Hot Packs Part 3

The final set of hot packs I bought was from the 07-08 UD Ice set. I really like the Ice product and am glad they brought it back. The base cards are simple in design and are of a higher quality than most of the Upper Deck base cards and the Ice Rookies are acetate cards which pretty much have every rookie that has ever walked into an NHL building from that season. The cards are numbered and for the most part hold their value well. Unfortunately, like jersey cards, the weight of an acetate card is different than the base cards and are detectable which is base news for the average pack purchaser. The good news, there are plenty of these hot packs for sale on ebay.

Scenario 3

07-08 UD Ice

4 packs (all to have rookie hits)

Total cost with shipping $19.50

For a cost of less than 5 dollars a pack, at first glance, this is a really good deal. My local hobby shop was selling these packs for over 5 bucks so I am already getting them at a discount and they will all have rookies in them. The goal is to hopefully pull a Kane, Toews, Price (maybe not so much now) or a Backstrom. I am aware this will be very unlikely due to the numbers being very skewed towards scrub NHL'ers and players who only sckated in one NHL warm up and spent the rest of the game watching it from the bench.

Scrub Rookie # 1 oops I mean Ice Rookie # 1

Joe Piskula

When I saw Joe, I saw disappointment. I had never heard of him, and I didn't spent much time finding out who he was. He is likely Alec Martinez's partner down in Manchester (AHL) which bodes well for me if anyone is looking to get the rookies of this dynamic duo, but with the rest of the prospects in LA it is likely Joe will be a lifer in the AHL. Value (1/10)

Ice Rookie # 2

Jamie Hunt

I have heard of Jamie, but it was only because I pulled him out of other packs. This happens to be my first numbered Jamie Hunt rookie, is that a good thing? Jamie was a superstar during his time in the NCAA, but really isn't even a full-time player in the AHL. More disappointment. Value (1/10)

Ice Rookie #3

Joel Ward

Ok Joel Ward, he is a bonified regular NHL player and I saw him play as a member of the University of PEI! He gets himself third line minutes for the Nashville Predators which isn't the best gig in the NHL, but it is a living. I have no concerns for Joel's employment future, but as for me and my pack pulls this makes me 0 for 3. In all fairness, Joel is having a career year with 12-16-28 points in 58 games. He is 7 points and 5 goals away from matching career highs. At his age, this former CIS hockey star is likely going to have a few more seasons potting around 15 goals a year but nothing to cheer about here. Value (3/10)

Ice Rookie #4

Marc Methot

Marc Methot is a 24 year old who has yet to play a full NHL season. He is not an offensive dynamo and his hockey style is more like Mike Commodore than Mike Green. This will not be an investment egg of a card that is for sure. The only plus about this card is it is number /999 which makes it much more rare than the Joel Ward card, but still being a fringe NHL player this card will never leave the commons bin. (Value 3/10)

Ok so this was definitely a bust. The potential was there and even though I was guaranteed to have 4 rookies, in many cases a base Sidney Crosby might have been better than any of these rookies as a pull. However, I didn't even get that, my best base pull was likely the Malkin. In closing the final verdict on this one was a BUST. Value (2/10)

So from these three cases I didn't really have what I would say was an amazing pull. In fact, if I really wanted I could have used the 19.50 from the 07-08 ICE hot packs and used it towards this: and I will still have received the Joel Ward!