So last time I bought packs, it was a 12 pack of random retail with "one game worn jersey or autograph" per plastic pack. Got pretty much nothing, and upon seeing the ones at my local Toys R Us tonight that were messed around so you could see the jersey/auto...... well, I wasn't going that route again. Instead, another 11 pack blaster of 07-08 Fleer Hot Prospects, two retail packs of 07-08 MVP, and one retail pack of 07-08 Artifacts. Not expecting much from the packs, and I've already reviewed the Hot Prospects, so it's time to open!
Artifacts pack - Tucker, Kariya, Vanek, Frolov, Latendresse
I guess it was $1.98 for a reason. Still, very nice LOOKING cards.
MVP pack 1 - Arnason, Campbell, Spezza, Kessel, Pronger, Biron, Vlasic, Matt Ellis RC, UD propoganda card
.......... it's best we move on from this.
MVP pack 2 - Jagr, Sillinger, Jackman, Boyle, Marleau, Huet, Rookie Redemption Card!!!!!, UD propoganda, Zach Stortini RC
The redemption card is good for a 3 card pack of rookies from the 07-08 season. There are 30 cards in the set, and some good ones.
On to the Hot Prospects packs......
Pack 1 - Fedorov, Stafford, Vokoun, Marleau
Stafford is an ex-UND Sioux player and Marleau is a fellow Saskatchewanite, so that's cool. I'm reaching. Far.
Pack 2 - Kopitar, Zetterberg, Lehtonen, Perry
Moving right along......
Pack 3 - Blake, Hejduk, Bernier, Latendresse
Bernier is the newest Vancouver Canuck............. uhhhh.......
Pack 4 - Emery, Brodeur, Alfredsson, Lundqvist
Alfredsson..... every time I think of him, I think of Mike Richards from the Fan 960 radio station in Calgary. They get someone to do a mock Steve Armitage from CBC that's absolute gold. To fake Armitage, Alfredsson is just "Alfred". Bad story on my part, but worth a listen.
And the first four packs have been crap.
Pack 5 - Luongo, Giguere, Briere, Toskala
3 goalies! We're almost halfway, and that's not a good thing.
Pack 6 - Tucker, Fleury, Jagr, Ovechkin
Ovechkin is the best card I've pulled so far. I've also not fallen down the stairs today. I'm equally excited about both.
Pack 7 - Radulov, Lecavalier, Gagne, Pronger
I'm starting to sweat.
Pack 8 - Turco, Horton, Savard, DiPietro
The first Dallas Star of the packs!!!
Pack 9 - Spezza, Staal, Samsonov, Drury
No comment.
Pack 10 - Huet, Sakic, Naslund, Satan
One more left.
Pack 11 - Miller, Sedin, Getzlaf, Phaneuf
Anger.
Far and away, that is the WORST blaster I have ever opened. And that is saying something, because I have opened some duds in my time. In fact, the "one game worn/auto guaranteed" per plastic pack would have been a far better choice. The only thing that saves me anger is the rookie redemption card, and that's not exactly huge.
I like the blaster boxes because they're relatively inexpensive. But increasingly, they are providing little to no value, or big value - you get a home run, or absolutely nothing. And more often then not, it's nothing. In this one, there isn't even an insert card. Just 44 commons. And I suppose if you look at it as 50 cents per common, it's not as bad. But it's still not worth the money I paid for it, because these commons mean nothing to me.
I have to take my own advice - I have to stick to eBay, and instead of buying blasters, buy hobby boxes, and sometimes, the prices are similar......
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
2002-03 Pacific Quest for the Cup hobby box
There are times when the latest and greatest just gets........ old, if only for a moment. Sometimes one years for something just a few years back, for "new" variety.
Pacific Trading Cards manufactured hockey cards from 1997-98 to 2004-05. Throughout their history, they were known as the company who were bold enough to try new things. Cards with strange die-cuts, parallel sets, cards with netting inserts...... you name it, they tried it. Some things failed, some things were....... well, really cool. They were also willing to be wide open enough to admit when they were wrong. Michael Cramer, Pacific's founder, railed against Upper Deck's idea to insert game used hockey jersey pieces into hockey cards, saying it was a fad that wouldn't last. Then, he realized something - people really, really liked it.
So sure enough, in 1999-00 Omega, a late surprising addition was a jersey card - one in every 5 boxes (1:180 packs). Not only was this the first jersey cards for Pacific, but the pack insertion rate was better than UD's (1:288)! After that, Pacific broke out the first jersey-in-every-pack set with Private Stock, and the hobby has never been the same. So while their efforts were often panned - many people HATED the parallel cards they used to do - one cannot say that they were boring. Upper Deck? Boring. In The Game? Less boring, but product prices that were crazy for the offering.
When you opened a pack of Pacific cards, you knew that you were likely to get something. A parallel, a neat insert, and memorabilia cards that were attainable at a decent pack price. Yes, the aftermarket prices were rarely high, but for pack rippers like myself, the rewards were almost always high with Pacific. The only possible knock was a lack of autographed cards. You didn't hit home runs, but you rarely got shut out. I really do wish they were still around. Upper Deck cards are simply boring. They use the same concepts every year with subtle changes. They could do revolutionary things never seen before. But why do that when you can do the same thing over and over again and violate the card collectors of the world? In The Game does a few different things - they have to without an NHL license, but their cards all look the same to me, and always have.
With this in mind, when I saw a box of 2002-03 Pacific Quest for the Cup hobby on eBay for a decent price, I decided to get it. Rookies 1:5 packs, gold parallels 1:5 packs, jerseys 1:9, Pacific Complete subset 1:1, Calder Contenders 1:13, Chasing the Cup 1:5, ITECH Masks 1:25, and Raising the Cup 1:9. So really...... with 24 packs, there's something in every pack. There should be 3 jerseys in 2 out of every 3 boxes. Ooooooooh......... and Marty Turco autographs numbered out of 500 randomly inserted. For a Stars fan like myself, this is the big hit.
So even though it's 24 packs...... I'm doing a pack by pack! Here we go. (player - C means the Pacific Complete card)
Pack 1 - Leetch C, Ronning, Brent Johnson, Spezza Calder Contenders, Zhamnov, Vokoun
All names I know. Shiny cards. I really do like them.
Pack 2 - Boughner C, Gaborik, Demitra, Heatley Chasing the Cup, Thibault, Biron
...... ok, an Atlanta Thrashers Chasing the Cup card? Odd. Kind of like a Vancouver (ok, Memphis) Grizzles NBA Championship Hopefuls card.
Pack 3 - Holmstrom C, Fernandez, Lidstrom, Gagne Gold 091/325, Fleury, O'Neill
The gold card is sweet. Fleury's card drunkenly tried to swing its stick at me when I opened the pack. Then it mooned me. Weird. Actually, looking at it, it IS an odd one. He's got a "You got a problem with me?" look on his face. That, or he just soiled himself and is too embarrassed to say so.
Pack 4 - Yelle C, Dupuis, Joseph, Eric Godard RC 053/950, Daze, Kovalchuk
I'm looking for the Spezza, Nash, or Zetterberg rookies. Eric Godard's mom might be looking for him, but I'm certainly not.
Pack 5 - Marshall C, Potvin, Hull, Shanahan Raising the Cup, Havlat, Heatley
For foil cards, the base cards have far less chipping than I expected, but the insert cards are a little banged up. Just something I noticed.
Pack 6 - Fedoruk C, Roy, Kapanen, Mark Messier jersey card (blue swatch), Burke, Hossa
I'm far from a Messier fan, but pulling a jersey card of a hall of famer is never a bad thing. And not nearly as easy to pick out of packs as UD packs.
Pack 7 - Kraft C, Shanahan, Fedorov, Kovalchuk Chasing the Cup, Bonk, Ozolinsh
Ok..... seriously..... TWO Atlanta Thrasher Chasing the Cup inserts????? Yes, I suppose they wanted as many Heatley and Kovalchuk cards as possible, but come on..... the Thrashers are due to win the Cup in NEVER years. Anyway.....
Pack 8 - Wallin C, Cloutier, Turgeon, Langenbrunner gold 079/325, Alfredsson, Kariya
The first Dallas Star I pull is Pierre Turgeon. Nice. And by that I mean "thanks for the kick in the junk". That being said, the gold card of Langenbrunner - who should STILL be a Dallas Star - kind of makes up for it.
Pack 9 - Richardson C, Bertuzzi, St Louis, Rick Nash RC 394/950, Messier, Giguere
One of the big RC hits of the box. I'm a big Nash fan, so this is a great pull. Between the Nash and the Messier, the value paid for the box has been hit. Upper Deck, are you reading this???????
Pack 10 - Holik C, Sundin, Lecavalier, Forsberg Raising the Cup, Lindros, Legwand...... and a small piece of card
Thinking of the Avs raising the Cup is nauseating. Not Oilers raising the Cup nauseating, but I would turn the channel. The note in this pack is the 1/18 size piece of card. Looks like it belongs on the end of the Legwand, but my card is full size, so...... hmmm..... next pack?
Pack 11 - Perrault C, Lehtinen, Roenick, Joe Thornton jersey (white, with slight puck stain?), Hedberg, Cechmanek
Two notable things - first current Dallas Star, and the Thornton jersey (I pulled a black Thornton jersey piece out of this product in 2003). This likely means this is a 3 jersey box.
Pack 12 - Pronger C, Mogilny, Khabibulin, Thornton Chasing the Cup, Denis, Zednik
Two Thrasher Chasing the Cup cards, and one Bruin. Wow. Really, if I collected Joe Thornton cards, I would rarely have to buy them on the secondary market. For some reason, I pull his cards out of packs constantly - patches included.
Pack 13 - Sanderson C, Palffy, Nabokov, Ronning Gold 264/325, Francis, Perrault
Pack 1 of the right side of the box is easily the worst of the box. Oh well, 11 more to go!
Pack 14 - Hlavac C, Allison, Salo, Dennis Seidenberg RC 361/950, Turek, Koivu
Pack 2 isn't much better.
Pack 15 - Demitra C, Luongo, Comrie, Ales Kotalik Calder Contenders, Iginla, Satan
The Calder Contenders cards are well done.
Pack 16 - Chelios C, Jokinen, Carter, Naslund Chasing the Cup, Drury, Thornton
Ok, in 2002-03, with the NOTABLE exception of Dan Cloutier, the Canucks could have been considered Cup contenders. Certainly far more than the Bruins or Thrashers.
Pack 17 - Turgeon C, Lemieux, Gagne, Olaf Kolzig jersey (white, with slight puck stain again?), Forsberg, Lalime
So likely no Stars jersey, but you won't find me complaining much more than that. 3 nice looking memorabilia cards. And the Turco auto is still possible!
Pack 18 - Khabibulin C, Smyth, Yzerman, Naslund Gold 220/325, Kovalev, Murray
The Khabibulin is the first damaged card of the box. Upper Deck, again, are you reading this????
Pack 19 - Sean Pronger C, Nylander, Guerin, Jim Fahey RC 933/950, Bure, Hackett
Hmmm. I think we'll just move on from here.
Pack 20 - Shanahan C, Kolzig, Whitney, Jagr Raising the Cup, Yashin, Langenbrunner
Jagr won't be raising the Cup anytime soon.
Pack 21 - Bierk C, Jagr, Weight, Kariya Chasing the Cup, Peca, Friesen
Finally a Chasing the Cup that is worthy of the card.
Pack 22 - Blake C, Naslund, Tkachuk, Radovan Somik RC Gold 046/325, DiPietro, Elias
Gold RC? Glad the Nash wasn't.
Pack 23 - Daze C, Modano (yeehaw), Amonte, Chistov Calder Contenders, Hejduk, Turco (......... non-auto)
Two Dallas Stars in a pack is a good thing. Was a little excited when I saw the Turco....... no auto is disappointing, but a Turco card is good.
Pack 24 - Gill C, Morrison, Stillman, Jay Bouwmeester RC 151/950, Blake, Brodeur
Solid final pack. Bouwmeester is a mid-range rookie in the set, certainly not the worst one you could get.
That was a good box of cards. Something to look at in every pack, and very good value. I do rant on and on about Upper Deck. And boxes like this strengthen my distaste for them. Why can they not offer a decent product loaded with inserts and memorabilia at a decent price? The only result I can come up with is that they simply don't have to. If you want NHL cards, you will buy Upper Deck cards, even if they are too expensive.
The more I see this, the more I realize that I might just buy my packs on eBay. The blasters I buy are in the $24.99 range. This box was $40 with shipping from Quebec. Take a look at the H&P blaster above, and compare it to this box. I didn't get near the $24.99 for the H&P. I eclipsed the $40 easily. When I open this, I get the urge to stop feeding the UD propaganda box machine and go with these, buying the current cards online.
Nonetheless, this is not about Upper Deck. This is about celebrating an old company that was a good one for my collecting years. Much maligned by many, but a great one in my mind. I will again buy a Pacific box somewhere, and let the memories - and value! - live again.
Pacific Trading Cards manufactured hockey cards from 1997-98 to 2004-05. Throughout their history, they were known as the company who were bold enough to try new things. Cards with strange die-cuts, parallel sets, cards with netting inserts...... you name it, they tried it. Some things failed, some things were....... well, really cool. They were also willing to be wide open enough to admit when they were wrong. Michael Cramer, Pacific's founder, railed against Upper Deck's idea to insert game used hockey jersey pieces into hockey cards, saying it was a fad that wouldn't last. Then, he realized something - people really, really liked it.
