07-08 OPC blasters

Found 07-08 O-Pee-Chee blasters for cheap, so I bought two. Still missing a fair bit of this set. Anyway, here goes.

BOX 1
Oversized Card - Martin Brodeur

Pack 1 - SHAAAANE DOAAAN, Saku Koivu, Vanek, Hasek, Craig Weller Rookie, McLean
Sign of good things?

Pack 2 - Gomez, Gorges, Stajan, Hordicuk, 89-90 Zarley Zalapski card, Avery
1:36 pull on the buyback. Still.....

Pack 3 - Holmqvist, Walker, Smithson, Pettinger, Jonathan Towes rookie, Hemsky
That's a nice rookie pull.

Pack 4 - Klee, Recchi, Harding, Lalime, Dallas Stars team card!, Stastny
Nice!

Pack 5 - Dupuis, Luongo, Kubina, Roy, Matt Niskanen rookie, Regehr
Doan, buyback, Toews, Stars short print, Stars rookie. Can't complain about this blaster.

Pack 6 - Knuble, Pyatt, Samuelsson, Oduya, Fedotenko, Brind'Amour micromotion insert
The Micromotion cards are nice.

Pack 7 - Fisher, Lilja, Stillman, Barnes, Bryan Little rookie, Leclaire
Decent rookie, and a Dallas Star in the pack. Wonder if Stu keeps his coaching job with Tippett gone.....

Pack 8 - Hamhuis, Garon, Backes, Zidlicky, Sidney Crosby Season Highlights, Adams
Any pack with a Crosby is a decent one.

Pack 9 - Legace, Carter, Tuomo Ruutu, Legwand, Pierre Parenteau rookie, Ohlund
Eesh. From Little and Toews to Pierre Parenteau, who is pictured in a Hawks jersey but is already Rangers property. The back of the card says one thing about him, and that the Rangers are actually his THIRD team. As long as he remembers to ask if people want fries with that, he should be successful.

Pack 10 - Morrisonn, Martinek, Ward, Krajicek, Mitchell, Nabokov
Huh.

Pack 11 - Streit, Vlasic, Horton, Parrish, Tyler Weiman rookie, Plekanec
After the first 8 packs being all decent, the last three..... yeah, not much there.

Pack 12 - Afinogenov, Calder, Colton Orr, Hudler, Malkin InAction, Kozlov
That's better.

Pack 13 - Labarbara, Roloson, Tootoo, Jagr, Lauri Tukonen, Arnott
Huh.

Good blaster. Getting tired of making quotes, so I think I'll run the next one real time, then make comments.

BOX 2
Oversized card - Evgeni Malkin
Pack 1 - Luongo, Kubina, Fisher, Moen, Spezza, Kozlov
Pack 2 - Brind'Amour, Scott Thornton, Larose, De Vries, Curtis Glencross rookie, Salei
Pack 3 - Lilja, Legace, Carter, Tellqvist, Carolina Hurricanes team card, Malholtra
Pack 4 - Straka, Zednik, Sillinger, Hollweg, Rob Schremp rookie, Niittymaki
Pack 5 - Ruutu, Streit, Vlasic, Kaberle, Jason Williams, Chelios
Pack 6 - Witt, Hossa, Mikko Koivu, Miller, Torrey Mitchell rookie, Sturm
Pack 7 - Labarbara, Roloson, Connolly, Steen, Teemu Selanne Season Highlights, McLean
Pack 8 - Torres, Rozsival, Park, Klepis, Ville Koistinen rookie, Avery
Pack 9 - Tootoo, Dawes, Carney, Handzus, 81-82 Charlie Simmer Super Action, Clark micromotion
Pack 10 - Shelley, Lecavalier, Satan, Pisani, Andy Greene rookie, Hemsky
Pack 11 - Slater, Zajac, Miettinen, Malone, Martin Brodeur InAction, Stastny
Pack 12 - Veilleux, Laperriere, Jason Blake, Svitov, Ryan Carter rookie, Regehr
Pack 13 - Hilbert, Ouellet, Iginla, Warrender, Nylander, Leclaire

Well, the second blaster was garbage, and strangely had a LOT of doubles from the first one.

2 for 1 blasters

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.

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.

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 - Alfredsson, O'Brien, Kubina, Marc Staal, Turco, Zetterberg, Boulton, Ovechkin Marked By Valor
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.

Guaranteed!

I hit WalMart tonight and see a box that says "Hockey trading cards, 16 packs plus 2 memorabilia cards guaranteed per box". Is there likely anything great in here? No. But how many blasters have two memorabilia cards in each box? None. Let's at least give it a shot, I think.

Two jerseys are a Steve Sullivan 06-07 SPGU Authentic Fabrics jersey and a Sergei Samsonov 05-06 UD jersey. Maybe my two year old wants to play with them. Hey, I've had blasters where I haven't even got an insert in. Can't complain that much.

Looks to be all retail, but a decent mix.

• 3 packs 1997 Collectors Choice
• 2 packs 06-07 MVP retail
• 1 pack 06-07 Ultra retail
• 1 pack 06-07 UD Series 1 retail
• 1 pack 07-08 MVP retail
• 4 packs 07-08 Ultra retail
• 1 pack 07-08 Victory
• 2 packs 07-08 O-Pee-Chee
• 1 pack 08-09 O-Pee-Chee

Let's go in that order.

COLLECTORS CHOICE
Pack 1 - Roenick, Roy, McSorley, Svehla, Chippy's Hobby Guide Checklist (Gretzky on front)
Well, I've heard of all of them!

Pack 2 - Palffy, Koivu, Khristich, National Heroes Joe Thornton, Magic Men Patrick Roy
The Thornton is a nice pull, and the Magic Men cards are 1:32. Not horrible.

Pack 3 - Grier, Twist, Domi, Miller, National Heroes Judy Diduck
Aside from Ms Diduck apparently wanting to eat her hockey stick..... well, there's more packs to open.

06-07 MVP
Pack 1 - Weight, Gomez, Ruutu, Eminger, Hemsky, Boyle, Raycroft, Frank Doyle RC
Huh.

Pack 2 - Tucker, Frolov, Ribiero, Cheechoo, Parrish, Guerin, Bertuzzi, Mats Sundin Clutch Performers
All of the cards were damaged in the top right corner. One of the dangers of buying retail repacks.

06-07 UD SERIES 1
Pack 1 - Michalek, Salo, Prucha, Satan, UD Propoganda card, Theodore, Morrisonn, Lang, Leneveu
Huh.

06-07 ULTRA
Pack 1 - Prospal, Klesla, Peca, Giguere, Budaj, Miller, Hunter, Ohlund Gold Medallion
Huh.

07-08 MVP
Pack 1 - Svatos, Guerin, Markov, Zhitnik, Green, Vlasic, Lapierre, Tomas Popperle RC
06-07 and 07-08 MVP look almost embarassingly similar. To the point where it's clear that UD mailed MVP in those years. Not that UD mailing it in is any kind of interesting news.

07-08 ULTRA
Pack 1 - Jason Blake, Mikko Koivu Gold, Ryan Callahan Rookie, Naslund, Gaborik
A rookie was in this pack. As was a gold card. And 3 other cards.

Pack 2 - Lehtinen, Daniel Sedin, Tanguay Gold, Afinogenov, Dumont
There's a gold in every pack, this isn't luck.

Pack 3 - Souray, Bergeron, Kaberle Gold, Bonk, Niitymaki
Huh.

Pack 4 - McDonald, Vyborny, Jason Blake Gold, Difference Makers Martin Brodeur, Murray
The Difference Makers card is a weak effort. Just looks weird.

07-08 VICTORY
Pack 1 - Olli Jokinen, Mike Richards, Rafalski, Phaneuf, Redden, Stars On Ice Jaromir Jagr
Huh.

07-08 O-PEE-CHEE
Pack 1 - Green, Perry, Moore, Cleary, Matt Smaby Marquee Rookies, Chelios
I'm still collecting this set, so maybe I need some of these.

