Different looks

Beyond signaling that the 2009-10 NHL season is right around the corner, the recent release of 2009-10 Victory also carries cards of players in their team's third jerseys. This sampling came from a couple 36-card packs we found at Target.

Tthis 200-card set boasts second-year cards for last season's rookies, creating autograph stock for such players as Columbus Steve Mason, the Calder Cup winner. You'll also find cards for Boston's Blake Wheeler, Chicago's Kris Versteeg and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

Its low price point is easy on the wallet, too.

These three points earn 2009-10 Victory a buy rating.

Update: 85 Young Guns

After stopping by our local card shop -- the House of Cards in Pinellas Park -- I learned those 85 Young Guns I pulled from a hobby box of 2008-09 Upper Deck Hockey Series 2 were likely part of a nuclear-hot case.

It seems that other hockey card collectors who bought boxes at The House of Cards also reported insane amounts of Young Guns as they ripped open packs. In one case, Young Guns filled entire packs.

Honestly, I can't imagine Upper Deck making a conscious decision to do that. To me, it sounds more like someone putting stacks of Young Guns, rather than base cards, into the collator.

Still, though, no complaints.

Review: Collector's Choice

If you're looking for a low-end product that works well for hounding, it's worth your time and money to pick up a couple boxes of Upper Deck's 2008-09 Collector's Choice Hockey.

With a 200-card base set, a 50-card Choice Rookies subset and kid-friendly Stick-Ums, there's little else to be found in every box -- no premium memorabilia, autograph or numbered short prints. That's why each box, containing 36 six-card packs, costs around $30.

Sure. you'll get a bunch of stars' cards, but you'll also find cards for a couple second- and third-liners as well as another round of summer free-agent signings with their new teams. Sorry, but there are no cards of players moved before or at the NHL trade deadline.

Bottom line, this is a great product for younger collectors or for those looking to extend their hockey hounding dollars.

Rookies

Though I didn't get a rookie card for Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, I did score these familiar names:

From left: Atlanta's Zach Bogosian, Los Angeles' Drew Doughty and Phoenix's Kyle Turris.

Inserts

Though these are hardly worth writing home about, they still make for good autograph stock.

From left: Montreal's Carey Price on a CupQuest card, a trio of Buffalo Sabres highlighted on a 3 Star Selections card and Philadelphia's Daniel Carcillo, shown in his Phoenix days, on a Chippy's Choice.

Seeing doubles

Most years, I pick up two boxes of Rookie Class, Upper Deck's annual 50-card honoring of the NHL's latest stars-in-the-making. I'd put one set away and work the other through hounding opportunities. Given the economy, I wanted to buy just one set. That didn't happen.

The 2008-09 release, which I found at my local Target, had a little surprise inside it this season -- doubles. That's right, doubles. Though the box said a 50-card set, I picked up a few duplicates. I'm not the only one who has come up a card or two short of a full set.

While I certainly won't complain when a hobby box is stacked in my favor with, say, 85 Young Guns, I believe contents should deliver what's been promised.

To me, the term "box set" implies totality. A reasonable person should expect all 50 cards that make up the set.

Just like I got when I bought a second box.

At the least, they could have been of Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, Columbus' Steve Mason or Boston's Blake Wheeler. Nope, mine were Detroit's Darren Helm and Carolina's Brandon Sutter.

Bottom line, and that's what it's all about with Rookie Class, this is a must-have for any hockey hound. It'll be fun set to chase down.

This has to be a mistake

Not that I'm complaining or anything, but after pulling 85 Young Guns out of a box of 2008-09 Upper Deck Hockey Series 2 one can only wonder what in the Gordie Howe is going on in North Las Vegas.

That's right, one box produced eighty-freaking-five Young Guns. I've heard of hot boxes. This box, hand-picked from three offered at the House of Cards in Pinellas Park, Fla., was a near-meltdown within the Young Guns 50-card franchise.

