Time goes so fast sometimes.  Work deadlines and doing my best job to be a good husband and father, sometimes my hobbies get pushed aside.  It’s all worth it, but sometimes i do like a little me time to open some overpriced packs and look at all the shiny new cards money can buy.

As part of my recent shopping binge of football cards, i ordered a few boxes from Panini and am finally getting around to the last three on the four* box order.  The asterisk will be explained in the next posting…betcha can’t wait, huh?!

I know i’m probably a little late on some of these, but my thing of late has not been timeliness but rather tardiness.  So i’m going to review a box that has been out for a few weeks now…and they call it Crown Royale, pardon me while i pour some Royal Crowne in my glass…The 4 pack box contains 5 cards each and should apparently only be opened by anybody that is over the age 9.  The base set consists of 285 cards that contain 150 commons, 100 rookies and 35 rookie silhouettes.  I guess that’s great news if you are in to that sort of thing…collecting this set isn’t for me though.  I’m only looking for a good set of hits (wordplay!)  As i type, i’m looking at the underside of the box and seeing some crazy amounts of insert series.  Blue. Silver. Red. Rookies. Legends…and for some reason, Purple.  I’m not one to judge, only observe.  With that off my chest, here is my review of the 2012 Crown Royale cards from Panini.

Card Design – 3.5 of 5

I’ve always been enamored with die cut cards and the Crown Royale brand has been out for quite a few years now, but this is my first ever box of these guys.  The first thing i notice is how freakin awkward it is sorting through them out of the pack!  They were slipping through my fingers and sliding down my hand…crazy.  As most collectors do, i attempt to be extremely cautious with the cards from the get go, but when they are sliding all over the place, makes it a little difficult…especially when you toss in a random ‘normal’ card.  No cards were dropped though, so no harm no foul.  Although the cards are initially attractive to me, upon further review i find them a little odd.  I think the crown is just too much of a visual distraction that player gets lost in the card.  Not to mention, die cuts always present their own issues with dinged corners and such.  Nice cards, but not my cup of bourbon.

Photography – 3.5 of 5

Panini always seems to have great photos for their cards and do a fantastic job of focusing on the player that the card is for.  My biggest complaint though is that all of these phenomenal athletes have been disembowled from their waist down, even Ray Lewis could get Jesus to bail him out on this one…but seriously…i understand that most of the cards are landscape oriented and it demands these types of photos to make the concept work, but even the portrait cards have chopped waists.  All i’m saying is that i really love legs and feet, but that’s something i need to deal with at another time…on my own.  Is anyone else disturbed by the veins in Andre Johnson’s arms?

Hits – 4.5 of 5

This is tough for me, and I realize that this is the case with all sets but if you don’t like the hits you get you probably won’t like the hits.  I didn’t pull anyone I really care about, so i need to be objective about this one.  The hits with the product are really nice.  They are nice and clean.  All of the guys i pulled were rookies, so not much to complain about there.  The Ronnie Hillman card is pretty spectacular with the multi color patch and autograph.  As with the majority of product out there, the autos are not on card, at least the ones i pulled.  Normally i don’t have an issue with this as i understand these guys are busy and it’s significantly easier to have the players sign sheets of stickers rather than single cards.  BUT when you get guys signing off the sticker like the Janoris Jenkins card it’s a little disheartening and a sad sight for such a beautiful card.  I also take issue with the placement of the auto sticker on the Ronnie Hillman card…it’s a little sloppy for an mid tier product.  All together though, the hits are nice…just would have been nice if one was a Redskin…just saying.  Alfred Morris or Kirk Cousins would have been nice…or an RGIII!

David Wilson Rookie Royalty 93 of 149

Janoris Jenkins 6 of 25

Quinton Coples 14 of 25

Ronnie Hillman 345 of 349

Review

As a complete product i don’t have too much to complain about.  Most of my input is based on personal preference rather than flaws in the product.  I do like the cards and getting 4 packs to open with nice hits was a lot of fun to open.  I enjoy the single pack boxes, but it’s always nice to have a couple chances for a real BIG hit…always hold out hope as we do with this hobby.  The next pack could be the big one!  I can’t see buying another box of Crown Royale this year unless i get a great deal on a box, but I wold definitely look to pick one up next year assuming the budget can handle this product.  Another nice job by Panini. -HTTR!