Went to the local WalMart tonight, and saw a package deal - one Artifacts blaster and one Victory blaster, for the normal $24.99 of a blaster. Went over both Victory and Artifacts for 09 earlier..... well, the 07-08 is pretty much the same. Won't find much in the Victory, and feast or famine on the Artifacts. Let's start with the Victory.
Pack 1 - Pettinger, Marian Hossa, Heatley, Jason Blake, Fernandez, David Krejci rookie
Insert or rookei in every pack. Krejci would be considered a pretty decent one.
Pack 2 - Lindros, Forsberg, Luongo, Crosby, Vrbata, Lecavalier Game Breakers.
Pretty good pack there.
Pack 3 - Perry, Derek Roy, Kolzig, Datsyuk Clark, Win A Trip Or Something card, Tomi Maki rookie
From Krejci to Maki. Now THAT'S a drop.
Pack 4 - Kiprusoff, Guerin, Brind'Amour, Gaborik, Lundqvist FaceOff card, Ovechkin Stars On Ice insert
Cool.... the FaceOff card is more or less a promo for EA's NHL 08 game, gives a hint on how to play the game. That takes me back a few years, they did that in the first few years of the EA NHL games, except you got one per game.....
Pack 5 - Shanahan, Wolski, Fedorov, Hemsky, Toskala Gold, Ryan Callahan rookie
Gold cards are 1:36 packs, so this is a surprise. I do need the Doan gold, but that would be asking a lot.
Pack 6 - Elias, Thomas, Saku Koivu, Lehtonen, O'Neill, Olli Jokinen Game Breakers
Look! Hockey cards!
Pack 7 - Tellqvist, Horton, Scott Niedermayer, Sundin, Carter, Martin St Louis Stars on Ice
I like the Stars on Ice cards.
Pack 8 - Vyborny, Thornton, Justin Williams, Raycroft, Smyth, Jack Johnson rookie
Another one of the decent rookies in the set.
Pack 9 - Sykora, Semin, Brule, Daniel Sedin, Briere, Thornton Game Breakers
I assume by Game Breakers that they don't include the playoffs.......
Pack 10 - Michalek, Malkin, Modano, Legace, Sullivan, Win Something or Something card, Daniel Carcillo rookie
Modano!
Pack 11 - St. Louis, Keith, Tucker, Savard, Straka, Michael Ryder Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice? Michael Ryder? Seriously?
For a box of Victory, that was entertaining. Some good rookie pulls, a Gold, and they are decent cards, although UD has very much left the clear photography for other uses.
To the Artifacts, where I am expecting nothing, and hoping for more. To be more specific, I should most likely get one insert (rookie, redemption, jersey), but that's not guaranteed.
Pack 1 - Jagr, Bouchard, Heatley, Cheechoo, Briere
............. just way too much going on in these cards. The design is just odd. Much better this year.
Pack 2 - Emery, Semin, Olli Jokinen, Fedorov, Yashin
Hmm.
Pack 3 - Henrik Sedin, Sakic, SHAAAANE DOOOOAN, Ryder, Mason
Yeah, I have the Doan. Still nice to pull one from a pack.
Pack 4 - Fleury, Ovechkin, Naslund, Phaneuf, Alfredsson
Ovechkin is a decent pull. I guess.
Pack 5 - Leclaire, St. Louis, Bergeron, Horcoff, Sundin
I could have bought a Black Diamond blaster for $24.99, or two Collector's Choice for the same price. Just saying.
Pack 6 - Gaborik, Lehtonen, Forsberg, Legace, Straka
Or I could have saved my money and bought nothing. There's that too.
Pack 7 - Drury, Whitney, Pronger, Biron, Modano
Modano!
Pack 8 - Ruutu, Steen, Datsyuk, Brodeur, Daniel Sedin
WHEW! Got both Sedins. I was getting worried there.
And folks, this is why you don't spend full buck on an Artifacts blaster. One "hit" could be a card out of 1499. Or a rookie you've never heard of. And neither would be worth anything.
