When I attended The National Sports Collectors’ Convention earlier this month, I participated quite a bit in Upper Deck’s wrapper redemption program.
Buying 5 packs of 2010-11SP Authentic earned me one voucher for a redemption pack. In total, I bought 50 packs of SP Autentic (two 24-pack boxes plus 2 additional packs).
Here are the results from my first box:
109 Base Cards – I like the simple design of the base set. The player cutouts have a gloss varnish on what is otherwise a matte coat card. Unfortunately, Upper Deck chose to mainly use photos of players in their white road uniforms. The result is a set that feels lifeless and devoid of color.
4 SP Essentials – Speaking of lifeless and devoid of color, these numbered SP Essentials use a black and white photo and a blue tinted photo of the same player. So I guess you can add depressing to the list of adjectives used to describe this set. Besides Bobby Clarke (shown above), I also pulled cards of Guillaume Latendresse, Patrice Bergeron and Mike Green. Each is numbered out of 1999.
1 Future Watch rookie card– Brandon McMillan? Never heard of him. I think it is time for Upper Deck to cut back on the number of rookies they issue cards of each year.
2 HOLO FX insert cards – I actually like these hologram-type cards. They evoke a certain nostalgia of 1990s hockey cards, when pulling a colorful hologram felt epic. I think I am going to build this insert set.
Sign of the Times Logan Couture – This was the first autograph that I pulled. Not bad. Couture is a rising star, and the autograph is on-card and in blue.
Sign of the Times Colin Wilson – Another player who is potentially on the up and up. So far, so good.
Autographed Future Watch Dana Tyrell 772 / 999 – Never heard of him, but he played 72 games for the Lightning (I refuse to call them the “Bolts”) last year.
Autographed Future Watch Zac Dalpe 492 / 999 – They should call these signed rookie cards “Sigh of the Times,” because you hope it’s a signature of someone good, but then sigh in disbelief when you realize who is on the card. Dalpe spent most of last season in the AHL; maybe he’ll crack the Hurricanes’ lineup this year.
Despite my complaints about some of the autographs pulled, I am happy to say that I beat the odds. Supposedly you get 3 autographs per box, but I pulled 4.
I actually enjoyed this product enough to buy a second box, which–believe it or not– I still haven’t opened yet. Maybe I will open it this Friday as a reward for surviving what is set to be a grueling week, consisting of teaching, freelance web design work and a job interview / teaching presentation (wish me luck). I won’t have much free time for hobbies over the next 5 days.
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Your rookies arent as bad as you think. Dalpe is the Hurricanes' top prospect and I believe McMillian played quite a bit for a 20 year old. Not everyone gets Hall,Subban,and Eberle in a box lol.
Ha, yeah, I guess that's true. Not everyone gets a Hall, etc. I was hoping for a Jeff Skinner card, though.
I'd be interested in trading for the Dalpe card. Contact me if interested.
I busted a box of those some months ago at my LCS and hit 5 autos instead of 3. I know of two others with the same luck of 4-5 in a box. Mine was sort of like yours only I pulled a Tangradi auto and a Casey Wellman auto Jersey/Patch card.
Tyrell might see some second line action this year for Tampa Bay. Scored a bit in juniors, but has played mostly on the grind lines in his brief NHL career. Bolts.Bolts.Bolts.Bolts.Bolts.