Even better, I have no clue how it happened. It just did. Divine intervention? Mechanical gremlins? A mischievous collator? Who knows?

Just look at the numbers:

~ 48: Number of different rookie cards
~ 44: Percentage of Young Guns cards within the 192 cards in the box
~ 6: Number of Young Guns cards per box, on average, according to Upper Deck
~ 14: Number of boxes, using Upper Deck's averages, it would take to accumulate 85 Young Guns
~ $68.47: What I paid for the box

My only complaint? One would think a full set could have been culled from the 85. Nope. Didn't happen; 48 out of the 49 players, plus the checklist. Atlanta's Nathan Oystrick was the healthy scratch.

Now, look at some of the cards:

Four-banger

I know Islanders fans have high hopes for Josh Bailey, probably just as much as teammate Kyle Okposo, but this is downright ridiculous:

Ironic there's a short-print (098/100) in the mix, isn't it?

Hat tricks

Why, oh, why couldn't this have happened in any of the Series 1 boxes? Maybe I would've scored a Young Gun for Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos (hint, hint, hint)?

A pair of goalies -- Toronto's Justin Pogge and Washington's Simeon Varlamov -- showed up three times.

Duplicate efforts

The largest subset, there were two cards each for 29 players:

Doubles (from left): Washington's Karl Alzner, Carolina's Zach Boychuk, Los Angeles' Brian Boyle and Dallas' Fabian Brunnstrom

More doubles (from left): Columbus' Nikita Filatov and Dan LaCosta, and Vancouver's Cory Schneider

Not shown, but noteworthy: Anaheim's Andrew Ebbett and Brett Festerling, Atlanta's Boris Valabik, Carolina's Patrick Dwyer, Dwight Helminen and Justin Peters, Columbus' Derek Dorsett, Edmonton's Theo Peckham, Florida's Jason Garrison and Michael Repik, Los Angeles' Danny Taylor, the Isles' Mitch Fritz and Brett Skinner, New Jersey's Patrick Davis, Matthew Halischuk and Petr Vrana, Ottawa's Jesse Winchester, Philadelphia's Darroll Powe, Phoenix's Kevin Porter, Pittsburgh's John Curry, San Jose's Tom Cavanaugh and Washington's Tyler Sloan

One-per players

Besides Oystrick, it's my guess these are the Young Guns' toughies:

Top row: St. Louis' Ben Bishop, Toronto's Jonas Frogren and Buffalo's Nathan Gerbe
Middlow row: Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin, Carolina's Joe Jensen and New Jersey's Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond
Bottom row: San Jose's Jamie McGinn, Columbus' Andrew Murray and Philadelphia's Andreas Nodl

Top row: Florida's Kendal McArdle, Edmonton's Steve MacIntire, Pittsburgh's Janne Pesonen and Los Angeles' Teddy Purcell
Bottom row: Colorado's Chris Stewart, San Jose's Brad Staubitz, Phoenix's Viktor Tikhonov and the Young Guns checklist, showing Dallas' Fabian Brunnstrom, Tikhonov and Columbus' Nikita Filatov

Review: Upper Deck NHL MVP

When it comes to Upper Deck's affordable 2008-09 NHL MVP product, two things are guaranteed: You'll get a decent amount of rookie offerings and a silver foil signature adorns most every card.

This year's MVP Rookie crop -- an astounding 92 cards that I liken to poor man's Young Guns -- is the biggest draw of this product. You'll find this year's top three picks: Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, Los Angeles' Drew Doughty and Atlanta's Zach Bogosian. Columbus' Steve Mason, Toronto's Luke Schenn and Phoenix's Kyle Turris are in the mix, too.

Of our dozen, our best were Columbus' Derick Brassard, the Isles Kyle Okposo, and St. Louis' T.J. Oshie and Alex Pietrangelo. The rest of them? Well, I was a bit disappointed. I've had better draws.

