2011 Panini Limited: Hockey vs. Football

Not being able to get enough of Panini Limited, I decided to branch out a bit and heck out the football release. I know it obviously shares the same name, but curiosity got me to thinking just how close it might be to the hockey release I have become so familiar with. I bought a pack of each, and here's a comparison of the base, inserts, and hits from each pack.

Base:
Hockey: Vincent Lecavalier /299, Dwayne Roloson /99, Patrick Roy /299
Football: Kyle Orton, Michael Crabtree, Roy Helu Jr., and Junior Seau /499
Both are great looking base cards, but not only do the hockey ones scan better, but the foil on the football cards has a bad fingerprint-collecting problem. It's really hard to keep them clean.

Inserts/Parallels: Brett Hull Stanley Cup Champion /199, Milan Lucic /49, Colt McCoy Limitless /249
For my money, the Stanley Cup Champions cards are easily my favorite insert set of the year.

Jerseys: Kendall Hunter Jersey /99, Nikolai Khabibulin & Devan Dubnyk Dual Jersey/199
A large swatch from a rookie and a dual jersey from two decent goaltenders. A tie, in my opinion.

Auto: Adam Henrique /299, Denarius Moore /199
I didn't think much of the Henrique until just now, when I looked at the team's playoff stats. As of the end of Game 1 of the finals, he is fourth on the team in scoring, with 3 goals and 8 assists. Not bad for your rookie season. He easily gets the edge on this one, as Moore only had 5 carries in 2011. Even though he rushed for 61 yards and 1 touchdown with those 5 carries, playoff production wins out.

Big Hit: Ryan Kesler Jumbo Jersey Number /49, Troy Aikman Material Monikers Auto/Jersey /30
The Kesler is a decent card, but not the greatest "big hit" you could find out of this product. The Aikman, on the other hand, is a different story. The Monikers cards are great looking and feature a sticker autograph, a piece of memorabilia, and have a low serial number (I think this one is /30). Unfortunately, though, this is a redemption, and now I have to play the waiting game. 9 times out of 10, I'll just be perfectly happy accepting a substitute and moving on, but this, I think, is one worth waiting for. The only thing that concerns me is that we are five months into the product's release, and we still have no cards. Let's get a move on, Troy!

Well, there you go. Two sports of a product I am a BIG fan of, and both are identical. The big hit on this one made the football pack the better of the two, but with limited, you're a winner no matter what.