Upper Deck Ice 2016-17 High End prices require High End Quality!

With ever changing technologies and advancements in the trading card industry, hobbiests have lots to be excited about. With game materials from jerseys to pucks being included in cards to autos and acetates its only a matter of time before urine and blood samples will be available to collect /jk. Which brings me to this years Ice 2016-17 series.

I am not sure when clear cut, or acetates came on the scene, but I think it was in the early to mid 90's, I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. Either way the acetate has taken card collecting to a whole new level for the hobby and adds more choice for the high end enthusiast.

I am a big fan of these types of cards but at an average cost of about $6.00 per card and boxes being a hit or miss kinda deal it makes it difficult to collect the whole set for the average collector but is a nice treat to open on occasion. This years series consists of a 100 card base set and several subsets. One of my favorites being the Subzero set. With old legends like Bobby Orr and current players and rookies included in the mix it makes for some great cards to get your hands on. I also like the thicker Exquisite Collection set which is eloquently done and a very classy looking card. I managed to pull a William Nylander Rookies #'d to 299 Exquisite 180 pt card. Here is a picture of that card.

With 100 cards in the base set and 30 subsets consisting of an additional 756 cards making this an absolutely huge set of 856 cards. Collecting every card I would consider next to impossible considering the amount of short prints in this series. However that should never deter one from grabbing some of the finest looking as well as most durable cards on the market. They are resistant to damage if properly taken care of. I put one of the base cards through the tests and found that the cards held up to severe flexing, minor drops on the floor and even liquid being spilled on the cards. Providing the liquid is not boiling hot. These acetate cards hold up to a wide range of common accidents that can happen to cards over the years. Not sure how sunlight, dampness, heat, cold, and pressure will affect these cards over time but like  I said if properly stored they should last for many generations. Do Not Try the liquid test on other cards that are not acetate, these tests were only applied to the ACETATE cards!

Severe flexiblity

Video showing warm water being poured on card

Drop tests for edge and corner damage.

Over all these are a very eye pleasing, see through, plexiglass looking cards that holds up very well to minor accidents with minimal damage. Kept in a one touch or even a soft sleeve put into a top loader should keep these gems mint for many many moons. :)

Pros : Flexible, water resistant, holds up to minor accidents, should stay mint for many generations if properly stored

Cons: Easily scratched, heat is an enemy, expensive

The Rise of Auston Matthews, the Fall of Patrik Laine

You may have noticed the rather big increase in the Auston Matthews Young Gun card on the EBAP (E-Bay Average Price) list posted here on our website earlier this week. As you all know we are almost into the post season and the Upper Deck 2016-17 series 1 has been out for some time now, and the series 2 for over a month. We have started keeping track of the price trends on ebay for hockey cards and with our first update on the hot young guns from this year Auston Matthews took a huge jump in value, and Laine took a bit of a dip. A lot of you may be wondering why the big jump in a 5 or 6 day period. Well as I stated at the first, we are heading into post season which means our regular season is almost to an end. At this stage, with only 2 or 3 games remaining, most all of the races for the major hardware is all but decided. With that in mind we see Auston Matthews leading Patrik Laine by 3 goals for the calder trophy. Matthews also set a Leafs rookie record and from the looks of things will have the Leafs in the playoffs. Now do you need to ask why Matthews YG took such a big jump in price this last week? Of course you don't, can we expect more jumps when the leafs, and they should, make the playoffs. Probably a bump in price will be warranted, and of course his performance in the playoffs in combination with all the accolades he will receive for his rookie outing will keep his card SMOKIN HOT throughout the summer months.
On the other hand we have our Jets superstar, "Patrik Laine", who has taken a bit of a dip in price the past week. Not a huge loss but a loss none the less. With the Jets not making the playoffs, again!, and Matthews beating Laine out for the Calder, is reason enough to see his card decrease in value.  As the playoffs wear on and the summer approaches I would predict the Laine YG will steadily decrease until it settles into a nice comfortable price range, pretty much like a McDavid vs Eichel or Crosby/Ovechkin YG's pricing. I would predict his card will settle in around the $100.00 price range. Lets not forget Laine still had records of his own and had an outstanding rookie season keeping his card at a simmering level until he gets another crack at something brilliant in order to heat it up again. Other than that, for all of us Laine fans and  supporters,we will have to watch our sniper slip and hope that next year bodes better for him and his YG pricing power. Now lets get ready for some fun and exciting playoffs while cheering for our favorite teams and players. #GoCrosbyGo

Introduction

Tynomac's Introduction and Thanking all of YOU!

I am a father of 4 children, 3 of which still live at home, all teenagers,*sigh*. They are, in order of birth; Brenden 21, Tyler 16, Noah 15, and Mackenzie about to be 14. My wife was in the workforce for 25+ yrs but due to illness is now a stay at home mom, battling her illness and most days the kids as well. They keep us busy and broke!