So sure enough, in 1999-00 Omega, a late surprising addition was a jersey card - one in every 5 boxes (1:180 packs). Not only was this the first jersey cards for Pacific, but the pack insertion rate was better than UD's (1:288)! After that, Pacific broke out the first jersey-in-every-pack set with Private Stock, and the hobby has never been the same. So while their efforts were often panned - many people HATED the parallel cards they used to do - one cannot say that they were boring. Upper Deck? Boring. In The Game? Less boring, but product prices that were crazy for the offering.
When you opened a pack of Pacific cards, you knew that you were likely to get something. A parallel, a neat insert, and memorabilia cards that were attainable at a decent pack price. Yes, the aftermarket prices were rarely high, but for pack rippers like myself, the rewards were almost always high with Pacific. The only possible knock was a lack of autographed cards. You didn't hit home runs, but you rarely got shut out. I really do wish they were still around. Upper Deck cards are simply boring. They use the same concepts every year with subtle changes. They could do revolutionary things never seen before. But why do that when you can do the same thing over and over again and violate the card collectors of the world? In The Game does a few different things - they have to without an NHL license, but their cards all look the same to me, and always have.
With this in mind, when I saw a box of 2002-03 Pacific Quest for the Cup hobby on eBay for a decent price, I decided to get it. Rookies 1:5 packs, gold parallels 1:5 packs, jerseys 1:9, Pacific Complete subset 1:1, Calder Contenders 1:13, Chasing the Cup 1:5, ITECH Masks 1:25, and Raising the Cup 1:9. So really...... with 24 packs, there's something in every pack. There should be 3 jerseys in 2 out of every 3 boxes. Ooooooooh......... and Marty Turco autographs numbered out of 500 randomly inserted. For a Stars fan like myself, this is the big hit.
So even though it's 24 packs...... I'm doing a pack by pack! Here we go. (player - C means the Pacific Complete card)
Pack 1 - Leetch C, Ronning, Brent Johnson, Spezza Calder Contenders, Zhamnov, Vokoun
All names I know. Shiny cards. I really do like them.
Pack 2 - Boughner C, Gaborik, Demitra, Heatley Chasing the Cup, Thibault, Biron
...... ok, an Atlanta Thrashers Chasing the Cup card? Odd. Kind of like a Vancouver (ok, Memphis) Grizzles NBA Championship Hopefuls card.
Pack 3 - Holmstrom C, Fernandez, Lidstrom, Gagne Gold 091/325, Fleury, O'Neill
The gold card is sweet. Fleury's card drunkenly tried to swing its stick at me when I opened the pack. Then it mooned me. Weird. Actually, looking at it, it IS an odd one. He's got a "You got a problem with me?" look on his face. That, or he just soiled himself and is too embarrassed to say so.
Pack 4 - Yelle C, Dupuis, Joseph, Eric Godard RC 053/950, Daze, Kovalchuk
I'm looking for the Spezza, Nash, or Zetterberg rookies. Eric Godard's mom might be looking for him, but I'm certainly not.
Pack 5 - Marshall C, Potvin, Hull, Shanahan Raising the Cup, Havlat, Heatley
For foil cards, the base cards have far less chipping than I expected, but the insert cards are a little banged up. Just something I noticed.
Pack 6 - Fedoruk C, Roy, Kapanen, Mark Messier jersey card (blue swatch), Burke, Hossa
I'm far from a Messier fan, but pulling a jersey card of a hall of famer is never a bad thing. And not nearly as easy to pick out of packs as UD packs.
Pack 7 - Kraft C, Shanahan, Fedorov, Kovalchuk Chasing the Cup, Bonk, Ozolinsh
Ok..... seriously..... TWO Atlanta Thrasher Chasing the Cup inserts????? Yes, I suppose they wanted as many Heatley and Kovalchuk cards as possible, but come on..... the Thrashers are due to win the Cup in NEVER years. Anyway.....
Pack 8 - Wallin C, Cloutier, Turgeon, Langenbrunner gold 079/325, Alfredsson, Kariya
The first Dallas Star I pull is Pierre Turgeon. Nice. And by that I mean "thanks for the kick in the junk". That being said, the gold card of Langenbrunner - who should STILL be a Dallas Star - kind of makes up for it.
Pack 9 - Richardson C, Bertuzzi, St Louis, Rick Nash RC 394/950, Messier, Giguere
One of the big RC hits of the box. I'm a big Nash fan, so this is a great pull. Between the Nash and the Messier, the value paid for the box has been hit. Upper Deck, are you reading this???????
Pack 10 - Holik C, Sundin, Lecavalier, Forsberg Raising the Cup, Lindros, Legwand...... and a small piece of card
Thinking of the Avs raising the Cup is nauseating. Not Oilers raising the Cup nauseating, but I would turn the channel. The note in this pack is the 1/18 size piece of card. Looks like it belongs on the end of the Legwand, but my card is full size, so...... hmmm..... next pack?
Pack 11 - Perrault C, Lehtinen, Roenick, Joe Thornton jersey (white, with slight puck stain?), Hedberg, Cechmanek
Two notable things - first current Dallas Star, and the Thornton jersey (I pulled a black Thornton jersey piece out of this product in 2003). This likely means this is a 3 jersey box.
Pack 12 - Pronger C, Mogilny, Khabibulin, Thornton Chasing the Cup, Denis, Zednik
Two Thrasher Chasing the Cup cards, and one Bruin. Wow. Really, if I collected Joe Thornton cards, I would rarely have to buy them on the secondary market. For some reason, I pull his cards out of packs constantly - patches included.
Pack 13 - Sanderson C, Palffy, Nabokov, Ronning Gold 264/325, Francis, Perrault
Pack 1 of the right side of the box is easily the worst of the box. Oh well, 11 more to go!
Pack 14 - Hlavac C, Allison, Salo, Dennis Seidenberg RC 361/950, Turek, Koivu
Pack 2 isn't much better.
Pack 15 - Demitra C, Luongo, Comrie, Ales Kotalik Calder Contenders, Iginla, Satan
The Calder Contenders cards are well done.
Pack 16 - Chelios C, Jokinen, Carter, Naslund Chasing the Cup, Drury, Thornton
Ok, in 2002-03, with the NOTABLE exception of Dan Cloutier, the Canucks could have been considered Cup contenders. Certainly far more than the Bruins or Thrashers.
Pack 17 - Turgeon C, Lemieux, Gagne, Olaf Kolzig jersey (white, with slight puck stain again?), Forsberg, Lalime
So likely no Stars jersey, but you won't find me complaining much more than that. 3 nice looking memorabilia cards. And the Turco auto is still possible!
Pack 18 - Khabibulin C, Smyth, Yzerman, Naslund Gold 220/325, Kovalev, Murray
The Khabibulin is the first damaged card of the box. Upper Deck, again, are you reading this????
Pack 19 - Sean Pronger C, Nylander, Guerin, Jim Fahey RC 933/950, Bure, Hackett
Hmmm. I think we'll just move on from here.
Pack 20 - Shanahan C, Kolzig, Whitney, Jagr Raising the Cup, Yashin, Langenbrunner
Jagr won't be raising the Cup anytime soon.
Pack 21 - Bierk C, Jagr, Weight, Kariya Chasing the Cup, Peca, Friesen
Finally a Chasing the Cup that is worthy of the card.
Pack 22 - Blake C, Naslund, Tkachuk, Radovan Somik RC Gold 046/325, DiPietro, Elias
Gold RC? Glad the Nash wasn't.
Pack 23 - Daze C, Modano (yeehaw), Amonte, Chistov Calder Contenders, Hejduk, Turco (......... non-auto)
Two Dallas Stars in a pack is a good thing. Was a little excited when I saw the Turco....... no auto is disappointing, but a Turco card is good.
Pack 24 - Gill C, Morrison, Stillman, Jay Bouwmeester RC 151/950, Blake, Brodeur
Solid final pack. Bouwmeester is a mid-range rookie in the set, certainly not the worst one you could get.
That was a good box of cards. Something to look at in every pack, and very good value. I do rant on and on about Upper Deck. And boxes like this strengthen my distaste for them. Why can they not offer a decent product loaded with inserts and memorabilia at a decent price? The only result I can come up with is that they simply don't have to. If you want NHL cards, you will buy Upper Deck cards, even if they are too expensive.
The more I see this, the more I realize that I might just buy my packs on eBay. The blasters I buy are in the $24.99 range. This box was $40 with shipping from Quebec. Take a look at the H&P blaster above, and compare it to this box. I didn't get near the $24.99 for the H&P. I eclipsed the $40 easily. When I open this, I get the urge to stop feeding the UD propaganda box machine and go with these, buying the current cards online.
Nonetheless, this is not about Upper Deck. This is about celebrating an old company that was a good one for my collecting years. Much maligned by many, but a great one in my mind. I will again buy a Pacific box somewhere, and let the memories - and value! - live again.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
It's been a while
So I haven't given up collecting, but it's certainly a little more sparse. Upper Deck is again flooding the market, and using almost the same things as last year with different designs. Still overpriced. I've been collecting O-Pee-Chee (the bastardized UD version, of course) because it's relatively cheap, and the buyback cards are cool - they bought cards from previous O-Pee-Chee releases back to..... well, who knows when, but I've pulled a couple from the 80's, including one that was autographed! Nice product, very recommended for the price point. My local dealer actually refuses to let me buy several of the UD products. They are THAT bad.
But I'm a collector, and I like to try new things. 2007-08 Fleer Hot Prospects hockey just came out. Nice looking set, and it seems like there are a lot of hits. I have a blaster retail box sitting here (10 packs plus 1 BONUS pack!!! Why they can't just say 11 packs I don't know.....), and those that collect know the drill on these. You might hit a long shot, you might get nothing. Thankfully, you don't pay much.
HP's major attraction every year are autographed rookie patch cards and a load of memorabilia and inserts. One might call it a poor man's SPx, but one would be generous in saying that. It's one of those sets that has its fans, but many ignore it completely. I like the set myself - but again, like other UD offerings, it's too expensive for what you get.
Anyway, time for the pack by pack. Will I get gold, or golden bladder water? We'll find out.
(First thing I notice on opening the box? Packs in these are usually pretty unruffled and evenly set. Not this one. Looks like it was packed by a monkey. Anyway.......)
Pack 1 - Satan, Naslund, Koivu, Hasek
A friend of mine is a Naslund collector. He'll have a new card. Kind of disconcerting for the first card to be the player whose last name is the same as..... well, you know.
Pack 2 - Kariya, Parise, Getzlaf, Phaneuf
Nice clean design on the cards. Limited use of foil, done very well. 3 good young players in the pack. Could be worse. And if I was a betting man, I would say there WILL be worse.
Pack 3 - Hemsky, Carter, Roloson, Jokinen
Wow. Already. If I were a betting man, I would be rich. With these 4 cards INCLUDING two Edmonton Coiler players, this is the bottom of the barrel for me.
Pack 4 - Shanahan, Williams, Weight, Gaborik
Shanahan, Weight, and Gaborik would probably be a devastating line.
They are also provide devastatingly low value for this pack.
Pack 5 - Nash, Jarret Stoll 2 colour Hot Materials jersey, Gionta
.........ok. Clearly someone is playing collecting tricks on me. I HATE the Edmonton Oilers almost as much as I like any other sports team. But if I am to pull an autograph or game used memorabilia card, there is seriously a 50% chance it's an Oiler. Stoll is from my old home town, and eventually he will leave Edmonton for a place that doesn't suck so badly, so I'll let this one slide. Nice looking card anyway.
Pack 6 - Khabibulin, Mason, Vyborny, Arnott
Huh.
Pack 7 - Hossa, Guerin, Cheechoo, Tanguay
No Shane Doan or Dallas Star cards yet. That would make me upset.
Pack 8 - Sakic, Miller, Ovechkin, Gagne
Ovechkin is cool.
Pack 9 - Daniel Sedin, Gionta, Pronger, Savard
A double (Gionta) already???????? Upper Deck still has no idea how to collate cards.
Pack 10 - Mikko Koivu, SHAAAAAAAANE DOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!, DiPietro, Samsonov
A Shane Doan card that I don't have redeems almost any box. At least that's what I tell myself.
Pack 11 - Cheechoo Hot Commodities insert #841/999, Drury, Kiprusoff, Pitkanen
Wow, even gone to cheap dot matrix style inkjet printing of serial numbers rather than gold foil. Shame shame, UD.
So what is there to say? 10% of the box was Oilers, which sucks most of all. 1 jersey, 1 insert, and one Doan. No Dallas Stars. No rookies. I would call it a dud, but then again, there's no odds on the box, which probably means that I struck....... oh crap, I didn't even think of this........ oil! I did strike Oil, didn't I. Hardeeharhar. Anyway, when UD puts no odds on the box this year, it means "good luck finding anything in here". Since jerseys/patches in the hobby box version are 1:5 packs, this is probably somewhere, oh I don't know, 1:144 or something. The UD series 2 blaster, instead of hobby's 1:12 pack jersey run, was 1:240!!!! I'm hoping that's a typo......
Anyway, certainly not the worst box I've ever had. Considering that a hobby box of this is running $65 on eBay - which with shipping is about 2 or 3 of these blasters.... - I would be better off spending the extra cash and getting that instead of another one of these. In fact, I just might. Then again, the new UD Ice looks nice...... but that sucked last time. I'm not that bright nor perceptive though.
I do have a retro box coming my way which should be fun to open........
But I'm a collector, and I like to try new things. 2007-08 Fleer Hot Prospects hockey just came out. Nice looking set, and it seems like there are a lot of hits. I have a blaster retail box sitting here (10 packs plus 1 BONUS pack!!! Why they can't just say 11 packs I don't know.....), and those that collect know the drill on these. You might hit a long shot, you might get nothing. Thankfully, you don't pay much.