Beyond the big names, and there are a few there, most of these rookies (including the rest of ours) make for good hounding stock. Sure, it's always a gamble to "deface" a rookie card, but this is an easy call.

When it comes to hounding, I tend to shy away from MVP's base set, and its familiar checklist, mostly because of the silver foil "autograph." It's a nice touch, I suppose, but I've seen player double-clutch before signing, and trot out the "I've already signed it" line.

This season's signatures appear to be larger and, in some cases, extremely thicker than in years past.

Puckhound's snapshot

Product: Upper Deck's 2008-09 NHL MVP
Vital stats: 300-card base set, with a Gold Script (#'d to 100) and Super Script (#'d to 25) parallels.
Hobby boxes: 24 packs (6 cards per pack), Two-on-Two Jerseys (double-sided, double swatch) memorabilia card (1:24), MVP Rookies (1:2), with Gold Script and Super Script parallels, and insert subsets (shown below): Alexander the Gr8 (1:12), First Line Phenoms (1:6), Magnificent Sevens (1:12) and Marked by Valor (1:6).

Something good: We pulled a sweet Two-on-Two jersey card and the product's affordability (hobby boxes about $45-$50; a retail 300-card box set, including a jersey card, for under $30).
Something bad: Just in case you missed it, there's this recurring issue. Not the best draw of MVP Rookies. Harsh ratio (1/288) for One-on-One Autographs -- dual-sided, two-player cards.
Something weird: Two Jason Blake cards in the base set.
Puckhound's score: 2 of 5 pucks

Littered

Can someone from Upper Deck please tell me why a early-December release like NHL MVP shows players now with different teams? It's not too much to expect a card of Doug Weight with the Islanders, Jarret Stoll with the Kings and Chris Mason with the Blues? Is it?

This card of St. Louis' Alex Pietrangelo, taken fourth overall at this summer's draft, shows that Upper Deck had time enough to get this season's top rookies into production.

Why not take it a step further? Hold back 50 or so other spots for players switching teams.

Fans always appreciate extra effort.

My God wears skates

If I needed proof there's a special connection between Boston's Patrice Bergeron and my son, Colin, it came when I pulled this card out of a hobby box of Upper Deck's 2008-09 NHL MVP earlier today.

Beyond the fact it's a pretty sweet four-swatch card, that it features Bergeron, whom we just saw last week for the first time since the Bruins forward's nasty injury early last season, leads me to believe the hockey gods smiled upon the reunion.

Sure, it could be pure luck, nothing more than a circumstance of collation rates. Still, though, I picked this box from three. That, I believe, introduces fate.

Bottom line, it's a cool card.

One too many?

Someone at Upper Deck must be a big fan of Toronto's Jason Blake. That is the only reasonable explanation why Upper Deck's 2008-09 NHL MVP 300-card base set carries two offerings of the veteran Leafs forward. Kudos, though, for using different pictures.

Alive and well

Beyond the uber-rare rookie card and the occasional four-color autographed patch card, the main reason why I collect hockey cards is to build up hounding stock. Because of this, I get more excited when I pick up a card of, say, New Jersey's Jay Pandolfo than I do when I get yet another for New Jersey's Zach Parise.

I'll also admit to following some of their values. Did you know that both of these 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Winter Classic cards of Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby are "worth" $25-$60 each, according to the December 2008 issue of Beckett Hockey.

It just goes to show that not all investments, so to speak, have to be in stock markets, undeveloped waterfront land or any of the precious metals.

It was nice to see, too, that an overwhelming majority of Hound Central 4.0 readers taking part in the most recent poll also take the time and spend their hard-earned cash to collect hockey cards. Twenty-three of the 28 votes cast indicated that hockey card collecting is still drawing strong interest across the hockey landscape.

Granted, my hockey card purchases have been curtailed this season, focusing on the more low- to middle-price products that add to our hounding reserves while enjoying the sweet bonus that comes along.

