Product Review: 2013-14 Panini Rookie Anthology Hobby Box

This will be the last year I’ll be able to rip open a new box of Panini Rookie Anthology. It’s sad to say but so true with the new Hockey agreement with Upper Deck. However let’s not get into a debate over that hobby news and instead celebrate the 2013-14 release of Rookie Anthology from Panini.

For the past two years this has by far been the best content for Hockey. The concept has always been great and we have loved everything about it. The same ideas from the past two years are combined into this years release as well.

Each hobby box has 10 packs with 5 cards per pack. You’ll find 4 hits within the box ranging from a variety of different sources. Crown Royale, Dominion, Luxury Suite, Prizm, Select, and Titanium Updates are all found within this loaded product. Add that up with a 100 card Base Anthology set and you’re off to the races to hunt down your favorite rookies from this past season.

Autographs, Jersey’s, and Patches reign supreme in each box. Not only will you find the hottest rookies in the NHL, but you could pull some of the veterans or Retired stars in one of these hits. With only 10 packs per box your bound to enjoy breaking multiple boxes or cases of this fine product.

To match the tradition of Rookie cards within Anthology, this year Panini has called them Rookie Selections instead of Treasures. These are numbered dual jersey Autographed Rookies from the past NHL Season. This 96 card rookie crop includes the famed “Double Rookie Class” to its fullest.

Let’s talk a look into our Hobby box and see what we pulled:

Base cards: 30 (0 doubles)

Score Updates: 2 – Gerbe, Brygalov

Score Hot Rookie Updates: 5 – Nordstrom, Fast, Trouba, Leivo, Murray
Score Hot Rookie Update Gold: 1 – Thomas Jurco

Select Update Rookie: 1 – David Warsofsky

Select Update Prizm: 1 – Daniel Carcillo

Prizm Update: 4 – Lecavalier, Pateryn, Heeter, Strome

Prizm Update Prizm: 1 – Greg Pateryn

Rookie Selection Dual Jersey Autograph: 1 – Nathan Beaulieu /249

Titanium Rookie gear Jersey: 1 – Jared Staal

Score Hot Rookies Autograph: 1 – Cameron Schilling

Prizm Black Autograph: 1 – Freddie Hamilton

Luxury Suite Rookie Autograph Prime: 1 – Tanner Pearson /25

Once again I’m very pleased with a box of Rookie Anthology. This years base cards are really nice and have a different flavor to them. I like the foil, however they can chip easily and you should be careful taking them out of the packs.

Updates, Updates and more Updates. I love this concept of Anthology. Always have been a fan of this idea. With the addition of Score into the mix you can really see a rise on the secondary market for those trying to complete sets with the updates. The Select Update set was my favorite as they tend to be the best base cards out there this year.

Moving onto the hits from this box. I came away with 5 hits, 1 extra from the stated run. This tends to be the tradition of Anthology which again I love. The basic relic from this bunch was the Staal jersey. Nice design but nothing really to it. Along with it was a Shilling Hot Rookie autograph. Again the design is basic but nice to have a rookie auto.

The Freddy Hamilton Autograph in Prizm is a really nice looking card. It looks so much more than the basic rookie autograph. The black colour scheme is great on that design. The Beaulieu is my favorite of course being a Habs fan. From the 96 rookies I could have pulled he’s not the most expensive but is a PC find for me so worth more than it will book at.

Lastly I pulled the nice Prime patch autograph of Tanner Pearson. A low numbered card that will definitely do well on the secondary market. The two colour patch is great and makes this the prize of the box.

Overall I’m very happy with this box. Five hits and a ton of Rookies for around $100 is a great deal in the hobby market currently. Panini has always delivered more out of Anthology the past two years and this one is no exception. Anthology will be missed in the hobby as a mainstay, but I’ll be ripping open boxes from 2011-12 to 2013-14 for as long as I can find them. Well worth the money and a fun box to rip into.

Most cards/hits pulled in our breaks end up on our site storefront www.packgambler.com, or our COMC account ThePackGambler. If you are interested in any of the cards we have mentioned please send us an e-mail at packgamblersales@gmail.com

Gambler Overall Rating: 4.8 out of 5
Cost: 5/5
Autographs: 4.5/5
Relics: 4.5/5
Parallels: 5/5
Inserts: 5/5
Fun Aspect: 5/5