HP's major attraction every year are autographed rookie patch cards and a load of memorabilia and inserts. One might call it a poor man's SPx, but one would be generous in saying that. It's one of those sets that has its fans, but many ignore it completely. I like the set myself - but again, like other UD offerings, it's too expensive for what you get.
Anyway, time for the pack by pack. Will I get gold, or golden bladder water? We'll find out.
(First thing I notice on opening the box? Packs in these are usually pretty unruffled and evenly set. Not this one. Looks like it was packed by a monkey. Anyway.......)
Pack 1 - Satan, Naslund, Koivu, Hasek
A friend of mine is a Naslund collector. He'll have a new card. Kind of disconcerting for the first card to be the player whose last name is the same as..... well, you know.
Pack 2 - Kariya, Parise, Getzlaf, Phaneuf
Nice clean design on the cards. Limited use of foil, done very well. 3 good young players in the pack. Could be worse. And if I was a betting man, I would say there WILL be worse.
Pack 3 - Hemsky, Carter, Roloson, Jokinen
Wow. Already. If I were a betting man, I would be rich. With these 4 cards INCLUDING two Edmonton Coiler players, this is the bottom of the barrel for me.
Pack 4 - Shanahan, Williams, Weight, Gaborik
Shanahan, Weight, and Gaborik would probably be a devastating line.
They are also provide devastatingly low value for this pack.
Pack 5 - Nash, Jarret Stoll 2 colour Hot Materials jersey, Gionta
.........ok. Clearly someone is playing collecting tricks on me. I HATE the Edmonton Oilers almost as much as I like any other sports team. But if I am to pull an autograph or game used memorabilia card, there is seriously a 50% chance it's an Oiler. Stoll is from my old home town, and eventually he will leave Edmonton for a place that doesn't suck so badly, so I'll let this one slide. Nice looking card anyway.
Pack 6 - Khabibulin, Mason, Vyborny, Arnott
Huh.
Pack 7 - Hossa, Guerin, Cheechoo, Tanguay
No Shane Doan or Dallas Star cards yet. That would make me upset.
Pack 8 - Sakic, Miller, Ovechkin, Gagne
Ovechkin is cool.
Pack 9 - Daniel Sedin, Gionta, Pronger, Savard
A double (Gionta) already???????? Upper Deck still has no idea how to collate cards.
Pack 10 - Mikko Koivu, SHAAAAAAAANE DOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!, DiPietro, Samsonov
A Shane Doan card that I don't have redeems almost any box. At least that's what I tell myself.
Pack 11 - Cheechoo Hot Commodities insert #841/999, Drury, Kiprusoff, Pitkanen
Wow, even gone to cheap dot matrix style inkjet printing of serial numbers rather than gold foil. Shame shame, UD.
So what is there to say? 10% of the box was Oilers, which sucks most of all. 1 jersey, 1 insert, and one Doan. No Dallas Stars. No rookies. I would call it a dud, but then again, there's no odds on the box, which probably means that I struck....... oh crap, I didn't even think of this........ oil! I did strike Oil, didn't I. Hardeeharhar. Anyway, when UD puts no odds on the box this year, it means "good luck finding anything in here". Since jerseys/patches in the hobby box version are 1:5 packs, this is probably somewhere, oh I don't know, 1:144 or something. The UD series 2 blaster, instead of hobby's 1:12 pack jersey run, was 1:240!!!! I'm hoping that's a typo......
Anyway, certainly not the worst box I've ever had. Considering that a hobby box of this is running $65 on eBay - which with shipping is about 2 or 3 of these blasters.... - I would be better off spending the extra cash and getting that instead of another one of these. In fact, I just might. Then again, the new UD Ice looks nice...... but that sucked last time. I'm not that bright nor perceptive though.
I do have a retro box coming my way which should be fun to open........
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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......
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......
Monday, April 23, 2007
Huh. Well then. Isn't THAT odd.
So UD tells me they're sending me "SPx unopened product". Pack, packs, box...... whatever, I like getting unopened product anytime.
Especially considering what I got in the mail today.
Shane Doan Scoring Kings Auto Jersey 13/20.
The one I wasn't supposed to get because it doesn't exist. The one I was apparently already compensated for.
Looks mighty cool for an invisible card.
See..... this is what happens when your customer service and redemption program needs a serious overhaul. Having it online is good - but if you have a computer guy on staff who can create a back end for it that actually helps you track who's been sent what, you can make it great. One where someone would KNOW what I got for what, and one where they would KNOW that I AM getting the Doan /20.
Instead, they're wasting time and money sending me product. Hey, I win in the end, but really, this is symptomatic of the UD monopoly - right now, I'm not sure they know what's going on. They're just flying by the seats of their pants. I haven't mentioned this yet..... but they did not once try to verify my identity or my claims. Really, it makes me wonder if some random person would fire off an angry e-mail about crap they received for a redemption, and if they could get free product out of it. I'm a call centre manager myself, and really...... secretly I would LOVE to move to UD and get their shit in order. I have a passion for cards, and I love the call centre industry. Anyway........
All this being said....... well, assuming I get the SPx too at this point, I turn into a happy customer again. In all honesty, with the unopened as a topper (especially if it's a whole box), they have more than compensated me for the timeframe I had to wait for. I did have to spend a whole lot of time and aggravation over it, but they have actually acknowledged it. And maybe that's the bottom line. If I'm happy and tell people I'm happy, maybe sending me a box that costs them $40 US to create does the trick for them. I certainly know a lot of collectors and dealers, and when I told them I was getting unopened product, all of them had a slightly restored faith in UD.
I don't know. Maybe they're customer service geniuses. Or maybe they just don't know what the hell they're doing and they're just dumbass lucky. I'd probably side with the latter, but when money isn't much of an object, I suppose it's all relative.
Especially considering what I got in the mail today.
Shane Doan Scoring Kings Auto Jersey 13/20.
The one I wasn't supposed to get because it doesn't exist. The one I was apparently already compensated for.
Looks mighty cool for an invisible card.
See..... this is what happens when your customer service and redemption program needs a serious overhaul. Having it online is good - but if you have a computer guy on staff who can create a back end for it that actually helps you track who's been sent what, you can make it great. One where someone would KNOW what I got for what, and one where they would KNOW that I AM getting the Doan /20.
Instead, they're wasting time and money sending me product. Hey, I win in the end, but really, this is symptomatic of the UD monopoly - right now, I'm not sure they know what's going on. They're just flying by the seats of their pants. I haven't mentioned this yet..... but they did not once try to verify my identity or my claims. Really, it makes me wonder if some random person would fire off an angry e-mail about crap they received for a redemption, and if they could get free product out of it. I'm a call centre manager myself, and really...... secretly I would LOVE to move to UD and get their shit in order. I have a passion for cards, and I love the call centre industry. Anyway........
All this being said....... well, assuming I get the SPx too at this point, I turn into a happy customer again. In all honesty, with the unopened as a topper (especially if it's a whole box), they have more than compensated me for the timeframe I had to wait for. I did have to spend a whole lot of time and aggravation over it, but they have actually acknowledged it. And maybe that's the bottom line. If I'm happy and tell people I'm happy, maybe sending me a box that costs them $40 US to create does the trick for them. I certainly know a lot of collectors and dealers, and when I told them I was getting unopened product, all of them had a slightly restored faith in UD.
I don't know. Maybe they're customer service geniuses. Or maybe they just don't know what the hell they're doing and they're just dumbass lucky. I'd probably side with the latter, but when money isn't much of an object, I suppose it's all relative.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Update
I've now sent Upper Deck about 12903849028 e-mails on the redemption replacements I received. A synopsis:
This guy expressed regret at what occurred, and told me that redemptions were final. He did tell me that he could arrange for me to be sent something extra. I told him that I understood the business reasons for the exchange, but that their process absolutely sucks. They need to learn a bit more customer service. I also emphasized my frustration, and the fact that I was considering just stopping collecting altogether....... (I get sad every time I write that. I'm not sure I could do that. Hopefully I won't have to.)
As per the old e-mails, I told him the 5 players or other stuff I might look for as an addition. He replied that although he could not get single cards, he DID have the ability to send me unopened product without a problem.
I told him that I would be ok with unopened product, especially those with a few Shane Doans in it. He responded quickly asking which ones those were - I thought that was a little strange, I would think it would be easy to look up for him. But no matter, he asked and I thought that was kind of cool. So I told him my first choice was Artifacts, since that's parallel city. I gave him a couple of other options, both higher end. Basically, I don't want him to send me Victory or something like that.
Am I giving up? Kind of, I guess. I can rest easy knowing that I tried everything to get what I wanted, but if it's not there, it's not there. If I'm not getting Doans, I want to get something good in return. And if you read the rest of my blogs, you know that I like unopened product! And really, UD would much rather send out unopened product. They can write it off as "promotional", and leave the replacement cards for other redemptions. So I guess we're meeting in the middle.
So we'll see. Maybe I'll get a pack of something, maybe a retail blaster, maybe even a whole box. Right now, although my hopes for something good are pretty high, my expectations have been riddled with bullets for too long. This was the first time I've talked to Upper Deck where there was actually some semblance of a solution being presented that would be somewhat customer service based. And with him actually bothering to ask which products feature Doan cards prominently, I'm at least a little impressed that he cared enough to ask.
- I say "Here's some facts. You sent me 25% of the value I was waiting for, and you didn't give me the chance to make any sort of input on that, despite the fact you told me you would"
- They say? "Well, we think you got enough"
- Me: "No, it's clear that I didn't."
- Them: "You did. Too bad."
- "Not good enough. Tell me why you think it is."
- "We know a guy who watches hockey. He says it is."
- "Ok..... can I buy his collection then?"
This guy expressed regret at what occurred, and told me that redemptions were final. He did tell me that he could arrange for me to be sent something extra. I told him that I understood the business reasons for the exchange, but that their process absolutely sucks. They need to learn a bit more customer service. I also emphasized my frustration, and the fact that I was considering just stopping collecting altogether....... (I get sad every time I write that. I'm not sure I could do that. Hopefully I won't have to.)
As per the old e-mails, I told him the 5 players or other stuff I might look for as an addition. He replied that although he could not get single cards, he DID have the ability to send me unopened product without a problem.
I told him that I would be ok with unopened product, especially those with a few Shane Doans in it. He responded quickly asking which ones those were - I thought that was a little strange, I would think it would be easy to look up for him. But no matter, he asked and I thought that was kind of cool. So I told him my first choice was Artifacts, since that's parallel city. I gave him a couple of other options, both higher end. Basically, I don't want him to send me Victory or something like that.
Am I giving up? Kind of, I guess. I can rest easy knowing that I tried everything to get what I wanted, but if it's not there, it's not there. If I'm not getting Doans, I want to get something good in return. And if you read the rest of my blogs, you know that I like unopened product! And really, UD would much rather send out unopened product. They can write it off as "promotional", and leave the replacement cards for other redemptions. So I guess we're meeting in the middle.
So we'll see. Maybe I'll get a pack of something, maybe a retail blaster, maybe even a whole box. Right now, although my hopes for something good are pretty high, my expectations have been riddled with bullets for too long. This was the first time I've talked to Upper Deck where there was actually some semblance of a solution being presented that would be somewhat customer service based. And with him actually bothering to ask which products feature Doan cards prominently, I'm at least a little impressed that he cared enough to ask.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
WHAT THE F........?
So.
In the past few weeks, looking up my two Doans on the Upper Deck redemption site, I see that they are complete, and being shipped. I thought well holy crap they're finally removed their heads from their collective asses. So I sit, awaiting the package. It arrived today.
I open with anticipation to hope to find:
05-06 UD Ice Glacial Graphs Shane Doan (Book Value $10)
05-06 Fleer Ultra Scoring Kings Auto Jersey Shane Doan ##/20 (No book value due to low numbering, but these usually run in the $50 range or so)
.................... I RECEIVE:
In lieu of the first:
05-06 UD Ice Glacial Graphs Ryan Kesler (Book Value $10)
- I hate not getting the Doan, but this IS proper book value, so I guess....... well no, I'm kinda pissed.
In lieu of the second
05-06 UD Ice Fresh Ice Glass Henrik Zetterberg (Book Value $12)
- I was stunned for about 3 seconds. Then, cage rattling, fire breathing fury. What in the flying hell are they thinking??????????
A math lesson for UD:
$10 = $10 - yay, you got that right.
$12 <> $50+ - idiots.
How can this company continue to do business this way? How can the NHL be SO STUPID as to allow these assholes their only contract? The problem is that both know that we are lemmings, and if we want NHL cards, this is the shit we need to put up with.
(Something you should know about me. I don't like profanity. If I use it, especially in typing it, I'm extremely angry)
I've fired off an angry e-mail to UD. It likely won't do anything except earn me more excuses. I'll also send an e-mail to the NHL. I can't imagine more than a canned response in return.
At this point in time, for the first time in my life, I'm ready to pack it in. I love hockey cards, but I simply cannot support a company that treats its customers this badly. I've already slowed my buying considerably. Will I stop? I doubt it. I won't include redemptions in my Doan collection anymore, that's for sure. I refuse to spend my money on cards that may or may not come my way.
I don't know. I don't have anything more to say. I held my hopes up (to me "autos in stock, cards being sent" means I'm getting what I asked for), and again, the useless bastards shit in my mouth. They continue to stun me with their incredible incompetence. Do I stop collecting altogether, change the way I collect, or just say screw it, this is how it is?
In the past few weeks, looking up my two Doans on the Upper Deck redemption site, I see that they are complete, and being shipped. I thought well holy crap they're finally removed their heads from their collective asses. So I sit, awaiting the package. It arrived today.