Pack 2 - Richardson, Giguere, Corvo, Mike Smith, Brad Richards, Sydor Micromotion
I'm still collecting this set, so maybe I need some of these.

08-09 O-PEE-CHEE
Pack 1 - Forsberg, Joseph, Henrik Sedin, Marleau, Biron, Abdelkader Retro
Huh.

I got 2 memorabilia cards and 16 packs of cards. So I can't complain. But this was a one off purchase, clearly.

SP Authentic packs

SP Authentic has been around for quite a while now. It's famous for short printed rookie autos, and more regular autographs than memorabilia. The other great part? Autos on right on the cards rather than stickers!

But.... every year, I buy only one pack. Why? I guess as a Doan collector, there usually isn't much in there, and they're not cheap, at around $10 per pack. But today, I decided to take a shot at it, and buy 3 packs. Let's see how it goes..... been some good luck lately!

Pack 1 - SHAAAAAAAAAAAANE DOAN (first card even!), Datsyuk, Drew Doughty Future Watch Auto 468/999, Staal, Stastny
Unreal. I get a Doan AND an auto rookie (they fall 1-2 per box), and Doughty is a good one. My luck has been ridiculous lately.......

Pack 2 - Thornton, Derek Roy, Brian Campbell Limited 044/100, Grabovski, Phaneuf
The Limited cards look sweet!

Pack 3 - Jordan Staal, Biron, Miller, Vanek, Elias, UD Propoganda card
I was hoping it was a patch.... but can I really complain? :)

Now THAT'S a sweet three pack break.

"Sale ends April 2nd!"

It's April 1st, and the blaster sale ends tomorrow. So in case I can't make it there tomorrow..... I went today. As per custom, I bought 2 Black Diamond blasters, and 1 O-Pee-Chee. I have not had good luck with the OPC, but it's a nice products, and I need Doans from it. With 13 packs in the box, I should get 6 Retros, 3 inserts, and 6 rookies/legends..... everything else would be a major hit. So.....

O-PEE-CHEE BLASTER
5 x 7 - Marian Gaborik.
Meh, I have the Doan. I do like the larger cards though.

Pack 1 - Chris Mason, Conroy, Vanek, Andy Greene, Brashear, Modin retro
The retro cards are very well done.

Pack 2 - Voros, Boyle, Boynton, Perrin, Winnik Gold, Messier Legends
The O-Pee-Chee label on the front of the card is way too big.

Pack 3 - Kesler, Kane, Eriksson, Ehrhoff, Khabibulin, Andy Sutton Retro
I half collect Eriksson, so that's good. When I think of Khabibulin, I think of the 1995-96 Jets.... man, if they could have kept the 92-93 team together and have Khabibulin.... sigh.

Pack 4 - Martinek, Gagne, Kubina, Kolzig, Hurricanes Team Card, LaCosta rookie
The gold cards are well done, but again, the O-Pee-Chee is too large. I see what you did there, Upper Deck, but you're NOT O-Pee-Chee. You simply bought the name like a carton of eggs. But you are not the same.

Pack 5 - Sheppard, Kovalchuk, Ott, Stortini, Markov, Hollweg retro
One day Kovalchuk will be on a real team in a real NHL city. Then, look out.

Pack 6 - Beauchemin, Hollweg, Semin, Enstrom, Streit Gold, Helm rookie
Hit the Gold ratio. Woo.

Pack 7 - Chara, Rolston, Kronwall, Blake, Halak, Joseph Retro
The Retro should say "Now with Maple Leafs" like the 79-80 did.

Pack 8 - O'Donnell, Pothier, Hainsey, Sharp, Gaborik Season Highlights, Mole rookie
The Season Highlights are done well. Smaller O-Pee-Chee badging as well.

Pack 9 - Timonen, Blake, Dupuis, Schneider, Turco, Prucha retro
Did I mention that these were $14.97?

Pack 10 - Conklin, Foligno, Carter, Perron, Huet, Lanny McDonald Legends
Yep. $14.97.

Pack 11 - Hiller, Cammalleri, Schubert, Fernandez, Hanzal, Grebeshkov Retro
....... I'm actually bored here.

Pack 12 - Havlat, Park, Tellqvist, Roy, Playoff Wins Stats Leaders, Conboy rookie
I see Marty Turco as 3rd in this list, a great playoff year that I loved. This year, he stinks. Like "Landfill in 40C temperatures" sort of stink.

Pack 13 - Legwand, Wesley, Koivu, Calgary Flames checklist, Lepisto rookie
Yawn.

I forgot. O-Pee-Chee blasters suck. I always think about MVP then walk away. I should have gone with the MVP. Anyway..... Black Diamond box 1!

Pack 1 - Ryan, Ohlund, Bergeron, Theodore, Little
.... wow, that's not a good start.

Pack 2 - Streit, Brule, Rolston, Sturm, Ilya Zubov Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
It's odd having two Zubovs in the league. Maybe only for me though.

Pack 3 - Prospal, Sergei Zubov, Kovalev, Huet, Brind'Amour
The other Zubov. And another 'regular' pack.

Pack 4 - Malone, Leclaire, Briere Double Diamond, Zherdev, Avery
........ are my sights set too high?

Pack 5 - Kostitsyn, Vrbata, Roloson, Blake, Filppula
Oh my.

Pack 6 - Pominville, Kronwall, Ellis, Hartnell, Vanek Triple Diamond
I'm spoiled.

I wasn't happy with that one, although I did get two Triples. I'm blaming the OPC box for the bad mojo. Let's move on, and fast.

BOX 2
Pack 1 - Ryan, Brygalov, Green, Michalek, Alfredsson Triple Diamond
I get a lot of Triples.

Pack 2 - Shanahan, Latendresse, Bouchard, Legace, Morrow
One thing I am wondering is if there are certain Single Diamond base cards that aren't prevalent in the blasters. I should NOT be missing cards from this set, but I am. No Doans either, apparently.

Pack 3 - Cole, Redden, SHAAAAAAANE DOOOOOAAAAN DOUBLE DIAMOND, Brown, Gerber
Well well well. I don't think there's any low numbered cards in here either, nor James Neal or Fabian Brunnstroms either!!!

Pack 4 - Semin, Spezza Premier Cuts Single Diamond, Gonchar, Halak, Elias
I haven't pulled a Premier Cut for a few boxes now.

Pack 5 - Gionta, Cammaleri, Hemsky Double Diamond, Bieksa, Jack Johnson
I hate the Oilers.

Pack 6 - Marc Stall, Kovalchuk Quad Diamond, Penner, Kariya, Wolski
Nice Kovalchuk.

Well, box 2 was better, more like what I've been getting. Got the Doan (which I now have anyway), still haven't got the Neal or Brunnstrom.

In the end, I should have got a 3rd box of Black Diamond instead of the MVP, and I would have certainly done better.

I knew I shouldn't have left the house....

I got home from work, and found an empty house. After remembering that the family went out for the day, I called my wife. Would she be home for dinner? Sure..... what time is it? 5:00. So..... no. I think hey, time to go get some KFC/Taco Bell. I also think hey, let's go past Toys R Us and see if I can pick up a blaster box. Only to find....

NHL Blasters. $14.97. ALL OF THEM.

It's like they want me to be poor.

So I pick up 2 Black Diamonds (of course) and 1 Legends Masterpieces, another set I wanted to complete. I'll do the Masterpieces first.

Pack 1 - Gretzky, Neely, Lord Stanley, Roy
I forgot how nice these cards are.

Pack 2 - Messier, Shutt, Bourque, Makita
The only odd part is that even with only an 87 card base set, some players get up to 4 cards, as Messier does.

Pack 3 - Lady Byng, Foster Hewitt, Broda, Lemieux
I had the 2 piece chicken combo and probably the least stuffed beef and cheese burrito I've ever seen before starting this. I'm already hungry.

Pack 4 - Kurri (complete with levitating stick), MacTavish, Al Macinnis Canvas Clippings Jersey (brown border), Ciccarelli, Savard
I've pulled 3 jerseys from this. 2 are Al MacInnis. Jerseys fall 1:3 blasters, so.... well, I've beaten the odds. Can't complain with that.

