Retro Box Break: 2013 Rookies and Stars Longevity

What We Pulled:

Cards Per Pack: 5
Packs Per Box: 10
Cards Expected: 50
Cards Received: 54

Base Set Completion: 35% (35 out of 100)
Rookies: 10 (1 per pack) Dion Jordan, Mike Glennon, Christine Michael, Tyrann Mathieu, Bjoern Werner, Jawan Jamison, Onterio McCalebb, Denard Robinson, Matt Elam, Kenny Stills

Inserts:

Freshman Orientation Materials: (3) Geno Smith, Denard Robinson,Robert Woods
Cross Training Materials: (1) Markus Wheaton
Longevity Ruby: (4) Josh Freeman, Jordan Poyer, Santonio Holmes, Steadman Bailey
Longevity Emerald: (1) A.J. Green #/5

Opening Thought:

I do like the design of the front of the cards. The team logo and Last Name of the player on the team color down the left side of the card sets it apart from other cards. The veteran cards have action photos while the Rookies do have some shots of the players during training camp. The back of the cards are nothing too special. The last year stats, the career stats, and a blurb about the player.

The value from this box wasn't there. The material cards aren't worth much, although all 4 were colored, not white. The Emerald card helps because it is semi-star. The rookies didn't pan out.

Best card pulled: A.J. Green #/5
Worst Pull of the Box: Longevity Ruby of Josh Freeman

There are 21 parallels and insert sets in this release. You have Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and Signature parallels for lots of the cards. That is too many for a release like this. But all the parallels are a staple of Panini products.

Overall Judgment:

I understand that each and every box that you buy is a crapshoot. There are boxes that will wow you and there are boxes that leave you feeling ripped off. Amazingly, this box was somewhere in the middle. If you go by value only, you would be the latter. But I like the design of the cards, there is a rookie in every pack, and there are 4 hits in each and every box. It would have been better if there was 1 guaranteed Auto in each box, but it was not meant to be. This isn't for a set builder, but for those that feel lucky. If you spend more than $50 on a box, you have overspent. But enjoy the cards and hopefully the pack gods smile upon you.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Retro Box Break - 2012-13 Panini Certified Hockey

What We Pulled:

Packs: 10
Cards Per Pack: 5
Cards Expected: 50
Cards Received: 51

Base Set Completion: 41% (41 out of 100 Base Cards)
Duplicates: 0

Inserts:
Masked Marvels: 1 - Cam Ward #/999
Base Set Blue Parallel: 1- Nicklas Lidstrom #/99
Immortals: 1 - Mario Lemieux #/999
Immortals Mirror Hot Box: 1 - Gordie Howe #/75
Path To The Cup Conference Semifinals: 1 - Shea Weber/Mike Smith #/299
Fabrics of the Game: 1 - Simon Gagne #/299
Fabrics of the Game Mirror Hot Box: 2 - Scott Clemmensen, Frans Nielsen #/75
Freshman Signature Rookies: 1 - Chay Genoway #/999
Certified Redemption Rookie: 1 - R3 #/499

Our Thoughts:

Design

Nothing spectacular. A simple design with the name across the bottom woth the Certified logo in the lower right hand corner with an arc of color in the background. The player is featured on the rest of the card with the background foiled out for the base set. The back has a blurb about the player, the last 4 years of stats and career totals. The inserts are about the same excitement. Not much to differentiate them from other releases that Panini puts out.

Player Selection

The base 100 card selection is for the larger hyped players. The insert sets do a good job of highlighting different players and some past greats. This is satisfactory.

Inserts

I like that there isn't tons of insert sets that you might want to chase. In each insert set though, they have usually put in at least 20 cards which means hunting around to find that elusive single card to complete the subset. The parallels are held to 5 of each card.

Price

I found this box for around $40 without hunting too hard. For the price, I might think about purchasing another box. In this box, I did receive a redemption for a Certified Rookie Redemption of R3. Jonathan Huberdeau from the Florida Panthers. The redemption date has expired. For what I received, a $35-$40 price range is about right.

Final Thoughts:

I did receive the Rookie Redemption of  R3. Jonathan Huberdeau from the Florida Panthers but it expired a year ago. I hate redemption cards. If you want to include rookies, then hold off releasing the sets until they have signed and you can produce the cards. Otherwise, it is a solid but unspectacular release. If the big hit out of the packs is a Simon Gagne piece of jersey and you can still halfways like the product, then you know that it is a good thing. I am thinking about completing the base set just because.

Box Value: 3 out of 5.

2013-14 Panini Titanium Hockey

What We Pulled:

Packs: 5
Cards Per Pack: 4
Cards Expected: 20
Cards Received: 20

Base Set Completion: 14% (14 out of 100 cards)
Duplicates: 0

Inserts:
Commons Hobby Jersey Number Parallel: 1 - Sergei Bobrovsky #/72
Titanium Reserve Autograph: 1- Ryan Hamilton
Game Worn Gear: 1 - Kaspars Daugavins
Game Worn Gear Dual: 1 - MacInnis/Shattenkirk #/300
Game Worn Gear Prime: 1 - Steven Stamkos #/50
Game Worm Gear Patch: 1 - Pat Falloon #/25

Our Thoughts:

Design

Simple design of the base set cards. The name and team are on one side with the Titanium logo overlapping into the picture of the player. The backs have the last year and career totals along with a little blurb about the player. Standard stuff here.

Player Checklist

With only 100 cards, the more hyped players are in the base set. The Rookie Cards being serial numbered to their Jersey number and basically being inserted 1 per case makes them a find if you do get one, which I did not. A satisfactory product from this perspective.

Inserts

Way too many for a product like this. 44 insert sets or parallels, with another 4 if you include the printing plates. The designs for the inserts that I have seen are lack luster and don't do anything much for me.

Price

This product came out with much fanfare and way over priced. I purchased this box at around $50. I still believe that it was not worth that amount. If I am going to get hockey cards, I want legends and today's players, not borderline players from a decade ago. Pat f'n Falloon in a Penguins jersey?! Makes me shake my head.

Final Thoughts:

Ugh. This was tough to stomach. The One Memorabilia/Autograph per pack is a lure but that is all there is here. There wasn't much thought put into the design. The 1 rookie per case on average is going to scare off collectors. Way too many inserts that you will never collect the entire subset. Panini did not do a good job with this release. If you can find boxes cheap, it might give you a little bit of satisfaction, but otherwise find something else.

Box Value: 1.5 out of 5.