Panini America Quality Control Gallery: 2010-11 Crown Royale Hockey

Turns out jet-setting to Los Angeles for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game and all of its celebrity-festooned festivities — and calling it “work” — isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. After all, being on the road means not being in the office; and any given day spent away from the Panini America office means you run the risk of missing something really cool.

Case in point: I was on a plane first thing Monday morning on the way back to Dallas when the vaunted Panini America hockey team was busy conducting the first-case quality control check for 2010-11 Panini Crown Royale Hockey, which makes its royal return to the NHL next Wednesday.

So when I noticed the fruits of that laborious QC process gleaming on Al Muir’s desk late Tuesday afternoon, I gathered some of the sweeter hits from a product rife with them, scanned them hastily for your benefit and returned them to the Canadian’s desk undetected.

Here’s hoping you enjoy this extended first look at live cards from the product. Just think, only six more days until you can feel like royalty with a box of your own.