Pack Break: 2010-11 Pinnacle x2

It's seems like it's been forever since I've busted any retail packs just for the sake of checking out base cards. Well, I decided to change that yesterday and picked up a single pack of 2010-11 Pinnacle from Target for $2.99 and a rack pack for $4.99.

The single pack contained 10 cards and the rack pack had 40, so for just two extra dollars, I got 30 more cards in the rack pack, and when you're just looking for base and parallels (like I am with Jimmy Howard), I think the rack packs are the way to go.

I was looking forward to getting some of this product, as I've seen a bunch of breaks already and really like the photography on the base cards. The inserts aren't the greatest, but that's not why I went for this, as I know there's little chance of real "hits" from retail packs.

Between the two packs, I ended up with one insert, one rookie, and a bunch of base cards including five dupes. Here's some of what I got:

First, a few base cards that stood out:

Overall, the photography in this set is awesome for the most part, a lot of unique shots with a few generic one's thrown in here and there. How often do you see a player holding a video game controller? Pretty cool if you ask me.

I also love how the back of the card talks about where the photo was taken and the context of it, something I've never really seen on base cards before. It adds something unique to this set.

Other than that, the design is pretty solid. I've always liked the Pinnacle logo and it works well with the border design on these cards.

Now, the one rookie and one insert I pulled:

The Ice Breakers are simply base cards with the logo added to the bottom right. I think this is one of the rink collection parallels (somebody correct me if I'm wrong), and I really like the look of this thing when the light hits it.

I don't know what to think about the Saving Face insert. It's a good idea for a set, but the execution isn't up to par. I wish they would have just brought back the Mask cards and been done with it. Oh well, maybe next year.

So that's my foray into this year's Pinnacle release. I think I'm done busting any of it until prices come way down, as I'm just looking for the Howard singles at this point (drop me a line if you've got any available, I'd love to work out a trade).