2012-13 Panini Certified Box Break #2

Here's a quick look at the second box of 2012-13 Certified that I opened. I'll dispense with some of the formalities, as I went over a lot of it during Box #1, so let's get to it!

Do these cards look familiar? I promise you, I did not re-use the scan from box #1 to showcase the base cards, these are the three Penguins that I pulled from this box. The SAME Penguins I pulled from Box #1. I didn't realize it until collating the cards, but this ended up being a theme throughout. Box #1 contained 44 base cards and box #2 contained 43. Of those cards, I ended up with 33 duplicates. THIRTY-THREE!!!!!! I can't exactly call crappy collating on a two-box break. It might just be bad luck, but still. It's frustrating when you're trying to build a set and have 75% of Box #2 being the same cards you pulled from Box #1.

Hey, at least Sidney Crosby was one of my dupes. I also have an extra card of Ovechkin, Toews, Letang, Nash, Neal, Stamkos, and Landeskog.

My inserts. Look familiar? That's right, a SECOND Masked Marvels card of Ryan Miller (625/999). Don't get me wrong. I love Miller, but I really only need one of these. At least my other inserts were different. I also pulled a ruby parallel of Marian Hossa (69/199), a blue Parallel if Mike Bossy (26/50), an Immortals insert of Joe Sakic (56/199) and a Path to the Cup card of Steve Bernier and Brian Campbell (330/399). The Bossy card is awesome, and I love it when the color of the parallel matches the team color of the player. I also think the fact that Sakic is in his Nordiques sweater is pretty bad ass.

After being lucky enough to pull a Penguins hit from the first two individual packs I opened (Chris Kunitz Jersey), I was very happy to pull another Penguin. Robert Bortuzzo was all over 2011-12 products as a rookie, so it's nice that he's still getting some play in his sophomore year releases. Maybe it has more to do with a surplus of auto stickers than anything else, though. Either way, great for me.

In the same way as Bortuzzo, Islanders goaltender Anders Nilsson has a sophomore year auto. With DiPietro and Nabokov in net, I'm not sure how much time Nilsson will get, but then again, with age and injuries, that opportunity might not be so far away.

This box also gave me a Path to the Cup memorabilia card. This one features Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators and has jersey pieces of Jason Spezza and Dan Girardi. The card is serial numbered 80/250.

Also in the realm of familiarity is a jersey card of new Lightning player B.J. Crombeen. I pulled the regular version of this card from Box #1, and Box #2 gave me the ruby parallel of the card. The ruby version features a lower serial number (35/150) and the jersey piece is underneath a die-cut "Bolts," which is related to his new team.

Despite seeing the similarities in the boxes, this was a fun product to open. I'm not sure if I'll purchase any new boxes, instead just completing the set via trades and Ebay and moving on, but it wasn't a complete let down, like I felt last year's Certified was. Of course, my hits with this year's product were better, and that might play a lot into it, but I also feel as though they made a good step forward and feel as though they brought out some new concepts for their inserts that are pretty cool.