Friday November 16, 2012
By Chris Carlin

Although we are in the midst of a lockout, hockey fans seem to really be enjoying 2012-13 NHL Upper Deck Series One. And with all autograph content live in packs (ZERO autograph redemptions), who can blame them? There is more to the product besides autograph inserts however with great photography, awesome inserts and some very special rookie redemption cards.

Who will be the #1 rookie when the NHL players hit the ice again? Only time will tell.

Upper Deck included three different rookie redemption cards into the product to enhance the value of the product during the lockout. The biggest question collectors seem to have is what are they cards and what will they be good for. There are three rookie redemption cards included in 2012-13 NHL Upper Deck Series One good for Rookie #1, Rookie #2 and Rookie #3. These will not be Young Guns rookies cards or be numbered part of the set. Additionally they will not feature autographs or memorabilia. They will be their own insert set and what really makes them special is how rare they are. They fall 1:517 hobby packs, 1:7,232 retails packs, 1:40,320 retail tins and 1:16,416 retail blaster box packs. Who the players will be however is completely contingent on what happens with this labor dispute. Once the NHL is playing hockey again, these three cards will be good for the top three rookies at that time as determined by Upper Deck’s Product Development Team. We will announce which players they are once that decision has been finalized.

Ed Belfour is one of the more rare jersey cards in the 300 Win Club set.

One of the more welcome new inserts to the series is the 300 Win Club memorabilia cards honoring some of the most successful goalies in the sport. There is a jersey version and patch version (numbered to 10) that collectors are chasing featuring eight subjects. The ratio for pulling one of these cards from the four different groups is listed below:

Look for ten short printed cards in the “Silver Skates” set included Alex Ovechkin!

One more new insert series is the Silver Skates cards. Worthy of note, the short printed cards in that set are cards SS31-SS40 falling at 1:120 packs on average (1:240 retail blaster packs).

The “Day with the Cup” set shows how the Stanley Cup champions spend their day with one of the greatest trophies on the planet.

Another popular set is the “Day with the Cup” insert series that made a big splash on the collecting world last season returns. These cards were all produced in equal amounts and the set features 28 different members of the Los Angeles Kings celebrating with the Stanley Cup. They are 1:1,000 hobby packs, 1:2,500 retail packs and tins and 1:5,000 blaster box packs.

In 2012-13 NHL Upper Deck Series One you can collect the NHL heroes from the 1970′s!

Two more unique inserts come from the “Hockey Heroes” set (paying tribute to the legendary players from the 1970’s) and they are the Header card (HEADER) and card featuring Bobby Orr, Bobby Clarke and Guy Lafleur (HH39). These cards can be found 1:600 hobby packs, retail packs and retail tins, 1:1,200 blaster packs or 1:300 retail fat packs.

Love autographs? Check out the “Signature Sensations” set in UD1!

The next group of cards collectors seem to be loving are the “Signature Sensations” autograph cards. As we stated earlier, there are no redemptions included in this set for autographs, they are all live in packs. The diverse checklist has four different levels of rarity with ratios listed below:

There are some super tough pulls in the game-used jersey insert set. Go through your boxes again to see if you pulled one.

Lastly we have the staple of the Upper Deck set, the game-used jersey cards. Here’s a breakdown for the odds on pulling some of these cards:

That’s all for now. We hope you are enjoying your breaks on 2012-13 NHL Upper Deck Series One!