In fact, the Victory would be a better buy. Seriously.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 08, 2009
Ice/Champs
Every year, Upper Deck releases its Ice product. Every year, collectors are wooed by the small number of acetate rookie cards numbered to 99. Every year, despite saying "Man, I get nothing from Ice every time I open it", collectors buy it. Every year..... well, you get the picture. Ice has some great stuff in it, but it is absolutely feast or famine..... and mostly famine.
I bought 4 packs last year and got a dual jersey /100, but while it was cool, there wasn't much value. Nothing the year before, and in 05/06, thinking of the Crosby and Ovechkin rookies, I bought a few packs and got a jersey in something like 20 packs. Brutal.
Today, two packs from a blister pack from London Drugs. I go in expecting nothing, but at least hoping for a Doan.
Pack 1 - Elias, Savard, Pronger, Toskala, Tanguay
...... ok, that's just horrible.
Pack 2 - Grabovski, Ward, Legace, Lundqvist, Ellis
..... the Cam Ward is cool? I don't know.
Every year...... every year....... well, at least I didn't buy the Ice blaster.
So for the next one, a blaster of UD Champs. I've reviewed this before, but this is a 12 pack blaster that should have a jersey every 2 boxes, which is rare for a blaster. Lots of other stuff in here too. Here goes.
Pack 1 - Kovalev, Brett Sutter Rookie, Justin Williams mini, Pominville
I like the mini cards. 1 rookie every 2 packs, 1 mini rookie every 8 packs.
Pack 2 - Gagne, Frolov, Thomas mini, Henrik Sedin
Nice simple background on these.
Pack 3 - Boyes, Patrik Hornqvist rookie, Spider Monkey mini, Franzen
The Natural History collection minis are 1:6 packs, so this should be one of two. Very odd inclusion in a hockey set, but I guess it's at least different.
Pack 4 - Price, Toews, Biron mini, Leclaire
The mini set might be cool to collect. I don't know. There just isn't much to say yet.
Pack 5 - Nash, Fabian Brunnstrom rookie, Higgins mini, Kane
There's something to talk about. Brunnstrom!!!
Pack 6 - Toskala, Nicklas Backstrom, Kenndal McArdle mini rookie, Getzlaf
There's the mini rookie.
Pack 7 - Phil Esposito, Adam Pardy rookie, Brind'Amour mini, Kaberle
.... this just isn't an exciting break. I don't know why.
Pack 8 - Lehtonen, Tony Esposito, Derek Roy mini, Phaneuf
UD is relying too much on retired players this year. What's wrong with current players?
Pack 9 - Drury, Danny Taylor rookie, Red Deer mini, Leetch
Maybe because they have to have a Danny Taylor rookie otherwise. And it's not the city of Red Deer on the card, it's a red deer.
Pack 10 - Brad Richards, Brodeur, Langkow mini, Smyth
A Dallas Star card is nothing to sneeze at.
Pack 11 - Zetterberg, Pierre-Marc Bouchard Mini Threads jersey (white)
That would be a VERY searchable pack. Not the most inspiring jersey, but a jersey nonetheless.
Pack 12 - Nabokov, James Neal rookie, Mueller mini, Ryan Miller
YEEEEHAW..... both Dallas Star rookies in this group. Very nice.
So I met all the odds, but also got the jersey. MAKE SURE.... if you buy loose retail packs of this, they are incredibly easy to search, so be warned. There is normally a normal sized card at the back of the pack, but in the jersey pack, they are at the back of the pack, and are easily found just by feeling the back of the pack. Then again, I just told you how to find them yourself.
The one thing I will say for Champs? It's different. And while that's not necessarily an enthusiastic sounding endorsement, for Upper Deck, different is a compliment. This is an odd concept to be sure, but certainly points for something that stands out a little.
I bought 4 packs last year and got a dual jersey /100, but while it was cool, there wasn't much value. Nothing the year before, and in 05/06, thinking of the Crosby and Ovechkin rookies, I bought a few packs and got a jersey in something like 20 packs. Brutal.
Today, two packs from a blister pack from London Drugs. I go in expecting nothing, but at least hoping for a Doan.
Pack 1 - Elias, Savard, Pronger, Toskala, Tanguay
Pack 2 - Grabovski, Ward, Legace, Lundqvist, Ellis
..... the Cam Ward is cool? I don't know.
