2010-11 ITG Between The Pipes

For a hockey collector this time of year is the most exciting time. The season is now done and the NHL Playoffs begin tomorrow, the draft order was just selected (Edmonton will be picking first at the NHL Draft in June) and 6 products will be hitting the shelves in the next two weeks with a 7th, Panini Zenith dropping on May 11, 2011.

ITG’s Between The Pipes goalie orientated set is one of the most anticipated sets each year. ITG may not have an NHL license but they release a beautiful product every year. Goalies have a mystical aura about them plus with all the equipment they wear you can expect to see some amazing patches including gloves, sticks, emblems and numbers plus straps.

This set highlights game-used memorabilia, autographs, non-memorabilia and goalie cards with each hitting at 1:8 packs so you should see 2 of each insert in each box.


Schedule Release Date: April 14, 2011
Box Configuration: 18 packs per box, 9 cards per pack
SRP: $88/box

Box Break:
2 Autograph cards
2 Game-Used Memorabilia cards
2 Non-memorabilia cards
2 Masked Men cards

My Thoughts:
In The Game puts out an amazing set every year and this year is no different. The goalies are the “peacocks” on the rink with most goalies creating some amazing mask designs; add in the glove, large sticks and pads and you have the opportunity for some amazing patch cards. The memorabilia cards include sticks, jersey relics, number patches, emblem patches, glove patches, country related patches and a very cool “Complete Jersey” quad patch that includes jersey, fight strap, number and emblem patches. The Showdown dual patches highlight two goalies who competed against each other in situations like the Stanley Cup.

A nice addition to this release is the focus on Montreal and Toronto net-minders with the Guarding inserts. There is the Guarding the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge Net (Montreal) and Guarding the Blue and White Net (Toronto) inserts. There are 10 goalies on each checklist from the respective teams. The Inspired Masks and 100 Year cards are also very nice additions to the insert checklist.

I believe that the cards are all on-card autographs (if anyone can verify that I would appreciate the information) and this includes 130 individual goalies through-out a 6 set checklist including Future Stars, Stars of the Game, Immortals, Women of the Nets and One Game Wonders (interesting idea).

Pros:
Patches…patches…patches

All goalies


Cons:
No NHL Licensing

All goalies (depending on the type of collector that you are)

Rating:

This is a solid 4 out of 5 set. I like the way that ITG produces year after year, the only downside obviously is because ITG does not have an NHL license. I would like to see the NHL rectify that in the near future because while they produce an un-licensed product they do the sport justice.