Product Review: 2012 Panini Rookies & Stars Football Hobby Box

Well this again was a product I was going to stay away from this year. I wasn't too happy in the past with it and thought the same on the Sell Sheets when they came out. But again I was willing to take a chance on this product and see if it could turn me around this year. I waited a bit after the release in order to make sure I wanted to make this gamble again.
Product facts are 24 packs per box with 4 hits being any selection of Autographed card, Memorabilia cards and Auto/Memorabilia cards. You also receive 1 Longevity parallel, 7 True Blue parallel, 4 Greats Hits subset, 3 Standouts subset, 1 Player Pennant, 2 Team Pennants, and 2 other inserts. The case break with this product is 2 Rookie Autographs of the the Top Ten Draft Picks along with 1 higher Draft Pick autograph. Of course there are Jumbo swatches and Patches to pull but I have found these to be much more rare within the is product in the past as well as this year.
The one other thing to note is the Player Pennants are 1 per box and Team Pennants 2 per box. The are also die-cut cards so finding the set will be one thing, and finding a crisp set could be another.
So after opening the plastic wrap on this box I was starting to have the same feelings I had last year with the same product. I tried to remain calm and think that this box could help me like this product again. Let's find out how I did:

Base Cards: 147
Rookies: 23
Longevity Parallel: 1 Darren McFadden /249 (damaged bottom front of card)
True Blue Parallels: 8 (Rookies: Iloka, Criner, Lewis)
Greats Hits: 4 (Jon Beason Gold /500)
Statistical Standouts: 3
Player Pennant: DeMarcus Ware
Team Pennants: Texans, Chiefs
2 Other Inserts: 1 Statistical Standout, 1 Greatest Hits
Autographed cards: Rookie Vinny Curry /99
Memorabilia cards: Rookie Materials Rayn Broyles /399, Department of Defense Darrelle Revis /199
Autographed/Memorabilia card: Doug Martin Rookie Materials /499

I have to say that even with the Martin pull I'm not that happy with this product. Compared to other products within the same price range I think I would rather bust them than have another run at this product again. The Base card design is a little weak and reminds me of busting this years Score in the sense of no flash. Now I liked this years Score product because everything fit together (Price, Design, inserts, etc), this product I was expecting more out of it due to the fact it is three times more than Score. Now I do realize I pulled 4 hits, but it just lacked the luster of other products within the same area. Not to mention the damaged Longevity card I pulled which I had a feeling that I would find at least one in this box. It's not even worth sending back to Panini for a replacement.
The last thing I was disappointed in was the lack of Rookies in the box. Only received 1 per pack on average but didn't pull anyone within the Top Ten Picks. Could have helped in the overall rating of the product if I had a couple of them.
I tried to give this product another chance this year but unfortunately it again didn't satisfy my own fulfillment. But hey, you can't win them all, and I'm sure this product might be a winner to someone else if they pulled a high valued card or even just because they like other aspects of it. For me I'm looking forward to sticking to not buying it next year, hopefully.

Gambler Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 5
Cost: 3.5/5
Autographs: 3.5/5
Memorabilia: 3.5/5
Parallels: 3/5

Design: 3/5

Rookies: 3/5
Fun Aspect: 3/5