Product Grade: B-
There is a lot of room for Panini to improve after releasing their first hockey product of the 2012-13 product year. 2012-13 Panini Score is an above average all around product. The base set (and parallels) and rookies feel hurried and not well designed. But the various insert sets make up for this. For $30 a box, 2012-13 Score is a great product for both young and old alike to break and realize there is more to this hobby than pulling big hits. Is it the best product of the year? No, certainly not. But it is definitely worth trying a box and having a bit of fun for 36 packs.
Base: C- (183 of 500 [36.6%] with 0 doubles)
HB: The base design of 2012-13 Score is lacking…severely. Panini did away with the glossy parallel that I, personally felt, made the entire product stand out more. I understand that Score is the most entry level product that Panini puts out, but entry level doesn’t have to mean bland and boring. There are ways to keep the product inexpensive but still have an appealing design. The Gold Rush parallels didn’t do much for me either. All in all, the base cards and their parallels were well below average.
HB’s Grade: D+
HG: I was really excited to open this product this year. Last year we opened two boxes of it and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately though, this year the design is hit or miss, starting with a miss in the base card design. With low-end products being mostly comprised of base cards, I think it is very important to put a good amount of care into the base design. And I think Panini missed out on an opportunity here with the Score. The generic player photo and very minimal design is not very interesting or exciting at all. And the Gold Rush base parallel are the same exact design as the base, except they have a dark gold brushed along the border, which looks more brown than gold. I think that it makes the cards even less appealing than the base. Panini’s low-end cards for other sports have very nice designs and I just wish this set fell into that category, but it doesn’t.
HG’s grade: C
Inserts: A
HB: The inserts that were in the 2011-12 Score product was what I felt made the product a “must break.” There were a ton of well designed, different, and fun insert subsets. So I was hoping for more of the same from 2012-13 Score. And Panini didn’t disappoint on that front. I was bummed to see the Shield die-cuts that were in the product last year are now gone, but there are still a lot of great inserts to pull. I didn’t realize the box we bought was retail, but The Franchise Original Six insert is a nice design of 1 player each of the Original Six teams. We pulled 4 of the 6 cards. Next up are the First Goal inserts which commemorate the first goals of 2011-12 rookies. What makes the inserts cool is the picture of the player centered among his teammates celebrating with him. You feel part of their moment in looking at the cards. One of Hockey Girl’s favorite insert sets of all time is the Net Cam set. Once again, the photography and simple design of this set makes it collect worthy. I love the large, action photos of some of the best net minders during their thing. My favorite insert set of this year’s Score was by far the Team Score and Team Future cards. I love black and white photos and this set (really two sets) felt different a unique from anything else. The Team Score set features the players in the All Star Game uniforms as well which I really enjoyed. Lastly, there is The Franchise insert set which has the nicest feel of all of them. The name and established date are both in foil which stands out, the cards are really sharp. In my opinion, the various insert sets are the strongest selling point in this year’s Score.
HB’s Grade: A
HG: I love the inserts in this product. Each insert set is so different and each is unique. My favorite set by far is the Net Cam cards. I have the whole set from last year’s Score in my personal collection and I am excited to work at getting this years set as well! I think it is such a fun idea for an insert and as someone who primarily collects goaltenders, I couldn’t be happier. My other favorite insert set is the First Goal set. When I watch a game, I can get pretty invested into the emotion of the game, so having a set that captures the excitement of a player scoring his first goal is really neat. The design of these cards aren’t my favorite, but I love the idea. We got one of the The Franchise cards and I think it is a really cool card, with a large team logo and foil font. The fact that it is Ovechkin doesn’t hurt it either. I also like the Franchise retro cards. While it isn’t exactly a unique idea for a set, I do like the design. I like that, unlike the base cards, they kept the color of the border and font the same for all the cards. It gives the cards a uniformity and cohesiveness as a set. The insert set that I can’t quite decide how I feel about is the Team Score and Team Future cards. They are certainly different with their black and white posed player photos. I like their uniqueness and the thought that was put into the design. However, I feel like making hockey players “model” for a card is just a little awkward and strange. Maybe I’m missing something though. Overall, I think that the inserts carry this product and I am a big fan of them.
HG’s grade: A
Rookies: C-
HB: We pulled 19 rookies in our box of 12-13 Score (the one missing is Lane MacDermid of the Bruins). I liked that there were a lot of rookies to pull in this product. To me, there is a big difference in getting 14 or 15 rookies in a box and 18 or 19 rookies. It’s only a difference of a few cards but the packs seem better with that many rookies to pull. What I didn’t like is the design. To me, the design is simply awful. It shows a complete and total lack of effort in the design department. Check out the design of the Hot Rookies in 2012 Score Football:
Now, this design feels complete and well-thought out to me. Maybe the brown color doesn’t work well for hockey, so it could have been a light blue center with dark blue outer. Something more cold and ice feeling. But still, there was a whole lot more for Panini to do than just make a flame filled “HOT” text on the card. It came across incredibly cheesy.
HB’s Grade: D+
HG: The Hot Rookies cards are unfortunately another place where the design is just not up to par. I really dislike the flame design on the font of the card. I think it makes the card look cheesy and outdated. However, the rest of the card very is bland and doesn’t stand out at all. Again, I have seen the design of some of Panini’s other rookie cards from similar products this year and the design is fantastic. You just won’t find those in this product.
HG’s Grade: C
Hits: NA
Panini Score is not a hit driven product. Although there are a few insert sets, they are not an average pull and as such it’d be a bit unfair to give a grade to the hits in 12-13 Score.
Satisfaction: B+
HB: For $30 a box, and less than $1 a pack (just over $0.83 to be exact) 12-13 Score is a product that everyone should try at least one box of. It’s a fun product. Is the design of the base and rookie cards good? No, not at all. But rookies aren’t what drive this product. It’s the fun factor and there’s plenty of fun to go around in a box of Score. There are lots of great inserts to pull and the packs are filled with something different with each one you open. Try a box and see for yourself.
HB’s Grade: A-
HG: This product really was fun to open. Any time you get a 36 pack box for $30 you will enjoy it!. The inserts are all really neat and the volume of cards that you get for the money can’t be beat. However, the design of the base cards and rookie cards is just not good and that takes away from the overall enjoyment of the product. Still though, The inserts are great and the price is right. Buying a box of Score won’t hurt your wallet and there are some nice cards you can find, so I would recommend checking it out!
HG’s grade: B
Much love,
Hockey Boy & Hockey Girl
