And it arrives!

Well, I didn't get a box. But I got more than one pack - I got 8 packs of 06/07 SPx. This would retail for about $120 (the customs declaration on the package said $19 US..... are they gouging us that much, or trying to save me the duty?) so getting them for just the price of yelling at Upper Deck is pretty much worth it. The packs were in a #0 bubble mailer, just basically loose. I'm not really impressed by that, but the packs appear undamaged, so I'm not exactly upset either.

SPx has always been a more premier product. They started as inserts in the regular UD in the early 90s, then graduated to their own set. These days, it contains some of the more sought after rookie cards, at least until SP Authentic and the ultra high end sets come out. A box should have 1 rookie jersey, 1 autographed rookie jersey, 1 Winning Materials jersey card, and 2 numbered inserts, not to mention regular rookie cards and parallels galore. So with a game used card 1:6 packs, I should technically get one in these packs. And since these are more or less a promotion to a new or disgruntled customer, I would bet that UD would do what they can to make this somewhat worth my while.

Pack 1 - Eric Lindros, Dave Bolland RC 0187/1999, Pavel Datsyuk, Jaromir Jagr
Nice looking cards, although maybe a touch over the top. Lots of foil - some people like it, some don't - and the picture on the back is just a headshot from the picture on the front, which is a little strange for a high end product. Not particularly thick card stock either. But high end cards that are free. So I'm fine with it.

Pack 2 - Brian Gionta, Shaaaaaaaaaaane Dooooooaaaaaaaan!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Cam Ward, Alexei Yashin
A Doan in a pack for a Doan collector like me is super cool. And I need it for my collection. 3 other spuds, but the Doan makes up for it (for me anyways, likely not for others). And a message for the Dishonourable Denis Coderre..... get a life, and stop the baseless accusations against an innocent man. Don't get me started on this.......

Pack 3 - Petr Prucha, Chris Pronger, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Sergei Fedorov, and a UD Kids propaganda card, likely also inserted to discourage pack searching
If I paid $15 for that, I would be highly displeased.

Pack 4 - Henrik Lundqvist, Lanny McDonald SPXcitement 375/999, Keith Tkachuk, Brenden Morrow
An insert, a Dallas Star, and an ex-Jet make this an ok pack for me. McDonald helmet looks like it could be one of those new foam gardening shoes. Pretty funny.

Pack 5 - Marek Svatos, Scott Gomez, Henrik Zetterberg, Marc-Antoine Pouliot Dual Jersey Auto 1269/1999
Nice! Two colour swatches on both pieces. But he's an Oiler. And I hate the Oilers. And there is a lightly damaged corner on the upper left. Oh well. Looks nice anyway.

Pack 6 - Peter Forsberg, Martin Havlat, Roberto Luongo, Kari Lehtonen, and a UD Kids propaganda card
The Luongo is a cool looking card. The blue is the best colour on these cards.

Pack 7 - Brad Boyes, Mark Recchi, Joffrey Lupul, Olaf Kolzig
Wow. That's worse than pack 3. And that was bad. So worse is like..... wow.

Pack 8 - Dany Heatley, Jonathan Cheechoo, Mike Ribeiro, Miikka Kiprusoff
Ribiero in a Habs uniform with a Dallas Stars notation. An odd looking card.

Well, SPx are pretty decent looking cards, and they were fun to open. But I'll be honest with you, if I paid $130 for this stack, I would not be pleased in the slightest. Luckily, the box prices have come down considerably - they're between $75-$90 US on eBay. I guess when 18 packs have 2 more jerseys you might do ok, but I did get the auto dual jersey, which would be the king. And Pouliot is selling for under $10 on eBay, so there you go. If you get a Malkin or one of the other more limited jerseys, you're well ahead. But if you don't...... well, do have fun opening the packs.

So while I wouldn't be pleased if I paid $130, or $85, or $90, or whatever, the fact is that I paid nothing for these packs. It was an olive branch from Upper Deck for the crap that they put me through. It was a nice gesture, I'll give them that, but it took them a little long to get to this point, and a lot of aggravation. If I were not so crazy about collecting, I might have given up and gotten nothing, and discontinued my card collection entirely. 8 packs of SPx isn't a Gretzky rookie, but it's something, and it half restores my faith in Upper Deck.

It doesn't inspire me to spend $90 on a box of SPx, but......