Anyway, I'm not really going to get into the base cards, because there's really no reason to, so let's get into the inserts. Each box, as I noticed through all four, regardless of the number of hits, contains six serial-numbered inserts, mostly from lockout-cancelled sets like Contenders and Elite.
Anyway, of the six inserts, half of them were from the trophy contenders sets, which take a look at various trophies, and players who could potentially "contend" for those awards. Some of them are a little bit of a stretch, like my Loui Eriksson Cup Contenders card, while others actually came to fruition, like the Sergei Bobrovsky Vezina Contenders card I pulled from this box. My three were Shea Weber Hart Contenders 542/999, Nicklas Backstrom 758/999, and Bobrovsky 497/999.
My other three inserts came from Elite. I pulled two rookies, Chris Kreider 413/999 and Robert Mayer 927/999. Kreider, at the beginning of the season, was the hot rookie, partly due to the fact that he was coming off of a hot 2012 playoffs, and partly because there were no cards of Nail Yakupov and Jonathan Huberdeau. I also pulled a Great Outdoors acetate card of Zdeno Chara, numbered 97/500, which has him in his Winter Classic gear from 2010.
Each box of Rookie Anthology contains a box-topper of Prizm, which unlike the other inserts, is a brand new set for the 2012-13 season. Every three-card pack contains three cards, which from the four I have opened, contain one base card, one rookie card, and one auto/refractor/parallel. This pack contained a Sidney Crosby base card, which I can add to my Crosby Collection, and a Colby Robak refractor autograph. So far, that's 2-for-2 on pulling autos out of Prizm.
Now for the hits. Like I said earlier, out of four promised hits, my first box contained seven, and as it turns out, this box was the same. Not only that, but as it turns out, all four boxes contained more than four, which I love. So often, you get promised three, or four, or however many, hits and you get just that many. I love getting these bonus hits, which truthfully, is why I've spent so much money this year on a product that I only purchased three packs of last year.
Anyway, one of my hits was a Titanium Game-Worn Gear jersey card of St. Louis Blues captain David Backes. The 2003 second-round draft picked was named the team's captain in 2011, after Eric Brewer was traded to Tampa Bay, and with the team's success in recent years, is close to getting himself further on the national radar.
I also pulled a Scratching the Surface auto of Dallas Stars right wing Scott Glennie. The card features a cutout in the middle, with an inset of a hockey ice surface with an on-surface auto of the player. Luckily, this is such a cool-looking card, because Glennie has only one NHL game under his belt, so time will still have to tell on how great of a card this actually is.
Not only did I pull an Elite rookie card of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Robert Mayer, but I also picked up his Rookie Treasures dual-jersey autographed card. The odd thing with Mayer, is that he has his rookie cards in 2012-13, but as far as I can tell, he has no NHL experience whether in the regular season or playoffs, and I'm under the impression that you need at least one game before you are able to be on NHL-licensed cardboard. The only thing I can think of, is maybe he got the call-up to the Canadiens, serving as a back-up goaltender, but was never inserted into a game, thus making the roster, but not getting any stats.
Panini just released a list of short-printed hits, and one of them was this Henrik Lundqvist Crown Royale Lords of the NHL card. This is a great card for me, as Lundqvist and Ryan Miller are my two favorite goaltenders in the NHL. Granted, neither play for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but when your goaltender is Marc-Andre Fleury, it's ok to look outside your team.
OK, as a Penguins fan, I HATE the Flyers, but damnit, I love this card. This Scott Hartnell card is from Titanium's Game-Worn Gear jersey set, and features a BEAUTIFUL three-colored patch, most likely from the number on the back of the home sweater.
By the way, if anyone is curious as to who would take over for Mike Commodore as "NHL Playoff Caveman," Hartnell appears to be embracing the role for himself.
Lastly, I pulled a Luxury Suite stick card of NHL great Rogie Vachon. This is a great card, not only because of the fantastic wooden stick piece, but also because Vachon is wearing one of my favorite all-time NHL sweaters, the King's purple and gold. I thought I was going to be able to add this card to my Hockey HOF Relic Project, but to my surprise, I discovered Vachon is not in the Hall of Fame. He did, however, win three Stanley Cups (1968, 1969, 1971), one Canada Cup (1976), and one Vezina Award (1968).
Well, so far, out of two boxes, both of them have been incredibly successful, both with three extra hits. As I said already, with the high potential for extra hits, and some great seats added in that doesn't rely too much on rookie, I would absolutely recommend this product for any hockey collector just looking for a fun box to open.
Stay tuned tomorrow, for box #3, which contains the best hit I've pulled all year.
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