Panini Peek: 2010-11 Dominion Hockey

My hands are a little shaky at the moment so you'll have to excuse any typos in this post. I just spent the last 10 minutes marveling at the preliminary product information and images for 2010-11 Dominion Hockey . . . and I can't stop shaking. Frankly, I don't even know where to begin previewing a product of this magnitude.

My hands are a little shaky at the moment so you’ll have to excuse any typos in this post. I just spent the last 10 minutes marveling at the preliminary product information and images for 2010-11 Dominion Hockey . . . and I can’t stop shaking.

Frankly, I don’t even know where to begin previewing a product of this magnitude.

Dominion, without question one of the most anticipated new launches of the entire collecting year across all sports, packs a stop-you-in-your-tracks wallop that will have collectors buzzing from now until well after the product launches in late July. Heck, the name debate alone — Dominion instead of National Treasures — has had people talking for months already.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over more than two decades in this industry, it’s that hockey collectors are unique,” says Panini America NHL Brand Manager Al Muir. “They’re an island unto themselves and they expect to be treated in a way that recognizes and celebrates that quality. Dominion is built specifically for hockey collectors, by hockey collectors. The name itself says as much.

“Everyone’s heard of the Stanley Cup, but only true hockey fans know its original name is the Dominion Challenge Cup. We wanted to honor that legacy with Dominion Hockey.”

To that end, the product promises a high-end, heirloom-quality collecting experience brimming with cut signatures, hard-signed autographs galore, mesmerizing memorabilia selections and a guaranteed “wow” factor. Every eight-card box carries a $350 suggested retail price and delivers six autograph or memorabilia hits (at least three autographs guaranteed including at least one hard-signed Rookie Card).

Highlighting Dominion’s myriad collection-making cornerstones are . . .

  • Kindest Cuts 1/1 cut signatures honoring the greatest hockey legends of all time
  • The hockey debut of Pen Pals autographs featuring signatures of two, three or four hockey greats on one card, with Duals numbered to 50, Triples numbered to 25 and Quads numbered to 5
  • Peerless Patches Dual and Quad booklet cards featuring the choicest pieces of memorabilia from hockey’s greatest stars of yesterday and today
  • Engravatures cards embedded with pieces of real silver that are engraved with the names of former Stanley Cup winner — just like on the real thing — limited to just 10 copies
  • The return of Nifty 50, one of the hobby’s most famous insert names, complete with hard autographs of hockey’s fabled single-season 50-goal scorers
  • Brass Bonanza on-card autographs that pay tribute to the legends of the Hartford Whalers, all numbered to 50 or less
  • The unique Tape to Tape insert featuring autographs from stars on actual tape sliced from their game-used hockey sticks

“We know what collectors want, and we packed it into Dominion,” Muir says. “You like hard-signed autographs? Every signature in Dominion is on-card. You like ultra short-printed RCs? In the past you’ve had to settle for a handful. Dominion brings 20 hard-signed/patch RCs limited to just 99 copies. You expect oversized premium swatches? We deliver them with Peerless Patches booklet cards, Rookie Showcase inserts and the Mammoth Memorabilia cards — those swatches are so big we could barely fit a photo into the design. We also have some sweet new concepts like Engravatures, Tape to Tape Autographs, Ring of Honour Memorabilia and many more.

“The hobby is built on supply and demand. We know the demand will be there. But we can also tell you this: The supply will be very limited. Dominion isn’t a product for the masses. This is for the high-end hobbyists, the whales. Even they’ll have to fight among themselves for it with these quantities. Should make for a dynamic secondary market for Dominion.”

Enjoy the following gallery and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for complete Dominion updates.

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38 Replies to “Panini Peek: 2010-11 Dominion Hockey”

  1. incredible pictures and products. I love it. It has the look of some of my other favorite high end products I collect. I am really starting to love hockey cards!
    WOW! Thanks for sending me the prize package from the Pinnacle as well Tracy! You are the man!

  2. Ever since I heard Panini got a hockey license, this is the product I’ve been anticipating the most. These shots look great! Can’t wait for the release!

  3. Um Tracy, yeah, I think you know one of the cards we’ll be chasing for Austin’s Kopitar collection.

      1. T, is that a mock up (looks that way) or similar to the actual card they have slated for the product? (meaning do they have the swatches ready to go, just need the card to embed them?) Also are any of these depicted 1 of 1’s (besides the dual shield of Lemieux and Roy?)

