already knew you were getting (it's not actually like you won something here UD). The autos themselves are nice as there is a generous white area for autos on the cards, providing some medium to large autos. The autos were also done with blue markers, which makes it pop off the card. The biggest down side is that the cards are numbered out of 999, which as I said previously should be lower.

The two best auto-rookies I pulled was a Seguin and Subban. Subban's auto looks pretty nice but came as a redemption; however, I only had to wait 2 months for the card which is uncommonly quick for UD redemptions. The Seguin card is also nice but the auto is pretty skimpy. The card is numbered 172/999 but by the shape of his signature I would say the guy had been signing a few thousand cards before getting to sign the one I pulled! Nonetheless, two great rookie cards!

Sign of the Times (subset): I pulled at least 1 Sign of the Times per box. These are auto cards with no information on the back of the card, and tend to feature last year and this year's rookies. The cards have a great design and have ample room for the autos, which again are signed in blue marker. The cards are unfortunately not serial numbered. The vast majority of the cards I pulled were of recognizable players, which makes it worth pulling (such as Hamill, Eller, Kadri, & Couture pictured here). However it seems to be incredibly difficult to pull any of the cards with more than one auto, as I pulled only one and it was a redemption. This year's redemptions do not list the name of the players who will sign your card, but instead list it as a mystery redemption  (fingers crossed for Crosby!).

HOLO FX front

HOLO FX back

HOLO FX (subset): I pulled at least 2 of these per box. Not serial numbered or autographed. This subset has been included in every SPA product and they are a fun pull. The cards feature great photos of some great present and past players. The shiny background could have a bit more style to it (other than a repeated SPA logo), but nonetheless looks really sharp. The back of the cards also list some simple stats such as their weight and height. Cool and fun to pull cards.

So in sum, SPA is a decent product but not the year's best. The loss of parallel base cards from last year is a strike, as is the high print runs of the auto-rookies. Another strike comes in comparison to other products this year that seem to give you a bigger bang for your buck. However, you still get some great looking cards and autos of some of the best players in the game. Really, it's just a soggy if still sweet pickle.

TOPPS Heritage 2011 (Baseball): 8 Pack Break

I love baseball but do not collect baseball cards to the same volume as I do hockey cards. When I was a kid I collected nothing but baseball cards and for some reason that is not the case anymore. This week I picked up 8 packs of Topps Heritage 2011 Baseball cards. I did the same for the 2010 Heritage product and was fairly satisfied with the product and thought I'd do the same again this year -try out a few packs.

The 2011 Heritage product has a design that mimics the 1962 Topps card series. It is a nice looking set with faux wood borders and a staged, often portrait shot of a baseball player. The bottom right corner of the photos are slightly rolled so that the player's name and team name can be shown. The color and sharpness of the photos are also skewed so that they are reminiscent of older photographs. The skewing is nice because it makes an otherwise boring portrait shot instead dynamic and interesting. The back of the cards are also nice because they include a tasty paragraph of trivia on each player, their combined career stats, and a bit of trivia that is associated with a comic-style drawing of the player in action. Overall, this set is really nice looking and worth picking up!

Each pack contains 9 cards with the chance of subset, memorabilia, and autograph cards. From the base cards I picked up 5 rookies and two high-numbered cards. The high-numbered cards are base cards numbered between 461 and 500 (I believe), and they are short printed. High-numbered cards fall 1 in every 3 packs. In addition, I picked up one News Flash Backs and Baseball Flash Backs cards. I like the baseball flash backs as it highlights the major events of the year this product pays homage to, but the News cards can be weak. I picked up the 'Dodger Stadium opens its doors' card, which is fine, but I've seen some of these cards feature news stories about the Mona Lisa and American politicians. I'm sorry, but I'm buying baseball cards and not random stuff cards. These two cards represent part of the product's subset and are perhaps the weakest part of the product. They are not numbered nor do they stand out from the base cards. I think they could have just done without these. Next, I pulled a check list. There are six checklists in this series and they are not part of the base set. I prefer checklists to be part of the base sets and there is nothing interesting about this card other than the card stock and colors are different from the base set. I don't get this as a checklist should go with the base set cards, and why does this card stand out from the base cards more than the subset cards do? Weird.

Pulls from the 8 packs: 5 rookies, 2 chrome, and 2 relic /memorabilia cards.