Every year...... every year....... well, at least I didn't buy the Ice blaster.
So for the next one, a blaster of UD Champs. I've reviewed this before, but this is a 12 pack blaster that should have a jersey every 2 boxes, which is rare for a blaster. Lots of other stuff in here too. Here goes.
Pack 1 - Kovalev, Brett Sutter Rookie, Justin Williams mini, Pominville
I like the mini cards. 1 rookie every 2 packs, 1 mini rookie every 8 packs.
Pack 2 - Gagne, Frolov, Thomas mini, Henrik Sedin
Nice simple background on these.
Pack 3 - Boyes, Patrik Hornqvist rookie, Spider Monkey mini, Franzen
The Natural History collection minis are 1:6 packs, so this should be one of two. Very odd inclusion in a hockey set, but I guess it's at least different.
Pack 4 - Price, Toews, Biron mini, Leclaire
The mini set might be cool to collect. I don't know. There just isn't much to say yet.
Pack 5 - Nash, Fabian Brunnstrom rookie, Higgins mini, Kane
There's something to talk about. Brunnstrom!!!
Pack 6 - Toskala, Nicklas Backstrom, Kenndal McArdle mini rookie, Getzlaf
There's the mini rookie.
Pack 7 - Phil Esposito, Adam Pardy rookie, Brind'Amour mini, Kaberle
.... this just isn't an exciting break. I don't know why.
Pack 8 - Lehtonen, Tony Esposito, Derek Roy mini, Phaneuf
UD is relying too much on retired players this year. What's wrong with current players?
Pack 9 - Drury, Danny Taylor rookie, Red Deer mini, Leetch
Maybe because they have to have a Danny Taylor rookie otherwise. And it's not the city of Red Deer on the card, it's a red deer.
Pack 10 - Brad Richards, Brodeur, Langkow mini, Smyth
A Dallas Star card is nothing to sneeze at.
Pack 11 - Zetterberg, Pierre-Marc Bouchard Mini Threads jersey (white)
That would be a VERY searchable pack. Not the most inspiring jersey, but a jersey nonetheless.
Pack 12 - Nabokov, James Neal rookie, Mueller mini, Ryan Miller
YEEEEHAW..... both Dallas Star rookies in this group. Very nice.
So I met all the odds, but also got the jersey. MAKE SURE.... if you buy loose retail packs of this, they are incredibly easy to search, so be warned. There is normally a normal sized card at the back of the pack, but in the jersey pack, they are at the back of the pack, and are easily found just by feeling the back of the pack. Then again, I just told you how to find them yourself.
The one thing I will say for Champs? It's different. And while that's not necessarily an enthusiastic sounding endorsement, for Upper Deck, different is a compliment. This is an odd concept to be sure, but certainly points for something that stands out a little.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
2008-09 UD MVP hobby box
Went to a local card show today and found an MVP box that the guy gave me 40% off of. Pretty slow show, I think he just wanted to take less home. Anyway, the formula for MVP really doesn't change, no matter the year. Heck, this is the first year in a while that even the LOOK of the cards has changed.
Rookies seeded 1:2 packs, 2 on 2 jersey 1:box, parallels to 100, parallels to 25, autos 1:288 (or 1:case if you prefer), and other random inserts that will probably fall in where there's none of the above. In other words..... yes, nothing has changed. You should get 'something' in every pack.
2 Doan 2 on 2 jerseys in this product, and I already have one of them. A few Dallas Star ones, but in reality, even if I don't get one of these, with 4 jerseys on a card, they book pretty high and have good trade value. Hoping also for a Doan in the parallels, but that would be quite a feat. I just want to open packs, really, and this was a good price. Here we go.
Pack 1 - Meszaros, Hunter, Brashear, Walker, McDonald, Brunette, UD Propoganda Card (I guess there will be one per pack aside from the jersey pack, so there's no need to mention it again I suppose), BJ Crombeen Rookie
7 cards in a pack now. Used to be 8, so that's different. Lots of foil on them as usual, and the normal embossed printed auto, which I've always liked.
Pack 2 - Frolov, Sykora, Brind'Amour, Boyes, Richards, Kariya, Setoguchi, Alexander the Gr8 insert
Nice that UD has finally acknowledged Ovechkin's existence.