Pack 5 - Phil Esposito, Sutter family, Lemieux, Messier
Ok, so the first Lemieux and Messier were Stanley Cup holding pictures. Lemieux here is in his Team Canada jersey, and Messier in his Oilers jersey. See, should I really have to explain this?

Pack 6 - Bower, Bathgate, Gillies, Willie O'Ree brown border parallel
There's the one brown border that's supposed to be in the box.

Pack 7 - Roy, Mr. Hockey, Hextall, Phil Esposito.
Sigh.... so the first Roy was an Avs jersey, this one is a Habs. In the first Esposito, he was celebrating, in this one, he's.... I don't know, pondering his very existence, while the end of his stick is off the card. Hooking? Spearing? Chasing the puck while having a "oh darn, I forgot to take out the garbage" face. Mr Hockey is sitting in front of a lot of pucks. No, I won't count them. There's a lot. Trust me. Hextall is shooting the puck. Either at the net, or aiming at someone's face. It really doesn't matter, does it.

Pack 8 - Perrault, Vaive, O'Ree, Kurri
Oh good, only one to explain. In the first one, Kurri is in an Avs jersey, with a levitating stick in front of him. His hands are clearly behind his back, and we can see the whole stick. No one is touching the stick. In this one he's an Oiler. And it looks like he skated right by the puck. He looks concerned.

Still really love the look of these cards, but with 87 cards, we don't need multiples of several players. And why have I not pulled a Hawerchuk Jets card yet? I pulled the BLUES one.... like, 4 times! Oh well. Black Diamond! (which needs no explaination... I hope)

BOX 1
Pack 1 - Kostitsyn, Vrbata, Pominville, Zherdev, Nikolai Kulemin Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
Again, Triples don't fall every box. I now full believe that the odds are low.

Pack 2 - Malone, Leclaire, Kovalev, Martin St Louis Quad jersey (all white.... again), Huet, Brind'Amour
Ok, time for a small UD rant. Guys, what's up with all the all white quad jerseys? It's absolutely preposterous. I realize you can get more white jerseys than other colours, but can you at least make more of an effort to get some non-white in there? Maybe they're racist. Same with 1 colour patches..... why so many?????? Anyway, I'm now miles ahead, and I need to stop complaining. Including just getting a 6 card pack, which I just noticed.

Pack 3 - Prospal, Zubov, Naslund Double Diamond, Little, Sturm
There's the double diamond. Again, probably no Doan in here. Then again.....

Pack 4 - Brule, Rolston, Williams, Bergeron, Theodore
Here's hoping I need 1 or 2 of these for my set...... doesn't that sound positive?

Pack 5 - Ryan, Ohlund, Streit, Nylander, Giguere Triple Diamond
I already have the Giguere. I'm trying not to whine, really.

Pack 6 - Staal, Markov, Drew McIntyre Gemography Autograph, Carcillo, Perry
Something new to talk about! Autos are 1:96 packs, so that should be every 16 blasters.

So box 1 had a Double Diamond, a Triple Diamond, a Triple Diamond Rookie, a Quad Jersey, and a Gemography. That's going to be tough to beat. Box 2?

BOX 2
Pack 1 - Tucker, Knuble, Andrei Kostitsyn Double Diamond, Langkow, Carcillo
Huh. Two Kostitsyns. One I've never pulled out of a pack, the other I've pulled out of a pack about 30 times.

Pack 2 - Guerin, McDonald, Kaberle, Cleary, Markov
Can't have something in EVERY pack.

Pack 3 - Antropov, Harding, Svatos, Vermette, Darren Helm Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
Not bad at all.

Pack 4 - Chara, Alex Pietrangelo Quad Diamond Rookie Gems, Plekanec, Franzen, Carter
Niiiiiice. I just pulled a Pietrangelo in the last round of blasters, but traded it away. Now I have a replacement..... to probably trade away again. And I've crushed the odds, yet again.

Pack 5 - Bouwmeester, Whitney, Cheechoo Double Diamond, Comrie, Drury
A Double Double Diamond box. I don't like Tim Hortons Double Doubles. But I like this type of Double Double.

Pack 6 - Marleau, Fleury Premier Cuts Double Diamond, Brown, Gerber, Jovanovski
Wow......

Recently, In The Game has come out and talked about their Between The Pipes product. The orders from dealers were far fewer than anticipated, but instead of cutting the product entirely, they just jacked up all the boxes with inserts. Did UD do the same with Black Diamond? I mean seriously, I haven't got a bad box yet - I've beaten the odds on every single one. I'm not complaining, but it just seems odd. I don't get this kind of luck on blasters, read my other posts previous to the Black Diamond ones. Am I lucky, or is there something else at work? Who knows. In any case, go buy Black Diamond blasters, especially at $14.97 if you can find them.......

Huh. Well, that's a surprise.

So I take off from work a little early today. Too much week, and I had a few things to do before I picked up my wife from work. As a last stop, I stopped at the London Drugs near her work, and walked over to the card section to see if anything is on sale - HAHAHAHA, because it never is.

My surprise started when I saw 07-08 Victory blasters for $7.99. Not too odd, but that's a good price. Then.... the real surprise.

08-09 Black Diamond Blasters.

...... $14.99. Consequently, I bought 3 of them. No surprise there, I suppose.

Considering I have 18 packs here, I should get:

• 4 Double Diamonds
• 2 Triple Diamonds
• 1 Premier Die Cut
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Diamond
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Jersey

So let's see if buying more of these really makes a difference:
BOX 1
Pack 1 - Malone, Leclaire, Kostitsyn, Gerber, Jovanovski
I suppose a few packs of commons are going to happen

Pack 2 - Vrbata, Parise Double Diamond, Comrie, Drury, Plekanec
A Double Diamond, and I don't have it. Parise is having a great year, and should have a great career.

Pack 3 - Pominville, Kronwall, Ellis, Franzen, Carter
Probably best to just move on.

Pack 4 - Byfuglien, Bryzgalov, Vermette, Kaberle, Giguere Triple Diamond
Already ahead on the Triple Diamonds..... maybe.

Pack 5 - Green, Shanahan, Fleury Premier Die Cuts Double Diamond, Cleary, Langkow
The Double Diamond PC are the same toughness of the Single Diamond. Doesn't really make sense.

Pack 6 - Prospal, Zubov, Morrow, Brown, Luca Sbisa Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
A rookie and two Dallas Stars. That's how to end a box.

Ended box 1 way ahead.

BOX 2
Pack 1 - Shanahan, Latendresse, Cleary, Langkow, Datsyuk Triple Diamond
3 Triple Diamonds in 7 packs. Should be 2 in 16. So I'm doing ok.

Pack 2 - Cole, Redden, Cheechoo Premier Die Cuts Double Diamond, Markov, Carcillo
Up on the Premier Cuts now.

Pack 3 - Thomas, Olli Jokinen Double Diamond, Nylander, Perry, Williams
3 for 3 in inserts in this box. Good start.

Pack 4 - Marleau, Bouwmeester, Alex Pietrangelo Quad Diamond Rookie Gems, Bergeron, Theodore
A negative person would say that this probably eliminates my chances for a James Neal or Fabian Brunnstrom. The positive person says that a Quad was not guaranteed. I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle.

Pack 5 - Whitney, Chara, Little, Sturm, Steve Mason Triple Diamond Rookie Gems
...... and now I have one of the hottest rookies in the NHL. And 5 inserts in 5 packs.

Pack 6 - Harding, Antropov, Svatos, Kovalev, Huet
5 out of 6 is good. And I think I need these for my set.

Box 1 was good, box 2 was VERY good. Box 3?

BOX 3
Pack 1 - Bryzgalov, Kopitar Double Diamond, Gerber, Brown Jovanovski
I have more Triples Diamonds than Double Diamonds. Huh.

