2017-18 Upper Deck Hockey Series 1 and Series 2 Blaster Box Break

I don't think I can classify myself as an NHL fan just yet. It's not that I don't like the league or the sport (I love it) but I don't watch enough hockey outside of the Blue Jackets. Aside from CBJ and the perennial All-Stars, I couldn't name you more than 25 hockey players in the NHL. 

I didn't grow up watching hockey. Baseball, basketball, and football were always on the TV. But never hockey. It's funny how much of an impact that's had on me as a fan. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's really tough to "get into" a new sport as a adult. When you're a kid, you play the video games, you collect the cards, and you watch the games. Your appetite is for sport is enormous and you can never consume enough.

With that said, I'm trying to get into the league as a whole. I know the Blue Jackets up and down, inside and out. But I want to be a fan of the NHL. I'm hoping that collecting hockey cards and studying them will help me learn. In a rare trip to Wal-Mart back in the fall I stumbled upon some 2017-18 Series 1 and Series 2 blasters on clearance. I'm not even sure what Walmart's clearance discount is, but it's less than MSRP so that's a win! Hockey products were the only ones on the shelves, and seem to be immune to retail flippers (for now). 

I've been sitting on these boxes for a while, just waiting for the right opportunity to open them. The recent start of hockey season got me anxious, and I've begun to update my wantlist on TCDB to reflect the Blue Jackets cards that I'm looking for. I tried to drum up some trades, and I quickly realized that my tiny hockey collection offers little-to-no trade bait for others. Remembering that I had these two blasters stashed away, I tore them open. 

Let's start with Series 1 and check out the base cards:

I pulled one Blue Jacket in uniform, and one current Blue Jacket not in uniform. Brandon Dubinsky hasn't played in over a year, and the belief in Columbus is that his career is likely over. A chronic wrist injury has kept him on long-term IR, and he's become an afterthought in Columbus. It's a shame. Although he's not a star, he's been an integral part of the Jackets transition from consistent losing to winning. He was also a great instigator, which peaked in 2015 when he got Sydney Crosby to drop the gloves.

Max Domi is one of many new faces this year, and this is a great photo of him during his time in Arizona.

Each blaster box offers an oversized Young Guns card - I landed Tage Thompson.

The 2017-18 Young Guns group isn't super loaded, but I think I made out well. Filip Chytil is only 22, and he's shown some flashes for the Rangers at the center position. He's a former first rounder draft pick with upside. Evgeny Svechnikov, maybe best known as the older brother of Andrei Svechnikov, is still waiting to catch his stride in the big leagues, as is Lucas Wallmark.

Above is a look at the other inserts that I pulled. I like the UD Canvas cards, and I think Upper deck does a fantastic job with the photography. 

On to the box of Series 2: 

The Series 2 box was more generous with Blue Jackets. Cam Atkinson makes an appearance here, who has been a consistent top-liner in Columbus for almost a decade. 

Ryan Murray was traded this offseason, and Mikko Koivu is another new face in Columbus. 

Here's the oversized Young Guns that was living in the S2 box. For whatever reason, this card didn't come wrapped and was just floating around the inside of the box. The corners are a bit soft due to the lack of protection. 

Young Guns - Tim Heed and Samuel Blais.

To close it out, here's a look at the three inserts that I pulled. I was surprised to see an O-Pee-Chee card in show up here, so I did some digging and learned that OPC Update cards are only inserted into UD Series 2. Being so new to hockey cards, this was new to me. It's a cool concept, although I imagine that could be frustrating for those who are building OPC sets.

There we have have it. A fun little retail break and nice beginning to my hockey collection. 

For the few hockey traders out there in the blogosphere that stopped by - everything here is for trade.

7 Day Trading Card Challenge: Day Five

Today's subject: Favorite "other" card in my collection - hockey, soccer, wrestling, etc.

My Columbus Blue Jackets collection is still very small and consists only of cards that I've acquired through trade. I don't have it in me to spring for a blaster or a hobby box yet. I just don't know enough about the league as a whole to really know what to look for. I know the Blue Jackets roster up and down - I almost never miss a game on TV and I've now attended dozens of games in person - but outside of CBJ, I could probably name you 25 other players around the league. I know the perennial all-stars and some of the young stars, and that's about it.

I'm really excited for the NHL Playoff to launch with the 24-team tournament. As a country we're so starved for sports that I think these games will receive record viewership. It will also be a great chance for casual NHL fans like me to watch other teams and learn more about the league as whole. Who knows, maybe I'll come out of it and pick up a blaster of Upper Deck Hockey. Lord knows it's the only retail product you can on the shelves find these days.

The card for today's selection made it's debut on the blog back in December when I acquired it via trade with Doug at Sports Cards from the Dollar Store. The trade ended up being a big one and involved over a dozen cards from each of us.

