The next few weeks in the NHL is going to be fun to watch with the Jets skating again in Winnipeg, a new crop of talented rookies taking the ice and the NHL Premiere Games just a couple weeks away to start the season in Europe. Oh, and there is one other great event happening to start off this NHL season; the release of 2011-12 NHL Artifacts which hits stores today.

Without a doubt this has been a release that collectors have been really excited about. Some comments from fans on our Facebook page as we unveiled the product affirm that fact:

“Wow!”

“Think I must order this box right now!”

“The best of the 11-12 season so far!”

“I honestly cannot wait for this product to hit the shelves!!”

All sorts of hockey artifacts can be found in these boxes! Which ones are you most excited to find?

We are please to see our fans are excited about the release, but for those on the fence, we wanted to provide a little more reasoning as to why 2011-12 NHL Artifacts is a product you want to spend the weekend cracking. Here are the top ten reasons to bust 2011-12 NHL Artifacts this weekend:

#10 – You can find serial numbered rookie cards of top prospects like Cody Hodgson and Joe Colborne, including Black Autograph parallels numbered to just five copies of both players!

With less than 1,000 total copies, set collectors will scramble to get this card for their collections!

#9 – A deeper checklist with new stars to chase like Bill Ranford and Paul Coffey!

#8 – More patch cards and high-end memorabilia than ever before. Look for a patch, strap, stick or tag card in every other hobby box or better!

Artifacts will be a paradise of patches for collectors looking to score some great cards!

#7 – Parallels have substance! Every memorabilia variation has a meaningful upgrade to the material used (i.e. jersey to patch to fight strap to laundry tag) There is no more superfluous deco-foil color shifts from jersey card to jersey card.

Instead of collor shifts for variations, the memorabilia will switch out with more limited cards getting more rare memorabilia.

#6 – Collect all new stick/patch combo cards with top players like Crosby, Ovechkin, Lemieux, Sakic, Price and Taylor Hall!

#5 – Look for insane dual and triple player fight strap cards!

#4 – Tag, you’re it! Look for more tag cards than ever before including a crazy dual and triple player 1-of-1 cards.

If you pull this card your neighbors will ask why you keep shouting, "Boomsauce!"

#3 – NO UNPLANNED AUTOGRAPH REDEMPTIONS! Our Athlete Relations Team acquired every autograph we needed for this set so that every standard autograph card can be found LIVE in packs.

Now doesn't this look nicer to pull than a redemption card?

#2 – All new autograph memorabilia variation to the base set. You can find some huge stars in this set like Gretzky, Roy, Sakic, Lemieux, Crosby and Ovechkin.

Variations will now be much more collectible with meaningful upgrades to these rare cards.

#1 – For the first time ever you can find planned rookie autograph redemption cards! The top 16 rookies will have redemption cards available that will be limited to just 99 copies!

Roman numerals on these cards will correspond to the positioning of the player. "I" would be the top player and "XVI" would be the 16th best rookie. A checklist should be set on these by December 2011.

Grab your box of 2011-12 NHL Artifacts today and let us know if you scored any of these great hits!