2010-11 Certified Hockey box break

Normally, I don’t purchase boxes of cards in the $100 range. But I had to make an exception. 2010-11 Certified is Panini’s first hockey release since getting the license earlier this year. How would it stack up to a similar Upper Deck product like Artifacts?

A box of 10 packs costs anywhere from $80 to $100, depending on where you bought it. You get 5 cards per pack. I purchased this box from my local card shop for $95. Here is what I got: 

43 base cards. The black areas on the left and right are actually reflective silver foil that does not scan too well. While I will save a full-on review for another time, I will say that I find the design a bit claustrophobic.

There are also numbered parallels to the base set.

Red Mirror Parallel – I got one of these in my box. This Zach Bogosian card is numbered 008 of 250.

Blue Mirror Parallel – Got one of these too. Not a huge fan of parallels, but I’ll admit that the blue and red parallels look better than the base cards because they add a splash of color. My Simon Gagne is numbered 049 of 100.

There are also Platinum Mirror Parallels, numbered to 10, but I did not get one.

Now, onto the “hits”:

Freshmen Signatures #182 – Dustin Tokarski –  Even though you only get 2 rookie cards per box (ouch), they are autographed on-card and numbered to 1,299. This one is number 0187/1299.

Freshmen Signatures #179 – Nick Spaling – Never heard of him. But maybe someday I will…and then I’ll be glad I got his autograph.. Besides, I’d much rather get an autograph of a player that I haven’t heard of than a jersey swatch. Which brings me nicely to my next 3 hits.

Fabrics of the Game Jeff Deslauriers – This guy played 48 games for the Oilers last season. As I’ve said many times before, I am not a fan of jersey swatch cards, but I can’t find much fault with this one. This card is serial numbered 212/250.

Fabrics of the Game PRIME Stephen Weiss – Is this jersey card “prime” because it has a 2-color swatch, because the opening is die-cut in the shape of a 9 (Weiss’ jersey number), or because it is serial-numbered to 10 copies? I’m not sure. This card happens to be numbered numbered 1/10. Any Steven Weiss fans out there who want to take this off my hands?

Red Mirror Parallel / Jersey Swatch combo card – It’s a parallel…and a jersey card. Tastes great AND less filling.  Also, numbered 120 of 150. Thankfully, it is of a player I know and (kind of) like

There were also some insert cards:

Masked Marvels #4 – Ryan Miller – With all the parallels, autographs and jersey cards, does Certified really need insert cards too? Especially goalie-themed inserts, which have been done to death? Mine was numbered 425/500.

Certified Champions #10 – Nicklas Lidstrom – This card looks nice, except for the Certified logo that obscures part of the Stanley Cup. That should be a no-no on any hockey card. The bottom area of the card would look great with an autograph there. Like all the other cards (except the base cards), these too are serial numbered. This one is 113/500.

Certified Champions Red Parallel #3 – Antti Niemi – Wait? Why do we need two different versions of serial-numbered insert cards? The red version is numbered only to 250, but I’d rather get 2 of these per box then a red one and a normal one.

With all the great players and promising rookies, I’m a bit disappointed with the “hits” I got. Steven Weiss? Nick Spaling? Then again, I did get a Henrik Sedin jersey card, and he did win the Art Ross Trophy last year.


One thing I do like is that the jersey cards are in addition to the 5 cards per pack. In other products, I recall getting a jersey card in lieu of 2 or 3 base cards. It’s a small thing, but something I appreciate.

So, who’s building this set this year?