11-12 Victory Review

Well with the great value offered last year by Score (autos etc.), it was up to Upper Deck to either revamp Victory or keep it the same and hope the legions of Victory fans out there will sustain the product. So what does Upper Deck do? Lets shove our second cheapest franchise in as inserts, so Victory now comes with MVP!

I was a pretty big fan of 07-08 Victory but each year I get more and more dissatisfied with the product to the point where I will buy two packs a year and that is pretty much it. I will try and nail some good rookies as part of UD Series 2, but that is pretty much it.

Base card front

Hate it. Looks like they hired some people off the street who just completed a Photoshop workshop and know next to nothing about anything else. IS there any need to have Victory appear TWICE on the front?

Back side

For good measure, lets have Victory appear TWICE on the back too!

Victory Rookies

Rookie design isn't much better which would be the only reason why I would buy a pack ever. In my two packs I ended up with one rookie. Aaron Palushaj who came over from the Blues as part of the D'Agostini trade. If you want to get technical, he has played 3 NHL games and has been traded 3 times (2 where his draft pick rights)

MVP Insert

Not a bad design, by far the highlight of the two packs. Still, I would much rather pull 1 real auto per box or two than have a few facsimile autos in a box. The MVP rookies fall about 1 per 18 packs so they will have some value to them, but not enough for me to drop 30 on a box.

Game breakers insert

Again, I loved the Stars of the Game and Gamebreakers inserts from 07-08. They had nice foil, decent design and were overall appealing to the eyes. This is pretty much crap.

What I like about 11/12 Victory:

- First chance to see new players in their new uniforms

- First look at the late arrival rookies

- Parallel Rookies are always attractive

- MVP offers some value

What I dislike about 11/12 Victory:

- Uninspired card design

- Few decent rookies

- Much better value in Score

- Inserts are mostly a waste of cardboard

- Little value in completing set

10-11 SPx Review

I was in the card shop the other day (just before Hockey Card Day) and I decided to pick up a pack of 10-11 SPx. There were lots of other choices (no Heroes and Prospects though) so I decided to go for a pack. This is only the second pack of this product I have ever bought (the first being an 08-09 pack that yielded base cards). I can't really say why I have never bought more, but it probabily has to do with the high price (9 per pack) and the low odds of hits for your money. I usually try and stick with the most bang for your buck.

Here is what the front looks like:

I am not a huge fan of the front. The player seems to not be the focus and more than half the card is devoted to a "spirograph" looking design.

Here is the back:

I like the back better. Very Clean and the font is simple. It seems like UD and SPx both incorporate a very modern looking font this year.

Here is the rest of the pack:

Here is Dustin Penner. He has been mentioned a fair bit lately as part of trade rumours.

Chris Pronger. He loves to play with an edge and burn bridges when he leaves his former teams!

And a little surprise. Looks like I found a hit!

Due to the multiple injuries on the Penguins, Nick Johnson is getting some ice time and is finding the score sheet. So far this season he has a goal and an assist in his three games this season. He also has 20 goals in 48 games this season in the AHL. Nick may find himself in the NHL full-time this season and based on his performance I think he has the potential to stay. Time will tell!

Card Quality: 7/10 These cards are of premium quality, definitely a mid-high range product

Photography: 3/10 There really isn't any photography. Each player looks like they had an action photo cropped onto the spirograph background.

Inserts: 7/10 The hits are awesome if you get one. I was lucky to get a low range rookie and even that has a decent swatch on it and numbered /799. My complaint is the hits can be hard to come by unless you pay 140 for a box.

Value: 6/10 These are lottery tickets to me, and I almost never win anything playing the lottery so, they are a gamble to say the least. I imagine buying a box will yield much more satisfaction than buying an occasional pack or two of this product.

08-09 UD Artifacts Review

So I was in my local card shop the other day and I decided to pick up a pack of 08-09 Artifacts hockey. Not the first pack I have ever picked up, I did score a pretty sweet 1 of 1 rookie from this set a few months back, but I thought I would take my chances on maybe getting a Stamkos or something cool. At 13 bucks a pack with taxes thrown in is a little costly, but they guarantee a "hit a pack" so lets dig in.





As you can see, each hobby pack contains 4 cards, and in my case a really large plug. Each card is nice, with a good layout, and the four corners have a bronze foil. They cards have a look of a premium set, and the backs of them have the usual stats as well as a small write-up. I am a little disappointed that the Price and Crosby both came out of the pack with nicks on the top, and in fact this isn't the first time I have seen that from an Artifacts pack. My "hit" was the Legends Ron Hextall card numbered 892/999. I am not sure if I would call this a "hit". I like Ron and he had a wonderful career and was a huge influence on my favourite goalie of all-time Martin Brodeur, but most of those legends cards really aren't anymore valuable than the base cards. Some might argue, my damaged Crosby was the actual hit. In all, they are nice cards, the set is small if you don't include the SP's but to try and do a complete set would be very pricey. Apart from some quality control issues, I really like the product, and they memorabilia cards are always pretty sweet with Artifacts.