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.