When Panini announced that they were releasing a box set called All Goalies I was intrigued. When I found out it was 19.99 and would consist of 100 cards, 5 insert cards and 1 memorabilia card I was excited. (However, I had to pay 22.50 which based on what I have seen online is still a great deal, thanks Jon at Elsewhere Gaming and Hobbies)
The price point is excellent, when you factor in one memorabilia card and the fact that there are over 20 rookies in this box I needed to have it!
Would I be disappointed? Here it is:
The box is compact and pretty cool looking. My complaint is the cards aren't well protected inside so if your box looks like it has survived a drop or two chances are the cards didn't!
Everything was safe in my box.
The design is nice and clean. Cards are the same stock thickness as the Score cards were with the gloss that the Donruss cards had. Not bad for 20 bucks.
The back side of the cards
The write ups on the back contain no career stats information but each seem to have a small blurb and in some cases it looks like the writers tried adding in humour. Read Jordan Pearce's for an example. (a little corny, but someone will laugh)
The OTHER Brodeur
The last 10 cards or so in the set focus on legends from the past. These include Belfour (as a Hawk!!!), King Richard Brodeur, Jim Craig and Tom Barrasso to name a few.
Inserts
Each box includes 5 "Up Close" inserts. The cards are of heavier stock and have more gloss on them. They also include a closeup shot on the front. They box just has 5 sequentially numbered cards so it looks like you could get a whole set of Up Close if you bought a case. That is both good and bad in my books. I got rookie Desjardins, James Reimer and a few other Tampa Goalies.
Jersey Card
When I looked at the checklist, there are 18 memorabilia cards and 6 of them were pretty cool. This one, not so cool. Raycroft isn't a bad goalie, he just isn't very good either. Never lived up to his rookie year and now I own my own piece of him. Still for 20 bucks, I can't complain!
What I like:
Cheap
Cool idea and you get the WHOLE set
Nice design and the layout of the cards are nice including photos on the back
Inserts and memorabilia cards are nice touch to make each box unique
What I don't like:
Didn't randomize insert cards enough
1 in 3 chances of scoring a decent goalie memorabilia card
Box could be a little more protective.
This is a GOOD idea Panini. I really hope you don't mess with this formula too much and come back again next season with this product.
I would rate this a 9/10.
After all, I am sure you have spent 20 bucks on things much worse than this!