Question: Do you collect hockey cards?

Yes: 23 votes out of 28 cast (82.1 percent)
No: 5 votes out of 28 (17.9 percent)

Review: NHL Upper Deck Series I

When it comes right down to it, what hasn't been said or written about the NHL Upper Deck Series I product? It contains the season's first must-have rookie cards -- Young Guns. The photography shows top-shelf images. The design is, most often, crisp and clear. And you seldom get cheated on memorabilia cards, like these colorful swatches from Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk and Philadelphia's Mike Richards.

That's why I usually buy a couple boxes each season. Not only can I easily put together the base set, but I also get a pretty nice clutch of cards to use as hounding stock. Yes, they may take some prep work, but there nearly an automatic inclusion to any team's hounding book.

My only complaint, and it's a constant one as well, is that Upper Deck continues to release products showing players in outdated uniforms. Even though I found only two this release, it's hard to believe that Upper Deck can't update these images, even for a player like Montreal's Robert Lang, who signed with the Canadiens on Sept. 12.

Today's technology -- from photography to printing to distribution -- allows ample time for updates, even the opening day of training camp.

Enough complaining, okay? This Clearcuts Duos, numbered 04/25, of Montreal's Carey Price and Saku Koivu proved to the best short-print out of the three boxes.

I found it a bit ironic that the first short-print, numbered 050/100, was an UD Exclusives of Tampa Bay's Jussi Jokinen.

Of the 200 cards in the base set, and the resulting hard-to-find short prints that bedevil collectors, I get one for a player right here in Hockey Bay.

As an aside, he's one of the better-signing Bolts, not that I'd have him sign this one.

As usual, there were plenty of insert subsets, including one of my all-time favorites, the Winter Classic 2008 series. Others shown, from left, Captains Calling, Joe Sakic; Hat Trick Heroes, Eric Staal; Sophomore Sensations, Sam Gagner; and Winter Classic, Evgeni Malkin.

Puckhound's snapshot

Product: 2008-09 NHL Upper Deck Series I
Vital stats: 200-card base set with UD Exclusive (# to 100) and HG UD Exclusive (3 to 50) parallels. Hobby boxes average two game-used memorabilia cards, six Young Guns rookies and a wide assortment of insert subsets, including another Winter Classic 2008 offering.
Something good: Crisp action photography, decent quality in Young Guns and a sweet short-printed insert featuring Montreal's Carey Price.
Something bad: Old habits die hard. Though the numbers are down, cards still show some free-agent signings with last year's teams.
Puckhound's score: 2.5 of 5 pucks

Stamkos wasn't in the cards

Alright, alright, I admit it. The only reason I bought another box of Upper Deck Hockey Series I on Black Friday was the off chance that I'd finally pull a Young Guns card -- the common-man's cardboard gold standard for rookie cards -- for Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

It didn't surprise me when I didn't pull one out of the first box I busted. Nope, that would have been too easy. Pulling Young Guns for Atlanta's Zach Bogosian and Los Angeles' Drew Doughty, however, helped ease the pain.

I felt certain, too, that a Stamkos Young Gun was in the works when the second box yielded Philly's Lucas Sbisa and another Doughty card. In a sense, my hunch was right. I did pull a Stamkos Young Gun card. It just wasn't the one I wanted.

Nope, I got the lovely parting gift of the Young Guns checklist card, where Stamkos shares space with St. Louis' Alex Pietrangelo and Doughty.

It was the third box, though, that broke my heart. Though it produced Young Guns for St. Louis' Patrik Berglund, the Isles' Kyle Okposo and Toronto's Luke Schenn, I was pretty disappointed that I hadn't scored a Young Guns for Stamkos.

With any investment -- sound or foolish -- I prefer to take the long-term view. Though I'm happy with the quantity of quality Young Guns I've pulled so far -- and this is a pretty deep and solid set -- I believe Stamkos possesses the most potential for long-term appreciation.

