11/12 Heroes and Prospects Box Break and Review

Last year, I busted a box of 10/11 H&P and I was very happy with the results. I had 5 hits and all of the cards were pretty decent. It is now one year later and the Gaunce auto could be a card that REALLY makes that box cool. After that box, I had every intention of buying one this year and when I landed one for 30 bucks below LCS prices I was elated.

Here are the results of the break!

Base cards
The look of the cards are nice! I think the design and layout certainly rivals anything UD and Panini put out in that price bracket and the fact that the cards get no Rookie respect is something that irks me but I imagine I am a part of the minority. Here is an example of the front, each card has a nice gloss to them which you can't see on the scan.
Back side

The backs are simple enough with a good balance of stats, vitals and information.

Subsets

Like last season, the set features a few subsets and the increased set size from 150-200 allows ITG to include many more stars as part of the Grad subset and a few specialty cards like this Bourdon card.

The Hits:

Boone Jenner Game Used Number Black /6

Boone makes his second appearance in my ITG busting history. Last year I pulled his Subway Series game used card and this year I topped it with the nicest H&P card I ever pulled. This swatch is beautiful and the size allows for all three colours and a small piece of jersey to peak through the window.

Devan Dubyk Moving Up Silver Version /50
A really cool swatch! It is a two colour seam and it is BUSTING out of the card. Another example of what ITG gives collectors, best bang for their buck!

Subway Series Trio /70
This didn't scan as well as I hoped, but this card represents my bonus hit. I ended up with three game-used cards which is nice, but the fact a Devils prospect is on the card is just that much cooler! Swatches aren't the best, but Wedgewood's is white which is nice as my other Wedgewood swatch is red.

Auto Hits

Blake Kessel
Phil has a brother? Turns out he does and his career thus far has been pretty strong, but taking it to the NHL level will be a challenge and time will tell if he will experience the same success Phil has.

Sven Bartschi
Sven is going to be a superstar and getting this card was another hit that turned a normal box into a great box. Sven's name is spelled a variety of different ways which might be why his auto is just an S. B. This Calgary draft pick already has 5 NHL games under his belt with 3 goals to his resume. I think he will be a full-timer next season and a reason why Iginla might be playing somewhere else in the near future.

I also pulled two inserts, one was a Cory Locke Calder Champions card and the other was a Zack Fitzgerald Tough Customers card.

This box was a blast and the set looks nice. I am about 60 cards short of a complete set, and I think I might try and pick up another box or two in the summer. I am also going to try and collect the 200 He Shoots points so if ANYONE out there wants to sell them or trade them please contact me and I will try and make it worth your while.

Most of my hits are also up for trade with the exception of Sven!

If you find yourself with an extra 100 bucks, grab a box, you won't be disappointed.

06-07 Be A Player Box Break

Well my wife being the great gal she is, decided to fuel my addiction and buy me a box of cards for my b-day. I decided that I would go with a box of 06-07 Be A Player. Why, you ask? Well, a box costs about 50 bucks, 70 if you included taxes and shipping. What do you get? 10 hits. 8 autographed cards, 1 will be a dual auto and 2 rookies. There are other inserts but I ignore them and just consider this product to have 10 hits. So the value of 7 bucks per hit which I felt is very reasonable!

I feel that I will be ahead of the game if I can get 1 or 2 autos I really like and a decent rookie card.

So now that I made my case, here is the box.

The Rookies- They are numbered to 999.

Clarke MacArthur

Clarke had a breakout season with the Leafs. 21 goals and 62 points aren't too shabby. Didn't have any of his RCs before this so I am glad I pulled it.

Ryan Potulny

The opposite is true here. I have almost all his RCs and I am still waiting for him to breakout. He might as well be the next Keith Aucoin as he can do stuff in the AHL but struggles to produce in the NHL.

The Autographs

Martin Havlat

Wow, the shocker of the summer for me was this trade. Clearly Havlat for Heatley was a money move and a locker room move in my opinion. Both are very talented and a trade could benefit both teams in my opinion. A good auto to get in my books, love that he numbered his!

Rollie the Goalie

Proved he still had what it takes to block NHL rubber. TB has decided to renew his contract so that will mean Tokarski and Desjardins will have to wait another year for the shot at starting full time but TB clearly thinks they are close to winning another Cup. Can't quite read this auto, but another solid hit.

Mike Van Ryn

Former Devils draft pick was the weakest hit in the box in my opinion. He spurned us when we drafted him and therefore never won a Cup. Glad he didn't too! Now is an assistant coach for the Ice Dogs in the OHL.

Jeff Carter

I wasn't too surprised to see him get traded, and the Blue Jackets are better for this one. I hope he can maintain he goal production as he broke 30 goals for the 3rd year in a row. Blue Jacket fans deserve a decent team and Carter, Nash and Umburger will help that possibly be a reality.

Henrik Sedin

This is a great hit. Henrik has averaged 103 points a season over the last two seasons and is the owner of a very interesting auto. I believe he numbered it....but some might argue those aren't numbers...

Elias and Rafalski

Each box has one dual auto and fittingly enough, mine is a Devils auto. Love it....I didn't have either auto in my collection and between the two of them there are 5 Stanley Cups and 3 Olympic medals. Elias is also the owner of 7 NJ Devil records and 2 NHL records (most career overtime goals and most overtime goals in a season).

If this was the end of the box, I would consider it a success and then some....but there were also two rookie autos in the box!

Luc Bourdon

This card has mixed feelings to me. Happy to pull the card as he was an amazing prospect with talent to spare. I loved seeing him with the gold with the 06 and 07 WJHC teams. Sad because he passed away in 2008 when he crashed his motorcycle. He probably would have never won 8 straight Norris trophies but he would have been an excellent NHL defenseman with All-Star potential.

Jordan Staal

Wow.....like this hit a lot and it is probably the most valuable card of the box. How valuable? Well I don't know, my Beckett doesn't list the value but they seem to be on sale on eBay for prices between 20 and 50 bucks. This card is flawless, and was enough to make this box a huge success for me.

Now the box is over, the question remains....Do I get another? There are many other great rookies in the box and other autos but 50 bucks plus tax and shipping can get some pretty good vintage cards too!