2010/11 In The Game Decades 1980s Hockey Hobby Box Review
Every box contains (9) Hits:
- (3) On-Card Autograph cards/pack guaranteed
- (3) Game-Used Memorabilia cards/pack guaranteed
- (1) Decades Rookie Card/pack guaranteed
- (1) 100 Years of Hockey Card Collecting Card/pack guaranteed
- (1) One Non-Memorabilia Insert card/pack guaranteed
Celebrate the Miracle on Ice:
In The Game is please to feature hard signed autographs from every player on the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team - The Miracle On Ice team. Bill Baker, Bob Suter, Buzz Schneider, Dave Christian, Dave Silk, Eric Strobel, Jack O'Callahan, Jim Craig, John Harrington, Ken Morrow, Mark Johnson, Mark Pavelich, Mike Eruzione, Mike Ramsey, Neal Broten, Phil Verchota, Rob McClanahan, Steve Christoff, Steve Janaszak and Mark Wells.
9 cards per box
Here's what I pulled in our box of 2010/11 In The Game Decades 1980s Hockey Hobby Box:
Decades Rookie;
The 45-card Decades Rookie Card checklist includes; Patrick Roy, Mario Lemieux, Bernie Nichols, Cam Neely, Joe Sakic, John Vanbiesbrouck, Paul Coffey, Mike Vernon, Jeremy Roenick, Steve Yzerman, Tom Barrasso, Ron Hextall and many, many more.
Now, these cards are titled “rookies”, for I’m guessing, all of the players in the set were a rookie in the 1980s; therefore, they are not true rookie cards.
The cards have a clean design with a white background; which would probably work well for the autograph collector (they are on a gloss stock, though). The Player’s bust is in the top center of the card, and the player is in front of his team’s logo which is cropped and enclosed in a design that includes the ITG logo and the player’s team name (ie: Winnipeg). Behind this (mostly seen to the right and left) is a greyscale picture and it looks like it is of hockey players celebrating. Since ITG is celebrating the Miracle on Ice, I’m guessing it might be a photo of that.
Underneath the player’s photo is the card title “Decades Rookie.” They word ROOKIE is in all caps, has double stroke outline, and a drop shadow to give it dominance of the space, to highlight that the player was a rookie in the 1980s.
The player’s photo and the card title are enclosed in an outline; underneath this is the player’s name and his position.
The Decades Rookie we pulled was:
• (1) Decades Rookie: Dale Hawerchuk (DR-06)
Non-Memorabilia Insert Card;
Each pack will feature one Non-Memorabilia Insert Card. There are eight different Non-Memorabilia Insert Sets; Great Moments In Hockey, Long Island Dynasty, Edmonton Dynasty, Battle of New York, Battle of Alberta, Battle of Quebec, Memorable Masks and Canada's Best.
For our non-memorabilia insert, we pulled a card from the Battle of Alberta set. This card has a white background like the base card. This card is split diagonally and the background features a “center ice” outline. Above that it says the card title. The corners have photos of the two players involved in these battles. This is all within a rectangle with curved edges; the design reminds me of a playing card.
The Non-Memorabilia Insert Card we pulled was:
• (1) Battle of Alberta: Hakan Loob vs. Jari Kurri (BA-03)
100 Years of Hockey Card Collecting;
This card looks like it is mimicking a tobacco card, which were the cards that were found about 100 years ago. Since tobacco cards were much smaller than the 2.5” x 3.5” cards we have today; they use a large, faint blue border to surround this “inner card” as I will call it. The inner card’s border is an off-white color, which is how you are probably going to find most tobacco cards. Within this border is the player’s name (first initial, last name), and his team. So, our card says “R. Bourque of Boston Club.” The player’s photo is seen on the inside, and the modern day (for the most part) player is seen in a throwback jersey. In the top left of the red background is either the player’s jersey number or the card number (No 77).
The 100 Years of Hockey Card Collecting card we pulled was:
• (1) Ray Bourque
Authentic Game-Used Memorabilia Cards;
Decades 1980s will also feature Authentic Game-Used Memorabilia Cards from the players who played during this marvelous decade. Many of the Game-Used Cards are quads including Cup Clashes, Franchises, All-Stars, Rivalries and Four Your Country.
