Box Break.......sort of... - 2011-12 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey

After a rather quiet 2 or 3 months of collecting I am happy that it is about time I post something hobby related to the blog. Now that the NHL season is heating up Upper Deck moves to the forefront of of the minds of collectors. Their flagship product that fails to disappoint year in and year out has hit shelves and is ready to impress once again.

As the title of this entry suggests, the normal form taken of breaking a Hobby box and showing it off takes a bit of a twist here, for good reason. One of the staples of Upper Deck hockey has been their 'Young Guns' Rookie cards. The anticipation and expectation collectors have for the hottest rookies in the NHL and their debut on cardboard is unparalleled in the hobby. With that in mind it made much more sense for me to break 3 Retail tins of Series 1 instead of 1 Hobby box.

I'll explain.

The insertion ratio between Hobby boxes and Retail tins is exactly the same. 'Young Guns' are inserted 1:4 packs. With a little bit of vigorous searching I found that I could purchase 3 Retail tins for roughly the same price as 1 Hobby box. Retail tins contain 12 packs with 8 cards per pack, Hobby boxes contain 24 packs with 8 cards per pack. In the end the collector gets 9 'Young Guns' from retail as opposed to 6 from a single box. Simple.

One of the other "bonuses" I discovered was that there were other ratios that were exactly the same between Hobby boxes and Retail tins, including 2 of the inserts sets I have decided to chase. That being said, there are Hobby "exclusive" inserts that one forfeits the opportunity of pulling when it comes to Retail, so, there is a trade off for sure. I will cover the breakdowns and ratios as we move along.

As with any Box Break here we need music. We have to have music. Cue the music!!


Soundtrack - Fitz and The Tantrums - Pickin' Up The Pieces

2010-11 Upper Deck Hockey - Series 1

Tin Breakdown - 12 packs per tin
Pack Breakdown - 8 cards per pack

The checklist for this product is simple, as it should be for any flagship. Cards 1-200 feature veterans and current players from all 30 NHL teams that make up the base set. Cards 201-250 are the 'Young Guns' Rookie Cards.

Easy, simple and uncomplicated. Collectors like that.

Base Set cards - 187/200 (93.5%)
Doubles - 67

Upper Deck hockey is and always has been defined by the photography on its cards. The 2011-12 installment continues that tradition. There are certain elements that come to be expected with persistence as a product line ages. To keep delivering on those every year and also having them remain fresh is quite the challenge. Simply put, there are some beautiful photographs on these cards and Upper Deck succeeds again. My 2 favorites are full of colour and shy away from the traditional photos we have come to expect.

Card #113 - Drew Doughty (LA Kings)

Card #50 Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins)

As for the rest of the cards there are other non-traditional photos that make thumbing through this set truly enjoyable. Some catch your eye from the moment you see them and others require a double and sometimes triple take.

Card #197 Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks)

Card #64 Braydon Coburn (Philadelphia Flyers)

Card #81 Michael Grabner (N.Y. Islanders)

Card #44 Logan Couture (San Jose Sharks)

Card #8 Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)

Other photos completely miss. There are certain situations that do not translate well to cardboard. One type of photo that needs to disappear from the hobby is the inside-the-net camera. These are not interesting, these are not innovative and they fail to capture anything about the game. They are annoying fish-eye lensed wastes. Press scrums, forget them PLEASE?!? As a Phaneuf collector, this card is plain bad.

Card #9 Mike Knuble (Washington Capitals)

Card #48 Kristopher Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Card #61 Daniel Briere (Philadelphia Flyers)

Card #20 Dion Phaneuf (Toronto Maple Leafs)

The other plus that needs to be mentioned here is the inclusion of photos with players in their team's third jerseys. While worn for a relatively few number of games these jerseys are, in some cases, better looking than the regular jerseys. Thumbs-up to Upper Deck for including these jerseys quite prominently in Series 1.