I open with anticipation to hope to find:
05-06 UD Ice Glacial Graphs Shane Doan (Book Value $10)
05-06 Fleer Ultra Scoring Kings Auto Jersey Shane Doan ##/20 (No book value due to low numbering, but these usually run in the $50 range or so)
.................... I RECEIVE:
In lieu of the first:
05-06 UD Ice Glacial Graphs Ryan Kesler (Book Value $10)
- I hate not getting the Doan, but this IS proper book value, so I guess....... well no, I'm kinda pissed.
In lieu of the second
05-06 UD Ice Fresh Ice Glass Henrik Zetterberg (Book Value $12)
- I was stunned for about 3 seconds. Then, cage rattling, fire breathing fury. What in the flying hell are they thinking??????????
A math lesson for UD:
$10 = $10 - yay, you got that right.
$12 <> $50+ - idiots.
How can this company continue to do business this way? How can the NHL be SO STUPID as to allow these assholes their only contract? The problem is that both know that we are lemmings, and if we want NHL cards, this is the shit we need to put up with.
(Something you should know about me. I don't like profanity. If I use it, especially in typing it, I'm extremely angry)
I've fired off an angry e-mail to UD. It likely won't do anything except earn me more excuses. I'll also send an e-mail to the NHL. I can't imagine more than a canned response in return.
At this point in time, for the first time in my life, I'm ready to pack it in. I love hockey cards, but I simply cannot support a company that treats its customers this badly. I've already slowed my buying considerably. Will I stop? I doubt it. I won't include redemptions in my Doan collection anymore, that's for sure. I refuse to spend my money on cards that may or may not come my way.
I don't know. I don't have anything more to say. I held my hopes up (to me "autos in stock, cards being sent" means I'm getting what I asked for), and again, the useless bastards shit in my mouth. They continue to stun me with their incredible incompetence. Do I stop collecting altogether, change the way I collect, or just say screw it, this is how it is?
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Retail return blister break...... "hodgepodge"
From Toys R Us in Nanaimo today, a 12 pack blister of retail return packs from Echo Brand Management. On sale for $14.99, just over $1 per pack. I know what you're thinking - retail packs are completely picked over. Well, I've bought these before and had bad experiences - the worst was when a few packs had obviously been bent. But I have pulled a few decent things, even game used cards.
Interesting one this time. They're normally within the past few years, but this one stretches all the way back to 1998. By pack, and comments..... when I have any.
Pack 1 - 1997-98 Score Pinnacle. Wow. As far as I remember, there were Dufex cards in here that looked pretty sweet. And we get - one card. By that I mean they're stuck together. Nice.
Jason Dawe, Owen Nolan, Hnat Domenichelli RC, Dino Ciccarelli, Martin Gelinas, Randy Cunneyworth, Valeri Kamensky, Kevin Hatcher, Curtis Joseph, Trevor Kidd, and a $10 discount on EA Sports NHL 98 (ummm.....cool)
Cards are ugly. That's about it.
Pack 2 - 1997-98 Pinnacle. Higher end, I guess. Insert with long odds - like 1:2250 packs for press plates, and 1:3888 for game used. My hopes aren't high. Let's see. Oh, and these are stuck together too.
Kevyn Adams RC, Steve Rucchin, Matthew Barnaby, Damian Rhodes, Mike Richter, Jason Allison, Chris Dingman RC, and a coupon to spent $7.99 US total on a screw down with "Pinnacle...Guaranteed Scarce" on it. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Much nicer cards than the Score. A couple of RCs that are still in the league too. Pretty much worthless, but still......
Pack 3 - 1998-99 Pacific Dynagon Ice. Lots of Pacific-ky inserts.
Kevin Hatcher, Chris Gratton, Martin Straka, Jocelyn Thibault, Michael Peca
Difficult to look at, these are. And not just because of who I pulled - and after 7 years, 4 of the 5 players are in the league! Ok, sorry, I'm reaching again, aren't I.
Pack 4 - 1999-00 Pacific Paramount. A Paramount of inserts. More than you can handle.
Steve Konowalchuk Gold (1 per pack), Colin Forbes Holo-Gold 028/199 (supposed to be the 1 per pack copper), Bryan Berard, Markus Naslund, Paul Kariya, Curtis Brown
A decent pack for what you could get, I guess. As with most Pacific products, they tried to make the photos way too sharp, and so they appear a little funky.
Pack 5 - 1999-00 Pacific Omega. Pacific's first offering with jersey cards - after owner Mike Cramer said that it was a fad. After this, Pacific basically made jersey cards jump the shark - they put them in everything, and were the first to market with the 1 jersey per pack watermark. To the cards.
Sami Helenius/Brian Willsie RC, Jose Theodore, Alexei Kovalev, Brad Leeb/Alfie Michaud RC, Nikolai Antropov RC, Martin Biron RC
Did I mention that the jersey cards were 1:5 BOXES? Guess not. 4 rookies in a pack. Even heard of most of them.
Pack 6 - 2004-05 Pacific. The very last Pacific set before the NHL lockout, then UD took over the whole thing. Although Pacific didn't exactly make the nicest sets on the market, at least they tried some new things. And on opening a Pacific pack, you at least felt like you got something. And from the feast or famine in most sets from the last two years, that's significant.
Marc Savard, Sergei Zubov, Scott Walker, Dave Andreychuk red parallel (1 per pack), Steve Sullivan, JS Aubin, Gary Roberts.
A bit of an edit "And on opening a Pacific pack, you at least usually felt like you got something."
Pack 7 - 2005-06 UD Parkhurst. Ah yes. "The crap". "Feast or Famine". I'm betting on famine. Let's hope for a surprise.
Dallas Drake, Philippe Boucher, Stu Barnes, Brian Leetch, John Grahame, Kevyn Adams
Well, two Stars (favourite team). I've had worse Parkhurst packs.
Pack 8 - 2005-06 UD Parkhurst. Not a typo. 2 of them in here.
Jocelyn Thibault, Marek Zidlicky, Erik Christensen, Mike Cammaleri, Patrick Marleau, Andrew Raycroft, Crappy McCrapperson
The last card may have been my imagination.
Pack 9 - 2006-07 UD PowerPlay. Not nearly as good as the 05-06 version, I heard. So this is pack 1 of these for me.
Milan Hejduk, Jaromir Jagr, Masi Marjamaki RC (RCs seeded 1:4 packs), Eric Staal, Manny Fernandez, Hernik Sedin, card to potentially win a trip to Dallas for the All Star Game to be a stick boy (kinda old)
Cards aren't as nice as last year. Names are too small. I heard right, I think.
Pack 10 - 2006-07 UD MVP. I like these, already reviewed them!
Chris Clark, Steve Ott, Jamie Langenbrunner, Pierre Turgeon, Jussi Jokinen, Sergei Brylin, Todd White, Rick DiPietro International Icons insert
I collect Jokinens. Still like MVP.
Pack 11 - 2005-06 UD Ice. You're going to pull a Crosby or Ovechkin #/99 for thousands of dollars. Or a pack of cards containing NHL players or something resembling that.
Eric Lindros, David Aebischer, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Leetch, Kevin Weeks
The latter. Again. Still hate Ice.
Pack 12 - 2005-06 UD Rookie Update. The hobby version is good. Retail, not as good. Let's see.
Jarome Iginla, Nikolai Khabibulin, Grant Stevenson Black Diamond RC, Alexander Frolov, Eric Lindros
Not a bad pack. That's what the hobby version is like - names you know, and a rookie from a high end set.
______________________________
So....... as a pack ripping fan, this wasn't bad. I've gotten a lot less and spent a lot more, and I got to see lots of different cards. The Stevenson is an $8 card, and got a few others that I collect. I'm not displeased. Not thrilled either, but it is what it is.
Interesting one this time. They're normally within the past few years, but this one stretches all the way back to 1998. By pack, and comments..... when I have any.
Pack 1 - 1997-98 Score Pinnacle. Wow. As far as I remember, there were Dufex cards in here that looked pretty sweet. And we get - one card. By that I mean they're stuck together. Nice.
Jason Dawe, Owen Nolan, Hnat Domenichelli RC, Dino Ciccarelli, Martin Gelinas, Randy Cunneyworth, Valeri Kamensky, Kevin Hatcher, Curtis Joseph, Trevor Kidd, and a $10 discount on EA Sports NHL 98 (ummm.....cool)
Cards are ugly. That's about it.
Pack 2 - 1997-98 Pinnacle. Higher end, I guess. Insert with long odds - like 1:2250 packs for press plates, and 1:3888 for game used. My hopes aren't high. Let's see. Oh, and these are stuck together too.
Kevyn Adams RC, Steve Rucchin, Matthew Barnaby, Damian Rhodes, Mike Richter, Jason Allison, Chris Dingman RC, and a coupon to spent $7.99 US total on a screw down with "Pinnacle...Guaranteed Scarce" on it. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Much nicer cards than the Score. A couple of RCs that are still in the league too. Pretty much worthless, but still......
Pack 3 - 1998-99 Pacific Dynagon Ice. Lots of Pacific-ky inserts.
Kevin Hatcher, Chris Gratton, Martin Straka, Jocelyn Thibault, Michael Peca
Difficult to look at, these are. And not just because of who I pulled - and after 7 years, 4 of the 5 players are in the league! Ok, sorry, I'm reaching again, aren't I.
Pack 4 - 1999-00 Pacific Paramount. A Paramount of inserts. More than you can handle.
Steve Konowalchuk Gold (1 per pack), Colin Forbes Holo-Gold 028/199 (supposed to be the 1 per pack copper), Bryan Berard, Markus Naslund, Paul Kariya, Curtis Brown
A decent pack for what you could get, I guess. As with most Pacific products, they tried to make the photos way too sharp, and so they appear a little funky.
Pack 5 - 1999-00 Pacific Omega. Pacific's first offering with jersey cards - after owner Mike Cramer said that it was a fad. After this, Pacific basically made jersey cards jump the shark - they put them in everything, and were the first to market with the 1 jersey per pack watermark. To the cards.
Sami Helenius/Brian Willsie RC, Jose Theodore, Alexei Kovalev, Brad Leeb/Alfie Michaud RC, Nikolai Antropov RC, Martin Biron RC
Did I mention that the jersey cards were 1:5 BOXES? Guess not. 4 rookies in a pack. Even heard of most of them.
Pack 6 - 2004-05 Pacific. The very last Pacific set before the NHL lockout, then UD took over the whole thing. Although Pacific didn't exactly make the nicest sets on the market, at least they tried some new things. And on opening a Pacific pack, you at least felt like you got something. And from the feast or famine in most sets from the last two years, that's significant.
Marc Savard, Sergei Zubov, Scott Walker, Dave Andreychuk red parallel (1 per pack), Steve Sullivan, JS Aubin, Gary Roberts.
A bit of an edit "And on opening a Pacific pack, you at least usually felt like you got something."
Pack 7 - 2005-06 UD Parkhurst. Ah yes. "The crap". "Feast or Famine". I'm betting on famine. Let's hope for a surprise.
Dallas Drake, Philippe Boucher, Stu Barnes, Brian Leetch, John Grahame, Kevyn Adams
Well, two Stars (favourite team). I've had worse Parkhurst packs.
Pack 8 - 2005-06 UD Parkhurst. Not a typo. 2 of them in here.
Jocelyn Thibault, Marek Zidlicky, Erik Christensen, Mike Cammaleri, Patrick Marleau, Andrew Raycroft, Crappy McCrapperson
The last card may have been my imagination.
Pack 9 - 2006-07 UD PowerPlay. Not nearly as good as the 05-06 version, I heard. So this is pack 1 of these for me.
Milan Hejduk, Jaromir Jagr, Masi Marjamaki RC (RCs seeded 1:4 packs), Eric Staal, Manny Fernandez, Hernik Sedin, card to potentially win a trip to Dallas for the All Star Game to be a stick boy (kinda old)
Cards aren't as nice as last year. Names are too small. I heard right, I think.
Pack 10 - 2006-07 UD MVP. I like these, already reviewed them!
Chris Clark, Steve Ott, Jamie Langenbrunner, Pierre Turgeon, Jussi Jokinen, Sergei Brylin, Todd White, Rick DiPietro International Icons insert
I collect Jokinens. Still like MVP.
Pack 11 - 2005-06 UD Ice. You're going to pull a Crosby or Ovechkin #/99 for thousands of dollars. Or a pack of cards containing NHL players or something resembling that.
Eric Lindros, David Aebischer, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Leetch, Kevin Weeks
The latter. Again. Still hate Ice.
Pack 12 - 2005-06 UD Rookie Update. The hobby version is good. Retail, not as good. Let's see.
Jarome Iginla, Nikolai Khabibulin, Grant Stevenson Black Diamond RC, Alexander Frolov, Eric Lindros
Not a bad pack. That's what the hobby version is like - names you know, and a rookie from a high end set.
______________________________
So....... as a pack ripping fan, this wasn't bad. I've gotten a lot less and spent a lot more, and I got to see lots of different cards. The Stevenson is an $8 card, and got a few others that I collect. I'm not displeased. Not thrilled either, but it is what it is.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
06/07 UD MVP, "The Monopoly" and "The Redemption Follies"
Well..... despite the fact that I felt a little dirty feeding the UD monopoly (I'll get to that in a bit.....) , I went out and purchased an MVP Blaster Box today. Decent looking product, 1 insert or rookie per pack, dual jerseys 1:24 packs, dual autos 1:288 packs. This blaster box had 12 packs, so I figured 6 rookies and 6 inserts, with a 1:2 chance for a jersey, and 1:24 chance for an auto. I don't think the numbered script variations are in the blasters, but I'm not completely sure.