Pack 3 - Luongo, SHAAAAANE DOOOOAAAAN, Steen, Roloson, Kane, Gaborik, Timonen, Tim Ramholt Rookie
8 cards in this pack, guess they're really trying to decoy. I have the Doan, but I need one more if I'm making a set. Good thing on these two, as then I don't have to focus on who Tim Ramholt is and why he needs a rookie card.
Pack 4 - Kessel, Nilsson, Olesz, Satan, Weiss, Gionta, Bouchard Gold 021/100, Thornton Marked By Valor insert
Two things. Unlikely now that I will get the Doan Gold. Also.... Thornton and Valor don't really go together, considering his playoff 'performances'.
Pack 5 - Perron, Samuelsson, Giguere, Hemsky, Kunitz, Erik Johnson, Leclaire, Blake Wheeler Rookie
Wheeler is a good one. Looking for the Brunnstrom and Neal, of course.
Pack 6 - Lalime, Langenbrunner, Backes, Hedberg, Stoll, Rob Blake, Ovechkin First Line Phenoms
Ah, inserts. Really, have they run out of ideas? That's the end of the left front row of packs.
Pack 7 - Datsyuk, Justin Williams, Thomas, Forsberg, Jason Williamsn, Madden, Russell, Teddy Purcell Rookie
Rookie cards aren't always great pulls.
Pack 8 - Savard, Burns, Sheppard, Jordan Staal, Wolski, Dubinsky, Erat, Lidstrom Marked By Valor
Now that's a player with Valor.
Pack 9 - Brule, Comrie, Knuble, Heatley, Guerin, Kopitar, Tanguay, Jakub Voracek Rookie
Brule, Comrie, Guerin, and Tanguay have always left their teams wanting more than they are given. Hopefully Kopitar and Voracek aren't sullied by being in the same pack.
Pack 10 - Bertuzzi, Kovalev, Hensick, Plekanec, Toews, Rafalski, St. Louis, Lafontaine Magnificent 7s insert
An insert set commemorating game 7 heroics is pretty cool. A new idea. From Upper Deck. Huh. Strange note - the cards stick together a little. That's odd.
Pack 11 - Legwand, Huet, Hudler, Zidlicky, Harding, Burish, Antropov, Mikkel Boedker Rookie
Boedker looked pretty good in his rookie year.
Pack 12 - Paille, Fisher, Samsonov, Rivet, Lombardi, Morrison, Franzen, Getzlaf First Line Phenoms
This card sticking thing is getting to me a little. If the product was a year or two old, fine. But these aren't that old.
Pack 13 - Budaj, Lehtonen, Pavelski, Weber, Vrbata, Laraque, Kesler, Sakic/Hejduk/Wolski/Smyth 2 on 2 jersey card, Clay Wilson Rookie
Well.... it's not an Oiler jersey card, but it is an Avs one. Why.... why must I pull Avs and Oilers so frequently? Anyway, $30 book, so that's not horrible.
Pack 14 - Getzlaf, Campbell, Eric Staal, Fleury, Langkow, Boogaard, Cullen, Alexander the Gr8 insert
I have AO1 and AO8. I wonder how many are in the set?
Pack 15 - Sakic, Gagner, Sharp, Byfuglien, Koivu, Godard, Ryan Miller, Kevin Porter Rookie
Two Coyote rookies that aren't Turris.
Pack 16 - Zherdev, Gonchar, Murray, Campoli, Daniel Sedin, Winnik, Phillips Gold 041/100, Eric Staal Marked By Valor
2 Golds. Almost for sure no Doan unless there's the one out of 25.
Pack 17 - Olli Jokinen, Stillman, Vokoun, Lecavalier, Havlat, Modano, Burrows, Niklas Hjalmarsson Rookie
Took a long time to get a Dallas Star.....
Pack 18 - Brodeur, Jovanovski, Biron, Tlusty, Lupul, Marian Hossa, Carter, Malkin First Line Phenoms
Lots of typing here. Getting tired.
Pack 19 - Lucic, Cole, Enstrom, Kozlov, Tucker, Whitney, Bergeron, Tom Sestito Rookie
Heheh. Cole does bubkis in Edmonton, then returns to Carolina to get them to the playoffs. Oilers even got screwed in the trade. Heheh.