Will I buy more? Doubt it. I know when to walk away.

Nice pull

For those of you who poo-poo retail boxes of hockey cards, or hobby versions for that matter, here's a bit of proof that not every box is full of doubles, cheap inserts and your 1,497th card of Jaromir Jagr.

Needless to say, I was a tad surprised to pull this three-color jersey swatch card of Washington's Alexander Ovechkin from an eight-pack retail box of Upper Deck's 2008-09 Artifacts Hockey.

Sure, the swatch may be from an older Caps jersey, but you'll hear no complaints from me. Having said that, though, I doubt I'll by any more boxes. After a pull like this, it can only go downhill from here.

Review: Fleer Ultra Hockey

When it comes to the 2008-09 Fleer Ultra Hockey, you're going to get what you pay for. It's not a high-end product. Nor is it a bargain basement offering. At best, it's a mid-priced product (hobby boxes for about $55-$60) that, from where I sit, is better suited to card collectors than autograph hounds.

After buying a couple of retail boxes ($20 for 60 cards) and fat packs ($5 for 38 cards), eschewing pricier hobby boxes this time, I'm afraid this product, though somewhat useful, will get passed over next season.

Why? For autograph hounds, and that's the filter I run these reviews through, there's very little in terms of putting together a deep set of cards for any in-person hounding.

Trust me, I have more than enough cards for, say, New Jersey's Zach Parise or Boston's Marc Savard. What I'd rather see are more cards for players like New Jersey's Bryce Salvador or Boston's Stephane Yelle.

Again, my biggest complaint I have with this early season release are the outdated photos. Given today's computer technology, when images can be transferred in seconds and prepared for offset printing in moments, seeing cards of players in old uniforms, such as these four shown above, shows a lack of hustle.

To me, preseason games or training camps allow ample opportunity to get updated photos.

The best thing about this release, or at least in the retail version, is the array of inserts, including some that seem perfect for signing.

From Rookie Sensations, a gathering that primarily features last season's call-ups, to Total D, a goalie-specific subset, these are suitable for in-person hounding.

Other insert sets also provide autograph stock for last season's top rookies -- Chicago's Team Leaders card shows Calder Trophy winner Patrick Kane and Montreal's Carey Price is featured in the Difference Makers set.

Puckhound's snapshot

Product: 2008-09 Fleer Ultra Hockey
Vital stats: 200-card base set with Gold Medallion parallels. Hobby boxes average two game-used or signature cards, six rookies, a Rookie Redemption card and three EX Hockey cards
Something good: Crisp action photography, useful inserts within the retail product and a pair of rookie cards (shown above) for Phoenix's Kyle Turris.
Something bad: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, there are way too many cards showing players in the uniforms of their old teams
Puckhound's score: 2 of 5 pucks

Did you see this?

Anyone else stumble upon this on Upper Deck's Web site? UD is offering, just in time for the holidays, NHL Power Play, a 300-card box set. Lots of familiar names, but each set, selling for about $30, contains a jersey card. The release date looks like mid-November.

Well, which one is it?

Posting double release dates for 2008-09 NHL Upper Deck Series I does the card company no good. Will it be Nov. 11, as UD says in its Hockey page, or was it Monday (Oct. 27), as the product page says?

It wouldn't be so remarkable if this confusion was a rare occurence. Sadly, it's fairly common. And, then, there's no guarantee it'll be on store shelves by Nov. 11.

I also stumbled upon these upcoming releases. I apologize for the retail site, but sometimes they're the best source of information.

~ Feb. 4, 2009: Upper Deck 2008 09 NHL Series II

~ Feb. 25, 2009: Upper Deck 2008-09 Collectors Choice NHL

~ March 11, 2009: Upper Deck 2008-09 NHL Ice

Review: 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee

When it comes to hockey hounding with cards, Upper Deck's 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee offering is, by far, the best set that money can buy. From its big-numbers base set (495 cards), the inclusion of players we normally don't find in smaller sets and the Sharpie-ready nature of the cards, this season's O-Pee-Chee should score well.

