Upper Deck Hockey Series 2 2015-2016 Product Review

**Pheebs888** · 02-20-2016, 06:16 PM

Year in, year out the staple of the hobby calendar for hockey fans is the release of Upper Deck Hockey series 1 in November and the release of series 2 in February and this year is no exception. Scratch that actually, this year is exceptional. Not since the days of Crosby and Ovechkin first strides on the ice has the hobby been so ablaze with excitement. While in November everyone was chasing McDavid now it's time to chase Jack Eichel and a lot of other exciting inserts and specials cards. I don't know about you but for the last two years, I've been building the portraits set out of series 1 but this year, there is a rookie portraits set in series 2 that seems right up my alley so I'll be chasing those without mercy. Of course, the release still includes the exciting Young Guns Acetate cards, the Rookie Breakout sets and the Program of Excellence class. Considering how exciting this rookie class is, I bet a lot of collectors are busting in the hope of finding some highly sought after McDavid, Domi, Panarin or Eichel cards. Odds are, not everyone will be successful in that quest but from my point of view everyone can have fun chasing the dream.

This year's incarnation of Series 2 is pretty much like the previous ones and odds are as you'd expect (per hobby packs):
Acetate hits: 1:288
Rookie Material: 1:48
Young Guns: 1:4
Young Guns canvas: 1:48
Retired Stars Canvas: 1:192
Program of Excellence Canvas: 1:192
Piece of History 1000 Points Club jersey set: 1:864
Clear Cut Superstars: 1:640
Game Jersey: 1:48
Portraits: 1:6
Signatures: 1:576
O-Pee-Chee Updates
Veterans: 1:24
Rookies: 1:6
Retro veterans: 1:42
Retro rookies: 1:17

As per usual, the design of the cards is simple and yet efficient. I personally really like most of the pictures chosen for the cards especially the Brendan Gallagher base where he's pictured in warm-up with a Winter Classic Toque and the Chris Neil one in front of the Sens logo concentrating before a game. I'm not too keen on the Zachary Fucale Young Guns though which doesn't look like it's been taken during a game but rather during the rookie showcase. As for the checklist itself, I've seen a lot of complaints from people saying that there are a lot of “no names” Young Guns but what must be kept in mind is that this is the second series and of course most of the bigger star were included in the first series. However, Eichel graces this release and so does Louis Domingue who put himself on the map this year with the injury to Mike Smith. The checklist also includes quite a few Montreal Canadiens and considering the hobby love that this team gets, it's always a good day when you pull Habs Young Guns, even with their train wreck of a season you can bet people will be after the Fucales, McCarrons and Hudons which emerge from the wrappings.

I've bought 3 boxes but only have opened one so far and I'm happy to report that I was not shorted any hits and that I'm only missing 34 base cards. I was pretty pleased with the Young Guns pulls (5 regulars, the checklist and one Canvas): Fucale, Hanifin, Domingue, Forbort, Gaunce, Eichel/Fucale Checklist and McCarron Canvas.

As for the other hits, I received a Roman Josi jersey card, the Portraits of Shore, Shinkaruk, Baun, Brittain, Canvas of Howard, Vrbata and the Subban/Kane checklist, a Joel Ward Exclusive 20/100. On the O-Pee-Chee update front, I got 4 regular rookies: Sprong, Hanifin, Miller and Petan, 2 retro rookies in Fabbri and Parayko and one parallel in McGinn. As for the veteran, Phil Kessel was the only veteran I pulled.

It will be interesting to see if this release will sell as quickly as series 1 did. No doubt I do not need to remind you of the backlash which Upper Deck received for holding back some of the release for their e-packs. It shouldn't surprise anyone that this release will be the same and I'm told that the e-packs of series 2 will be available some time in March. Why you ask? Simply to give brick and mortar stores the chance to sell their stock before people have to resort to online buying. I must admit that if I still live in England, I would be all over that e-pack business. Of course, for those who have card stores near them, e-packs seem pointless aside from removing physical hits from circulation but we should all think of those who are not lucky enough to hard card stores nearby, they too deserve to be able to get in on the chase.

To sum-up, this is by no means a groundbreaking release but why should it be? If something is not broken, do you really need to fix it? While it is true that the better Young Guns were in Series 1, the presence of the Acetate cards, the Program of Excellence set and the Young Guns Canvas of THE rookie this year, there should be plenty to keep everyone interested.

Shortly after writing this, I opened my second box and for a while I thought it was the box from hell...I got the 4 portraits I had already gotten in box one and 5 Young Guns of guys I had never heard of, that is to say: Hrabarenka, Faksa, Vermin (yes Vermin, the name made me chuckle in despair), Keranen and Shore. But then, it happened: first; Nicolas Petan Program of Excellence Canvas showed up then, I hit a Bryan Bickell Day with the Cup and just when I thought that was it, Jack Eichel came to visit! Suffice to say that was an epic break! I should really call it a day, quit while I'm ahead and just not open the 3rd box which is sitting on my table right now but...I'm a very week minded individual and I must admit this product makes for a fun break and well, there is no Habs game tonight so what better way to spend a Saturday evening!