2015-2016 Upper Deck Contours Product Review

[Pheebs888]

Upper Deck Contours 2015-2016 Product Review

I'm nowhere near as card crazy as I once was, there was a time where I'd buy pretty much every release that graced the calendar but those days are long gone. However, yesterday, I got an hitch so I stopped by the card shop and for some reason, I felt like it was a good idea to buy a box of UD Contours. It probably had something to do with the fact that I do like trying something new every now and then or perhaps because the box caught my eye as it was displaying someone we've seen way too little of this year, Carey Price. I'll candidly admit that I had not even looked up the product, checklist or what the hits were in the product... I have now and here's what every box should contain:

4 autographs or relic cards
4 base parallel (numbered) or Rookie Resume (numbered) cards
20 cards per box

In Canada at least, the boxes should set you back $129.99 +tx or so each (in Brick and Mortar shops). I'll be honest, at that price point I was expecting something a bit better. That being said, I do really like the design of this set probably because I've always had a soft spot for die-cut cards and that's what those are, yes even the base set. Upper Deck has done a very good job with that design. As for the blue base parallels numbered to 499 they have a slightly slimmer shape and look pretty good. You can see both the regular base card (Price) and the Blue parallel version (Lundqvist) below:



The base set is composed of 100 cards (blue parallel numbered to 499, red to 99, gold to 10 and printing plates to 4), followed with a 30 card set of autographed Rookie Resume cards and completed with a 30 card set of Rookie Autographed jersey cards. There are also quite a few set of memorabilia or insert cards:

-Club Crest Jersey: 32 cards 1:7 packs
-High Profile Fans Jersey: 7 cards 1:41 packs
-High Profile Fans Autograph Jersey: 7 cards those are parallel cards numbered to 149 or 199 with patch parallels numbered to 25
-Jumbo Fabrics Jersey: 18 cards 1:15 packs with patch parallels numbered to 10
-Rookie Jumbo Fabrics Jersey: 30 cards 1:8 packs with patch parallels numbered to 15
-Rookie Resume: 50 cards with Gold rainbow parallels numbered to 99 and Gold rainbow proofs numbered to 50
-Rookie Resume Gold Rainbow Autographs: 42 cards 1:7.5 packs
-Show me Some Glove Jersey: 27 cards 1:11 packs with patch parallels numbered to 20
-Team Fanatics Jersey: 2 cards 1:444 packs parallel cards patch numbered to 65, auto jersey to 50 and auto patch to 10
-Youth Movements Autographs: 29 cards numbered to 49, 249 or 399

My box included the following hits:

Mike Condon Rookie Resume Autograph RR-33 1:49
Emile Poirier Rookie Resume RR-4 329/399


Tomas Hertl Youth Movement Autograph YM-13 335/399


Frederik Andersen Show me Some Gloves S-1 1:15


Connor McDavid Rookie Jumbo Fabrics RJJ-CM 1:225


As well as 4 blue base parallels and 14 base cards. Overall, it was a bit of an underwhelming break. Yes, I did pull a Connor McDavid Rookie Jumbo Fabrics and that's a pretty good pull in this product but I was sad to notice that there are a few cards which were damaged straight out of the packs. In fact, seeing this brought me right back to the 2008-2009 Upper Deck release of Masterpieces. That was a set I adored, I bought numerous boxes of it but without fail, there were some damaged cards in each. Every time, there were some or the borders that should not have made it past by quality control but did. In this instance, there are no borders but the Show me Some Gloves set has sort of a foil finish and that's where the biggest damage was. My Frederik Anderson card's finish is kind of lifted in some places... In fact, I do believe that I will be reaching out to Upper Deck quality control about it. If you get the same bad surprise, you can contact them on [email protected] they will require a UPC code and a receipt to assist you. My other issue with the product is the fact that the autographs are not hard signed but rather stickers on the cards which have never been that popular with collectors. I should also add that the only Buffalo Sabres player featured in this product is Jack Eichel, he's the only one to make the cut even though there are plenty of inserts/autographs and memorabilia sets. So if you're considering buying into a team group break of this product, steer clear of Buffalo since your odds of getting a good return are rather slim.

In a nutshell, I feel this product would be better suited to young collectors but at this price point, they do not seem to be the target audience. With taxes, we're talking about $150 for 20 cards... Furthermore, I know it's early but the resale value (according to eBay) doesn't seem to be very high either. I do not regret buying the box since adding a McDavid to your collection is always a good thing but I won't be buying anymore boxes. Perhaps a single here and there of Montreal Canadiens players since I like the design but that's about it.

In closing, while it's nice to have a new product and kudos to UD for trying, I feel this one was much more miss than hit and that's always unfortunate. I welcome commentaries though and if your experience with this product was more positive than mine, please do let me know...perhaps I was just unlucky damage wise but I'm not about to purchase another box to check...can you blame me?

Final ratings:
Overall Design: 4.5/5
Value: 3/5
Fun: 3/5
Rebuy: 2.5/5
Variety: 4/5

Overall score: 68%

[spuds1961]

Nice review Karine, I feel the price should have been more in the 80 dollar range the cards are nice but like you said only 20 cards in a box will make it rather expensive to put a set together.

[Gallinator]

I agree - at $80 (in the USA), this would be worth considering. I do love a die-cut set! Sorely disappointing is the "Show Me Some Glove" which simply MUST have glove pieces for the memorabilia. Things like that plus the sticker autos drop this firmly into a low-/mid-range product.

[Pheebs888]

Thanks for the comments guys!