  4. these are incredible!!! very very nice cards, cant wait to see them up close… is there a checklist out? Need to see if Pavelski or Couture are in there….

      1. I give you all HUGE props anytime you guys can get us a preliminary checklist T.

        I know things change and these checklists can be dynamic but I think if people get a general feel for MOST of what might be in there and, more importantly, the types of subsets and cards you’ll be chasing, it makes us all a lot more willing to budget the coin as hockey collectors.

        Thanks to you guys, Austin has amazing cards to chase of his buddy Kopi.

        Austin and I are onboard either way for the Panini revolution.

        Heck, we’ve been up front driving this thing with you guys since Day 1. And the view on the road ahead looks mighty promising amigo. 😉

    1. I played the theme in the office for inspiration while working on the card, much to the annoyance of everyone else in our room, hah!

  5. This stuff looks pretty sweet. Are Jeff Skinner and PK Subban going to have patch/auto rookies?

    The tape cards are interesting, might be kinda smelly though.

  6. Heyyyyyy TRACY……You guys are leaving Upper Deck in the Dust….Panini will rule the hockey card World – without a Doubt…soon…Real soon ! ! ! Cant wait to get my Hands on a Case or two, Please hurry…lol ! Joe R. (NYC)

  7. I just started collectng hockey cards about a month ago and im hooked! I have always collected all the other sports{football, basketball,and baseball but now i am adding hockey to my collection. These cards are AMAZING Tracy!! and i cant wait to bust 1 or 2 boxes when it comes out! Keep up the great work Panini!!!!!

  8. Love it. That is a beautiful product and it will get a lot of attention I am sure. It’s about time UD lost their monopole on hockey and you guys are showing innovation, not just idiocies that play 60 seconds worth of video and stray away from the hobby.

    There’s only one thing that’s eating away at me… The circular swatches/seams/patches like on the Yzerman card; It’s already been overdone this year and IMO it looks cheap which this set is everything but.

    Secundo, not a dislike, but some feedback… Shields are so much more awesome with autos!!! It’s like the best of both worlds.

    Congrats on the nice product, though!! Hope my feedback helps. 🙂

    Jon

  9. Hey Tracy – this stuff looks absolutley fantastic, but until I can actually get through to a customer service rep on the phone or get my Certified redemptions from November 2010, I am boycotting buying Panini products. I really appreciate your blogs as you provide more info than any of your competitors, but some of the service issues really need looking into. Thanks for your time.

      1. Wow, thanks Tracy! I’m waiting on Cerified Freshman Fabric Signatures of card # 195 & 196 – I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly – I can’t lie, I’ll still probably open this product along with Contenders next week, but I won’t open as much as I normally do.

  10. I’ve been getting more and more into collecting hockey cards over the last 2 years and this looks pretty great. From the looks of it… UD The Cup finally has a worthy challenger. I love the twist on the booklet idea. The Pen Pal cards are great for all the Panini product lines and who wouldn’t like shields, cut auto’s and the Tap to Tap cards. I know $350 is a lot to spend on trading cards, but that’s actually not a bad price for an 8 card box featuring the quality of patches/relics and on-card auto’s. very impressive!!!

  11. Wow… looks like a great set. I only collect commons and common inserts (no auto or memorabilia) so I love that Panini usually has a common version of their inserts (big advantage over upper deck). I hope there will be some good ones in Dominion as well. Any chance the new video cards will make it into this set?

  12. This will be my Whale of a Set for me to go after

    this is the high end set I am going to try to complete… Thank you Panini for producing this great set…

    any word on a checklist of the product?

      1. Tracy, I know a few people asked it so I wanted to keep on top of it:

        What are the chances of starting to get some preliminary checklists on this and the other upcoming hockey products.

        I know as a Los Angeles Kings fan and collector and my son Austin chasing Anze Kopitar, our collecting budget is reserved for whatever we can cross off the wantlist.

        That said, when there is an opportunity to see what is forthcoming from a card company, we are happy to “pass” on other companies products if said company (*cough* Panini *cough*) has something of his/our players coming out that we find more appealing.

        While I realize not every checklist is going to be set in stone or definitive when being built initially, the “hope” of the better cards in higher end products is definitely enticing enough to build up a reserve.

        What can I say, we’re planners. 😉

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