Pack 2 - Green, Shanahan, Mario Lemieux Quad Diamond, Comrie, Drury
So now 2 Quads when I was guaranteed none, double the Triple Diamonds I was supposed to get.... and short on Double Diamonds.

Pack 3 - Latendresse, Cole, Plekanec, Franzen, Gaborik Triple Diamond
.............. did Upper Deck completely mess up their odds? I'm not the only one having success, so I hear.

Pack 4 - Redden, Thomas, Marleau, Carter, Vermette
It would be childish to complain at this point.

Pack 5 - Bouwmeester, Vokoun Double Diamond, Kaberle, Cleary, Langkow
Finally hit the Double Diamond quota.

Pack 6 - Whitney, Chara, Harding, Markov, Carcillo
Quiet end to a great three blasters.

So.......

• 4 Double Diamonds - GOT 4
  
• 2 Triple Diamonds - GOT FIVE!!!!!
  
• 1 Premier Die Cut - GOT 2
  
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Diamond - GOT 2
  
• a 3:4 chance at a Quad Jersey - NONE

I like jersey cards, but to get one of those as well would have been preposterous. Again, Black Diamond blasters treat me well. Maybe I should go back to London Drugs and buy them out.....

Black Diamond....... hobby packs!!!!!

So I broke down and bought Black Diamond hobby packs. 4 of them to be exact. Let's see how we do with these.

Pack 1 - Malone, Leclaire, Comrie,...... Wayne Gretzky Ruby Quad Jersey 014/100, Drury
................you have GOT to be kidding me....... now that's a pull!!!!!!!!!!



Pack 2 - Vrbata, Plekanec, Martin St Louis Premier Cuts Double Diamond, Franzen, Pominville
Still good.

Pack 3 - Zubov, Bergeron, Jason Spezza Triple Diamond, Shanahan, Latendresse, Kronwall
........... seriously. A six card pack even!

Pack 4 - Carter, Vermette, Justin Williams, Kari Lehtonen Quad Jersey, Theodore
..... unfrikkin believable. The Lehtonen is 4 colours too!!!

Hobby packs are cool. I'm stunned. Oh, and while at the hobby shop, I bought the Double Diamond Doan.

Yet another Black Diamond blaster

I know. I'm not that bright..... but my hobby store guy told me to buy these instead of hobby packs. And they were there. And I wanted to buy them. I feel good about this one. Really. I do.

Pack 1 - Ohlund, Streit, Brule, Plekanec, Franzen
....... I've almost got the complete set. I really hope I need one of these......

Pack 2 - Rolston, Prospal, Carter, Vermette, Nikolai Kulemin Triple Diamond RC
At 1:8, beat the triple RC odds yet again.

Pack 3 - Zubov, Malone, Leclaire, Kaberle, Cleary
....... I've almost got the complete set. I really hope I need one of these......

Pack 4 - Kostitsyn, Brad Richards Double Diamond, Langkow, Markov, Carcillo
Nice pull on the Richards, but that probably means no Doan yet again. I think I have 10 each of Kostitsyn and Carcillo.

Pack 5 - Vrbata, Pominville, Kronwall, Joe Sakic Quad Jersey, Perry, Nylander
................ THE STREAK CONTINUES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sakic is a good pull too, could be a lot worse.

Pack 6 - Ellis, Byfuglien, Williams, Bergeron, Dany Heatley Triple Diamond
Yet another Triple Diamond, and yet again..... Heatley.

One double as advertised, but two triple diamonds and one quad jersey. Yet again, a very good box. That should ensure that I will do this again. Tee hee.

08-09 Upper Deck Series 2

So I head into my local card shop today. Got into a discussion with the owner about my luck with Black Diamond blasters. He says that I'm not alone in that, and would recommend blasters over a hobby box - and he sells hobby boxes, so that's saying something. Maybe I'm not as crazy as I think.....

Anyway, 7 Upper Deck series 2 packs today. 2 jerseys per box, 4 Young Guns rookies, inserts galore including the continuation of the entry level 08-09 UD Victory set (1 per pack). I bought 8 packs the other day, pulled a Rookie Playmaker jersey out of 100 (Blake Wheeler), Rookie Materials jersey (Wheeler again), and a regular jersey (Olli Jokinen). So I got the two box hits for jerseys, plus one more. Can I do it again?

Pack 1 - Perry, Higgins, Lydman, TJ Oshie Rookie Materials jersey, Oscar Moller Victory RC, Connolly, Godard, Cammaleri, Forsberg
I guess I can.

Pack 2 - Girardi, Hainsey, Hossa, UD Propoganda card, Stillman Victory, Jackman, Modin, Samuelsson, Paille
Huh. Well, the first pack was good.

Pack 3 - Regehr, Calder, Dumont, Ottawa Silver Seven Tales of the Cup insert, UD Propoganda card, Zidlicky Victory, Olli Jokinen, Ellis, Weight
The Tales of the Cup card is cool. Nice to look back at hockey history.

Pack 4 - Huselius, Finger, Foligno, UD Propoganda card, Meszaros Victory, Ovechkin checklist card, Rozsival, Phillips, Hiller
Always nice photography in the main UD set. This one is no different.

Pack 5 - Hamrlik, Prospal, Kiprusoff, UD Propoganda card, Frolik Victory, Ovechkin, Zednik, Lalime, Gill
The Ovechkin card is well done. Lots of cards with celebration poses in this set.

Pack 6 - Satan, Tkachuk, Burrows, Brunette, Theo Peckham Young Guns RC, UD Propoganda card, Brunette Victory, Grier, Tambellini
The Andrew Brunette pack! Rare but wonderful! Yeah, but no. And an Oiler rookie. The first card of the pack should have told me it would be like this.

Pack 7 - Khabibulin, Demitra, Johnsson, UD Propoganda card, Petr Vrana Victory RC, Boogaard, Campoli, Boucher, Conklin
.......... the first pack was good!

Got a jersey and a Young Guns, so I guess it's not a total loss. Didn't get any Doans, but there's only the base, the Exclusives /100, the HighGloss /10, and an insert. Very nice set though.

I'm just not sure what to think...

A few posts back, I wrote:
"But ever since I miraculously pulled a Thornton patch out of 23 out of a blaster, I've been hooked. (Side note: it was damaged, and I recently asked Upper Deck if they have a replacement. They were overly courteous in their e-mail, told me their policy, and said they would send me things anyway. Maybe they ARE changing...... we'll see what they send anyway)"

Today, I get a package from Upper Deck.

First, a form letter. First paragraph with the obligatory thank you, and how they're simply not responsible for future value of the their cards. I didn't ask them for that. (I suppose that means "Yeah, sometimes stuff happens with our machines. Whatever.")

Second paragraph tells me they can't guarantee what one can pull from a given pack. I didn't ask them that either.

Third paragraph says that I am one of their "larger customers" (either a lie, or I need to see who's looking at my spending habits....), then apologies and "I hope you're not TOO mad with us" talk.

Fourth paragraph is a shorter version of the second.

All in all, a horribly written form letter. I understand that you can't personalize it for everyone, but this isn't even close to what I asked them. "Damaged cards" should be their own form letter.

Anyway..... reaching in the envelope, considering a patch /23 could be worth over $100, I pull the following:

06-07 SP Game Used Daniel Sedin jersey
07-08 SP Authentic autograph of......... SHANE DOAN!!!!!!!!! (It's one I need too!)

Is this worth over $100? No, this would be $10 with shipping on eBay, if that. Do I like it? When I get a free Shane Doan, that works for ME. Note the capitalization there. If I was not a Shane Doan collector, I wouldn't consider this as much compensation for my pull.

What did I learn? I hope I didn't learn that they REALLY know what I collect. I would like to know how they know that (I think I did tell them in a previous e-mail, and if they DID take the time to read old e-mails, that IS truly impressive.) Realize that when you buy older product, if you pull a damaged card, you're pretty much screwed. They told me in an e-mail that they have an 8 month hold time on older cards, then.... well, they give them out to others later on, or use them as "buybacks" I guess.