I was going to do pack by pack, but I didn't think about it in time, so here's a quick recap. Nice clean looking cards, decent design. Got the 6 rookies as planned, but none are serious names. "Prospects" would be charitable. 4 defensemen though, and we know how valuable defensemen rookies are...... also 6 inserts. Also nice looking inserts, good photography, but a fair bit of foil, so if that's not your thing, then they might look kind of ugly I guess. I liked them though.
The topper was that I actually pulled a dual auto. The bad side of that is that it was Joffrey Lupul and Shawn Horcoff - from the Coilers. I HATE the Coilers. The good side is that I can likely sell it on eBay with no problem.
Would I buy it again? Probably. Decent value for the buck I think, the hobby version would also have the numbered cards, which would be even better. I'd recommend it over Victory, this year's Power Play (which by all accounts is garbage).... heck, I'd probably recommend it over regular UD this year, which has half the value of last year's, but the same price point. So I'd buy MVP, but begrudgingly. Why?
I've had it with Upper Deck. I've had it with their complete abuse of their monopoly. I've had it with their putrid bank-like customer service. I've had it with their abandonment of the hockey card collectors in favour of pure profit. Each of their products this year has less in it than last year, but is at or above the price of last year's. I understand that Crosby and Ovechkin aren't coming around every year, so they can't really be blamed for lower secondary value. But dropping the number of autos and memorabilia in the base UD when series 2 last year was already received as crap makes no sense when the price point is exactly the same. UD's response to me would be something like "Well, then don't buy it. We're not forcing you to." (Technically, Gary Bettman and his sock puppet assistants are, but.....) Fine. I won't buy it.
Redemptions. The stories from the past with UD is that if they were unable to provide the product to you within 12 weeks, you would receive riches. They were so upset with not being able to provide the cards to you that they would basically give you whatever you wanted so that you would continue to buy their cards. Now? Well....... I have two redemptions waiting. One for 6 months, one for 8 months. Both Shane Doans, which I bought on the secondary market to supplement my Doan collection. So really, that's what I want.
E-mail #1 to UD, at the 16 week mark, as they instruct, asking if there is any possible update to when or if I will get my cards. Response? "Unfortunately no, let us know if you want to exchange." No "Please accept our apologies for being short sighted" or anything. Not even "HAHAHAHHA We're Upper Deck, in terms of hockey, we answer to NO ONE!!!! HAHAHAHAHA". Just a "Your collection doesn't matter to us in the least. If you take something different, you'll stop bothering us and rejoin the rest of the blind doddering herd who are forced to eat our crap and like it." So instead of starting a war with morons and risk being pulled down to their level and being defeated by experience, I wait. I don't want exchanges. I bought these for a reason.
Then 06-07 Series 1 appears. It's the same thing as normal, of course, just less with it. And the same price as always. So I check eBay, and see a Signature Sensation card of Shane Doan with a sticker auto on it - like the stickers on the cards I apparently can't receive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My hair catches fire. I need cards with the sticker autos. They say I can't have them yet. They have NEW cards with stickers. I send an e-mail back to UD asking them what in the blue hell is going on. This is crazy.
Response? Wait for it...... "We can send you a replacement." Grr. Apparently I give them a list of 5 players - ones of equal or comparable Beckett value to the ones I'm getting. If they don't have one from those players, shipping just sends a random one of comparable Beckett value. I look at the e-mail and blink. For a long time. How EXACTLY is that customer service for a player collector? What use would I have for a Ryan Smyth auto jersey card - because with my luck, they'd send an Oiler card.
Not acceptable.
Next e-mail tells them so. I collect Doans, so unless you're sending me something of great value that I can sell on eBay and buy more Doans, I'm not biting and gambling on what you think is the same. I ask that they explain why this is the case - explain that there are new autos out when old ones go unfilled. The response is that it's contractual - players can be upset with their contract one year, love it the next, so they will sign all the cards from one year and not the other. The problem is that this is a sticker. Not a card. So take an 06-07 sticker, frikkin put it on my 05-06's and frikkin send them to me. If they still had no Doan stickers, I could place some blame on him, but they obviously have restocked.
So UD is basically telling me that it's not happening. So I ask.... any other Doans in stock? Well..... stock changes daily *of course*, so no idea. That's why we want your list of alternates, so we can screw you over and laugh, because hey..... we're the only game in town now! If you want to collect NHL player cards, you have no choice but to love us, no matter WHAT we do! Remember OPC prior to 1990? We're even worse! Anyway.......
So I've e-mailed them back. They've got me by the wedding tackle, obviously. Can they at LEAST send me a Doan auto card from this year as a "Sorry we've been such jackasses, here's something to at least consider buying more from us." gift? I'm expecting nothing, not even a response. However, if I don't get a response within a week, I'm calling them. I heard recently that calling in gets you a little more, because the reps have less room to dance around.
I can't stop collecting. The difference is that I won't be buying much in the way of packs or boxes until something gets resolved in this that restores my confidence. I frequent two card shops, and both are likely wondering where the hell I am. Well, I'm buying Doan singles off of eBay right now. So I'm still eating from the Upper Deck trough, but indirectly. I'll be spending 15-25% of the amount I normally spend on cards in a year - and I've spent a LOT of money in the past few year. And none of my money will go directly to Upper Deck. Like today, I'll buy a blaster here and there, but of a lower level product, because that's where the only realistic value is this year.... like every year.
I think the NHL and NHLPA will be getting e-mails from me on this monopoly. Likely won't make any difference, but I'd at least feel as though I tried.
I was going to do pack by pack, but I didn't think about it in time, so here's a quick recap. Nice clean looking cards, decent design. Got the 6 rookies as planned, but none are serious names. "Prospects" would be charitable. 4 defensemen though, and we know how valuable defensemen rookies are...... also 6 inserts. Also nice looking inserts, good photography, but a fair bit of foil, so if that's not your thing, then they might look kind of ugly I guess. I liked them though.
The topper was that I actually pulled a dual auto. The bad side of that is that it was Joffrey Lupul and Shawn Horcoff - from the Coilers. I HATE the Coilers. The good side is that I can likely sell it on eBay with no problem.
Would I buy it again? Probably. Decent value for the buck I think, the hobby version would also have the numbered cards, which would be even better. I'd recommend it over Victory, this year's Power Play (which by all accounts is garbage).... heck, I'd probably recommend it over regular UD this year, which has half the value of last year's, but the same price point. So I'd buy MVP, but begrudgingly. Why?
I've had it with Upper Deck. I've had it with their complete abuse of their monopoly. I've had it with their putrid bank-like customer service. I've had it with their abandonment of the hockey card collectors in favour of pure profit. Each of their products this year has less in it than last year, but is at or above the price of last year's. I understand that Crosby and Ovechkin aren't coming around every year, so they can't really be blamed for lower secondary value. But dropping the number of autos and memorabilia in the base UD when series 2 last year was already received as crap makes no sense when the price point is exactly the same. UD's response to me would be something like "Well, then don't buy it. We're not forcing you to." (Technically, Gary Bettman and his sock puppet assistants are, but.....) Fine. I won't buy it.
Redemptions. The stories from the past with UD is that if they were unable to provide the product to you within 12 weeks, you would receive riches. They were so upset with not being able to provide the cards to you that they would basically give you whatever you wanted so that you would continue to buy their cards. Now? Well....... I have two redemptions waiting. One for 6 months, one for 8 months. Both Shane Doans, which I bought on the secondary market to supplement my Doan collection. So really, that's what I want.
E-mail #1 to UD, at the 16 week mark, as they instruct, asking if there is any possible update to when or if I will get my cards. Response? "Unfortunately no, let us know if you want to exchange." No "Please accept our apologies for being short sighted" or anything. Not even "HAHAHAHHA We're Upper Deck, in terms of hockey, we answer to NO ONE!!!! HAHAHAHAHA". Just a "Your collection doesn't matter to us in the least. If you take something different, you'll stop bothering us and rejoin the rest of the blind doddering herd who are forced to eat our crap and like it." So instead of starting a war with morons and risk being pulled down to their level and being defeated by experience, I wait. I don't want exchanges. I bought these for a reason.
Then 06-07 Series 1 appears. It's the same thing as normal, of course, just less with it. And the same price as always. So I check eBay, and see a Signature Sensation card of Shane Doan with a sticker auto on it - like the stickers on the cards I apparently can't receive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My hair catches fire. I need cards with the sticker autos. They say I can't have them yet. They have NEW cards with stickers. I send an e-mail back to UD asking them what in the blue hell is going on. This is crazy.
Response? Wait for it...... "We can send you a replacement." Grr. Apparently I give them a list of 5 players - ones of equal or comparable Beckett value to the ones I'm getting. If they don't have one from those players, shipping just sends a random one of comparable Beckett value. I look at the e-mail and blink. For a long time. How EXACTLY is that customer service for a player collector? What use would I have for a Ryan Smyth auto jersey card - because with my luck, they'd send an Oiler card.
Not acceptable.
Next e-mail tells them so. I collect Doans, so unless you're sending me something of great value that I can sell on eBay and buy more Doans, I'm not biting and gambling on what you think is the same. I ask that they explain why this is the case - explain that there are new autos out when old ones go unfilled. The response is that it's contractual - players can be upset with their contract one year, love it the next, so they will sign all the cards from one year and not the other. The problem is that this is a sticker. Not a card. So take an 06-07 sticker, frikkin put it on my 05-06's and frikkin send them to me. If they still had no Doan stickers, I could place some blame on him, but they obviously have restocked.
So UD is basically telling me that it's not happening. So I ask.... any other Doans in stock? Well..... stock changes daily *of course*, so no idea. That's why we want your list of alternates, so we can screw you over and laugh, because hey..... we're the only game in town now! If you want to collect NHL player cards, you have no choice but to love us, no matter WHAT we do! Remember OPC prior to 1990? We're even worse! Anyway.......
So I've e-mailed them back. They've got me by the wedding tackle, obviously. Can they at LEAST send me a Doan auto card from this year as a "Sorry we've been such jackasses, here's something to at least consider buying more from us." gift? I'm expecting nothing, not even a response. However, if I don't get a response within a week, I'm calling them. I heard recently that calling in gets you a little more, because the reps have less room to dance around.
I can't stop collecting. The difference is that I won't be buying much in the way of packs or boxes until something gets resolved in this that restores my confidence. I frequent two card shops, and both are likely wondering where the hell I am. Well, I'm buying Doan singles off of eBay right now. So I'm still eating from the Upper Deck trough, but indirectly. I'll be spending 15-25% of the amount I normally spend on cards in a year - and I've spent a LOT of money in the past few year. And none of my money will go directly to Upper Deck. Like today, I'll buy a blaster here and there, but of a lower level product, because that's where the only realistic value is this year.... like every year.
I think the NHL and NHLPA will be getting e-mails from me on this monopoly. Likely won't make any difference, but I'd at least feel as though I tried.
Friday, August 04, 2006
A new job.... and the "going away" gift from myself :)
Well, after over four years at my current job, it was time to move forward to a new challenge, and today was my last day. In celebration of that, I decided to buy myself a box of cards.
I chose the new 2005-06 Fleer (ok, UD with Fleer badging...) Hot Prospects. Not cheap by any stretch, and to be honest, I know very little about it, other than it has some good stuff in it. Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there.
Pack 1 - Turco, Raycroft, Nash, Nabokov, Kiprusoff
A goalie collector's dream. Different design, sharp photography with a nice emphasis on the player.
Pack 2 - Recchi, St. Louis, Zetterberg, Kariya, Richards
If I was paying $15 per pack, I wouldn't be happy. Thought I'd share that.
Pack 3 - Bertuzzi, Murray, Giguere, Gonchar, Hossa
Ok.
Pack 4 - Andrew Alberts Prized Prospects Rookie Auto Patch 239/349
One colour (black), and more initials than an autograph. Better than a kick in the teeth, but barely.
Pack 5 - Thornton, Weight, Kyle Brodziak RC 0598/1999, Sundin, Staal
Well, a rookie is a rookie.
Pack 6 - Koivu, Jackman, Hasek, Jokinen, Lecavalier
Into everyone's life, some commons may fall.
Pack 7 - Thornton, Jim Slater Hot Materials Jersey (blue), Marleau, Khabibulin
No idea who Jim Slater is. And for there to be doubles in a box of this size is kinda crazy.
Pack 8 - Kovalchuk, Hejduk, Mark Giordano RC 0980/1999, Malone, Roenick
A rookie is a rookie. But who ARE these people?
Pack 9 - Kolzig, Gaborik, Luongo, Drury, Ribiero, and an Upper Deck Store discount coupon
When will UD learn that most people don't want to pay $199.99 for an autographed Tiger Woods 8X10 with a cheap frame? Anyway.....
Pack 10 - Shanahan, McCabe, Nick Tarnasky RC 1216/1999, Fernandez, Hemsky
(takes another swig of beer) Mrs. Tarnasky is getting some mail. A hockey card of her son.
Pack 11 - Alfredsson, Bergeron, Brian McGrattan RC 0840/1999, Elias, Jagr
FINALLY a rookie I've heard of. A goon, but goons are worth something in the card world.
Pack 12 - Frolov, Belfour, Forsberg, Sullivan, Gagne
If I'm going to get commons, can I at least get a freaking Doan card???
Pack 13 - Lemieux, Miller, Corey Crawford RC 1897/1999, Horcoff, Sakic
(silence)
Pack 14 - Robitaille, Evgeny Artyukhin Hot Materials Jersey, Pronger, Modano
I've heard of Artyukhin. Had to look on the spelling though. And the Modano is cool. Can I get a Doan in pack 15?
Pack 15 - Heatley, Selanne, Svatos, Prospal, Joseph
Nope.
Verdict?
