2013-14 Rookie Anthology Box Break #3

Here is a quick look at my third box of 2013-14 Rookie Anthology, so far. I say "so far," because I'm pretty sure I'll be buying a few more boxes of this product at some point. When you consider the amount, and quality, of the hits included, along with a pretty low price, it's one of the best values out there.

I didn't get anything different or special with the base cards, but I did pull another gold parallel, this one of Anze Kopitar, numbered 21/100

And here's the obligatory Score, Prizm, and Select inserts.

My first autograph is of Phoenix Coyotes left winger Lucas Lessio. The 2011 second-round pick went scoreless in three NHL games during the 2013-14 season, but had a productive year with the AHL's Portland Pirates, scoring 29 goals and 25 assists in 69 games.

I also pulled my second Luxury Suite stick card, this one of former Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco, numbered 190/199. I'm sure Panini acquired this stick back when Turco was an active player, and is now trying to get rid of as many memorabilia pieces as possible before their NHL license expires, but I'll gladly take any card to add to my Dallas Stars Collection.

My fourth and final Dominion card from these three boxes is a pretty cool one. We have a Mammoth Prime Jersey card of New York Islanders center Ryan Strome, numbered 25/25. Panini really gives a lot of room for the jersey piece, while still allowing enough space for the player image, and like they do with most prime swatches, they give a good amount of attention to both colors of the jersey.

This Carl Soderberg isn't quite as pretty as the one I pulled from Box #2, but it's still pretty awesome. The card is numbered 49/50 and features two prime jersey swatches. I'm only two variations away from the "rainbow," as I am missing the most rare (laundry tag 1/1) and the least rare (dual jersey /250). No, I'm not going for those cards, I just thought it was funny that I pull two of his cards, and neither are the common variation.

I also managed to pull a Boone Jenner Prizm autograph, and is a Prizm parallel numbered 2/25. Okay, so here's my big beef with the Prizm product. The set itself is called Prizm, but they also refer to their rainbowy "refractors" as Prizm too. So, I don't know whether to call this a Prizm Prizm card, a Prizm variation from Prizm, or what. It's very confusing.

Lastly, is my big hit from the three boxes. This is a Lucas Lessio card from Select, and is the Laundry Tag variation, numbered 1/1. Now, as I mentioned with the earlier Lessio auto, he has had very little NHL experience up until this point, and there's a chance that his three games will end up being it for him, but that does not take away from how great this card is. The variation carries with it a black background, and the tag piece comes from the beginning of the word "Reebok." It may seem trivial, but with just that little square, I like it better that it comes from the beginning of the word, instead of the middle or end.

Here's a look at the back of the card, where you can see that all-important "1 of 1" numbering in the upper left-hand corner.

That's it for Rookie Anthology, at least for the meantime. Like I said, I will likely be picking up a few more boxes down the line, but as Prime, National Treasures, and The Cup get released, who knows where my collecting budget will be headed. At the very least, I got some pretty amazing cards at an amazing price, so it's all a win-win for me here.

(NOTE: I am including a box of Rookie Anthology in my upcoming group break, so let this serve as a preview of what could potentially be had in that break. Follow THIS LINK for more details.)