Card #146 Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Card #174 Mikka Kiprusoff (Calgary Flames)

Card #36 Chris Stewart (St.Louis Blues)

The backs of these cards are exactly how they should be. No clutter, statistics are front and centre. A little write-up/personal trivia on each player and a logo. PERFECT!! As an added bonus the head-shot of the player used on the back of the card is from a completely different photo. These are the small touches that make a product enjoyable.

Card #161 Patrick Sharp (Chicago Blackhawks)

I mentioned earlier that the insert ratios between Hobby and Retail are similar in a number of inserts available in Series 1. If these are the cards you are chasing then Retail makes much more sense economically than Hobby. First, here is a look at the inserts and their ratios available in both releases.

Young Guns (1:4)
UD Canvas (1:6)
UD Canvas Young Guns (1:48)
1950's Hockey Heroes (1:12)
1950's Hockey Heroes Header card (1:600)
All-World Team (1:12)
All-World Team SP (1:120)

Without a doubt it is the 'Young Guns' Rookie cards that drive this product. I hardly believe that to be a surprise to anyone or an overstatement. For this single reason I believe the Retail tins to be vastly superior to the Hobby boxes. For the price of 1 Hobby box I was able to get 3 Retail tins and as a consequence I was able to get 3 more 'Young Guns' than I could normally expect. While I was shutout on the big names I will definitely return to the tins in hopes of catch a RNH Young Guns Rookie.

Here are the 'Young Guns' I did come away with....

Tin #1

Card #238 Harri Sateri (San Jose Sharks), Card #212 Cam Atkinson (Columbus Blue Jackets), Card #219 Aaron Palushaj (Montreal Canadiens)

Tin #2

Card #210 John Moore (Columbus Blue Jackets), Card #247 Carl Klingberg (Winnipeg Jets), Card #219 Aaron Palushaj (Montreal Canadiens)

Tin #3

Card #211 David Savard (Columbus Blue Jackets), Card #236 Erik Gustafsson (Philadelphia Flyers), Card #233 Stephane Da Costa (Ottawa Senators)

There are 2 inserts that vary between Hobby and Retail, although they really are not enough to significantly sway the purchase decision. The Upper Deck Game Jersey inserts fall 1:24 in Retail which is 1 every other tin. In Hobby they fall 1:13 packs. The EA Ultimate Team insert set cards fall 1:8 packs in Retail with Hobby being a scarce 1:24 pack ratio.

Jersey cards have never been an incentive for me to purchase a product and have never been a set that I would consider chasing. That being said, the Lacavalier 2-colour jersey swatch was a nice hit out of a Retail product. If companies would just make these swatches larger then when a collector hits one it might make them feel like they are getting something significant for their money.

Upper Deck Jerseys

Card #GJ-AS Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals)

Card #GJ-VL Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning)

EA Ultimate Team

Card #EA15 Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings) (x2), Card #EA4 Henrik Sedin (Vancouver Canucks), Card #EA14 Jarret Stoll (Los Angeles Kings)

Card #EA9 Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks)

With the EA Ultimate Team cards I really do not see these cards making too big a splash amongst collectors. Rarely do people seem to scramble to obtain cards that are essentially a cross-promotion advertisement for video games. According to the checklist found here the Corey Perry is a short-print.

The 'All-World Team' insert set is a 40-card set showcasing the best players in the NHL and their country of origin. Any time I see insert sets like these my first thought is "filler". If you want to produce an insert set with the top players in the NHL then be a little more creative about it. Country-of-origin sub-sets have been done to death, all the way back to 1992-93 Parkhurst even. Cards #31-40 in this Upper Deck Series 1 insert set are short-printed.

Card #AW7 David Krejci (Boston Bruins)

Card #AW12 Henrik Zetterberg (Detroit Red Wings)

Card #AW4 Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)

Insert sets like 'All-World Team' bother me as a player collector because all it succeeds in doing is raising the price on a relatively insignificant card of a player I collect by making it an insert. Add to that the inflation that short-printing certain players brings and you have a waste of cardboard. Thanks Upper Deck.

