The takeover continues

So according to the UD website, one of my Doan autos is FINALLY on its way after 8 months. We'll see how that goes.

Walked into the local card shop today, and what do I see? O-Pee-Chee! A blast back to my childhood, very exciting to see..... then I remembered. Only one company is authorized to make NHL cards this year. Which means Upper Deck owns the O-Pee-Chee name. Icky icky icky. But since it says O-Pee-Chee, I thought what the heck, let's give it a shot. At 10 packs for $20, it's decently priced, and from the samples he had in the store, it looked nice.


One big difference from the old days of OPC? Shiiiiiiny. Kind of a goldy bronze colour, very clean with a large O-Pee-Chee logo at the bottom, and another large one on the back. Aside from a UDC in the small print on the back (and no French with it, which would have been a nice touch), there isn't anything to suggest Upper Deck about this - they've made the O-Pee-Chees huge and the UD small. So that's good. One jersey per box (major difference from OPC), and one to two autographs per case. Parallels to 100, one shortprint/rookie per pack, 700 card set. In other words, Parkhurst from last year, but it's better, and not $3 a pack.

And I hate to give UD props, but these cards are pretty well done. Price point is fine, card fronts and backs capture a bit of the essence of OPC cards. The shiny is a little tougher to get used to,
but the simple design is pretty good. The set isn't all that much in terms of value, but for UD, that's not surprising. For a $65 box, you're getting just over 200 cards, with the one jersey, and 36 rookies/inserts/short print base cards. MVP might be a better buy in the end, but this certainly isn't UD's worst offering. I'd pick more up.