2011-2012 ITG Heroes & Prospects Hockey Box Break & Review

Design: 

Heroes & Prospects is to hockey what Topps Pro Debut is to baseball.  The design is easy on the eyes and not overly done.  Its fun browsing through all the cards and looking at the unique logos from teams that I refer to as “minor league” hockey.  The “Tribute” cards that are in all black and white are a nice touch and pay tribute to those well known players that have passed away.

The relic cards that I pulled contain a nice sized swatch of game-used material. They also have a decent size picture of the player too.  Usually when cards contain large relics it over compensates and your lucky to have a picture of the athlete at all.  ITG uses sticker autographs, but they use the best ones.  You can barely tell the signatures are on stickers.  You can slightly feel a raised edge around the autograph.

Price: 

Boxes are currently selling for $78.00.

“Hit” Quality: 

Your average box should contain four “hits” – (2) autographs and (2) memorabilia cards.  The autograph and memorabilia cards each fall 1:8 packs.  Since there are 18 packs per box, you have a decent shot at pulling an extra “hit”.  I pulled the following:

Autos

•  Brendan Ranford Auto
• Dougie Hamilton Auto

Relics

• Ryan Strome Top Prospects Jersey Black
• Vladislav Namestnikov Top Prospects Jersey Black
• Brandon Saad Top Prospects 2-Color Jersey Black

Inserts

• Garnet Exelby Tough Customers #TC-03
• Ryan Potulyn 2011 Calder Cup Champions #CC-03

Rookies

• Landon Ferraro AHL RC #145
• Carter Ashton AHL RC #141
• Cam Atkinson AHL RC #139
• Ryan Ellis AHL RC #147
• Zack Kassian AHL RC #150
• Calvin de Haan AHL RC #138
• Stefan Elliot AHL RC #148
• Justin Faulk AHL RC #144
• Brayden Schenn AHL RC #137
• Cody Eakin AHL RC #142
• Max Domi CHL RC #99
• Olli Maatta CHL RC #102
• Curtis Lazar CHL RC #92
• Denis Kamaev CHL RC #94
• Jordan Subban CHL RC #98
• Mikhail Grigorenko CHL RC #100
• Daniel Altshuller CHL RC #93

Remember to keep your box tops.  After you accumulate 100 points you can send them into ITG and in return they will send you an exclusive ITG VIP Program card.  This will be some type of memorabilia card limited to 20 copies.  Inside packs of 11-12 Heroes & Prospects you’ll also find redemption cards.  If you plan to open a lot of these packs, you can redeem them for a special card.  Each one is worth 1-point and you have to accumulate 200-points and then send them in.  This is for those collectors looking to open tons of these packs.

Overall: 

Overall, I give 2011-2012 ITG Heroes & Prospects 4 zambonis out of 5 (1=poor & 5=perfect).  If your a hockey collector that’s really into “minor league” hockey, this product is perfect for you.  Collectors looking for retired legends might also enjoy it.  This is the first ITG product to contain Gordie Howe autographs and relics in a long time.  On 3/24/12 I will be attending my first Hershey Bears game since the late 90′s early 2000′s.  That night they’re giving away Keith Aucoin bobble heads.  It was fun pulling some Hershey Bears cards.