I must admit, however, to being a bit surprised by it's early release date. If memory serve me correct, this set was released until well into an NHL season. This move is welcomed with open arms, even if it meant a rearranging of card books all set for the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning.

More than anything else, the depth of this set is what makes it among Hound Central 4.0's favorite releases each season. While we have no shortage of cards for such big-name players as Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin, adding third-liners and fifth defensemen only adds to the set's value.

Factoring in second-year cards for Montreal's Carey Price, New York's Daniel Girardi and Philly's Steve Downie make this product a welcome addition to our hockey-hounding inventory.

If I have one complaint, the Marquee Rookies lineup, mostly of late-season call-ups, lacks some serious big names. I had to struggle to find someone out of the 11 rookies we pulled from our 36-card box, other than Columbus' Derick Brassard, to scan for this review. Los Angeles' Erik Ersberg just made the cut.

Beyond that, I was midly surprised to find an autographed card among the packs. Sure, it may be of Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien, but it was an unexpected premium, something that only improved value.

I did notice a major "Oops!" on the card, too -- it mispells the player's last name as "Byfuglin." Maybe I'll send Upper Deck another resume, just in case it's looking for some freelance copy editors who are knowledgable about hockey.

The set also features a couple of chase sets, so to speak. A 495-card variation of O-Pee-Chee's vintage 1979-80 offering, blue-bordered cards that use different photos than the base set, as well as a 39-card OPC Legends set, should also appeal to hockey card fans.

My favorite, however, is the 40-card 2008 Winter Classic subset, featuring scenes from the snow-filled contest between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres in Western New York.

Bottom line, folks, is any hockey hound who dabbles in cards should snap up at least a hobby box of these cards.

There's no doubt, these cards, among my faborite releases over the past few seasons, will come in handy.

Puckhound's snapshot

Product: 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Hockey
Vital stats: 495-card base set, 100 OPC Triple Materials memorabilia cars, 87 OPC Signatures autographed cards, 60-card rookie set, gold and rainbow parallels, 39-card Legends set and a 495-card Vintage variation insert set
Something good: A hockey hound's dream -- a big set, including third liners and fifth defenseman, that doesn't need prep work
Something bad: Given today's printing technology, there are way too many cards showing players in the uniforms of their old teams
Puckhound's score: 3.5 pucks of 5 pucks

Nice touch

One of the nicer premiums in a hobby box of the 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee release is a card commemorating the 2008 Winter Classic featuring the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Though the Sabres were on the losing end of the contest, this card, even if it depicts Buffalo's Ryan Miller and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby in the game's closing play, is a nice snowy day memento from my old stomping grounds of Western New York.

It's in the numbers

Pulling a short-printed card of Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux from a box of 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee probably isn't that big of a deal.

Seeing that the card was numbered 066/100, however, was pretty neat.

To some, that only makes the card more valuable. How much? I'm clueless.

In drips and drabs

Upper Deck tells us that the 2008-09 O-Pee Chee set will be released Oct. 7. Now that the product page has been updated, offering first looks and checklists, key rookies include Phoenix's Kyle Turris, the Islanders Kyle Okposo, Florida's Shawn Matthias, Dallas' Mark Fistric and Columbus' Steve Mason.

Now, if Upper Deck would catch up with its 2008-09 Black product, one of its new high-end lines ($125 for a two-card hobby pack) that was released Sept. 25. Even if it's loaded with premium cards, a 42-card base set will prove more useful to speculators than blue-collar collectors.

Fleer, a subsidiary of Upper Deck, also tells us that 2008-09 NHL Fleer Ultra was released Sept. 26. Too bad, though, that's the only information on the product page. At least we can get a look at some of the set here.