Hockey Cards and Coffee

Once again hockey season is just around the corner. It is the middle to late September and we have the World Cup of Hockey being played before everyone gears up for the NHL season. Canada is looking good and should, from the looks of things, win the tournament. Which brings us to this years Tim Hortons Upper Deck NHL card series that has just been released as of September 21st 2016.
 At first glance they are a typical upper deck issued card. The cards are made specifically for Tim Hortons promotion in their Canadian stores only. Last year marked their first promotional set in conjunction with Upper Deck being released. This years set is made up of a base set of 100 cards. There are 6 sub sets comprising of 75 cards giving us a Masterset totaling 175 cards.
I have decided to breakdown the numbers for each individual set and card.
In order to do so  we will need some specific information concerning the printing run for this series. I will put links to all info sources at the end of this blog.
The Tim Hortons Upper Deck 2016-17 NHL card series has a printing run of 9,375,200 packs. There are 3 cards in each package giving us a grand total of 28,125,600 cards. There are specific cards in this printing that are not included in the master set but are included in the printing count. These cards and sets are listed as follows from rarest to more common.
Sidney Crosby Autographed (1 card set) 87 cards printed 1:107,761 packs.
Timbits Autographs Nathan MacKinnon (1 card set) 100 printed 1:93,752 packs
NHL Autograph Jersey Card (6 card set) 150 printed (25 sets possible) 1:62,501 packs. I guess it could be argued that these would be the rarest of the cards since only 25 of each were produced.
NHL Autographs (15 card set) 1302 printed (87 sets possible) 1:7,200 packs
Jersey Relic Cards (18 card set) 5208 printed (289 possible sets) 1:1,800 packs
Now that the rarest of the rare cards are accounted for lets move on to the master set, which includes a Base Set of 100 cards, Sub Sets include: Franchise Force set of 12, Clear Cut Phenoms set of 14, Platinum Profiles set of 12, Pure Gold set of 15, Game Day Action set of 15 and Local Leaders set of 7 checklist cards.
BASE SET
There are a total of 18,757,148 cards dedicated to the production of base cards meaning there are 187,571 of each card printed. These cards will be found at a rate of 2 cards per pack.
FRANCHISE FORCE
A total of 390,635 printed with 12 in the set gives us 32,552 of each card printed. These cards were printed at a rate of 1:24pks. Meaning one card for every 72 cards produced, making it the least printed card in the master set.
CLEAR CUT PHENOMS
A total of 585,950 printed with 14 in the set gives us 41,853 of each card printed. These cards were printed at a rate of 1:16pks. Meaning one card for every 48 printed. Making this the 2nd least printed card in the master set.
PLATINUM PROFILES
A total of 1,041,500 printed with 12 in the set gives us 86,791 or each card printed. These cards were printed at a rate of 1:9 pks, or one card for every 27 produced.
PURE GOLD
A total of 1,875,000 were produced with 15 in the set gives us 125,000 or each card printed. These cards were printed at a rate of 1:5pks. or one in every 15 cards.
GAME DAY ACTION
A total of 3,125,000 were printed with 15 in the set leaves us with 208,333 of each card produced. They were printed at a rate of 1:3pks or one for every 9 cards. These cards are the second most abundant cards in print.
LOCAL LEADERS
A total of 2,343,000 printed with 7 in the set giving us 334,714 of each card. Although it had less total printed than other sets the fact that there are only 7 cards needed to complete the set makes it the highest produced cards in the set.
So here is the quick list of the cards and the breakdown from rarest to most common:
Franchise Force:(12 card set) 390,635 cards, 32,552 of each.
Clear Cut Phenoms: (14 card set) 585,950 cards, 41,853 of each
Platinum Profiles: (12 card set) 1,041,500 cards, 86,791 of each
Pure Gold: (15 card set) 1,875,000 cards, 125,000 of each
Base Set: (100 card set) 18,757,148 cards, 187,571 of each
Game Day Action: (15 card set) 208,333 of each
Local Leaders: (7 card set) 334,714 of each.
That means there is only  32,552 possible master sets, and only 25 complete ultimate sets if someone was able to collect all rare redemption cards and autographed cards. Good luck!

There was also a Sidney Crosby binder released this year with the collection and is in limited supply. I am currently trying to find out just how many were produced but not sure where to find that info. I will try writing Tims to find out. Always good to know just how rare or not so rare something is.
I hope this info will be useful or at least interesting. Only a few more weeks til the hockey season begins until then we have what is left of the WCH and Tim Horton hockey cards to get us geared up. We will see you all soon with more stats and numbers to break down.
SOURCES:
http://www.beckett.com/news/2016-17-upper-deck-tim-hortons-hockey/
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