Well...... can't really complain about an auto rookie patch, 2 jerseys, and 5 numbered rookies in a box. I could have picked up a UD Series 2 box for slightly less, but I would have got less too, unless I managed to pull an Ovechkin. The auto patch was disappointing in the auto and small one colour patch, but it is what it is, and they're selling. Would I buy another box? I'd pay less on eBay for it, and.... yeah, I might. It's a little more expensive than most boxes, but there's some value here, and it's a fun break.
Where I give UD major points is that this is unique. And for UD, that's a MAJOR thing. Again, it looks like they need to sharpen the cutting blades a little, as there are some damaged sides, but the cards look nice, and the design is actually a different.
Grades out of 5:
ROOKIES: 4
- For quantity, not quality. And an auto rookie patch per box is a nice thing, especially considering SP Authentic's price versus value.
GAME USED: 3
- 2 per box is fine, and both were rookies (I think.... I don't know for sure.... and I follow hockey pretty closely). But small pieces, and photo shoot pieces. This late in the year, that's questionable a little.
SET BUILDERS: 4
- Looks to be a 100 card regular set, and a box puts you close to it, I think. But I got a double. And that bugs me. Call me petty if you must, but......
AUTOS: 2?
- Only auto was the patch (if you can call it an auto). I heard there was supposed to be 2, and there was one. So I'm judging hard.
OVERALL: 4
- I was going to say 3.5, but I'm assuming I got a bit of a dud box. It's a nice set, and while it's not necessarily cheap, nothing is this year, and this is pretty good value for the buck. I'd buy more. But definitely buy by the box, not the pack. As a warning, with the patch the only card in the pack, it's very very searchable. If you're going to buy packs, get them from a dealer you trust.
I chose the new 2005-06 Fleer (ok, UD with Fleer badging...) Hot Prospects. Not cheap by any stretch, and to be honest, I know very little about it, other than it has some good stuff in it. Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there.
Pack 1 - Turco, Raycroft, Nash, Nabokov, Kiprusoff
A goalie collector's dream. Different design, sharp photography with a nice emphasis on the player.
Pack 2 - Recchi, St. Louis, Zetterberg, Kariya, Richards
If I was paying $15 per pack, I wouldn't be happy. Thought I'd share that.
Pack 3 - Bertuzzi, Murray, Giguere, Gonchar, Hossa
Ok.
Pack 4 - Andrew Alberts Prized Prospects Rookie Auto Patch 239/349
One colour (black), and more initials than an autograph. Better than a kick in the teeth, but barely.
Pack 5 - Thornton, Weight, Kyle Brodziak RC 0598/1999, Sundin, Staal
Well, a rookie is a rookie.
Pack 6 - Koivu, Jackman, Hasek, Jokinen, Lecavalier
Into everyone's life, some commons may fall.
Pack 7 - Thornton, Jim Slater Hot Materials Jersey (blue), Marleau, Khabibulin
No idea who Jim Slater is. And for there to be doubles in a box of this size is kinda crazy.
Pack 8 - Kovalchuk, Hejduk, Mark Giordano RC 0980/1999, Malone, Roenick
A rookie is a rookie. But who ARE these people?
Pack 9 - Kolzig, Gaborik, Luongo, Drury, Ribiero, and an Upper Deck Store discount coupon
When will UD learn that most people don't want to pay $199.99 for an autographed Tiger Woods 8X10 with a cheap frame? Anyway.....
Pack 10 - Shanahan, McCabe, Nick Tarnasky RC 1216/1999, Fernandez, Hemsky
(takes another swig of beer) Mrs. Tarnasky is getting some mail. A hockey card of her son.
Pack 11 - Alfredsson, Bergeron, Brian McGrattan RC 0840/1999, Elias, Jagr
FINALLY a rookie I've heard of. A goon, but goons are worth something in the card world.
Pack 12 - Frolov, Belfour, Forsberg, Sullivan, Gagne
If I'm going to get commons, can I at least get a freaking Doan card???
Pack 13 - Lemieux, Miller, Corey Crawford RC 1897/1999, Horcoff, Sakic
(silence)
Pack 14 - Robitaille, Evgeny Artyukhin Hot Materials Jersey, Pronger, Modano
I've heard of Artyukhin. Had to look on the spelling though. And the Modano is cool. Can I get a Doan in pack 15?
Pack 15 - Heatley, Selanne, Svatos, Prospal, Joseph
Nope.
Verdict?
Well...... can't really complain about an auto rookie patch, 2 jerseys, and 5 numbered rookies in a box. I could have picked up a UD Series 2 box for slightly less, but I would have got less too, unless I managed to pull an Ovechkin. The auto patch was disappointing in the auto and small one colour patch, but it is what it is, and they're selling. Would I buy another box? I'd pay less on eBay for it, and.... yeah, I might. It's a little more expensive than most boxes, but there's some value here, and it's a fun break.
Where I give UD major points is that this is unique. And for UD, that's a MAJOR thing. Again, it looks like they need to sharpen the cutting blades a little, as there are some damaged sides, but the cards look nice, and the design is actually a different.
Grades out of 5:
ROOKIES: 4
- For quantity, not quality. And an auto rookie patch per box is a nice thing, especially considering SP Authentic's price versus value.
GAME USED: 3
- 2 per box is fine, and both were rookies (I think.... I don't know for sure.... and I follow hockey pretty closely). But small pieces, and photo shoot pieces. This late in the year, that's questionable a little.
SET BUILDERS: 4
- Looks to be a 100 card regular set, and a box puts you close to it, I think. But I got a double. And that bugs me. Call me petty if you must, but......
AUTOS: 2?
- Only auto was the patch (if you can call it an auto). I heard there was supposed to be 2, and there was one. So I'm judging hard.
OVERALL: 4
- I was going to say 3.5, but I'm assuming I got a bit of a dud box. It's a nice set, and while it's not necessarily cheap, nothing is this year, and this is pretty good value for the buck. I'd buy more. But definitely buy by the box, not the pack. As a warning, with the patch the only card in the pack, it's very very searchable. If you're going to buy packs, get them from a dealer you trust.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Blaster box and more packs
Found a Parkhurst blaster - 7 packs for $12.99, under $2 per pack. Although this does worry me a little, seeing as the hobby version is kinda sparse, what does this look like?
Well, upon opening pack 1, I decided not to do a pack by pack breakdown. 1 rookie and 2 "limited" cards in the box. In other words? Garbage. Do yourself a favour, and either wait until this product's price falls through the floor, or buy MVP instead, similar price with a lot more upside. Heck, buy Victory instead. I know I'm done with Parkhurst until prices crash, if I even try again. This should have been $1.99 hobby and $0.99 retail per pack. Instead, it's far higher. Horrific value.
Found blister packs of Rookie Update and UD Ice. Tough to find, and will probably be gone in a hurry, if Black Diamond blister packs were any indication.
Oops. Didn't see that the Rookie Update was Retail packs. Got nothing. Oops. Got nothing from Ice again. Wow. Shocking.
One day I'll realize that buying packs isn't worth it. But I'm not that smart, so it could take a while......
Well, upon opening pack 1, I decided not to do a pack by pack breakdown. 1 rookie and 2 "limited" cards in the box. In other words? Garbage. Do yourself a favour, and either wait until this product's price falls through the floor, or buy MVP instead, similar price with a lot more upside. Heck, buy Victory instead. I know I'm done with Parkhurst until prices crash, if I even try again. This should have been $1.99 hobby and $0.99 retail per pack. Instead, it's far higher. Horrific value.
Found blister packs of Rookie Update and UD Ice. Tough to find, and will probably be gone in a hurry, if Black Diamond blister packs were any indication.
Oops. Didn't see that the Rookie Update was Retail packs. Got nothing. Oops. Got nothing from Ice again. Wow. Shocking.
One day I'll realize that buying packs isn't worth it. But I'm not that smart, so it could take a while......
Friday, July 07, 2006
Another pack break
Today, as I get a new job, I decided to treat myself to a few packs of hockey cards. Two new ones that recently came out. Here we go:
Parkhurst. To hardcore hockey card collectors, it evokes memories of Gordie Howe, Rocket Richard, and the days of old, where hockey cards were 5 cents a pack, and the cards are now worth thousands - a tale of hockey history. To card "collectors" who caught the fever in the early 90s, or people who were young then, it is memories of ProSet's attempts at a higher end brand, and some of the first full set parallel sets, when hockey cards were up to $1.00 a pack, and the cards are now worth basically nothing. Today? Upper Deck Parkhurst. A 700 card monster set. Worth it? Let's open the packs:
Pack 1 - Elias, H. Sedin, Brown, Koivu, Rucinsky, Valtteri Filppula RC.
Hmm..... a 700 card set will have a lot of commons, I guess.
Pack 2 - Exelby, Dallman, Plekanec, Erskine, Chouinard, George Parros RC.
Hmm..... a 700 card set will have a lot of commons, I guess.
Pack 3 - Lidstrom, Morrow, Knuble, Koltsov, Frolov, Steve Yzerman Captains Insert.
Hmm..... a 700 card set will have a lot of commons, I guess.
Verdict? Decent looking cards, but at $3 per pack, pass until the prices come down. This is a set for rookie and set collectors. 1 auto per box, 1 jersey per case - but 8 jerseys PER CARD! Not a horribly bad set, but do yourself a favour and wait until boxes on eBay come down.
Next is Rookie Update. I don't know much about it aside from it having a LOT of rookies. Let's go:
Pack 1 - Fedorov, Turco, DiPietro, Kiprusoff, Milan Jurcina Black Diamond Triple RC.
First thing I notice? Big mistake by UD. The BD rookie has gold colouring on the bottom, which in the regular BD was the colour of cards #/10. Nice regular cards though.
Pack 2 - Roenick, Primeau, Alfredsson, Tanguay, Brad Richardson Artifacts RC 669/750
Second thing I notice? Rookies from high end sets with packs at $8 instead of $20+.
Pack 3 - Kovalchuk, McCabe, Jokinen, Gomez, Jordan Sigalet BD RC
Third thing I notice?..... if I didn't like rookies, I'm not getting much here.
Pack 4 - Iginla, Svatos, Yzerman, Miller, Connor James Rookie Update RC 1795/1999
Fourth thing I notice? Well.......
Rookie Update appears to be a nice product. Pack price of around $8 seems a little pricey until you realize that you're getting a lot of rookies, and from packs that were in the $15-$50 range in earlier ones. No, the rookies aren't as good now as in the original sets, but if you like rookies, this looks like a great set, especially for variety. I'd recommend you pick some up.
Parkhurst. To hardcore hockey card collectors, it evokes memories of Gordie Howe, Rocket Richard, and the days of old, where hockey cards were 5 cents a pack, and the cards are now worth thousands - a tale of hockey history. To card "collectors" who caught the fever in the early 90s, or people who were young then, it is memories of ProSet's attempts at a higher end brand, and some of the first full set parallel sets, when hockey cards were up to $1.00 a pack, and the cards are now worth basically nothing. Today? Upper Deck Parkhurst. A 700 card monster set. Worth it? Let's open the packs:
Pack 1 - Elias, H. Sedin, Brown, Koivu, Rucinsky, Valtteri Filppula RC.
Hmm..... a 700 card set will have a lot of commons, I guess.
Pack 2 - Exelby, Dallman, Plekanec, Erskine, Chouinard, George Parros RC.
Hmm..... a 700 card set will have a lot of commons, I guess.
Pack 3 - Lidstrom, Morrow, Knuble, Koltsov, Frolov, Steve Yzerman Captains Insert.
Hmm..... a 700 card set will have a lot of commons, I guess.
Verdict? Decent looking cards, but at $3 per pack, pass until the prices come down. This is a set for rookie and set collectors. 1 auto per box, 1 jersey per case - but 8 jerseys PER CARD! Not a horribly bad set, but do yourself a favour and wait until boxes on eBay come down.
Next is Rookie Update. I don't know much about it aside from it having a LOT of rookies. Let's go:
Pack 1 - Fedorov, Turco, DiPietro, Kiprusoff, Milan Jurcina Black Diamond Triple RC.
First thing I notice? Big mistake by UD. The BD rookie has gold colouring on the bottom, which in the regular BD was the colour of cards #/10. Nice regular cards though.
Pack 2 - Roenick, Primeau, Alfredsson, Tanguay, Brad Richardson Artifacts RC 669/750
Second thing I notice? Rookies from high end sets with packs at $8 instead of $20+.
Pack 3 - Kovalchuk, McCabe, Jokinen, Gomez, Jordan Sigalet BD RC
Third thing I notice?..... if I didn't like rookies, I'm not getting much here.
Pack 4 - Iginla, Svatos, Yzerman, Miller, Connor James Rookie Update RC 1795/1999
Fourth thing I notice? Well.......
Rookie Update appears to be a nice product. Pack price of around $8 seems a little pricey until you realize that you're getting a lot of rookies, and from packs that were in the $15-$50 range in earlier ones. No, the rookies aren't as good now as in the original sets, but if you like rookies, this looks like a great set, especially for variety. I'd recommend you pick some up.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Live pack break!
Today, three regular type packs - 1 2005-06 Upper Deck Ice Hockey, and 2 2005-06 UD SPAuthentic hockey. Also, have a blast from the past.... brought to the present. NHL Pogs! Also, at the end, one surprise pack that I've heard of, but never seen in person. More on that at the end when I open it. :)
First, the POGS pack. Don't know much about it, but it has a Shane Doan card in it, so if I pull that, we call this a success. "Collect all 60" it says. 5 POGS per pack, 1 "slammer" (whatever that is) and 1 "series card" (whatever that is.....). Anyway, on to opening:
The opening tab on the side of the pack is nice. It's also in a blister pack. Ooh.
