Box 1 - 2011-12 UD Series 1 Hockey

I'd like to preface this post by saying that I pulled a card which will pay for this box and maybe part of the second box.  So it was fun.

This product was simply amazing to me on so many levels.  I don't just say that because I haven't opened up hobby product in a long while, I say that because I really had a great time with it.

1)  First off, there are 200 cards in the base set - I pulled 171 of them, for a completion rate of 85%.  Now that's really not that bad.  I'm hoping Box 2 will fill in those gaps.

2)  Secondly, I didn't pull a single numbered parallel card.  How great is that?  I actually found myself looking for one, really hoping I'd get one.  This isn't a product with a ton of parallels, but they are there and they're rare.  Other products seem to desensitize you to the fact that rarity should be....rare.  I think everything Panini produces now has a parallel per pack doesn't it?  That's a low blow, I know.  But the truth is, I got RC's with some actual value, and inserts that were fun - but the stuff that is short numbered is hard to come by.  I love a good chase.  It'll be fun trying to get my favorite players parallel stuff.

3)  Young Guns RC's are the most fun I've had pulling rookies ever.  Not only did I pull the best of them, but I looked up the rest of them, and hey, they're all inherently with some value.  I like that you only get six RC's per box.  Good design, simple and non-numbered RC's that have value.  I didn't think that existed anymore.

4)  For only getting two jersey cards - out of a checklist of 100 - I realize that I may be taking a while to build this set.  But the jersey hits weren't the centerpiece to the box breaking, so it was fun when they popped up.  It's good that I was looking for parallels and RC's - and not just hits.

5)  For the money, I actually felt like I had a good deal.  Granted, you always lose money busting new product.  But it felt like this was a product that had some real gems in there that make the busting at least worth the chase.

6)  No dupes.  Seriously.  Congrats to Upper Deck for giving me 24 packs of 8 cards where EVERY SINGLE CARD IS DIFFERENT.  You want added value?  Don't give people the same card three or four times over in a single box.  This is actually one of the only times I can remember not getting dupes in a box.

So what did I pull?:

I pulled six regular Young Guns (one not listed here) and one of my four canvas cards was a Young Guns version of Erik Gustafsson.  So much fun searching for these in the box.

My three other canvas cards plus my two All-World team cards.  I like that UD made a limited number of inserts and gave the inserts much more depth.  Though this is simply a matter of preference.  But in other collecting, especially with NBA players, it seems like you get ten different inserts per release with the same 12 guys in all those sets.  I prefer fewer inserts with deeper rosters.

Not the greatest names here for the pulls, but there are 100 names in the jersey list.  I like these jersey cards because the entire card is team based with the color scheme.  It looks like the entire card is centered into a giant patch.

And finally this scrub here, Mr. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.  This was the second Young Guns card I pulled.  I had no idea that a non-numbered RC could sell as well as this one.  I wasn't even planning on selling it since I'm building the set, but with the craze around this kid right now, I had to put it up on eBay.  I started this card on a 0.99$ auction, and in less than 24 hours the card is up to $51.00 with 13 watchers.  I've never, ever ever, had a card get such an immediate response or bidding before.

I figure I'll sell the card, either buy another box or buy jersey cards while the selling is still at it's peak.  I can always pick this card up again during the offseason when the fever subsides.  Other copies of this card in auction were selling into the $80-$90 range.  But it makes me want to bust more product simply to chase this kid.  Can you imagine pulling the low-numbered parallel of this kid?  Or a printing plate?  It's like the Derrick Rose RC's from Bowman.  You start to open product to really be part of a true chase card mania.  But along the way, you get to enjoy a really stellar product.

Well done, UD.  Well done.  This will be my new collecting obsession for sure.

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