I'm glad I got something, but simply put, Upper Deck's customer service over e-mail might be better, but their overall methods are still a little questionable. I suppose one step at a time.....

Black Diamond blaster. Part 3.

Technically, I should be pushing my luck a little here, but even without the good pulls I've had, I really like the Black Diamond set. It's very well done, with a minimum of damaged cards, which is unique for this set. Most years there is ample chipping due to the high amount of foil on the cards. And really, when you're on a roll, go until it stops. Or is that what crazy people say?

Oh, and I still haven't pulled ANY Shane Doan cards from Black Diamond.

But to start.... one pack of MVP, and one pack of O-Pee-Chee.

MVP - McLean, Brad Richards, Keith, Olesz, Giguere, Kuba, Comeau, Oscar Moller RC, UD propaganda card
Nice to get a Dallas Star in the pack, and Moller (ex-Chilliwack Bruin) is going to be a good one, I think. Not a bad start.

O-Pee-Chee - Brule, Modin, Eriksson, Johnsson, Huet, D'Agostini rookie
Another Dallas Star. From O-Pee-Chee, I've only pulled the large Doan from the blaster.

On to the blaster.......

Pack 1 - Elias, Bieksa, Zubov, Malone, Leclaire
Not the best start.

Pack 2 - Hartnell, Gonchar, Halak, Prospal, Nash Triple Diamond
Nice pull on the Nash. Again, 1:8, so I shouldn't have one in here.

Pack 3 - Jack Johnson, Penner, Osgood Double Diamond, Kostitsyn, Vrbata
Hmm. No Doan again?

Pack 4 - Kariya, Wolski, Pominville, Kronwall, Ellis
Hmm. Even pack 1 was better than this.

Pack 5 - Michalek, Bouchard, Legace, Byfuglien, Alex Goligoski Triple Diamond RC
Another triple diamond, which I can't really complain about.

Pack 6 - Morrow, Statsny Double Diamond Premier Cuts, Brygalov, Green, Shanahan
I am getting a lot of doubles of inserts and multiple diamond cards. Just saying.

Well, I again beat the odds, but my luck with these is clearly declining, as I'm starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel on the rarer cards. I have some eBay auctions up, so maybe it's time for a hobby box of this....... then again, that's what I said last time, isn't it.

Black Diamond blaster..... again

Despite winning on the last one and knowing that luck doesn't last forever.... I bought another Black Diamond blaster. The thing is that I bought a 3 pack clamshell the other day and got a Martin Brodeur quad jersey! I've had some sets that I just have really good luck on. I think 08-09 Black Diamond is a good one for me. So far, I've bought 6 hobby packs and 9 retail packs, and I have more than beaten the odds. So on this blaster, I'll come back to earth or win big. Let's see if I learn yet another painful lesson on blasters or keep the roll going.

Pack 1 - Theodore, Sharp Double Diamond, Marc Staal, Ryan, Ohlund
Still missing the Doan Double Diamond. Unless I beat the odds again, I'll continue to miss it.

Pack 2 - Huet, Brind'Amour, Rolston, Prospal, Heatley Triple Diamond
Should mention here that I have both the Sharp and Heatley.

Pack 3 - Zherdev, Avery, Stastny Premier Cuts Double Diamond, Zubov, Malone
Still missing the Doan Premier Cuts Single Diamond. Avery sucks.

Pack 4 - Little, Sturm, Kovalev, Streit, Brule
A rare garbage pack.

Pack 5 - Roloson, Leclaire, Selanne Double Diamond, Kostitsyn, Vrbata
Selanne is a cool pull. Would rather see him in a Jets jersey though.......

Pack 6 - Blake, Filppula, Lauri Korpikoski Quad Diamond RC, Pominville, Kronwall
I have no idea who this rookie is. He's a roster player with the Rangers and it looks like he's played every game. So that's good, I guess. And a quad diamond rookie is a quad diamond rookie.

Again, beat the odds on Triples, Doubles, Premier Cuts, and Quad Diamond rookies. Technically, I should be getting 1 Double Diamond, and 3 of 4 blasters will have EITHER a Triple, Quad, Premier Cut, or jersey. So getting 3 of the 4 in one blaster..... I can't complain I guess. I've certainly had worse ones. But really, it's probably time for me to buy a hobby box of this and get it over with.

08-09 UD Black Diamond blaster box

So I continually say that I'm going to stop buying blaster boxes. They usually aren't great value, and if you buy 3 or 4 of them, you might as well save up and buy a hobby box, which will have a lot more hits in it. But that doesn't allow me to rip packs open frequently, and so patience is kind of out of the window.

But ever since I miraculously pulled a Thornton patch out of 23 out of a blaster, I've been hooked. (Side note: it was damaged, and I recently asked Upper Deck if they have a replacement. They were overly courteous in their e-mail, told me their policy, and said they would send me things anyway. Maybe they ARE changing...... we'll see what they send anyway) Yes, for all the $24.99 (plus tax) blasters I've bought, I could be much farther ahead on my Doan collection. But the lure of pulling something great remains. And pulling a Doan from a pack is a LOT more satisfying.

I go back and forth on this as I buy them. Sometimes I pull something great and I'm glad I bought it. Other times?...... not so much. Nonetheless, I doubt I'll ever stop buying them. Upper Deck, for all their warts, are very creative marketers, and I'm as much as sucker as any collector.

On that note, I bought a 2008-09 Upper Deck Black Diamond blaster box today. 6 packs (listed as the normal 5 + 1 bonus....), and you can pull everything that you can pull in the hobby packs, which is unusual for a retail offering. There will be at least one Double Diamond in here, and at least one ot two other inserts. 1 in every two boxes will have a quad jersey or a Quad Diamond. Not bad odds, really. Well, here goes......

Pack 1 - Vrbata, Pominville, Derick Brassard Quad Diamond RC, Langkow, Markov
Well that's a good way to start. Brassard had an early end to his season, but this would be one of the better pulls of the box. eBay wise, it should pay for the blaster. Nice. I was looking for the Brunnstrom, but I'm not complaining.

Pack 2 - Kostitsyn, Horton Double Diamond, Vermette, Kaberle, Cleary
The Double Diamond of the box. Likely no Doan at this point.

Pack 3 - Malone, Leclaire, Getzlaf Premier Cuts (Single), Franzen, Carter
So I've beaten the 1:24 for a quad diamond, and now 1:12 on the die cut.

Pack 4 - Shanahan, Arnott Double Diamond, Bergeron, Theodoe, Little
Double Diamonds are 1:4, I have two in 4 packs. Now no Doan for sure.....

Pack 5 - Byfuglien, Bryzgalov, Green, Nylander, Williams
Nothing of note here, but it should be noted that I have yet to pull a damaged card, which is usually very odd with Black Diamond's heavily foiled black cards. Impressive.

Pack 6 - Kronwall, Ellis, Carcillo, Perry, Erik Ersberg Triple Diamond RC
The Triple Diamonds are 1:8, and Ersberg is a decent pull.

Wow. Now these are the blasters that keep me coming back. Either their odds are shorter than listed to make you feel like you got more than you did, or there's some dud boxes out there. I would say a bit of a) and a bit of b), in my experience. It's unusual to beat this many odds in one box. Yes, they are "average across the production run", but you normally beat one of the odds in the box, and that's your hit. I beat them in 4 of 6 packs. Not only that, I got two rookies of quality... neither of them will be selling you a TV at Best Buy anytime soon.

Often after opening a blaster I feel some remorse as I see the commons I've just overpaid for, and search eBay for a deal to make myself feel better, but then don't buy because I've already wasted my money. But then there's days like today, where I can sell a few of these and make some money back. So in the end........ still hooked. Oh well.

05-06 UD Rookie Update box

So, back in 2005-06 I opened some Upper Deck Rookie Update hobby packs and was quite impressed. Well now that boxes have come down in price - thanks to everyone who only wants the newest stuff - I decided today to buy a box. Basically, this set contains a stack of rookies that are updates from Upper Deck's high end sets, like Artifacts, Trilogy, SPx, SP Game-Used, and Black Diamond. I believe most of the packs will have a rookie. There's memorabilia, autographs, and the like, but as per normal for UD in 05-06, no odds on the box. But it's pretty stacked.

