In The Game 2009-10 Between the Pipes Hockey
Product Highlights:
Look for (2) Authentic GoalieGraph Cards and (2) Game-Used Memorabilia Cards per box on average!!
Find (2) Masked Men II and (2) other Non-Memorabilia Inserts per box!
Product Breakdown:
Each box of 2009-10 Between The Pipes will have 18 packs with 9 cards per pack. All inserts will be seeded 1:8 packs.
That means on average* each box of Between The Pipes will have 8 hits!!
The 150-card Base Set will include 4 subsets:
* Future Stars
* Stars of the Game
* Greats of the Game
* The Rival League
The GoalieGraph autograph set will be the largest in years with over 125 different autograph cards.
GoalieGraph autographs will be insert ratio will be 1:8 packs*.
There will be five different non-memorabilia inserts:
* AHL Rookies
* CHL Rookies
* Gold Metal Masks
* Tribute
* Net Brawlers
The insert ratio of the non-memorabilia inserts will be 1:8 packs*.
The Authentic Game-Used memorabilia will be outstanding as usual in this product.
There are nineteen different Authentic Game-Used memorabilia inserts including:
* Game-Used Jersey
* Game-Used Number
* Game-Used Emblem
* Jersey/Auto
* Number/Auto
* Emblem/Auto
* Pad Save
* Glove Save
* Stick Save
* He Shoots He Scores
* International Crease
* Home Grown
* Complete Package
* AutoThreads
* Complete Jersey
* Mega Star
* Origins
* Complete Logo
* Made To Order
Authentic Game-Used memorabilia cards will be inserted in a ratio of 1:8 packs*.
* Please remember insert ratios are an average throughout the entire production run and are not guaranteed in any individual box or case.
Here's what I pulled in our box of In The Game 2009-10 Between the Pipes Hockey Trading Cards:
I always loved the netminders, and In The Game once again brings us a set devoted solely to the goalies. My favorite hockey player of all time was a goalie (Patrick Roy), and since he is in this set, that is a quick plus for me.
The main part of the 150-card base set is the Future Stars subset (cards 1-75). These feature a full-body photo of an American Hockey League (AHL) or Canadian Hockey League (CHL) goalie. The goalie is in front of the “Between The Pipes: Future Stars”, since their heads usually cover a part of the title, it reminds me of a magazine cover. The stars of “Future Stars” is literally seen at the bottom of the design. In the foreground of the stars is the plaque where the player’s name and player’s team is located. Above this is the In The Game logo. Finally, a stripe design of various lengths go latitudinally up and down the sides of the background. A very neat design.
The next subset is Stars of the Game (cards 76-106) and features veteran goalies in the National hockey League (NHL) and AHL. These feature a bust photo of the goalie that is encased in – and breaks through - a white thin-stroked border that features a gold “Between The Pipes: Stars of the Game” title. This also has the literal stars for “Stars of the Game,” and these gold stars are part of the title. The background is a green monotone image of a faceoff. The combination of green and gold works nicely.
The third subset is Greats of the Game (cards 107-140) and features a bust photo of retired goalies who played in the 1910s (Georges
Vezina) all the way to the 2000s, and includes a list that is comprised of many
Vezina Trophy winners. My favorite part of this huge span of decades was seeing the different masks; it is pretty cool how they progressed through the years (well, once they started wearing them).
The background is a grayish color, which makes you think of old-time, so it works with the retired players. The goalies’ photo is encased in a white-stroke outline that mimics a ticket stub. Finally, these have a vertical-stripe design with a grey to white gradient, which blends the ticket/photo to the bottom of the card. Another slick design.
Finally, the last subset is The Rival League (cards 141-150) which features retired goalies from the World Hockey Association (WHA). This features the goalies’ bust within a white frame, and there is a blue monotone image of a shot-on-goal. The ITG logo, the player’s name, and his team are all within a black box at the bottom. This is a simpler design compared to the rest.
We pulled 138 of 150 base cards; which is 92%. We pulled 0 duplicates. To only be only 12 cards shy of a 150 cards base set is pretty good odds for a box. This is an easy set to complete for the base set collector.
We pulled 4 non-memorabilia inserts from a few of the sets (we did not pull a CHL Rookie, Gold Metal Mask, nor a Net Brawler). The 3 inserts we pulled were:
We pulled 9 cards with the white back:
• (1) AHL Rookies: Alexander Salak (AR-05)
• (1) Tribute: Martin Brodeur – 552nd Win (T-07)
• (2) Masked Men II: Olivier Roy (MM-19) & Peter Mannino (MM-29)
The AHL Rookies insert we pulled is of Alexander Salak of the Rochester Americans. Salak’s image is in the foreground, and behind him is the Americans logo, followed by a partial blue border, and finally the rest of the photograph in the background. A blue dotted pattern also overlaps the background photo. In the bottom right corner of the blue border is the AHL logo.
The Tribute set features Martin Brodeur, and the card we pulled is titled “Wins: 552” which features him passing Patrick Roy’s 551 wins. The photograph shows Brodeur waving to the fans after he broke the record. A very simple design which utilizes the black, red, and white of the NJ Devils.