Pack 20
They need to change up insert sets because they have the same players in each one. How about a "He'll Get What's Coming To Him" insert set? Burrows, Cooke, Jarkko Ruutu, Downie, Gauthier, Avery..... man, that could be a HUGE set.
Pack 21 - Henrik Sedin, Regehr, Weight, Jack Johnson, Clarkson, Christensen, Gerber, Danny Taylor Rookie
I'm not getting very good rookies in this box. Just saying.
Pack 22 - Parise, Boucher, Ribiero, Drury, Mikko Koivu, Sturm, Arnott, Brodeur Magnificent 7s
The M7 set was clearly started prior to this year's playoffs.
Pack 23 - Kostitsyn, Labarbara, Parros, Laperierre, Elias, Markov, Orr, Garrett Stafford Rookie
I'm getting the worst of rookies for each team. Seriously. All but the good ones.
Pack 24 - Valiquette, Aucoin, Bouwmeester, Chara, Latendresse, Nash, Vermette, Mueller First Line Phenoms
Well then.
So as a break goes, that wasn't very good. The jersey is definitely a trader - at least a good one - but aside from the Wheeler, I got pretty much nothing with the rookies. Lots of inserts, and I should be halfway to a base set, but..... well, this was a pack ripper box. Too much typing though. I did buy two other packs of Between The Pipes and got an auto. So not a complete loss overall. Yeah, I'll go with that.
Rookies seeded 1:2 packs, 2 on 2 jersey 1:box, parallels to 100, parallels to 25, autos 1:288 (or 1:case if you prefer), and other random inserts that will probably fall in where there's none of the above. In other words..... yes, nothing has changed. You should get 'something' in every pack.
2 Doan 2 on 2 jerseys in this product, and I already have one of them. A few Dallas Star ones, but in reality, even if I don't get one of these, with 4 jerseys on a card, they book pretty high and have good trade value. Hoping also for a Doan in the parallels, but that would be quite a feat. I just want to open packs, really, and this was a good price. Here we go.
Pack 1 - Meszaros, Hunter, Brashear, Walker, McDonald, Brunette, UD Propoganda Card (I guess there will be one per pack aside from the jersey pack, so there's no need to mention it again I suppose), BJ Crombeen Rookie
7 cards in a pack now. Used to be 8, so that's different. Lots of foil on them as usual, and the normal embossed printed auto, which I've always liked.
Pack 2 - Frolov, Sykora, Brind'Amour, Boyes, Richards, Kariya, Setoguchi, Alexander the Gr8 insert
Nice that UD has finally acknowledged Ovechkin's existence.
Pack 3 - Luongo, SHAAAAANE DOOOOAAAAN, Steen, Roloson, Kane, Gaborik, Timonen, Tim Ramholt Rookie
8 cards in this pack, guess they're really trying to decoy. I have the Doan, but I need one more if I'm making a set. Good thing on these two, as then I don't have to focus on who Tim Ramholt is and why he needs a rookie card.
Pack 4 - Kessel, Nilsson, Olesz, Satan, Weiss, Gionta, Bouchard Gold 021/100, Thornton Marked By Valor insert
Two things. Unlikely now that I will get the Doan Gold. Also.... Thornton and Valor don't really go together, considering his playoff 'performances'.
Pack 5 - Perron, Samuelsson, Giguere, Hemsky, Kunitz, Erik Johnson, Leclaire, Blake Wheeler Rookie
Wheeler is a good one. Looking for the Brunnstrom and Neal, of course.
Pack 6 - Lalime, Langenbrunner, Backes, Hedberg, Stoll, Rob Blake, Ovechkin First Line Phenoms
Ah, inserts. Really, have they run out of ideas? That's the end of the left front row of packs.
Pack 7 - Datsyuk, Justin Williams, Thomas, Forsberg, Jason Williamsn, Madden, Russell, Teddy Purcell Rookie
Rookie cards aren't always great pulls.
Pack 8 - Savard, Burns, Sheppard, Jordan Staal, Wolski, Dubinsky, Erat, Lidstrom Marked By Valor
Now that's a player with Valor.