The big hits, as always for Rookie Update, are the dual autograph cards with one rookie and one established superstar. Seems to me they were one per box, I guess we'll find out. The only exception on this is Sidney Crosby, who only signed by himself with the other window saying "2005 draft pick" or something. UD wanted Gretzky to sign with him, but word is that Crosby refused. Ovechkin is also in the subset, signing with Ilya Kovalchuk.

Well, here we go.
Pack 1 - Hemsky, Turco, Fedorov, Heatley, Steve Bernier Black Diamond RC
Dallas Star in the first pack, and a now-Canuck rookie. Good start.

Pack 2 - Olli Jokinen, Gagne, Marleau, Brad Richardson SPx Auto Jersey RC 1845/1999
Divealanche rookie, but I loooooove the SPx rookie set from this year.

Pack 3 - Tkachuk, Gionta, Hasek, Frolov, Lindros
Yes, commons. But with a small set, at least players most hockey fans have heard of.

Pack 4 - Lecavalier, Dustin Penner SP Game Used RC 389/999, Svatos, Gagne, Morrison, UD "discount" card on overpriced merchandise
So my rookies are from the Avs, Oilers, and Canucks. Ha. Ha.

Pack 5 - Pronger, Fleury, Saku Koivu, Langkow, Satan
The last card.... well, tells the story of this pack. Hopefully this is the stinker of the box.

Pack 6 - Raycroft, Pitkanen, Tanguay, Straka, Robitaille
....... already eclipsed pack 5 in "commonness". Nice.

Pack 7 - Redden, Jagr, Blake, Bertuzzi, Theodore
Looks like I'm set up for a nice few packs. Can I hope now that these are done?

Pack 8 - Brodeur, Lidstrom, Nagy, Nash, Ryan Ready Rookie Update RC 0423/1999
I'm Ready for a good pack.

Pack 9 - Khabibulin, Sakic, Giguere, Tuomo Ruutu, Greg Zanon Rookie Update RC 0821/1999
Not all rookies are created equally.

Pack 10 - Joseph, Gaborik, Lemieux, Cole, Brad Richards
Second Dallas Star of the box.

Pack 11 - Alfredsson, Keith Primeau, Gomez, Olli Jokinen, Ryan Miller
I have now got two doubles in this box. That's just wrong.

Pack 12 - Yzerman, Nabokov, Drury, Roenick, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen Black Diamond RC
I am Ole, he is Sven. This is the halfway point of the box. I will assume the right side will be better........ I hope.

Pack 13 - Lupul, SHAAAAAAAAAANE DOOOOOOOOAN!!!, Shanahan, Naslund, Mike Green SPX RC 595/999
Much better. Green is a good one to pull, big upside. Led NHL defensemen in goals last year.

Pack 14 - Marleau, McCabe, Spezza, Colby Armstrong Black Diamond RC, Michael Wall Artifacts RC 005/750
My third double, but two rookies in a pack is fine with me.

Pack 15 - Doan, Shanahan, Peca/Eaves Rookie Inspirations Dual Jersey 608/999
Yet another Oiler jersey, with a Sens jersey, both white. Yes, it's a jersey, but the worst one to pull. And two more doubles.

Pack 16 - Kovalchuk, Iginla, Khabibulin, St. Louis, Sundin
More doubles.

Pack 17 - Weight, Belfour, Lehtonen, Morrow, Hejduk
Morrow is cool.

Pack 18 - Murray, Maxim Lapierre Artifacts RC 511/750, Jackman, Selanne, Luongo
Not the worst rookie to pull.

Pack 19 - Auld, Vokoun, Horton, Prospal, Kariya, UD "discount" card on overpriced merchandise
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.

Pack 20 - Thornton, Tomas Fleischmann Trilogy RC 495/999, Marian Hossa, Gerber, Niittymaki
Not the Capitals rookie I really wanted, but.....

Pack 21 - Smyth, Allison, Bergeron, Zetterberg, Forsberg
They could have easily put numbered parallels of the base cards in these packs. I suppose that costs money, and we're all at the trough anyway, so UD probably didn't care THAT much.

Pack 22 - Aebischer, Leetch, Elias, Kiprusoff, DiPietro
Let's just move on.

Pack 23 - Yashin, Datsyuk, Kolzig, Ribiero, Vitaly Kolesnik Black Diamond RC
I hear Kolesnik might be a good one. But again, a Divealanche rookie.

Pack 24 - Cheechoo, Fernandez, Eric Staal, Demitra, Brett Lebda Rookie Update RC 0790/1999
A Red Wing rookie that's playing with them. I suppose that's a good thing.

Well.......first off, 5 doubles and I'm missing 3 for the base set. No, not horrible, but would it have been that tough to collate a full set in here? 14 rookies, with two jerseys included in that. Did I do well? Not really. It was a fun break for the most part, but really, the value isn't there. Go figure, an Upper Deck product with limited value. The Green is a decent one, the Oiler/Sens one is a dud, and while the SPx rookie auto jersey is a nice card, it's not exactly going to pay my mortgage.... in fact, buying a Coke might require extra change.

Nonetheless, I still enjoy this product. As I said, some parallels might have at least spiced it up, but the rookies partially make up for it. I could buy another box, but I doubt I will. Yes, the Crosby tops $3000, but.......

2008-09 UD Legends Masterpieces

So on the way home from a 10th anniversary getaway with my wife, I stopped in at a card store and picked up a few packs, including one pack of 2008-09 UD Legends Masterpieces. Later on, when running other errands, I stopped by Toys R Us and picked up a retail blaster 8 pack box (why must they say 7 packs with 1 bonus? IT'S 8 PACKS, WE'RE SMARTER THAN THAT!). Coincidence? Not at all. I've been collecting cards for a long time now, and I have not had the chance to say this often - these are absolutely stunning cards. Maybe the best base cards I've seen, in my opinion.

08-09 Masterpieces are cards based on original artwork made for UD. They are on a more or less regular card stock, but the feel of the front of the card is like canvas. Minimal gold foil borders that are done in gaelic writing.... they are just done right. The backs tell us who made the artwork, and a short bio of each player. The only possible complaint about the backs is that the print is very small, and with the light gold background, it should probably be black or something different. In any event, small grumblings from me but no deal breakers, and a much better offering than UD Artistic Impressions from 5 years ago. This also has only retired players by the looks of it, which is another nice touch.

The retail version of this product promises parallel cards 1:9 packs - done like Beehive with matting on top of the card, with 5 levels of parallel (including 1/1). Game used cards 1:24 packs, again with 5 different versions, autos 1:240, and masterpiece sketch cards 1/1, which I will assume is an original drawing of some sort. So with the aforementioned EIGHT packs in the blaster, I have a pretty good chance at one parallel, a 1:3 chance of a game used, and 1:30 chance of an autograph. I've certainly beaten higher odds than that, but I'll be honest, although this might jinx me...... an entire box of base cards wouldn't make me angry. Yes, they are that nice.

So here we go.

Pack 1 - Gretzky (Kings), Neely, Bourque (Divealanche), Clarke brown border parallel
The Gretzky is the same pic as the 88-89 Topps version. I went nuts for a second - I thought the Clarke was a Black border, which would have been a 1/1, but it's the unnumbered brown instead. Still a nice card.

Pack 2 - Messier, Shutt, Ciccarelli Canvas Clippings game used card - brown border, Lafleur, Apps
The Canvas Clippings card is sweet. It pictures Ciccarelli in a North Stars jersey with a Capitals jersey piece, but it's nice anyway. Not sure if the brown border is the norm or a parallel. UD did screw up a little - the memorabilia pack is supposed to have 3 base cards. I don't know if these are searchable or not, I thought it was a decoy in there, as it was significantly fatter than the other packs. The hobby pack had the quintissential UD propoganda card, so that makes it even more difficult. Anyway, something to watch out for.

