Archive for April, 2011

And then there were eight…

Now that I have come off of my high from last night’s game, I wanted to give y’all a brief review of the 2010-11 Pinnacle cards that hit the street earlier this week. I don’t know what shops are selling packs for, but my local dealer had them at $5 a pop. That is usually out of my range, but I saw previews of the Tough Times set and that was enough for me to buy five packs.

A brief breakdown of what is supposed to be in a box, as per their sell sheet:

-Twenty-four 5-card packs
-Four autograph or memorabilia cards
-Four Ice Breakers rookie cards
-Four Museum Collection parallels
-One Artist’s Proof parallel
-One Tough Times insert
-Some other random inserts that I can’t find odds on

Let’s start with some base cards…

The overall design on the front is decent. Nothing here to complain about and I actually like the Pinnacle logo. Most of the photography on the 25 cards I pulled was the standard hockey in-action shots. However, the above cards showcase some really interesting and dynamic photography that I feel is on par, if not better, than Upper Deck’s 2010-11 releases. The Michalek card is pretty bad ass, while the Lucic card shows him celebrating a hat-trick while wearing his snappy fedora. In fact, I pulled two other cards featuring players holding up pucks signifying a milestone/accomplishment. I like the Neuvirth card because there is some Zamboni action going on. Biron’s photo shows him sweeping up some hats from a Gaborik hat-trick, while the Staal card just looks cool.

However, there is always a bad egg in the bunch…

Sweet, a shot of Steve Bernier’s back. The only thing saving this card is the dude’s reaction in the stands. ZOINKS!

Panini/Pinnacle went a different route with the backs of the cards. Want stats? Tough luck because there are no stats. Yeah, you heard me, ZERO stats on the back. Most just have a little blurb that is player related and reads like a newspaper write-up.

See what I mean? I picked Lehtonen’s card because whereas every other back had a positive write-up, Kari’s is a bit bittersweet.

Overall, the base cards are decent. I have a minor gripe with the checklist though. I don’t know who else was omitted, but there is no Chara base card. So, you aren’t going to produce a card of a Norris Trophy winner who is up for the award again? And who is the captain of the Bruins? Instead you’re going to make a card of Marc Savard, the same guy who played 25 games for you? I understand you want to use his crazy Santa hat photo, but c’mon Pinnacle, you have to include Chara.

I managed to pull some sort of crazy parallel card of David Booth…

It’s just some crummy foil thing Panini/Pinnacle calls Nufex. From Panini:

“When I saw Pinnacle on our schedule for this season, my first thought was that we had to have the technology,” says Al Muir, Panini America NHL Brand Manager. “To this day, I still see collectors at shows trying to finish their old Museum Collection parallel set. It is all because of that dazzling Dufex finish. I knew I wanted something that would have that same allure, that same staying power, but it had to be updated.”

Yeah, okay. Whatever.

I pulled one Ice Breaker rookie…

Three things about these:

1. Ice Breakers is the worst name ever and the logo is annoying.

2. No rookie of Adam McQuaid.  Nick Holden played 5 games this year; McQuaid finished 5th in the league in +/-.

3. The backs are oriented differently than the base cards. The rookies are laid out the same as the base, only upside down. The devil is in the details, Pinnacle. For set builders who store their sets in boxes, this is just unacceptable.

In my five packs, I also pulled an autograph…

A Zach Hamill City Lights autograph numbered to /100. I’m a B’s fan, but am tepid on Hamill. The City Lights is a crazy 100-card insert set that comes in three versions: jersey, patch, and autograph. Not sure why Hamill is featured in this set and I don’t really care because it’s a sticker auto. STOP ALREADY WITH STICKER AUTOS!

Lastly, I managed to pull two of these beauties…

I like the Donruss design better but I love Pinnacle’s checklist, mostly because it’s all 70′s players. There are hard-signed autographed versions of these which you can clearly see by the nice white space on the front. My only issue with these is that there are no numbers for the cards. Instead, Pinnacle opted to just have the player’s initials as the numbering scheme. Would’ve made sense to at least go with a TT-AD/TT-WP setup but I’m nitpicking. I’ll be building this and the autographed set.

So there you have it, 2010-11 Pinnacle Hockey. I’ve been underwhelmed by most of Panini’s releases this year, but Pinnacle might be the best they’ve put out. The design is simple and the photography rivals Upper Deck’s. The price point is a bit high for my likings, so I won’t be buying any more packs especially since I think I beat the odds on my five packs. Better quick while I’m ahead.