This was the card that started it all:

Pierre-Luc DuBois - 2016 Upper Deck Team Canada Juniors #/175

Pierre-Luc Dubois, or PLD as he's affectionately known in Columbus, is one the game's most promising young centers in the league. He'll be 22 in two weeks and he's already put together three solid seasons in a row. 

After seeing this card posted in a box break recap on Doug's blog, I knew I wanted it. I shot him a note asking if it was available and it sparked our first trade, and a rare exchange with a trade partner north of the border. It's fitting that my only hockey-centric trade was with a partner in Canada!

I love this card for a lot of reasons. Aside from alternate home/away jerseys, it's not often that you get your favorite players in unique uniforms. I'm betting hockey cards have a big advantage there. I suppose Topps makes a point of capturing unique jerseys in baseballl with Father's day camo, Mother's Day pink, World Baseball Classic, etc. I would think Soccer cards also feature National team jerseys when possible. Anyhow - my point is, PLD is wearing a Team Canada jersey and it's badass. 

My absolute favorite feature on this card is the serial number. Not just the existence of a serial number, nor the number itself. The red color of the stamp is what makes this card so fantastic to me. It's in the same red foil as PLD's name and the Upper Deck logo. Three cheers for matching color schemes! Serial numbers are always sweet and I have no complaints about any of them. Except the ones that are just printed on the card and not stamped in. Those are lame. Card manufacturers, take note. If you're going to stamp a serial number of the front of a card, THIS is how you do it!

Trade with Sports Cards from the Dollar Store

I’ve gradually grown more interested in the NHL and the game of hockey in the past year, and I’ve become a big fan of the Columbus Blue Jackets and thus have started up a Blue Jackets PC.

As I get more into hockey, I’ve started to pay more attention to hockey cards on the blogosphere. If you’re into hockey cards, there’s no better place to check out than Sports Cards from the Dollar Store. Doug runs a great blog that covers all sports cards, and it’s great change of pace from the baseball-only card world. A few weeks ago I was browsing his blog reading through a post of his and came across this Pierre-Luc Dubois Card:

I shot Doug a note about trading for the card. I was thinking something simple, maybe a PWE swap. Doug replied with some additional Blue Jackets cards he had, as well as some Syracuse basketball and Knicks cards. With the exchange of a few emails, our potential PWE swap grew into a larger conversation. Doug was super generous with what he sent, spanning three professional sports:

We’ll start out by showcasing the Jackets cards. Lots of awesome stuff here. Top left is a really O-Pee-Chee Sergei Bobrovsky many patch. The Boone Jenner patch/auto is a beauty, especially because it’s multi-colored. It’s always great to see a patch that isn’t plain white. We’ve also got a sweet Oliver Bjorkstrand. He’s been a great piece of the Jackets offense this year. Doug was also gracious enough to throw in an auto from now-Predators alternate captain Ryan Johansen, who is one of the more talented players to ever wear a Blue Jackets Jersey.

Moving on to basketball, Doug threw in lots of Knicks cards from recent Panini releases. Two Mitchell Robinson Rookies, and the rest from Kevin Knox. Knox is one of my favorite players on the Knicks. I honestly expected much more out of him by this point in his Sophomore year but he’s still super young. One-and-done’s from Kentucky often take some time to develop – because, ya know, playing in the NBA at age 19 can be tough. I’m hoping that’s the case with the Knox and there are better days ahead. 

A pair of Pirates cards for good measure.

Back to basketball with some awesome Syracuse Orange cards. Oshae Brissett entered the draft this year after his Sophomore season and was chosen on draft night. His dreams came true soon after when he was signed by his hometown Toronto Raptors. He was lucky enough to earn himself a two-way contract out of camp. He made his debut on 11/18 and saw very limited action in four games before being heading back to the G-League. I absolutely loved watching him at Syracuse the past two years and I hope he can make a nice career for himself in the league. 

As for the MCW, that’s a bit of a different story. He was another two-and-done at Syracuse and another guy that I loved watching. It looked like his good fortune would continue when he was drafted #11 overall in 2013 and went on to win Rookie of the Year (in a very diluted rookie class) with the Sixers. 

Nowadays, when you Google “Michael Carter Williams,” the top two results under “People also ask” are:

• Did Michael Carter Williams win Rookie of the Year? (as if so many people google it because they don’t believe it when they hear it)
• What happened to Michael Carter Williams? (as if he was kidnapped or disappeared from planet earth)

Either way, another great additional to my Orange PC. But that’s not all. I saved the best for last…

My first ever booklet, in the form of a Nike Swoosh! 

This card is awesome, with two different pieces of memorabilia AND an autograph. Wow.

Malachi Richardson was also a first round bust – taken back in 2016 – and now he’s playing professionally in Israel. He only played one year at Syracuse, but it was super memorable. In 2016 he helped a #10 seed ‘Cuse team make it to the final four by dropping a career high on #1 seed Viriginia in the Elite Eight. I’ll never forget that game, and I’ll be forever grateful to Malachi for that magic.

Doug, I can’t thank you enough for the trade. Looking forward to many more in the future.