Product Review: 2012-13 Panini Limited Hockey Hobby Box

The latest Hockey product to hit the shelves is 2012-13 Panini Limited. Product is presented as 1 Pack with 7 Cards. Each Pack will contain 1 numbered Autograph, 2 Autograph and/or Memorabilia cards, 1 Base card and 3 other Parallels, Inserts or other cards.
Each of the cards in this product are numbered from the most at 499 down to 1 of 1 cards. There are 150 cards in the base set which at one per pack is very hard to complete for set builders unless you go the secondary market to find all of them. Limited also has a good share of Short printed cards from the Captains Set, Monikers, Private Signings and Shield patches.
With the Strike shorten season, Panini has introduced 12-13 Rookie Redemption cards inserted at 1 every other box per case. These will be used to redeem XRC of current rookies (checklist not yet available) and will be numbered our of 499. There will be 1 per team and should create some interest on the secondary market for the teams with rookie standouts.
I saw someone open up a couple of boxes at my LCS and decided to take a chance on the product. Being that Panini has done so well in the Hockey world the past year I thought it was a good chance I might pull something decent and on a whim buy it could turn into something. So here is how I did;

Base Cards: 1 - Andy McDonald /299
Base Silver Parallel: 1 - Dustin Byfuglien /49
Phenom Autographs: 1 - J.T. Brown /499
Limited Jersey Prime Patch: 1 - Nicklas Backstrom /25
Limited Travels Dual Jersey: 1 - Ray Bourque /199
Trophy Winners: 1 -Joe Sakic /199
Limited Rookie Redemption: 1 - Washington Capitals /499

Overall I really like this product. The price point is right on at around $100 per Pack and the cards are really nicely done. The base cards have nice technology around the design and love that each card is numbered. The Trophy Winner cards are very nice looking and standout as an insert in this product, looking very different from the others. the Phenom Autograph is nice and used previously in other products. I like the team logo is used on the card and the on-card signature is always a plus in my books.

The Ray Bourque Dual jersey is a nice piece, growing up while he was playing brings back a little history to me and nice to have a card of his like this. The Backstrom patch is really nice, not too much patch but not too much jersey on the piece which is great. The card is sharp and numbered only out of 25 is a nice chip on the secondary market.
I was lucky enough to pull a Rookie Redemption for the Washington Capitals. Not knowing who this will be is a mystery to keep it or not but I will take this over pulling another insert card any day. Values of Rookies in hockey are always high and with the way things are these XRC cards could develop a strong following once a checklist is out there.

Now not everyone wants to spend $100 on 7 cards but I think this is a very good price point (as mentioned above). the quality of the cards, each card being numbered and the Panini brand of Limited staying true to bringing great products to collectors is a very strong sticking point. This isn't for the basic collector by any means though. Set Collectors are out too, this is only for those that are looking for quick hits on Autographs and Memorabilia that will not break the bank but could provide you will some bang if you pull the right card. 

Gambler Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Cost: 5/5
Autographs: 4/5
Memorabilia: 4/5
Parallels: 3.5/5
Design: 4/5
Fun Aspect: 4/5