2014-15 Upper Deck Series 1 box break #1

box_1Upper Deck Hockey is the one set I’ve looked forward to each year for the past 25 years. It’s a great mix of  high-quality production values, a decent-sized base set (when counting Series 1 and 2), plus all the rookies that matter. So, of course when this year’s set came out, you know I had to buy a box or three. There’s nothing more relaxing than watching a hockey game while opening up some cards. And that’s just what I did.

165 Base Cards

base_jagrUpper Deck is one of those sets where every base card feels like a “hit.” I’m serious. The photos are great. Even the run-of-the-mill pictures are at least interesting. Heck, you can even see the gray in Jaromir Jagr’s stubble on the card above. They even squeezed all 20 years of his stats on the back, too.

One difference with this year’s set is that the cards seem a little less glossy than Upper Deck’s previous years. It could be my imagination, but it’s not a big deal either way.

6 Young Guns Rookie Cards

yg_kuztetsovLike many collectors, I too try to build the Young Guns rookie card set. The six that I got were Stuart Percy, Curtis Lazar, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Corban Knight, Nicholas Deslauriers and the Young Guns checklist. (FYI, I’m not a fan of checklist cards, seeing as how the information is readily available online.)

2 Shining Stars insert cards

ss_stamkosNot surprisingly, these cards are shiny. These are seeded one in every 16 packs, so I did slightly better and got two. I pulled cards of Steven Stamkos and Jamie Benn.

1 Shining Stars Legends insert cards

ss_espositoNot bad! The Shining Stars Legends are found one in every two boxes (48 packs).

1 Shining Stars Royal Blue insert card

ss_kopitarThis box is getting better and better. The Royal Blue Shining Stars inserts also come one in every 48 packs. That’s two inserts that fall one in every other box that I got in the same box.

 2 Hockey Heroes 2000s

heroes_ovechkinIt’s only 2014. Isn’t it a bit too early to feel nostalgic about the 2000s? Maybe Upper Deck could have instead done a Hockey Heroes 1920s set, with guys like Howe Morenz and Eddie Shore. Anyway, the two cards pulled were Alex Ovechkin and Vincent Lecavalier.

4 UD Canvas insert cards

canvas_schennFor those who like a little texture on their cards, Upper Deck gives you the Canvas inserts. Inserted in my box were Alexandre Burrows, Henrik Lundqvist, Brayden Schenn and Elias Lindholm.

2 Game Jersey Cards

jersey_brownjersey_couturierI got Dustin Brown of the Kings and Sean Couturier of the Flyers. Notice that the Couturier card has a defect: the top edge, near the middle, is frayed. I will send it back to Upper Deck for a replacement. Upper Deck has never disappointed me whenever I’ve returned a defective card.

What I like about 2014-15 Upper Deck Series 1: The base cards look great. The 200-card base set is relatively easy to finish off — usually two boxes does the trick. You get six Young Guns per box. Enough people tend to collect the other inserts, so you can easily sell or trade off what you don’t want.

What I don’t like about 2014-15 Upper Deck Series 1: The insert cards are not all that inspired. Shining Stars? Canvas? Hockey Heroes? Come on, Upper Deck — think of some new stuff. It’s hard to get excited about Canvas year after year.

Rating 5 out of 5The inserts are redundant, and the jersey cards found in UD Series 1 are never really worth much, but those aren’t the reasons I buy this set. The base cards are always fun to look at, and the Young Guns set is challenging to build — but not impossible. Even better, if you decide that you can live without the Young Guns cards, then you can usually get the 200-card base set for around $15 on Ebay.

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Author: Sal Barry

Sal Barry is the editor and webmaster of Puck Junk. He is a freelance hockey writer, college professor and terrible hockey player. Follow him on Twitter @puckjunk

3 thoughts on “2014-15 Upper Deck Series 1 box break #1”

  1. While I agree with you about the Shining Stars and Hockey Heroes, I know that I and quite a few others like the Canvas set. To me, it’s a nice side set that has the fixtures of the base and YG set. However, I will admit that this year’s Canvas design doesn’t look that great.

  2. I always enjoy series one and series two. This year I think is the best in terms of photos for the base cards, numerous outdoor games show the snow falling and they are amazing shots. Great product for sure.
    I do agree the shinning stars is boring, I could do without that sub set completely. The blue parallels are not that impressive and as usual the jersey cards are just “average” at best, with very few even being two colour jerseys.

    There are a number of other insert cards including retro young guns and YG autos so all in all series 1 is always the best bang for the buck IMHO

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