The series card is a checklist, probably should have figured that out. An Ovechkin in here, but no Crosby. I guess Upper Deck owns Crosby. The slammer appears to be a plastic mini-puck about a 1/4 inch thick, with the NHL logo on the back. I guess this IS supposed to be a game of some type, so this slammer must facilitate that.
Pogs? Daniel Briere, Jarome Iginla, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, Glen Murray. Funky holograms on the back, much better quality than the previous ones. This was a loose pack I saw at Superstore. No price tag. I hope I didn't pay much. Oops, looked at the sales slip. $4.98. Well, once is fine.
UD Ice pack - I reviewed this already :). On to the pack: Esche, Nabokov, Poti, Antropov, Luongo. You know, I don't really like the one insert per pack idea..... but crap, if you don't pull an auto or jersey, you get nothing from these.
SP Authentic. One of the sets rookie collectors look forward to every year. Feast or famine, really. You get something great, or you get..... well, cards. Anyone who's collected hockey cards knows the drill on these, so I won't go into detail. Let's look at the two packs and see what's there:
Pack 1 -Palffy, Lindros, Ribiero, Stajan, Roloson
Worse than crap. Unimaginable.
Pack 2 - Biron, Gomez, Gionta, Khabibulin, Yzerman
Slightly better than pack 1. Slightly worse than eating thumbtacks.
Cards look nice. High quality card stock, no damage. But again, feast or famine. In my case, famine.
Now for the odd one. I found a pack of 2003-04 UD Manchester United soccer cards! Match-worn shirts 1 per box, autos 1:96 packs (1 in 4 boxes). Definitely a rare item. Finding it alone is tough, so really, even if I get all commons, finding it was a reward. Although it would be nice not to find crap. Here we go:
Opening..... A checklist card. Sir Alex Ferguson hoisting a trophy. To be honest, I have no idea which one, and I've been unable to find out. It's got kind of a crown thingy on top. Four regular cards, Diego Forlan, Bojan Djordic, David Bellion, and Wes Brown. Then, a "Ruud Awakening" insert card, seeded 1:12 packs.
Unique cards, but the design reminds me of UD's golf card offerings, or the old Collector's Choice hockey. The red foil should have been yellow or gold, not red. They tried to use red and black for everything, it just makes it difficult to see properly. Pics are rather boring. The Diego card is the only one with actual in-game action. The rest are practice, or in the insert card's case, a pic, but no background. I give them points for being different to me, but there isn't much special about them.
Overall, not a great pack busting episode. I basically got nothing except something unique in the ManU cards. Oh well, I guess there's those days.
First, the POGS pack. Don't know much about it, but it has a Shane Doan card in it, so if I pull that, we call this a success. "Collect all 60" it says. 5 POGS per pack, 1 "slammer" (whatever that is) and 1 "series card" (whatever that is.....). Anyway, on to opening:
The opening tab on the side of the pack is nice. It's also in a blister pack. Ooh.
The series card is a checklist, probably should have figured that out. An Ovechkin in here, but no Crosby. I guess Upper Deck owns Crosby. The slammer appears to be a plastic mini-puck about a 1/4 inch thick, with the NHL logo on the back. I guess this IS supposed to be a game of some type, so this slammer must facilitate that.
Pogs? Daniel Briere, Jarome Iginla, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, Glen Murray. Funky holograms on the back, much better quality than the previous ones. This was a loose pack I saw at Superstore. No price tag. I hope I didn't pay much. Oops, looked at the sales slip. $4.98. Well, once is fine.
UD Ice pack - I reviewed this already :). On to the pack: Esche, Nabokov, Poti, Antropov, Luongo. You know, I don't really like the one insert per pack idea..... but crap, if you don't pull an auto or jersey, you get nothing from these.
SP Authentic. One of the sets rookie collectors look forward to every year. Feast or famine, really. You get something great, or you get..... well, cards. Anyone who's collected hockey cards knows the drill on these, so I won't go into detail. Let's look at the two packs and see what's there:
Pack 1 -Palffy, Lindros, Ribiero, Stajan, Roloson
Worse than crap. Unimaginable.
Pack 2 - Biron, Gomez, Gionta, Khabibulin, Yzerman
Slightly better than pack 1. Slightly worse than eating thumbtacks.
Cards look nice. High quality card stock, no damage. But again, feast or famine. In my case, famine.
Now for the odd one. I found a pack of 2003-04 UD Manchester United soccer cards! Match-worn shirts 1 per box, autos 1:96 packs (1 in 4 boxes). Definitely a rare item. Finding it alone is tough, so really, even if I get all commons, finding it was a reward. Although it would be nice not to find crap. Here we go:
Opening..... A checklist card. Sir Alex Ferguson hoisting a trophy. To be honest, I have no idea which one, and I've been unable to find out. It's got kind of a crown thingy on top. Four regular cards, Diego Forlan, Bojan Djordic, David Bellion, and Wes Brown. Then, a "Ruud Awakening" insert card, seeded 1:12 packs.
Unique cards, but the design reminds me of UD's golf card offerings, or the old Collector's Choice hockey. The red foil should have been yellow or gold, not red. They tried to use red and black for everything, it just makes it difficult to see properly. Pics are rather boring. The Diego card is the only one with actual in-game action. The rest are practice, or in the insert card's case, a pic, but no background. I give them points for being different to me, but there isn't much special about them.
Overall, not a great pack busting episode. I basically got nothing except something unique in the ManU cards. Oh well, I guess there's those days.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
UD Ice pack break.... and pack wars!
Went to a card show today and participated in my first "pack wars". I'd heard a lot about them, but had never done one. A dealer I know invited me to play - 4 of us, $20 per person, 6 packs each of UD series 2 hockey. The first person says a number that would appear in the set, and everyone opens one pack. The person with the card in the newly opened pack that is the closest to the one said gets all 4 packs. So if you pull a pack with an Ovechkin Young Guns and you don't have the number closest to the one said...... fork it over.
Sounds maddening, but for pack rippers like myself, it's potentially addicting. I ended up winning twice out of the 6, but I didn't get the Joe Thornton Majestic Materials /50. :( Oh well, I had fun, and for $20, I got 8 packs of UD Series 2, with 3 rookies. Not a bad return.
Bought 4 packs of UD Ice at the show. The dealer I knew gave me the Shane Doan card I needed. Decent looking cards, I think. But very reminicent of the old Ovation brand, the same nicked up ice design. Still, I liked that design, so it's not a bad thing. I also picked up a Jussi Jokinen Cool Threads jersey for $8 at the show. Odd jersey piece - looks like it might be from a retro North Stars jersey. I should e-mail UD about it. Anyway, nice card, but not acetate, which was too bad. To the packs! Here's live play by play: :)
Pack 1 - Sakic, Jagr, Staal, Weiss, Selanne (all base)
Nice cards for the price point. No damaged cards, another plus.
Pack 2 - Weekes, Frolov, Alfredsson, Ryder, DiPietro (all base)
Like the first pack, except about a quarter of the star power. I figure it can't get worse than this one.
Pack 3 - Kovalchuk, Lehtonen, Yashin, Nabokov, Poti (all base)
Ummm...... has this box been searched?
Pack 4- Sundin, Morrison (base), Maxime Talbot Fresh Ice jersey card (acetate!)
Finally. Although I nearly soiled myself when I saw the Penguins logo on the back. Photo shoot jersey, but a very nice card.
Thoughts? Nice cards. I didn't have a whole lot of luck, but this is a nice enough set that I might actually collect it as an entire set. And NO damaged cards, which is an amazing plus considering UD's quality issues this year. I got them at $5 per pack (tax in), which might appear a little high, but for better quality nicer looking cards and some nice inserts, it's better than something like the atrocious Beehive. I'd recommend you buy a few packs. From what I hear, if you get 4 packs, you'll get something at least. I've heard some disastrous box breaks, though.
Ratings 1-5:
Design: 4.5
- a slightly reused design, but well done and fairly nice, I think.
Rookies: odds ?, value 1.5-2
- I didn't pull any. It looks like they are plentiful, but not of much value. The Crosby is out of 99 (I think), but it's a long pull.
Game used: 4
- Nice cards, values aren't looking too good though
Autographs: 5
- Acetate autos for many of them, and autos on the actual cards.
OVERALL RATING: 4
- Well done, I think. Maybe a little high priced, but compared to other offerings this year, not bad.
Sounds maddening, but for pack rippers like myself, it's potentially addicting. I ended up winning twice out of the 6, but I didn't get the Joe Thornton Majestic Materials /50. :( Oh well, I had fun, and for $20, I got 8 packs of UD Series 2, with 3 rookies. Not a bad return.
Bought 4 packs of UD Ice at the show. The dealer I knew gave me the Shane Doan card I needed. Decent looking cards, I think. But very reminicent of the old Ovation brand, the same nicked up ice design. Still, I liked that design, so it's not a bad thing. I also picked up a Jussi Jokinen Cool Threads jersey for $8 at the show. Odd jersey piece - looks like it might be from a retro North Stars jersey. I should e-mail UD about it. Anyway, nice card, but not acetate, which was too bad. To the packs! Here's live play by play: :)
Pack 1 - Sakic, Jagr, Staal, Weiss, Selanne (all base)
Nice cards for the price point. No damaged cards, another plus.
Pack 2 - Weekes, Frolov, Alfredsson, Ryder, DiPietro (all base)
Like the first pack, except about a quarter of the star power. I figure it can't get worse than this one.
Pack 3 - Kovalchuk, Lehtonen, Yashin, Nabokov, Poti (all base)
Ummm...... has this box been searched?
Pack 4- Sundin, Morrison (base), Maxime Talbot Fresh Ice jersey card (acetate!)
Finally. Although I nearly soiled myself when I saw the Penguins logo on the back. Photo shoot jersey, but a very nice card.
Thoughts? Nice cards. I didn't have a whole lot of luck, but this is a nice enough set that I might actually collect it as an entire set. And NO damaged cards, which is an amazing plus considering UD's quality issues this year. I got them at $5 per pack (tax in), which might appear a little high, but for better quality nicer looking cards and some nice inserts, it's better than something like the atrocious Beehive. I'd recommend you buy a few packs. From what I hear, if you get 4 packs, you'll get something at least. I've heard some disastrous box breaks, though.
Ratings 1-5:
Design: 4.5
- a slightly reused design, but well done and fairly nice, I think.
Rookies: odds ?, value 1.5-2
- I didn't pull any. It looks like they are plentiful, but not of much value. The Crosby is out of 99 (I think), but it's a long pull.
Game used: 4
- Nice cards, values aren't looking too good though
Autographs: 5
- Acetate autos for many of them, and autos on the actual cards.
OVERALL RATING: 4
- Well done, I think. Maybe a little high priced, but compared to other offerings this year, not bad.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Hockey card review: UD PowerPlay
(Ok, late summation of this set, but here goes.....)
UD Victory. Usually sells pretty well, for the first little while. It's usually the first official card set of the year (this year was the BAP auto set, but..... I don't know, just wasn't a hockey season set to me.....). Low price, and not much to justify a higher price. It's hockey cards. Period. Some parallels, clean design (ok, maybe not that), sturdy card stock.... it's a way to start the collecting year, and stoke the hockey card fire. But at some point, after getting a set, people go "Ok, I'm ready, give me something better."
Enter the newest UD set, Power Play. Decent price point of $3-$4 per pack, two jerseys per box, and two redemptions per box each for one of 4 sets of 10 rookies. So with 24 packs, when you buy a box you're getting 20 rookies. Not a bad return, really. 90 card set, with limited cards 1:4 packs. They are numbered in the set order, so to collect a master set, be prepared to buy a lot of packs/boxes, or pay secondary prices.
The cards are decent looking. Nice relatively understated use of foil on them, decent pics, new type of design. Value? Well, you're looking at $75 per box, and in there, if you get the A redemption with Crosby, that's a $40-$50 set. The B with Ovechkin is $30ish, and the other two are $20. So minimum $40 BV return. 2 jerseys, and with some players of note, not just no names. 6 limited cards, which are selling decently well on the secondary market. Are you going to make double your money? No. Should you make somewhat close to your money back? Probably.
Ratings 1-5:
Design: 3.5
- clean and room for the pic, but nothing special
Rookies: odds 5, value 3
- easy to get, not necessarily high value in the end
Game used: 5
- big swatches for the price point, and decent checklist
Autographs: 2
- very very tough to get, and sticker autos. And a very uninspiring checklist.
OVERALL RATING: 4
- considering the price point, there's nothing wrong with this set. Just nothing of special note.
UD Victory. Usually sells pretty well, for the first little while. It's usually the first official card set of the year (this year was the BAP auto set, but..... I don't know, just wasn't a hockey season set to me.....). Low price, and not much to justify a higher price. It's hockey cards. Period. Some parallels, clean design (ok, maybe not that), sturdy card stock.... it's a way to start the collecting year, and stoke the hockey card fire. But at some point, after getting a set, people go "Ok, I'm ready, give me something better."
Enter the newest UD set, Power Play. Decent price point of $3-$4 per pack, two jerseys per box, and two redemptions per box each for one of 4 sets of 10 rookies. So with 24 packs, when you buy a box you're getting 20 rookies. Not a bad return, really. 90 card set, with limited cards 1:4 packs. They are numbered in the set order, so to collect a master set, be prepared to buy a lot of packs/boxes, or pay secondary prices.
The cards are decent looking. Nice relatively understated use of foil on them, decent pics, new type of design. Value? Well, you're looking at $75 per box, and in there, if you get the A redemption with Crosby, that's a $40-$50 set. The B with Ovechkin is $30ish, and the other two are $20. So minimum $40 BV return. 2 jerseys, and with some players of note, not just no names. 6 limited cards, which are selling decently well on the secondary market. Are you going to make double your money? No. Should you make somewhat close to your money back? Probably.
