Don’t call it Series Three! The 2021-22 Upper Deck Extended Series Hockey card set was released in August of 2022, and adds another 250 cards to Upper Deck’s Series One/Two set. Extended Series has 200 base cards and 50 Young Guns rookie cards; technically 198 base cards, two base checklists, 49 Young Guns, and one Young Guns checklist. This makes Upper Deck’s flagship set a whopping 750 cards over three series.
Admittedly, there was less fervor over the release of Extended Series as there was for Series One and Series Two; perhaps because it doesn’t have the big-name rookies like Series One (Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras) or Series Two (Moritz Seider, Mason McTavish) had.
However, what it does have is a plethora of interesting, retro insert cards; some styled to look like cards from the mid-2000s, and others that have designs inspired by late 1990s hockey cards.
2021-22 Upper Deck Extended Series is currently selling for around $100 for a hobby box. Each hobby box has 24 packs, and each pack has eight cards. Let’s take a look at what is inside a box of Extended Series.
167 Base Cards
Extended Series features players who changed teams during the 2021 offseason, such as Marc-Andre Fleury (Blackhawks), Joe Thornton (Panthers), Philipp Grubauer (Kraken), and Corey Perry (Lightning). Card front designs feature two photographs, while card backs have upwards of 20 years of statistics. Out of the 167 base cards I got, none were doubles of each other.
6 Young Guns Rookie Cards
The Young Guns found in Extended Series may very well be a “sleeper class” of rookie cards, but that doesn’t matter to me. Having 150 Young Guns — well 147 Young Guns and three Young Guns checklists — to chase over three series is quite a few to collect, but no complaints here. The Young Guns in my box were Justin Barron (Avalanche), Cole Schwindt (Panthers), Justus Annunen (Avalanche), Ben McCartney (Coyotes), Robin Salo (Islanders), and Danil Tarasov (Blue Jackets). For more information about the best “sleeper” rookies in this set, check out the podcast we recently did about Extended Series.
1 Clear Cut Parallel Card
This Clear Cut Parallel card of Blue Jackets winger Jakub Voracek is made of plastic. The white parts of the large photograph are see-through. Apparently, Clear Cut cards are only found one in every four boxes…
1 French Young Guns Parallel Card
…while French Young Guns parallel cards are found once in every five boxes. So far, my box has been good to me. I hope this Connor Dewar kid pans out for the Wild.
3 UD Canvas Cards
Upper Deck seems to put some of its best photography on its UD Canvas insert cards. Here we see Marc-Andre Fleury (Blackhawks) catching up with his former teammate, Robin Lehner. The other two Canvas cards I got were Jesper Bratt (Devils) and Alex Kerfoot (Maple Leafs).
1 UD Canvas Young Guns Card
Whereas you can get three Canvas base cards per box of Extended, you only get a Canvas Young Guns card once in every two boxes. Brandon Duhame (Wild) was the Canvas Young Guns in my box.
1 HoloGrFx Card
HoloGrFX inserts return for a second year in a row. This time, they aren’t based on any particular design, as HoloGrFX only lasted on year. Here we have Leon Draisaitl in front of a bunch of disco balls!
1 HoloGrFx Rookies
HoloGrFX Rookies have almost the same design as HoloGrFX inserts, but lack the “NHL” banner behind the player. Seth Jarvis put up decent numbers (40 points in 68 games) for the Hurricanes in his rookie season.
1 2005-06 Black Diamond Insert
If you miss oldschool Black Diamond cards that had that etched foil look, well then, I have good news for you. Extended Series hobby boxes have two Black Diamond cards that use the 2005-06 design. The two I got were of Sebastian Aho (Hurricanes)…
1 2005-06 Black Diamond Rookie Gems
…and Cole Sillinger (Blue Jackets). I’m not sure why Upper Deck used the Black Diamond design from 2005-06 instead of 2006-07, like it did with other inserts in Extended.
1 1999-2000 SPx Retro Insert
Another shiny Leon Draisaitl card! This insert is based on the 1999-2000 SPx design.
1 UD3 Insert
This Alexander Holtz UD3 insert pulls no punches; it has etched foil, is die-cut, and serial-numbered out of 1000.
1 SPx Finite Insert
SPx Finite inserts are back for another year, but not based on a particular design from the past. Finite inserts have foil and are serial-numbered.
3 2006-07 Upper Deck Retro Inserts
Sweet! I started seriously collecting hockey again at the end of the 2005-06 season, and 2006-07 Upper Deck was the first Upper Deck set that I decided to build since re-starting this hobby. So, I am very tempted to try and get all of these 2006-07 inserts. The three that I got were Nick Suzuki, Tomas Hertl, and Rasmus Dahlin.
1 2006-07 Young Guns Retro Inserts
Boy, I sure to hope this Alexander Holtz kid makes it big. I keep getting his cards.
1 2006-07 Upper Deck High Gloss Insert
Is this a High Gloss parallel, or an Exclusive parallel? It has “HG” on the front, which (I think) means “High Gloss.” But on the back, this Max Pacioretty card is serial numbered out of 100 — 100/100, actually. So, I think it is an Exclusive parallel.
For those keeping score at home, my box had 14 different types of insert cards, between the parallels, French variations, retros, and whatnot.
I appreciate that Upper Deck has decided to take its best set and add another 250 cards to it, making a great thing even better. At 750 total cards across three series, Upper Deck Series One/Two/Extended is hands-down the definitive card set of the season. While I may not necessarily like or collect all the inserts that Extended has to offer, I appreciate the variety and creativity of them — even if some of these inserts are just rehashes of old designs. If you collect Upper Deck Series One and Series Two, then Extended Series is necessary collecting.
Are you building Upper Deck Series One, Series Two, and Extended Series this season? Leave a comment and let me know, or hit me up on Twitter.
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