Pack 3 - Lady Bing, Foster Hewitt, Eddie Shack, Bobby Orr
Sweet cards.

Pack 4 - Kurri (Divealanche), MacTavish (Blues), Hull/Howe, Lester Patrick
A few things of note here. Kurri is standing in front of a gold stick, which from the writing on the back seems to be in honour of his 600th goal. The weird thing? We can see the entire stick in the picture, Kurri is not holding it, and no one else is either. A gold stick is cool, but a levetating gold stick? Nice touch. Cheating Divealanche. Another thing - what's Craig MacTavish doing in this set? Not worthy in the slightest. The Hull/Howe is cool..... I got one in the hobby pack too.

Pack 5 - Esposito, The Sutters, Gretzky (Oilers), Langway
The Sutters card is very well done.

Pack 6 - Bower, Bathgate, McSorley (?!?!?!), Lemieux
Again..... Marty McSorley? What? Why? I'm going to assume there is an auto version of all base cards and that they needed to find 87 players who would sign, and they got to the bottom of the barrel..... at least I'm hoping that.

Pack 7 - Roy (Habs), Mr Hockey, Gretzky (Oilers), Fuhr
A double? Seriously? It's an 87 card set (gee.... what's 87 for? ), so I guess it's not horrible, and better to have a Gretzky double than...... MacTavish or McSorley.

Pack 8 - Perreault, Vaive, Richard Brodeur, Tony Esposito
Rick Vaive too. Huh.

Well, it seems I beat the odds, getting both the game used and a parallel when the odds say I should have got neither. Aside from some curious player selection, I have no issues at all with what I pulled. Still very impressed with the set, and I will probably go for the full one with such a small set. I would highly recommend buying some of this product, I know I will buy more. Based on my return, maybe I should reduce my expectations on every box. ;)

Musings of the past in the present

I first started collecting hockey cards at around age 8 (1980). When I bought packs in 1980, they were pennies on the dollar per pack. A box of 48 packs would cost a huge $12. In 80-81, there were team cards, and other subsets within the set, but no autographs, no game used, certainly no foil on the cards, and usually a lot of ridiculous paint-overs of jerseys for players on new teams. Lots of laughs, and just a lot of fun. Value was measured in your favourite team, and how well a card would knock others down against a wall to win more damaged cards.

For better and worse, the hockey card market of today is much, much different. There is a constant demand for bigger and better, and tons more value. I can't imagine looking ahead from 1980 and seeing a $10,000 rookie card, as the Crosby from UD The Cup is. I would be amazed at how far the hobby has come along, but probably a bit disappointed too. It's not a game anymore, it's a business.

So when I walked into my local card shop today and he showed me a box of 06-07 O-Pee-Chee - 36 packs for $40 - the nostalgia of the old days hit me, and I had to buy it. Besides that, when a 11 pack blaster is $25 and you get 44 commons, this certainly couldn't be any worse.

Until 1990, all I knew was O-Pee-Chee hockey cards. Topps existed, but only on trips to the US, and even then, finding it wasn't that easy. And besides that, there was no real reason to get it, as OPC was better. They were not perfect by any means, the quality left a lot to be desired, but they were cheap, fun, and a connection to your heroes. Sure, stickers left a bit of a dent in the wallet too, but finding cards was a big deal. OPC was bought out by Topps, then UD was allowed to take over the NHL market alone, and thus they bought it probably to gain a little nostalgia back.

In both 06-07 and 07-08, UD made OPC into large sets, as they were back in the old days, with inserts, some game used cards, and some autographs. It's certainly not a huge value set, but the price point is still reasonable, and they are clean cards that look good. It would have been nice for UD to go all out and put French on the backs of the cards, but UD going all out simply doesn't happen. They have no need to, they're the only game in town..... yes, so was OPC, and yes, they did some of the same things, but at 25 cents a pack, who cares. At $5 up to $500 per pack, it does matter.

Anyway....... this is one of the square 06-07 OPC boxes, not the typical long rectangular hobby boxes. However, I have been assured that the hobby also came in this format, and that this box will contain one memorabilia card. There IS one subset card per pack - should be rookies 1 in 2 packs - and autographs are one in every ten boxes. Main rookies are Malkin and Kopitar. Of course, as always, I'm looking for Doans and Dallas Star cards, and in a 700 card set with plenty of inserts, I should do fine here.

I've never done a 36 pack live break before, but here goes. I should have more comments than the Hot Prospects box, because I'll get more.

Pack 1 - Van Ryn, Commodore, Arnason, Sundin, Bonk, Dustin Boyd RC
Shiny bronze design, large O-Pee-Chee logo at the bottom, almost no reference to UD.

Pack 2 - Lang, Prucha, Cullen, Sopel, Gaborik, Alexander Ovechkin Capitals checklist
The checklist cards are also a limited subset, kind of the SuperAction cards of today. Oddly, the card list is on the back, and has a lot of extra empty boxes. Can I write my name in there? I may later in the break, but not on an Ovechkin card.

Pack 3 - Thornton, Armstrong, Schultz, Saku Koivu, Boynton, Adam Dennis RC
Decent photography, and the full NHL record on the back. I like that.

Pack 4 - Jason Smith, Ray Whitney, Brad Richards, Eric Staal, Zherdev, UD propaganda card, Marian Gaborik Wild checklist
Four players that I have to spell out in full because there are others with the same last name in the league. This entry will be long enough without that happening again.

Pack 5 - Sakic, Ladd, Wyatt Smith, Kapanen, Auld, Hall Worthy Dominik Hasek
Thankfully, Brian Sakic is no longer in the NHL, or I would have had to type "Joe". Whew. I wish the picture of Hasek was him on his stomach trying in vain to stop Brett Hull in the 99 finals. It's not. But he does look sad in the picture, so maybe he's thinking of that moment.

Pack 6 - Zhitnik, Thomas, Stillman, Fedotenko, Malholtra, Jan Hejda RC
Despite the constant bronze colour, no damage on the cards. A welcome change from other UD products.

Pack 7 - McKee, Ryder, Fahey, Grahame, Johan Holmqvist, Patrice Bergeron Bruins checklist, UD propaganda card
Upperdeckkids.com is a sad, sad website. "Hey kids, go buy $5000 in cards, then you can get an Upper Deck hat!!!!". They should be ashamed. Instead, they laugh like little girls......... no offense to little girls. But grown men should not dance like you unless you're dancing with them.

Pack 8 - Michalek, Gionta, Hedican, Gerber, Robert Lang O-Pee-Chee Swatches jersey, Nate Thompson RC
Well, there's the jersey card. Certainly not the best pull of the lot, but looking at the checklist, I avoided Arron Asham, David Aebischer, Marc Denis, Manny Fernandez, Manny Legace..... I didn't get the worst one, but there are better ones out there.

Pack 9 - Cheechoo, Nilson, Michael Holmqvist, Cleary, Vokoun, Patrick Coulombe RC
I'm still mad at Cheechoo for putting out Stu Barnes in last year's playoffs. Without Stuuuuuuu, the Stars just weren't the same team. Speaking of the Stars, we're 9 packs in, and none have appeared aside from Richards and Johan Holmqvist in their Lightning jerseys.

Pack 10 - Kobasew, Thibault, Olli Jokinen, Matt Bradley, Sydor, Letang/Seabrook Rookie Showdown
Sydor is pictured in a Stars jersey. I still have a spot for him because of the Cup run and the Finals run the next year, but this incarnation of Sydor as a Star.... well, I don't acknowledge its existence. The Rookie Showdown card is very nice.

Pack 11 - Kozlov, Gelinas, Ott, Burns, Gomez, Peter Harrold RC
Steve Ott, Stars superpest! I noticed that there's no height, weight, hometown, and handedness on the back of the card, just another large O-Pee-Chee banner. That and the Ott card has stopped me from wondering who Peter Harrold is, and what he's doing in an NHL set.