Now we get to the 2 insert sets that I thoroughly enjoy with this product, with 1 of them being a set that I will unabashedly profess my undying devotion to.

In their very first year in the industry Upper Deck introduced an insert set to collectors that has been one of the best ideas ever to hit the hobby. Their 'Heroes' set always seemed focused on an individual who was considered an Icon in their respective sport. In the 2011-12 Series 1 Hockey release we are presented with a 12-card 'Hockey Heroes' set focusing on players from the 1950's. There is a 13th card to the set but it is an extremely tough pull. Seeded 1:600 packs it features Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and Andy Bathgate and is the header card/checklist for the rest of the set. The card is a hand-painted Art card similar to the Presidential series released in Goodwin Champions earlier this year. I imagine my set will remain incomplete for some time without this final header card but that IS part of the "joy" of collecting.

Here are the 3 Hockey Heroes I pulled....

Card #HH1 Johnny Bower

Card #HH3 Andy Bathgate

Card #HH9 Gordie Howe

I really like the matching of the sepia tone of the background of the photos and the black and white sharpness of the player being featured. This is a set that feeds the historian part of me as well as keeping players from days gone by from looking out of place on new card releases. The "look and feel" of these cards is what Topps missed with their veteran variations in their baseball product.

There is also an autographed version of the 1950's Heroes set with each card being hand-numbered out of 15, including the Howe/Hull/Bathgate Header card. I would love to see someone try and complete that set.

Last, but definitely not least, we get to the single solitary reason why I am buying Upper Deck Hockey this year. When I first read about these cards on the sell sheets I was excited to see them released. I have fallen in love with the 2008-09 Masterpieces Hockey release and am working on several projects involving that set. The canvas look to cards is one of my all-time favorites.

When I saw a canvas set was slated for Series 1 I knew I would be chasing down this set. Quite honestly I expected a full parallel set. What collectors were presented with was something better.

'UD Canvas' is a 120-card set made up of 90 veterans, of which 69 players have a base card in Series 1, and a select 30 of the 50 Young Guns Rookies. What makes this set so intriguing is that Upper Deck has done some serious work and included entirely different photographs for each card. While not perfect, this inclusion has me excited enough to chase the set. In fact, I am over 1/3 complete already.

Have a look at the 6 'UD Canvas' cards I pulled from this break....

Card #C90 Checklist

Card #C77 Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Card #C50 Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)

Card #C17 Jay Bouwmeester (Calgary Flames)

Card #C11 Thomas Vanek (Buffalo Sabres)

Card #C87 Mike Green (Washington Capitals)

The colours in the photos really stand out on this type of card and the complete lack of foil is a godsend. Even the backs of the cards are completely different design from the base cards. I absolutely love this set. I am okay with the fact it is an insert/chase set. I do not mind having to purchase several tins to build my set. Upper Deck has a winner with 'UD Canvas'

As I mentioned earlier the design and photos on the Canvas cards are entirely different from the cards in the base set. This matters to collectors.

Ryan Miller - Base card


Ryan Miller - Canvas card

Right about here is where the similarities between the Retail and the Hobby release end. There are a number of Hobby-Exclusive inserts that one can hope to acquire, however, the insert ratios make them a bit too hard to pull to even begin to challenge for the economical win that is Retail.

Hobby box inserts include;

Base Set Parallel (1:48) made up of;

Base Set 'Exclusive' Parallel #/100
Base Set 'Exclusive Spectrum' Parallel #/10

Acetate Die-Cuts (1:288) consisting of;

Clear Cut Honoured Members #/100
Clear Cut Foundations #/25
Clear Cut Leaders #/10

As I mentioned before, while not exclusives, the Upper Deck Memorabilia cards are an easier find in Hobby boxes, falling roughly 2 per box, but the price of Retail makes up for that. Out of 3 tins I pulled 2 Jersey cards. The important difference with Hobby is that you have a shot at Patch cards #/15 and Autograph cards inserted at a ratio of 1:288 packs.