Ratings 1-5:
Design: 3.5
- clean and room for the pic, but nothing special
Rookies: odds 5, value 3
- easy to get, not necessarily high value in the end
Game used: 5
- big swatches for the price point, and decent checklist
Autographs: 2
- very very tough to get, and sticker autos. And a very uninspiring checklist.
OVERALL RATING: 4
- considering the price point, there's nothing wrong with this set. Just nothing of special note.
Upper Deck's monopoly on the hockey card industry - good or bad?
Having been an avid hockey card collector for 25 years now, it seems odd that it's come full circle in one major way. In 1980, you collected O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey cards. If you were in the US, you collected Topps. Now, you collect Upper Deck NHL hockey cards. And that's where the similarity, for all intents and purposes, ends.
O-Pee-Chee would have hockey cards, and for a few years, also had a hockey sticker offering. For a few years, they also lauched mini cards. I believe they also had a hand in some cards made for Post cereals. In any case, they would probably plateau at 5 offerings a year.
Zoom forward to this year. O-Pee-Chee hasn't existed as a standalone company for years. Now, unless you want to collect the junior players, AHL players, or retired players from In The Game, your choice is Upper Deck. But all is not lost. Do you want variety? By the end of the season, they will have at least 18 mainstream sets. From the bottom end Victory to the uber-top end Ultimate Collection, it appears that they have covered most collectors' demands and wallet abilities. But, even to a lot of collectors who were around in the O-Pee-Chee days, this isn't necessarily a good thing. Why? Lots of reasons:
1) Quality - I would say that 1 out of every 4 UD packs I've bought this year have had at least one damaged card in them. Even more maddening is the fact that many of those cards are rookies or game used cards. Now, this isn't to say that their quality was sparkling in other years, because it most definitely was not. But this year has been terrible in terms of card damage, incorrect information, and incorrect game piece and autographs on cards. In the O-Pee-Chee days, prior to grading and in the middle of the "put them in your bike spokes" era, this wasn't a big thing. But the packs were also only 25 cents a piece. When you're paying $5+ per pack, quality shouldn't even be something you have to think about.
2) Redemptions, Redemptions, Redemptions - It used to be that BAP was the company that was skewered for issuing redemption after redemption for their Signature Series. What did they do in response? As far as I know, they no longer have any redemptions - all of the autos and game used are in packs now, and were in 04-05 as well (if there were any, I don't think it was an unacceptable amount). This brings us to 05-06 UD. From PowerPlay's and Artifacts rookie redemptions, which weren't that bad, since the rookies weren't actually playing yet, to the recently issued Ice product, which has tons and tons of unacceptable redemptions, and everywhere in between. Yes, I realize that they expect players to send back the autographs on time, and can't always control that. The key is that if the autos aren't there, you don't make the cards. Period. Which falls into the next problem......
3) Redemption wait times and customer service - I have waited nearly 5 months for my PowerPlay redemptions. That's significantly longer than 8-10 weeks that's the expected norm. Supposedly they are on their way, but not after a terse excuse filled, blame shifting response to an e-mail I sent after 4 months asking about it. From what I've heard, I'm not alone in receiving that kind of treatment. The other problem is replacement of damaged cards. Prior to this year, I heard many stories of UD's impressive response to damaged card requests - people getting 5-6 times book value for their damaged cards.
This year? Well, here's an example. Someone I know sent 2 damaged Dion Phaneuf UD Series 1 rookies for replacement, and got 2 Zach Parise rookies in return. When the person enquired to UD about the switch, he was told that they didn't have any Phaneufs left - a reasonable response. But why Parise's when the Phaneuf book value is higher? Well..... they are getting a lot of damaged card requests this year - cue the surprised face. So they are running out of duplicates rather quickly. So he got the best book value ones they had left, within a certain level of book value. Need a replacement for your damaged Crosby? Good luck.
4) Autograph stickers - This has been beaten beyond recognition in previous years, but has gotten beyond ridiculous this year. I understand their use. Players can sign hundreds, even thousands of stickers, and send the sheets back quickly and easily, and without bulk, they can even take them on the road. They can be stuck to anything, and the liability for card companies is heavily reduced. I also understand the major concerns of collectors. Less player interaction - not touching the card, just a random sticker on it. Autograph quality on stickers has proven to be far, far inferior. They just don't look as nice as cards with on-card autos on them. And they can be stuck on the wrong cards. UD might think that Cam Barker and Gilbert Brule are the same player (happened), but alas, they are not.
But here's the new one for me. How on EARTH, with such an ability to plan ahead with stickers - the cards don't even need to be made yet! - can you have a redemption for an autograph card with a sticker!?!??!? Ok, so they ran out of stickers. But how could you plan that poorly to plan your sets ahead of time but not your autograph stickers? I suppose they have their reasons and something we don't know, but to collectors like me, that's very strange, and a little maddening.
5) Paaaaaaarallels - Note to Upper Deck: Any idea why a lot of people said "Good riddance!" when Pacific Trading Cards went bankrupt? Parallels.
I collect Shane Doan cards. He's a hard working player and by all accounts a very generous and gracious person off the ice. But he certainly doesn't have the collector base of a Gretzky, Lemieux, or even Todd Bertuzzi. But in UD Artifacts, between all the different cards and parallels, there were 20 different Shane Doan cards, by my count. So for a completist like me (ok, cards # under 25 are listed in my books as "depends on the price"), this is annoying, especially when they seem to be mostly the same cards over and over again. And if you don't collect Shane Doan, is this of any value to you? Hmm...... value........ now that I say that word.....
The biggest problem, IMO:
6) Value and long term collectability - "We can't control what the cards sell for on the open market, we give an MSRP for the boxes and go from there" says Upper Deck. On this note, I actually give UD a bit of a pass. From speaking to several dealers, they would order a case or two from their wholesaler, then try to buy a second one, and would have to pay 50% more. That's not UD's fault. Unless, of course, they are printing on demand. Which in some cases this year, they are. They can't control price levels on items that are simply in too much demand to keep at the same price. But when they limit quantities, especially on pedestrian sets like the regular Series 1, they do.
Take a look at prices on eBay these days. Other than the massive prices being paid for highly limited and rare rookies, nothing is as it seems anymore. I picked up a Doan SPx dual jersey rainbow parallel #/10 for $10, and a Majestic Materials from UD Series 2 #/50 for $3. A few years back, picking up cards like that for those prices would only be possible if a seller was highly intoxicated, or if assault weapons were pressed up against a seller's nose. This year, it's more the norm than odd. But try and buy a decently high level Crosby. You will pay. Big. But..... over time, less and less big. (By the way, Ovechkins are high priced too, but might have a ceiling in the end due to one factor. See Bure, Pavel or Federov, Sergei).
So what's the verdict? Good or bad? For collectors, UD is still putting out a lot of different, although a little short on imagination like Pacific, types of sets. Expensive as ever, but when not damaged, decent looking. For investors? Well, time will tell. UD has taken the opportunity to put as many rookies as possible in their sets, and some are already lagging. Right now, it's a single buyers market. People are flipping cards for nothing to get the next big thing. So there are bargains. Just try not to buy too many packs. If UD ups their quality a little, and stops apparently feeding us the"We're the only game in town, so you'll take what we give you and LIKE IT!" attitude, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in the end.
O-Pee-Chee would have hockey cards, and for a few years, also had a hockey sticker offering. For a few years, they also lauched mini cards. I believe they also had a hand in some cards made for Post cereals. In any case, they would probably plateau at 5 offerings a year.
Zoom forward to this year. O-Pee-Chee hasn't existed as a standalone company for years. Now, unless you want to collect the junior players, AHL players, or retired players from In The Game, your choice is Upper Deck. But all is not lost. Do you want variety? By the end of the season, they will have at least 18 mainstream sets. From the bottom end Victory to the uber-top end Ultimate Collection, it appears that they have covered most collectors' demands and wallet abilities. But, even to a lot of collectors who were around in the O-Pee-Chee days, this isn't necessarily a good thing. Why? Lots of reasons:
1) Quality - I would say that 1 out of every 4 UD packs I've bought this year have had at least one damaged card in them. Even more maddening is the fact that many of those cards are rookies or game used cards. Now, this isn't to say that their quality was sparkling in other years, because it most definitely was not. But this year has been terrible in terms of card damage, incorrect information, and incorrect game piece and autographs on cards. In the O-Pee-Chee days, prior to grading and in the middle of the "put them in your bike spokes" era, this wasn't a big thing. But the packs were also only 25 cents a piece. When you're paying $5+ per pack, quality shouldn't even be something you have to think about.
2) Redemptions, Redemptions, Redemptions - It used to be that BAP was the company that was skewered for issuing redemption after redemption for their Signature Series. What did they do in response? As far as I know, they no longer have any redemptions - all of the autos and game used are in packs now, and were in 04-05 as well (if there were any, I don't think it was an unacceptable amount). This brings us to 05-06 UD. From PowerPlay's and Artifacts rookie redemptions, which weren't that bad, since the rookies weren't actually playing yet, to the recently issued Ice product, which has tons and tons of unacceptable redemptions, and everywhere in between. Yes, I realize that they expect players to send back the autographs on time, and can't always control that. The key is that if the autos aren't there, you don't make the cards. Period. Which falls into the next problem......
3) Redemption wait times and customer service - I have waited nearly 5 months for my PowerPlay redemptions. That's significantly longer than 8-10 weeks that's the expected norm. Supposedly they are on their way, but not after a terse excuse filled, blame shifting response to an e-mail I sent after 4 months asking about it. From what I've heard, I'm not alone in receiving that kind of treatment. The other problem is replacement of damaged cards. Prior to this year, I heard many stories of UD's impressive response to damaged card requests - people getting 5-6 times book value for their damaged cards.
This year? Well, here's an example. Someone I know sent 2 damaged Dion Phaneuf UD Series 1 rookies for replacement, and got 2 Zach Parise rookies in return. When the person enquired to UD about the switch, he was told that they didn't have any Phaneufs left - a reasonable response. But why Parise's when the Phaneuf book value is higher? Well..... they are getting a lot of damaged card requests this year - cue the surprised face. So they are running out of duplicates rather quickly. So he got the best book value ones they had left, within a certain level of book value. Need a replacement for your damaged Crosby? Good luck.
4) Autograph stickers - This has been beaten beyond recognition in previous years, but has gotten beyond ridiculous this year. I understand their use. Players can sign hundreds, even thousands of stickers, and send the sheets back quickly and easily, and without bulk, they can even take them on the road. They can be stuck to anything, and the liability for card companies is heavily reduced. I also understand the major concerns of collectors. Less player interaction - not touching the card, just a random sticker on it. Autograph quality on stickers has proven to be far, far inferior. They just don't look as nice as cards with on-card autos on them. And they can be stuck on the wrong cards. UD might think that Cam Barker and Gilbert Brule are the same player (happened), but alas, they are not.
But here's the new one for me. How on EARTH, with such an ability to plan ahead with stickers - the cards don't even need to be made yet! - can you have a redemption for an autograph card with a sticker!?!??!? Ok, so they ran out of stickers. But how could you plan that poorly to plan your sets ahead of time but not your autograph stickers? I suppose they have their reasons and something we don't know, but to collectors like me, that's very strange, and a little maddening.
5) Paaaaaaarallels - Note to Upper Deck: Any idea why a lot of people said "Good riddance!" when Pacific Trading Cards went bankrupt? Parallels.
I collect Shane Doan cards. He's a hard working player and by all accounts a very generous and gracious person off the ice. But he certainly doesn't have the collector base of a Gretzky, Lemieux, or even Todd Bertuzzi. But in UD Artifacts, between all the different cards and parallels, there were 20 different Shane Doan cards, by my count. So for a completist like me (ok, cards # under 25 are listed in my books as "depends on the price"), this is annoying, especially when they seem to be mostly the same cards over and over again. And if you don't collect Shane Doan, is this of any value to you? Hmm...... value........ now that I say that word.....
The biggest problem, IMO:
6) Value and long term collectability - "We can't control what the cards sell for on the open market, we give an MSRP for the boxes and go from there" says Upper Deck. On this note, I actually give UD a bit of a pass. From speaking to several dealers, they would order a case or two from their wholesaler, then try to buy a second one, and would have to pay 50% more. That's not UD's fault. Unless, of course, they are printing on demand. Which in some cases this year, they are. They can't control price levels on items that are simply in too much demand to keep at the same price. But when they limit quantities, especially on pedestrian sets like the regular Series 1, they do.
Take a look at prices on eBay these days. Other than the massive prices being paid for highly limited and rare rookies, nothing is as it seems anymore. I picked up a Doan SPx dual jersey rainbow parallel #/10 for $10, and a Majestic Materials from UD Series 2 #/50 for $3. A few years back, picking up cards like that for those prices would only be possible if a seller was highly intoxicated, or if assault weapons were pressed up against a seller's nose. This year, it's more the norm than odd. But try and buy a decently high level Crosby. You will pay. Big. But..... over time, less and less big. (By the way, Ovechkins are high priced too, but might have a ceiling in the end due to one factor. See Bure, Pavel or Federov, Sergei).
So what's the verdict? Good or bad? For collectors, UD is still putting out a lot of different, although a little short on imagination like Pacific, types of sets. Expensive as ever, but when not damaged, decent looking. For investors? Well, time will tell. UD has taken the opportunity to put as many rookies as possible in their sets, and some are already lagging. Right now, it's a single buyers market. People are flipping cards for nothing to get the next big thing. So there are bargains. Just try not to buy too many packs. If UD ups their quality a little, and stops apparently feeding us the"We're the only game in town, so you'll take what we give you and LIKE IT!" attitude, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in the end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)