OK, I saved the best for last here. From the eight packs I broke, I found two chrome and two memorabilia cards. The chrome cards are the same as the 2010 series, but still look really nice. The chrome cards are numbered out of 1962 (makes sense) and there are multiple versions of them with different numbering schemes. For instance, there are green chrome cards that are numbered out of 100 something and fall 1 per case. Next, I pulled two memorabilia cards or what Topps calls clubhouse relic cards. The first was of Justin Morneau (Twins), and the other was Albert Pujols (Cardinals). The relic cards look nice with clear portrait photos of the players and a decent sized jersey, although some relic cards also feature wood instead of jerseys.

I had heard that relic (and autos) fall one per box so obviously I had lady luck on my side with these eight packs. Even if I had pulled only one relic card in these eight packs I think I would've still been happy. The base set looks good and the chrome cards and relics add a nice additional value. There are two drawbacks to this product. One is that the subset cards don't make sense and blend in with the rest of the set. Second is that I don't like there being too many parallels to a product. From what I've gathered, there is the regular chrome, green chrome, blue chrome, black border, and red something or the other parallels. I think a product should stick to one or two parallel editions. Anymore than that and it waters down the value and interest of the parallels. That being said, I still love the look of the chrome cards.


This product is pickled.

Upper Deck Artifacts 2010-11: 3 Pack Break

Picked up 3 packs of Upper-Deck Artifacts, 2011.

Never been a huge fan of this series as the design has been weak and last year's product had many defects. The primary defect is that the foil along the cards was often scratched or ripped. Nevertheless I picked up 3 packs of this year's series in the hopes of finding one of this year's great rookies.

From the three packs came 8 base cards. The base cards are not numbered and feature a similar design to the 2010 product, including the foiled accents. Unlike last year's product is that the foil is mint from the pack! The cards also have a really sharp look, with the players displayed over a stylized background that is either blue or yellow in color. The highlight of this product is that each pack contains a hit, although the hits can vary from a serial numbered 'Star', 'Legends', or 'Rookie' to a memorabilia or auto. The Star, Legends and Rookie cards are the same as last year's series, along with the hits of memorabilia and autos. The fact that the only difference from the 10-11 and 09-10 products is that the backgrounds have been changed on the base cards does not warrant a 'pickled' status. I still like how you get a hit, even if it is weak because the price of the Artifacts product is affordable and as my three packs show, it is worth it. I would just not recomend sinking too much cash into this product as there are better products out this year.

Hits from the 3 packs of Artifacts.

Getting back to the three packs I opened, the three hits were one memorabilia, one auto, and one rookie. The memorabilia card was a Frozen Artifacts Paul Stastny single color, two-piece jersey numbered out of 150. The autograph was from a less than pickled player. The auto is an unnumbered Gilbert Brule card. The auto is not a hard sign but instead on a sticker. I prefer hard signs, but am not upset over the usage of stickers either. What was nice about the auto is that it was signed in blue ink, unlike the more common black ink used for most cards; I don't get why more autos aren't done in different colors, but maybe that's just me. Lastly, the rookie was of Corey Elkins, numbered out of 999. Overall not bad pulls from three packs, but again the unimaginative design leaves me wanting a lot more. I'll probably pick up a few but not many more packs as I would rather spend the money on a different product.

Crown Royale 2010-11: Pack Break

Saw some good cards coming out of the Crown Royale packs from online posts and thought I'd try my hand. I prefer Upper Deck products to some of the new Panini products that have come out this year, but thought one pack wouldn't hurt!


Crown Royale 2011: Pickled!

A box of Crown Royale contains 3 packs, with 5 cards per pack and each pack has at least one hit: autograph or memorabilia! The packs are reasonably priced and is a nice alternative to the much pricier Upper Deck products that offer a guaranteed 'hit' per pack. Upon opening the pack I was immediately satisfied. In the pack were three base cards that were die-cut with a shiny crown at the top. Base cards are not numbered but there are parallel base cards that are. In addition to the base cards was one subset card: Royal Pains. This subset has a silver embossed area on the card that matches the base set, which is nice that the team behind Crown Royale had put some thought into making a unified set. The Royal Pains cards are also serial numbered out of 499, which is not a bad run as many subsets from other products are numbered at 999 or more. Finally, the hit of the pack was truly OUT OF THE PARK, or I guess rink might be a more appropriate word! What I pulled was a Royal Lineage patch card numbered out of 25! The card featured three pickled (!) patches, one from each: Kyle Okposo, Evander Kane, and Wayne Simmonds. A great collection of young players!

Crown Royale 2011 pack

Now, while I pulled a great pack there is one con to this product. One is that the awesome patch card is slightly curved because (I think) of the size patches. In my experience, Upper Deck patch cards do not warp from their thicknesses. Because of this I do wonder about the quality behind Panini's manufacturing. There may be more cons to this product, but as the one pack I picked up treated me so well I will definitely try my hand again!