Does anyone understand the Ultra Redemptions?

[wvu_class_of_2001]

Only bought one box, but I hit the #1 Gold Medallion and also #4.

Are these supposed to be upcoming draft picks? Is the first "rookie" to be called up #1? Does anyone have any idea how this works?

Also, has anyone heard when they should be "live?"

I'm debating whether to move them of just scratch and enter online.

Hoping someone out there knows more than I do.

[Cunnuc]

I'm sure the redemptions will be announced much like Artifacts redemptions and based on the performance of rookies through-out the year. #1 overall draft may not even play enough games and won't qualify as a rookie that year. A #52 overall drafted player may be the #1 rookie of the year and in all likliness will be #1 redemption or at least in the top 3.

The #1 Gold Medallion you pulled was selling very well when the product first came out. If I were you I would list it on eBay BIN OBO and if you don't like the offers coming in then just redeem it.

[wvu_class_of_2001]

Thanks for shedding some light onto it!

I looked into the #1GM and it's been going for around 30 as of late, so I may just hold onto it.

Your reply does lead me to another question I forgot to ask...if we do redeem these, do we not see them until after the season?

Thanks again!
Kin

[Cunnuc]

No you will see them... sometime in the new year. About half-way through the season they will deceipher who to make #1, #2, #30 etc.

The season has to be so far in to make up the list. A rookie is not a rookie that year if he plays less than 10 (or is it 8?) games. This is when teams decide if their draft pick is ready for the NHL or not. It would be a massive screw up for Upper Deck to warrant a player as a rookie card when he is not actually a rookie. I would say 20+ games in they start making their order based on performance.

Earlier releases (such as Ultra and Artifacts) will see quite a differential in the ranking of rookies compared to later releases like SP Authentic and of course the highest-end rookies you can find in The Cup which obviously 13-14 just came out a week ago.

Some rookies dwindle as the season plays out and some shine.

Expect Ultra redemptions to be announced early 2015 and sent out as the cards are produced.

[RGM81]

The cut-off for 2014-15 rookie debuts to get included into 2014-15 UD products is the All-Star Game.

The list will be determined by Upper Deck at that time, with the announcement to come probably in February/March, followed up by production time and then release of the cards.

They're usually ranked based on a combination of draft order, performance, and "hobby love" - if you take a look at the last year that Ultra was released (2009-10) the redemption list was as follows:

201 John Tavares
202 Matt Duchene
203 Victor Hedman
204 Evander Kane
205 James Van Riemsdyk
206 Jonas Gustavsson
207 Jamie Benn
208 Erik Karlsson
209 Tyler Myers
210 Ryan O'Reilly
211 Matt Gilroy
212 Michael Del Zotto
213 Viktor Stalberg
214 Tyler Bozak
215 Sergei Shirokov
216 Colin Wilson
217 Benn Ferriero
218 Michael Grabner
219 Dmitry Kulikov
220 Cody Franson

So it pretty closely followed the criteria above...at the time. Obviously things have changed in the past five years, but you get the idea.

If you've got #1, it's likely going to be either Ekblad or Drouin, depending on how things unfold in the coming weeks with Drouin's performance and how hot his sales are in products like Black Diamond.

[Cunnuc]

Can't argue knowledge like that :P

[wvu_class_of_2001]

Thanks for all the info on this to all that posted!