Wanna Get Between The Pipes? Experience One Of Hockey's Biggest Thrills Thanks To In The Game!

One of last season's most popular brands, Between the Pipes (winner of five Beckett Hockey Collector Readers' Choice Awards) is the first hockey card set entirely devoted to NHL goaltenders, These cards capture all the excitement and drama of professional sports' most demanding position.

"Based on all the feedback we've been getting, the new Between the Pipes set will be one of the highlights of the season for collectors," says Dr. Brian H. Price, President of In the Game. "This product really captured everyone's fancy last year. What's really exciting is how this product was both a critical and financial success for everyone who handled it. It cleaned up with a bunch of awards and it sold out!"

This year's base set once again features a striking design and consists of 150 cards including 72 veterans. Card backs serve up complete season-by-season and career stats along with an informative player biography. A 38-card Prospects subset with a number of key rookie cards including Ryan Miller and Pascal Leclaire is another important element in this set.

The 30-card Home and Away subset provides a unique glimpse of the league's top netminders in their home and road uniforms along with statistics chronicling their performances in the friendly confines of their own arena versus their accomplishments in enemy barns. A 10-card Enshrined subset punctuates the set, providing collectors with 10 legendary Hall-of-Famers.

Individual player and team collectors will be pleased with the availability of Silver and Gold parallel versions of the first 110 cards in the base set. Silver parallels are numbered out of 100 while Gold versions are a particularly tough pull and numbered out of 10.

The lineup of game-used memorabilia inserts in 2002-03 Between the Pipes is impressive as always. However, there is one non-memorabilia insert set that will also stir up a great deal of excitement for many hobbyists. The Mask inserts, winner of the "Best Insert Design" and "Best Insert Set" awards in the Beckett Hockey Collector Reader's Choice poll, are back. Printed on striking and colorful Dufex stock, the series of 30 cards is certain to end up on everybody's want lists again this year. The inclusion of scarce Silver and Gold parallel versions will also generate plenty of interest. Just like last year, Silver Mask cards are limited to 300 while Gold versions are restricted to 30.

Now for the memorabilia inserts! There are 15 different sets in all, each with a unique and appealing theme. As usual, collectors will find one memorabilia card per box. As always, the stated production run of these inserts will be less than 100.

Highlights include Goalie Nightmares, a 10-card set combining a top goalie with a premier sniper who has given him fits throughout the years. Vintage Memorabilia (20 cards) pays homage to the legends of yesteryear such as Terry Sawchuk, George Hainsworth, and Tony Esposito together with pieces of their game-used equipment. Behind the Mask (20 cards) gives collectors a glimpse of what these warriors look like without their head armor.

Other insert sets include Game-Used Jerseys (50 cards); In the Numbers (25 cards); Emblems (25 cards); Game-Used Stick and Jersey (30 cards); Game-Used Trappers (18 cards); Game-Used Blockers (18 cards); Game-Used Pads (14 cards); All-Star Jersey and Stick (16 cards); Inspiration (10 cards); Record Breakers (16 cards); Tandems (20 cards); Future Wave (12 cards); and Complete Package (12 cards). That's an amazing 322 memorabilia inserts in total. All feature goalies and all rate among the most attractive memorabilia inserts available in the hobby.

There will also be an impressive selection of autographed cards in packs, ranging from present-day stars like José Théodore, Curtis Joseph, and Marty Turco, to retired icons such as Gerry Cheevers, Glenn Hall, and Vladislav Tretiak. Even better, an autographed card will not count as the "memorabilia" insert in a box. All signed cards are in addition to a memorabilia card, making for a nice bonus.

"I don't know if I want to say this year's version of Between the Pipes is better than last year's, since last year's did so well," says Price. "I will say that this year's version is every bit as good, though. The player checklist is very thorough, and the memorabilia inserts are among the most attractive you'll ever see. Maybe best of all is the return of The Mask inserts. Those alone could drive this product to a rapid sellout. If you missed out on this set last year, we're happy to give everyone a second chance."

The He Shoots, He Saves Decoy/Redemption Point Program returns. Each pack will contain an extra-thick He Shoots, He Saves card (or a memorabilia card) in an effort to prevent pack searching. Each decoy card has a point value. When you collect enough points, you can send them to In the Game in exchange for a special game-used memorabilia card featuring an NHL goaltending star and numbered to just 20!

Each box of Between the Pipes will contain 24 packs and every pack holds five cards including one He Shoots, He Saves decoy card or one memorabilia card.