Pack 9 - Brule, Comrie, Knuble, Heatley, Guerin, Kopitar, Tanguay, Jakub Voracek Rookie
Brule, Comrie, Guerin, and Tanguay have always left their teams wanting more than they are given. Hopefully Kopitar and Voracek aren't sullied by being in the same pack.
Pack 10 - Bertuzzi, Kovalev, Hensick, Plekanec, Toews, Rafalski, St. Louis, Lafontaine Magnificent 7s insert
An insert set commemorating game 7 heroics is pretty cool. A new idea. From Upper Deck. Huh. Strange note - the cards stick together a little. That's odd.
Pack 11 - Legwand, Huet, Hudler, Zidlicky, Harding, Burish, Antropov, Mikkel Boedker Rookie
Boedker looked pretty good in his rookie year.
Pack 12 - Paille, Fisher, Samsonov, Rivet, Lombardi, Morrison, Franzen, Getzlaf First Line Phenoms
This card sticking thing is getting to me a little. If the product was a year or two old, fine. But these aren't that old.
Pack 13 - Budaj, Lehtonen, Pavelski, Weber, Vrbata, Laraque, Kesler, Sakic/Hejduk/Wolski/Smyth 2 on 2 jersey card, Clay Wilson Rookie
Well.... it's not an Oiler jersey card, but it is an Avs one. Why.... why must I pull Avs and Oilers so frequently? Anyway, $30 book, so that's not horrible.
Pack 14 - Getzlaf, Campbell, Eric Staal, Fleury, Langkow, Boogaard, Cullen, Alexander the Gr8 insert
I have AO1 and AO8. I wonder how many are in the set?
Pack 15 - Sakic, Gagner, Sharp, Byfuglien, Koivu, Godard, Ryan Miller, Kevin Porter Rookie
Two Coyote rookies that aren't Turris.
Pack 16 - Zherdev, Gonchar, Murray, Campoli, Daniel Sedin, Winnik, Phillips Gold 041/100, Eric Staal Marked By Valor
2 Golds. Almost for sure no Doan unless there's the one out of 25.
Pack 17 - Olli Jokinen, Stillman, Vokoun, Lecavalier, Havlat, Modano, Burrows, Niklas Hjalmarsson Rookie
Took a long time to get a Dallas Star.....
Pack 18 - Brodeur, Jovanovski, Biron, Tlusty, Lupul, Marian Hossa, Carter, Malkin First Line Phenoms
Lots of typing here. Getting tired.
Pack 19 - Lucic, Cole, Enstrom, Kozlov, Tucker, Whitney, Bergeron, Tom Sestito Rookie
Heheh. Cole does bubkis in Edmonton, then returns to Carolina to get them to the playoffs. Oilers even got screwed in the trade. Heheh.
Pack 20
They need to change up insert sets because they have the same players in each one. How about a "He'll Get What's Coming To Him" insert set? Burrows, Cooke, Jarkko Ruutu, Downie, Gauthier, Avery..... man, that could be a HUGE set.
Pack 21 - Henrik Sedin, Regehr, Weight, Jack Johnson, Clarkson, Christensen, Gerber, Danny Taylor Rookie
I'm not getting very good rookies in this box. Just saying.
Pack 22 - Parise, Boucher, Ribiero, Drury, Mikko Koivu, Sturm, Arnott, Brodeur Magnificent 7s
The M7 set was clearly started prior to this year's playoffs.
Pack 23 - Kostitsyn, Labarbara, Parros, Laperierre, Elias, Markov, Orr, Garrett Stafford Rookie
I'm getting the worst of rookies for each team. Seriously. All but the good ones.
Pack 24 - Valiquette, Aucoin, Bouwmeester, Chara, Latendresse, Nash, Vermette, Mueller First Line Phenoms
Well then.
So as a break goes, that wasn't very good. The jersey is definitely a trader - at least a good one - but aside from the Wheeler, I got pretty much nothing with the rookies. Lots of inserts, and I should be halfway to a base set, but..... well, this was a pack ripper box. Too much typing though. I did buy two other packs of Between The Pipes and got an auto. So not a complete loss overall. Yeah, I'll go with that.
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