SP Authentic is perhaps best known for its popular Future Watch autographed rookie cards — and its sparse, mostly-white base card design. Like many of Upper Deck’s other hockey cards from 2020-21, SP Authentic also had a very late release. In fact, SP Authentic was not released until June 29, 2022 — three days after the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals concluded. 

Fortunately, though, SP Authentic was not cancelled like other sets for the shortened 2020-21 season. And that’s a good thing, because personally, I’ve always liked SP Authentic’s clean base card design and  on-card autographs. And the Future Watch autographed rookie cards may be second in popularity only to Upper Deck Young Guns when it comes to hockey rookie cards among collectors. 

However, SP Authentic is more expensive now, costing around $300 for an 18-pack box. Each pack has five cards, and each box guarantees two autographed cards. 

I recently got a box of 2020-21 SP Authentic. Let’s see what cards were inside. 

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Premier Hockey is another high-quality, premium set by Upper Deck, similar to Stature and Ultimate Collection, which offer just a handful of cards per box. And like Stature and Ultimate Collection, the 2020-21 Premier Hockey set came out almost a good year after intended, as it was released towards the end of the 2021-22 season. This is great if you are still hoping to get rookie cards of Kirill Kaprizov, Alexis Lafreniere, or other players who made their debut during the shortened 2020-21 season. 

2020-21 Premier Hockey costs around $400 for a six-card box. Every box should net you three autograph and/or memorabilia cards, plus an acetate autographed patch card. Well, that last card has me intrigued; it has an autograph, a piece of jersey patch AND is an acetate card, a la “Clear Cut.” I can’t wait to see what that looks like! You also get an additional numbered rookie card and a base card — or a parallel of either. 

OK, let’s open this bad boy up and see what we’ve got! 

Continue reading “2020-21 Premier Hockey Box Break”

The 2020-21 Ultimate Collection hockey set was released towards the end of the 2021-22 season; about a year after it should have come out. But better late than never, as they say. Even though many hockey card collectors had already turned their attention to the new crop of rookies found in the ’21-22 sets, like Trevor Zegras and Moritz Seider, Upper Deck wasn’t done enticing us with last year’s rookies — players like Kirill Kaprizov, Jason Robertson, Tim Stutzle, and Alexis Lafreniere. 

A box of 2020-21 Ultimate Collection Hockey cots around $240 per box and contains four cards. I recently got a box of Ultimate Collection. Let’s see what $240 gets you. 

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It still seems weird to be talking about “new” hockey cards from the 2020-21 season at the end of the 2021-22 season. In late May 2022, Upper Deck released its 2020-21 Stature Hockey set, which features cards printed on thick, foil board card stock. 

A box of Stature costs around $180 and contains one eight-card pack. Each box promises one autographed card or autographed patch card per box, plus one rookie card per box. 

I recently got my hands on a box of 2020-21 Stature Hockey. Here is what I got. 

Continue reading “2020-21 Stature Hockey Box Break”