We pulled one of the regular jersey cards, the Game-Used Jersey, in the Black Version. This features a design that is separated into 8 boxes. Feels like a design that might be popular back in the 1980s. One box holds the jersey, one box has the player’s photo, one has the set “Decades 1980s”, one has the insert name “Game-Used Jersey Black, one has the player’s name, and the other 3 boxes are blank.
According to In The Game’s website (
http://www.itgtradingcards.com/produ...des_inum.html), there are 3 levels of this insert:
Black 65 cards printed 120 of each card inserted
Silver 65 cards printed 30 of each card inserted
Gold 65 cards printed 10 of each card inserted
There are also Limited, Emblem, Emblem Limited, Number, and Number Limited versions in all three colors.
The Between The Pipes card we pulled is the Black Version. The design of the card is full of boxes with rounded edges. One box holds the jersey swatch, one box holds the player’s photograph, one box holds the words “Game Used Jersey,” and in the outer spaces hold the player’s name at the top left, the card title “Between the Pipes” at the bottom left, and the ITG logo next to it past the break in design.
According to In The Game’s website, there are 3 levels of this insert:
Black 19 cards printed 100 of each card inserted
Silver 19 cards printed 30 of each card inserted
Gold 19 cards printed 10 of each card
There is also a Limited version in all three colors.
The final memorabilia card we pulled was a Trophy Winner. This definitely has some 1980s nostalgia for me, for in the design, there are thick blue bars that form a mini-maze, and there are dots within these bars…Pac-Man anyone?
Anyways, one of the blue lines holds the player’s name, and the one below it showcases the player’s Trophy they won. Behind these bars is the player’s photo, and behind him is a picture of the actual trophy.
According to In The Game’s website, there are 3 levels of this insert:
Black 27 cards printed 100 of each card inserted
Silver 27 cards printed 30 of each card inserted
Gold 27 cards printed 10 of each card inserted
The Authentic Game-Used Memorabilia Cards we pulled were:
• (1) Game-Used Jersey Black: Chris Chelios (M-16)
• (1) Between The Pipes Black Version: Grant Fuhr (BTPJ-04)
• (1) Between The Pipes Black Version: Grant Fuhr (BTPJ-04)
Each box of Decades 1980s features three hard-signed Autograph Cards. The Autograph Card Checklist is unparalleled. Over 150 different Decades Autograph Cards and did we mention that they are all hard-signed with NO REDEMTPIONS. The checklist includes all twenty members of the Miracle on Ice team that won the Gold Medal in the 1980 Olympic Games.
For this autograph set, these are on a landscape format, where the title is at the top left, set name is bottom left, ITG logo is top right, and player’s name and team is bottom right. In the middle is the player’s photo at the left, and their bust looks like it is encapsulated in an outline of the NHL Shield Logo. To the right of him is the player’s signature on the card; no stickers here! Behind the autograph, you can see a group of players celebrating. Just like the base card, I am wondering if this is a photo from the Miracle on Ice. The card backs have a short bio of the player, which is always nice to see on a card (more fun that just seeing the authentication information). These designs are busy, but the subtle gold and green colors make them work nicely. The autographs we pulled were:
• (3) Autographs: Mike Gartner (A-MGA), Steve Payne (A-SP), & Bobby Smith (A-BOS)
Final Thoughts on 2010/11 In The Game Decades 1980s Hockey Hobby Box;
“Hits” is right! There are 6 hits in the box (they say 9 on the box, but I consider a hit to be autographs and memorabilia cards; not inserts and rookies)
I really like the design that In The Game comes up with in their sets, and I see some subtle references without the set.
You have to love that the entire set has no redemptions, and that all the autographs are on-card! No autographed stickers here; these are autographed cards!
It was fun seeing all of these players from the 1980s. I can’t wait to see if they continue on to the other decades as well.
Here's how I would rate this product;
- Value = 5
- Innovation = 3
- Fun and Experience = 4
- Rebuy Value = 4
I rate this product a " B " 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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