The final insert we pulled is Masked Men II. We pulled two of the silver version. Masked Men is always a fan-favorite every year. These feature a close-up of the goalie, and showcase the mask they wear. The background features a silver foil, which lets the colors of the mask really pop off the card! I’m glad to see these inserts in the set!
Autographs;
The GoalieGraph autograph set is seeded 1:8 packs, so you have a chance of pulling 3 autos in a box! Plus, there are over 125 different autograph cards in this set, which is a huge lineup!
These are on a landscape format, where the title is on the top left, the autograph is at the bottom left, and the photograph is at the right. The player’s name is conveniently clocated underneath his photo. A hexagon (6-sided) pattern is incorporated into the background, and this frames the photograph. A small hexagonal design is duplicated, and seen above the goalies’ heads. The autographed are framed by a dual-stroked white border. These designs are busy, but the subtle colors make them work nicely. The GoalieGraph autographs we pulled were:
• (2) GoalieGraph “Future Stars”: Tyler Beskorowany (A-TB) & Nathan Lieuwen (A-NLI)
Game Used Jersey;
The Game Used Jersey cards feature a decent-sized jersey swatch. The design features the goalies’ photo at the top left, “Between The Pipes” and the goalies’ name at the top right, the ITG log at the middle left, the jersey swatch at the middle right, and the card’s title is at the bottom. The grayscale design makes the goalie’s photograph and the jersey swatch as the focal points of the card (the jersey swatch for the most part – the white jersey kills my thoughts). The swatch and it’s unique frame are in the foreground. There is a lot of beveling and embossing and dropshadows in the design, which gives the card depth, but also seem to flatten it somehow; an interesting effect. A dot-pattern is once again used, and it gradients to blend with the background.
According to the
In The Game’s website, there are 3 levels of this insert:
Black 45 different cards 130 of each card inserted
Silver 45 different cards 19 of each card inserted
Gold 45 different cards 1 card inserted
We pulled a Black version. The swatch is a solid white jersey swatch from a Cape Breton Screaming Eagles jersey. The Game Used Jersey we pulled was:
• (1) Game Used Jersey Black: Olivier Roy (M-35)
Game Used Number;
The Game Used Number is the same design as the Game Used Jersey, but the swatch is from the numbers, obviously.
According to the
In The Game’s website, there are 3 levels of this insert:
Black 45 different cards 6 of each card inserted
Silver 45 different cards 3 of each card inserted
Gold 45 different cards 1 card inserted
We pulled a Black version, so there are only 6 of this card! The swatch is a sparkly gold patch with stitches, over a black jersey swatch, from a Binghamton Senators jersey. The Game Used Number we pulled was:
• (1) Game Used Number Black: Brian Elliott (M-10)
He Shoots He Scores;
This is by far one of the coolest and most
“in the game” cards I have seen in a long time!!! This card of Evgeni Nabokov not only tells you the date this stick was used (March 10, 2002), it also tells you a little background information on the stick:
“Nabokov was in his sophomore NHL campaign when he managed to score a history-making goal during a 7-4 victory by the San Jose Sharks over the Vancouver Canucks on March 10, 2002.”
Therefore, I am assuming that this stick is the one he used when he scored that goal!?! How awesome is that!
The card design has the player’s photo, the “He Shoots He Scores” title, the ITG: Between The Pipes logo, the player’s name, and the date of the scored goal all in the top 1/3. The bottom 2/3 is devoted to the hockey stick. A GIGANTIC piece of the hockey stick is framed by a small window. The stick almost takes up 1”x3” of the 2.5”x3.5” card!!!
According to the
In The Game’s website, there are 3 levels of this insert:
Black 11 different cards 30 of each card inserted
Silver 11 different cards 9 of each card inserted
Gold 11 different cards 1 card inserted
We pulled a Black version, and the back of the card clearly states “BLACK VERSION 1 OF 30”! The game used stick from a San Jose Sharks stick, and so it is black paint, Deep Pacific teal paint, white paint, and, of course, wood. The He Shoots He Scores we pulled was:
• (1) He Shoots He Scores Black: Evgeni Nabokov (HS-09)
Final Thoughts on In The Game 2009-10 Between the Pipes Hockey Trading Cards;
2 autographed cards! 1 Jersey card! 1 Jersey Patch card! 1 Game Used Stick card!
INCREDIBLE!!!
The hits just kept coming with this break. These boxes yield 8 inserts on average, and we pulled 9! One insert is limited to 30, and another is limited to only 6!
This was probably the most fun I have had busting a box in a long time; even though I do not know many of the players who I pulled “hits” of. The designs were very eye-catching; almost getting a full base set was a plus; and the autograph/game-used hits were huge (in both size and innovation)!
Here's how I would rate this product;
- Value = 5
- Innovation = 4
- Fun and Experience = 5
- Rebuy Value = 4
I rate this product a solid " A " for In the Game!
I would like to thank In The Game and Trader Retreat for giving me the chance to review this new product.
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