Pack 12 - Gratton, Brule, Straka, McLean, Shelley, Wade Redden Stat Leaders
The Stat Leaders is an odd card. The font screams "Old Wyoming!", but there is a picture of an obviously drunk or coked-up player on there. Yes, Redden is rumoured to be a fan of the nose candy. Maybe now that he's in New York and Emery is in Russia about to be targeted by the Russian mafia, Redden will straighten up. Then again, he's rich and in New York.

Pack 13 - Alfredsson, Pratt, Wayne Primeau, Nash, Garon, Michael Ryan RC
Michael Ryan is an old draft pick of the Dallas Stars. 8 years ago. I wouldn't bet money on him being around the league long.

Pack 14 - Arnott, Wesley, Pandolfo, Fedoruk, Liles, UD propaganda card, Patrick Marleau Sharks checklist
Marleau is a fellow Saskatchewan-born person, so I hate to say bad things about him..... but why is he captain of the Sharks? Then again, it's him or Slow-Mo-Joe Thornton, so maybe it's a theme.

Pack 15 - Westcott, Morris, Laperriere, Goc, Bochenski, Alexei Mikhnov RC
It's a strange thing, but cards 4 and 5 in every pack are somewhat stuck together. It makes no sense, but it's a fact.

Pack 16 - Turco, Budaj, Jagr, Zubov, Selanne, Hall Worthy Sidney Crosby
Well this is a great pack. Two Dallas Stars, Selanne has been a favourite since the Jet days, and Sidney Crosby to value out the pack. Relish..... relish....... relish...... ok, I'm done.

Pack 17 - Nolan, Visnovsky, LeClair, Marchant, De Vries, Mike Card RC
I do not like Todd Marchant. I just don't. Maybe he is a great guy that saves kittens from burning buildings and recycles like a madman, but I just don't like him. I should meet him one day, and if he turns out to be a jerk, I'll just tell him that. It would be awkward if he cried after that. But somewhat funny too.

Pack 18 - Samuelsson, Halpern, Sturn, Jurcina, Sullivan, Thoresen/Steen Rookie Showdown
Patrick Thoresen...... I can't see that name without wincing. I wonder if he was able to keep his..... ummm..... boy? Loved how Glenn Healy called him out for being a wuss, then we found out Thoresen had an injured testicle. Hey Healy, let's shoot one at your wedding tackle and see if you fall. My money is on you puking and crying for your mommy.

Pack 19 - Hemsky, Bernier, Mellanby, Hordichuk, Sillinger, David Mckee RC
First pack of the left stack of packs nets little. But the 4th and 5th cards were NOT stuck together. Hmm....

Pack 20 - Schaefer, Heward, Tomas Kaberle, Markkanen, Crosby, Ilya Bryzgalov Stat Leaders
Crosby packs are always cool. Saved a really yawn-inducing pack.

Pack 21 - Chara, Lilja, Hasek, Axelsson, Dupuis, Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers RC
4th and 5th cards were stuck together again. And why would you saddle your kids with the handle of the guy at the end. Not only is he a "who's that", how will they fit the name on a jersey? I'd say his mom likes him, but that might not be true considering how she let the name happen. Hopefully he has a girlfriend who will make him choose the name. Unless he's already married and his wife made him take her name too. Then he needs his testicles back from her purse. A world of possibilities, I say.

Pack 22 - Bergeron, Miettinen, Daniel Sedin, Ward, Cammalleri, Stastny/Svatos Rookie Showdown
I get cards of the Sedin sisters like you wouldn't believe. Stastny and Svatos are on the Divealanche, but it's a decent card.

Pack 23 - Wellwood, Handzus, Justin Williams, Lapointe, Lukowich, Martin Houle RC
Just realized that you can see through the back of the pack. Squint for the name, and you can avoid pulling Martin Houle cards.

Pack 24 - Olesz, Clemmensen, McCabe, Gleason, Winchester, UD propaganda card, Hall Worthy Eric Lindros
Ok....... much will be made about whether or not Eric Lindros is a hall of famer. Many see him as a bust. However, in terms of hall of fame membership, do we measure what a player did, or what a player didn't do that we thought he should have. 865 points in 760 games. Dominant for a few years. Cam Neely had 694 points in 726 games. Lindros has a Hart trophy, a Pearson trophy, and 6 all star games in 13 seasons. Neely had 5 all star games in 13 years, no trophies. Not necessarily comparing them, but there are many who say Neely is a hall of famer and Lindros absolutely is not. I say there isn't much difference in the two, aside from expectations. Although Lindros is pictured as a Dallas Star in this card, so I may be a little biased. Anyway.......

Pack 25 - Mikko Koivu, Floppa Forsberg, Martin Biron, Dempsey, McClement, Stefan Liv RC
Got both Koivus now. That's a relief. I was getting worried there. Yep. Downright frightened even.

Pack 26 - Yelle, Zidlicky, Taylor, Huselius, Stefan, Hall Worthy Keith Tkachuk
Keith Tkachuk vs Eric Lindros as a hall of famer? Tkachuk is American, so he's in.

Pack 27 - Bell, Zednik, Nieuwendyk, Rucchin, Wideman, Jean-Francois Racine RC
Any Stars Conn Smythe winner is good in my books. But there haven't been any Shane Doans in this box. Now THAT I'm getting concerned about.

Pack 28 - Kuba, Vyborny, Ryan Whitney, Boyle, Guerin, O'Brien/Beauchemin Rookie Showdown
Many teams have signed Bill Guerin to huge contracts expecting miracles. Instead, he contributes disappointments and a willingness to disappear without even being asked! Yet on the back of the card, after a 40 point season, the card back says "Guerin continues to be one of the most feared offensive players in the league". He must have a very good agent and an excellent PR team.

Pack 29 - Morrison, Breezeby, Lebda, Kelly, Lombardi, Alexander Edler RC
A decent rookie that I've heard of. With 100 rookies in the set, I can see how there would be a few commons. But this has been a little crazy.

Pack 30 - Pronger, Sjostrom, Tanguay, Begin, Salo, Ilya Kovalchuk Thrashers checklist
At some point in the near future, Atlanta will lose their hockey team due to the fact that they should not have been given one in the first place. At that point, Kovalchuk will go to a real team and be a force. That's a good thing.

Pack 31 - Stajan, Walker, Kilger, Holmstrom, Ranger, Drew Stafford RC
There's a good rookie. I'm still not thrilled, but......

Pack 32 - Khabibulin, Prospal, Mike Johnson, O'Donnell, Orpik, Bourdon/Phaneuf Rookie Showdown
Very sad about Bourdon's death. He was ready for a breakout season, and threw it away so he could ride a motorcycle. I don't get it. Yes, he was just a kid, but he was a kid with a future most can only dream about.

Pack 33 - Larose, Fisher, Hamrlik, York, Corvo, David Booth RC
I just have nothing to say. I hope there's a Doan in the next 3 packs.

Pack 34 - Hartnell, Kapanen, Carney, Numminen, Conroy, UD propoganda card, Curtis Joseph Hall Worthy
Hey, Larry Murphy and Bernie Federko are in the hall. Any NHL player should take solace in that.

Pack 35 - Eaton, Havelid, Lindros, Ponikarovsky, Sanderson, Michael Blunden RC
A pack full of people who have played in the National Hockey League. How splendid.

Pack 36 - Pettinger, Dandenault, Savard, Jovanovski, Zubrus, Mike Modano Stars checklist
Cool on the Modano! But yet another Doan-less box.

Well, I don't have much to say anymore. I had fun opening it, got a bunch of rookies and inserts, which is more than I can say for most of the stupid retail blasters I open. However, I can say with confidence that if I went back to the store tomorrow and did this with another box, I probably would do better than this. Then again, who knows. I can't say I'm that disappointed, but I'll have to go buy a Doan card on eBay to make things a bit better. Nonetheless, if you're a dedicated pack ripper, a box of 06-07 O-Pee-Chee satisfies the craving. There are worse boxes to open, that I will say. If you need to open packs, give one a try.