There is one Retail exclusive that adds another "bonus", if you will, to buying the tins. Each tin comes with a "topper" postcard commemorating the 2011 Winter Classic played between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. Each card in this 14-card set comes nicely preserved in a clear plastic protector so there is really no need to take it out. Once again, great forethought on the part of Upper Deck. I like when the cards I buy are protected until they get to me.

Here are my 3 Winter Classic cards.

Card #WC5

Card #WC6


Card #WC14

I am not sure I am a fan of the over-sized cards. Perhaps the lack of convenient storage options is what keeps me from liking these cards. I did collect the Wayne Gretzky over-sized set from 2008-09 Retail O-Pee-Chee but I do curse Upper Deck every time I have to find a place to store them.

All things considered the most anticipated Hockey set to be released every year is the Upper Deck flagship. While there are a couple insert sets that are completely useless and serve as nothing more than bloat, it hardly detracts from the overall satisfaction with this product.

Everything one has come to expect from Upper Deck's signature offering is here; awesome photography, a great attention to detail in card design and an excellent Rookie Card selection. There are a few minor details that keep this product from being absolutely perfect, however, Upper Deck definitely rewards collectors with Series 1 Hockey.


Thanks for taking the time to check out this break and thanks for your patience in waiting for my lazy arse to post something new to the blog. I promise I will not be taking such a long break any more.

As always, for your listening pleasure and to play us home, here is a YouTube clip from the artist responsible for this particular break. Music-to-rip-by, Fitz and The Tantrums.....BTW, this song has one HELL of a hook......




Cheers,

Box Break - 2010 Panini Threads Football

Quite a long time ago I was lucky enough to score a box of 2010 Panini Threads Football from the always too generous folks over at Card Corner Club Radio. Simply listening to their show and lazing back with the laptop got me a free box. How can that not make for a great Friday night spent? I promised them that I would post the break on my blog. I expected to be doing this much sooner than now, but, better late than never I suppose.

With the current state of my card collecting table it was an impossibility to do a video break. So, this will have to suffice. First things first though.


Soundtrack - The Sheepdogs - Learn and Burn


2010 Panini Threads Football

Box Breakdown - 24 packs per box
Pack Breakdown - 8 cards per pack

Right off the bat I like this product simply for the weight of the box, it "feels" like a healthy purchase. Lately boxes of cards have not been giving the impression that they are money well spent. Delivering 192 cards this product definitely changes that perception. As with a number of Panini releases this set is broken into 3 parts with varying degrees of difficulty to pull one. Cards 1 through 150 constitute the "base" set and are labelled "Commons" on the checklist. Cards 151 through 200 are the 'Rookie Class' autographed manu-patch cards and cards 201 to 300 are, I am assuming here, Rookies that did not warrant a manu-patch, they are simply called 'Rookies' on the checklist.

Base Set cards - 150/150 (100%) (Always a great thing!!!!)
Doubles - 21

The common theme that seems to permeate every conversation when it comes to critiquing a card design is that collectors want "something different". Well, Panini Threads definitely does that with its base cards. All 150 base cards feature a landscape layout for the photo with the player name and team running vertically up the left side of the card. The disappointment for me with this set is the lack of colour on the front of the card that would distinguish, at a quick glance, the team represented. Also missing on the front is a team logo.

I have never considered myself a fan of football cards or sets and after looking throughout this set I think I have discovered why. With Baseball and Hockey the action of the game seems to be captured in the photographs used on cards. Football, for some reason unknown to me, does not seem to be able to capture what makes it exciting and translate that to cardboard. Out of 150 cards there were really only 3 that even remotely looked like a "great shot" or captured the essence of the game, even with that said the Manning card looks like every other Manning card.


Far too many cards in this set featured photos from practices or scrimmages. The LaDanian Tomlinson card is especially weak featuring his own teammate trying to "tackle" him. Altogether I counted 10 cards featuring these types of photos. It may not seem much but photography should be the number one concern for ANY set.


