BOX BREAK: I GOT FREE CROWN ROYALE CARDS! THANKS PANINI!

I know you might be kinda shocked at the title you just read up top. But it is EXACTLY as it seems. Let me explain. A few weeks back (maybe even a month) when Panini had released this years Crown Royale product, they did a four box break on their site. I saw some really cool cards come out of the box and was overall pretty impressed as I've always seen Crown Royale as a unique and highly distinguishable product.

Long story short, they made it into a casual contest and said to write a comment on what you thought of the product. If they selected your comment as "one of the best" they would send you some of the hits from the box. The post was already a couple days old and only had 20 or so comments so I put in my two cents concluding with this pun: "this was a  ROYALLY good product".

So I guess Panini liked what I said and shortly after awarded me as a contest winner. I e-mailed them my shipping address and yesterday a nice big package came in the mail for me. I knew right away it was from Panini and opened it up expecting some of the cards from the break I saw online to be inside. Instead I found this...

WOOT WOOT! A free box of hockey cards! Plus it's a mid-high range product that I would have probably never forked out a 100 bucks for. SWEEEEEET! Just knowing this box was 100% free and that there was no pressure to "get what I paid for" was awesome. Hell, even if I pulled a bunch of crap it wouldn't have bothered me (that much).

Anyways let's get to the break!

I pulled 11 regular base cards. This Alex Ovechkin is my favourite of the bunch. You've all seen and dealt with these cards before. Love the texture, cut, and design of these cards all around.

I pulled one Legends base card. Stevey-Y isn't a bad card to pull. Only difference between the regular base and this is the black and white photo.

Contained in every 4 pack box is a red parallel base card. Of course I pulled a Chicago Blackhawks parallel. These parallels are not numbered.

Next I received one RC of Harri Sateri. Don't know who the heck he is but he has one sick mask!

I pulled two inserts, this first one is of who other then my mortal enemy Patrick Kane. It's okay though I'm not that mad, did I mention this box was free? :)

Okay this makes up for the Kane card big time. Gabriel Landeskog is a big rookie with his eyes on the Calder trophy (as the card points out). Nice rookie to pick up out of this year's crop, although a CoHo would've been nice.

Now onto the hits. Just to put you through the same thought process I had I'll put the hits in the order I pulled them. Starting with pack #1...

I was stoked to pull this bad boy! I love the die-cut technology they used on a thicker GU card. You feel like this is a quality card. Nice sharp edges and corners and the swatch is a nice dark blue! Definitely happy to pull the most unique GU concept I've seen this year!

Even better! My first ever GU AUTO combination on a hockey card! Plus it's of a rookie and it's numbered to /100 copies! The few downsides to this card are the sticker AUTO and the fact it's a very poor quality signature. But still this card is pretty sweet! I'll take it any day of the week!

Pack three led to the most basic of all the hits. But there is a nice upside to this card. First is the player. JVR has been decent for the Flyers in his short career and I'm a fan. Plus the swatch of jersey is bright orange instead of a boring white. Definitely the most vibrant of my entire GU collection. 

Finally pack four unleashed Big Joe! Obviously this is the biggest name of the break and it comes with a fairly fancy looking AUTO. Nice penmanship Joe. This card is also numbered to /99 copies.

Overall, this was a short but super exciting box break. I can't thank Panini enough for giving a guy like me the opportunity to break a box I probably would've never been able to! Cool cards, fun break and awesome product!

Finally, I've seen some box break's of Crown Royale here and there but what is your overall reaction to this product? Have you any received cards from free from a big company like Upper Deck, ITG, Panini etc.? 

I also just came home from the Canucks vs. Buffalo game (this was in the draft file since this morning) so look forward to a "Game Day" post in the next couple days. 

GO NUCKS GO!