Like I mentioned earlier there are plenty of Rookie cards in this set with varying degrees of difficulty to acquire. Base Rookies (read as non-autographed, non-manu-patch cards) appear to fall 1 every 4 packs and total 100 cards. These are Rookies beyond the much sought after names that appear in the autographed manu-patch collection of 50. This is where the set tends to bloat a little. Here are the six I pulled.

Card #206 - Anthony Dixon, card #222 - David Gettis, card #233 - Garrett Graham

Card #248 - Joique Bell, card #264 - Mike Neal, card #290 - Timothy Toone

Parallels as with any Panini issue are plentiful in this release, there are 6 in total for the Base Set,

Silver Century Proofs - #/250
Gold Century Proofs - #/100
Platinum Century Proofs - #/25
Autographed Parallels - #/499 and lower
Jersey Parallels - #/299 and lower
Prime Jersey Parallels - #/50 and lower

I pulled 3 Silver parallels and 1 Gold, sadly none were Bengals. However, one was from the SP Rookie cards and the other 3 were QBs. Not bad in the end.

Silver Parallel Serial #116/250 card #246 - Joe Webb

Silver Parallel Serial #161/250 card #45 - Kyle Orton

Silver Parallel Serial #037/250 card #76 - Chad Henne

Gold Parallel Serial #032/100 card #48 - Matthew Stafford

When it comes to insert cards there are plenty to choose from in Panini Threads and one especially that I really, REALLY like. There are 6 insert sets that have a non-relic or non-signature base along with plenty of parallels.

'Century Legends' features 15 of the greatest players in NFL history and has 3 parallels;
Century Legends Proof - #/100
Century Legends Materials - #/299 and lower
Century Legends Prime Materials - #50/ and lower

'Century Stars' features 25 of today's current NFL stars and has 3 parallels;
Century Stars Proof - #/100
Century Stars Materials - #/299 and lower
Century Stars Prime Materials - #/ and lower

'Triple Threat' focuses on the best 1-2-3-punch of 10 NFL teams with 3 parallels;
Triple Threat Proof - #/100
Triple Threat Materials - #/299 and lower
Triple Threat Prime Materials - #50/ and lower

'Generations' is a 15-card set that takes a current player and matches him up with a player from the franchise's past. this set has 3 parallels as well;
Generations Proof - #/100
Generations Materials - #/299 and lower
Generations Prime Materials - #50/ and lower

'All Rookie Team' is a 5-card set showcasing the Top 5 rookies of 2009 with 4 parallels;
All Rookie Team Threads #/299 and lower
All Rookie Team Threads Prime #/50 and lower
All Rookie Team Threads Signatures #/50 and lower
All Rookie Team Threads Prime Signatures #/25 and lower

'Pro Gridiron Kings' covers 50 of the NFL's greatest players and features a total of 9 parallels. 4 are different coloured frame variations and 5 are a mixture of jerseys, patches and signatures;
Red Frame #/100
Blue Frame #/50
Green Frame #/25
Black Frame #/10
Jersey #/299 and lower
Prime Patch #/50 and lower
Autograph #/299 and lower
Autograph Jersey #/25 and lower
Autograph Prime Patch #/10 and lower

By far my favorite insert is the 'Pro Gridiron Kings', as it is printed on a canvas card stock best described as reminiscent to the Upper Deck Masterpieces collection set, except more glossy. Of course the one insert set I choose to like has the greatest number of parallels. I pulled one from this box and it was a base that features Daryle Lamonica.


I also pulled 4 cards from the 'Century Stars' set, 3 base and 1 Proof parallel. This is a set I could take or leave (probably leave) when it comes to design. My first impression is, too dark. I like the use of team colours in the bottom left corner and the banner. However, nothing really grabs me about this set. Even the 25 card checklist could have been parred down to 20 or 15. Disappointing that this is the insert set I pulled the most cards from.

'Century Stars' card #7 - Drew Brees

'Century Stars' card #8 - Eli Manning

'Century Stars' card #9 - Frank Gore

'Century Stars' Proof Parallel card #18 - Michael Turner (Serial #088/100)

The 'Generations' set reminds me too much of the Topps 'Legendary Lineage' cards. I get what manufacturers are trying to do here but the design and layout needs to be revisited by someone. I pulled 2 cards from this set that San Diego fans or Minnesota fans would be happy with.

'Generations' card #4 - Cris Carter/Sidney Rice

'Generations' card #5 - Junior Seau/Shawne Merriman

The other insert set I might try and build is 'Century Legends'. It is small enough at 15 cards and the checklist is worthy of a set. The design is much better than the 'Century Stars' card with the only thing missing being a team logo on the white space on the right side of the card. I managed to pull two big-time Quarterbacks from this box.

'Century Legends' card #14 - Terry Bradshaw

'Century Legends' card #15 - Dan Fouts

Lastly, I pulled 1 base insert of the 'Triple Threat' insert set. This card is one that did not need to happen. This set feels like Panini just needed to fill out the release roster by packing out a base card version. This set would be much more desirable as a Prime Patch release ONLY. The card appears designed for just that, which is not a problem, it makes an amazing looking patch card. Unfortunately it does not work as a base insert.


Now we come to the guaranteed hits in the box. According to the sell sheet you will pull 4 autographed or game-used cards per box. Looking at the checklist there are plenty of different cards to fit this bill. Some of the inserts and parallels have already been covered, here are the rest of the jersey/patch/autographed cards available to be hit in 2010 Panini Threads;

Game Day Jerseys 25-card set with 3 parallels;
Signatures #/50 and lower
Prime Patch #/50 and lower
Prime Patch Signatures #/25 and lower

Rookie Collection Materials is a 35-card set featuring, you guessed it, Rookies. This set also has 3 parallels;
Signatures #/50 and lower
Prime Patch #/25 and lower
Prime Patch Signatures #/25 and lower

Rookie Collection also comes in Combo versions, the Dual is a 15-card set with a parallel and the Quad is a 5-card set with a parallel;
Rookie Collection Dual Prime #/25 and lower
Rookie Collection Quad Prime #/25 and lower

Franchise Fabrics features mostly Quarterbacks but is essentially a 20-card set dedicated to some of the NFL's top tier players. This set has 5 parallels;
Franchise Fabrics Patch #/50 and lower
Franchise Fabrics Signatures #/25 and lower
Franchise Fabrics Patch Signatures #/10 and lower
Franchise Tags #/10 and lower
Franchise Tags Signatures #/5 and lower

The Rookie Signatures insert set comes in three tiers. The Combos feature dual signatures and is a 10-card set. The Triple Signatures set is also a 10-card set and the Rookie Signature Quads is a 5-card set.

So, without any further stalling, here are the 4 guaranteed hits from the box I broke.

Autographed Parallel #299/499 Bryan Bulaga 'Rookie'

Rookie Collection Jersey #270/299 Card#21 Jonathan Dwyer

Rookie Collection Quad-Jersey #022/299 Card#3
Demaryus Thomas/Dez Bryant/Dexter McCluster/Arrelious Benn

Rookie Class Autographed/Manu-patch #180/280 C.J.Spiller

There are a few too many non-essential rookies making up this set and the checklist could probably have been trimmed to 250 cards, either that or the Base Set could have included more current players. The inclusion of all the rookies with a healthy dose of current players makes it difficult to give this set an identity. Is it for everyday collectors or is it for speculators?

Overall I enjoyed 2010 Panini Threads but it did nothing to peak my interest in Football releases. There seems to be something lacking in this Football card release that keeps it from capturing the excitement of Hockey or Baseball. While the box more than delivered on expectations with a complete base set and some well designed inserts and I would definitely recommend it to Football card collectors.

Thanks to the kind and generous folks at Card Corner Club Radio for the prize and make sure to tune in every Friday night for one of the most entertaining and informative shows concerning our Hobby.

Thanks for taking the time to check out this latest Box Break and keep checking back for more. We end it here as usual with the "music-to-rip-by" for this edition, good ol' Canadian boys The Sheepdogs.




Cheers,