2019-2020 Upper Deck MVP Review

You know that it's time to gear up for the next hockey card season when MVP gets released! It's always the first out of the gate when it comes to hockey cards. I used to really dislike MVP because it lacked any sort of excitement in opening it, but in recent years MVP has stepped up its game quite a bit. There are a lot of fun inserts to get in this product, and if you're really lucky, you may even get an autograph. This set is one that is affordable and a great way for younger collectors to get into the hobby.

Product Thoughts
MVP comes at collectors with a nice modern design that works very well for its audience. I love the borders and the overall color scheme. It's a bit busy, but nothing seems out of place on the card. Though there is no actual foil here, the cards have a nice shimmer about them, especially the parts that are silver. If I were a young collector, these cards would appeal to me and be at a price range that I could spend my allowance on. It's also nice that MVP spits out a good number of insert cards to make the product interesting.

Script parallel cards feature a facsimile autograph on the front. The silver versions look like actual silver sharpie was used. I really had to do a double take when I saw the first one as I thought it was an actual autographed card. Upper Deck did a really nice job on these to make them pop. I was lucky enough to pull a black variation with serial numbering to just 5. Cards like this with this sort of rarity makes MVP fun for more seasoned collectors.

MVP celebrates 20 years with a special 20th Anniversary set. These inserts look like standard MVP cards of years past, but you can also get nice looking parallel version of them. I particularly like the die cut Colors and Contours variation as the cards stand out with a nice shimmer of color. Each of them are numbered to just 249.

Speaking of shimmering, many of the inserts you find in MVP have a shiny quality to them. Again, I think this appeals to younger collectors, but older collectors should enjoy them too. The card do look quite nice and harken back to the 90's when inserts were all the rage. MVP is kind of a retro set in that regard. These shiny insert cards are nicely done and are pretty eye catching.

For a quick and inexpensive break MVP does a great job. You won't a hit very often, but if you do, it could be absolutely huge. I didn't see autographs listed on the box or wrapper, but it appears that there are quite a few rookie autographed cards available as well as big names like Connor McDavid and John Tavares in the product. Not bad for a product like this!

Positives:

• Inexpensive box price, well under $100.
• The cards look very nice - especially the cards that feature foil.
• A big autograph is rare but can be found in this product.

Negatives:

• Hits are hard to come by.
• Incomplete rookie class, you'll have to wait for updated MVP cards later.
• Not too exciting for high-end collectors.

Overall Rating:

8.25/10

2018-2019 Upper Deck Chronology Vol. 1 Review

I'm so happy to finally get some hockey cards back on the Cardboard Review. My local hobby shop did not get their shipment in so I had to do an order from DACardWorld.com. Sorry for the lateness, but here is my review of Upper Deck's Chronology Vol. 1. It's a one-pack-per-box deal that puts all the focus on retired players. As usual with these types of products, a box/pack will cost you a little over a hundred dollars.

Product Thoughts
I have to say that I'm very lukewarm regarding this product. I like the idea of getting retired players, but from the breaks I've seen, many of the players I've seen come out of this have been smaller name guys that I definitely wouldn't be too excited to pull. That being said, it is possible to pull the big guys like Wayne Gretzky and Joe Sakic, but there's a better chance of getting guys like Jamal Mayers and Douglas Murray in your break. Now, if you're a hardcore Sharks fan, Murray might be ok... but Mayers... I just don't know about that.

Aside from the autographs that come about two per pack, you get either a base card limited to just 222 or a 0 Degrees Celsius card. The base cards have a very standard Upper Deck look to them, so I'd rather get the acetate card that came in my pack. These acetate cards are nice and thick and remind me of the old cards that Upper Deck used to put in Upper Deck Ice. These cards fit the hockey theme perfectly.

Taking a page from Topps' Allen & Ginter, you can now rip open Time Capsule cards out of Chronology. Upper Deck has made getting the Time Capsule cards relatively easy to get as I've seen many of them come out of Chronology breaks. Inside the card you'll find a mini card that is limited. I had fun ripping open this card. Since these are much more common than the Allen & Ginter ones I don't find it too hard of a choice to rip them or not. I simply just go for it. The value of the Time Capsule inserts are nowhere near the Ginter ones... unless you happen to have one that is serial numbered to something with a low number.

Chronology makes a very quick break. If you're really into retired NHL players, then this is definitely a product for you. I will admit that though there are names in here that aren't that desirable, it is nice that you can actually find guys like this in a product. Many times you'd have to rely on 3rd party companies to include players like this and it's cool that Upper Deck has a set where they can be found. I just think it's better to hand pick the ones you want on eBay rather than trying to crack packs of this to get them.

Positives:

• On-card autographs are nice, and older players tend to have better looking sigs.
• Rip cards are fun to open up.
• You'll find players that you won't find anywhere else in Upper Deck products.

Negatives:

• Expensive for the content you get.
• Many of the players are not big named guys.
• No current players to be found.

Overall Rating:

7/10

2019 Topps Heritage High Numbers Review

Topps is just releasing release after release! Both Heritage High Numbers and Bowman Sterling came out at the exact same time. I know my money is just flying out of my pockets! Anyways, if you're looking to purchase a box between the two products that came out today, Heritage High Numbers is the way to go if you're not looking to spend as much. Boxes are a little over a hundred dollars and you get an enormous stack of cards to enjoy after you crack all the packs.

Product Thoughts
This year's Heritage wasn't too popular with collectors in my opinion. In hearing and talking to fellow hobbyists, many of the them didn't like the boring grey borders that these cards featured. And I don't blame them. Opening pack after pack of these cards is pretty monotonous. Sadly, there isn't too much to really look forward to in a box of Heritage when it comes to hits as there is only one per box. Thankfully though, this High Number edition at least has all the big rookies from the 2019 season. I definitely would pick this iteration over the first set as the rookies do make a difference in terms of the collectibility of this release.

I mentioned that going through a box of packs of this product is somewhat monotonous. Well, check out this insert card of Eloy Jimenez. Even the insert cards don't have pop as they sport the exact same grey border that all the other cards have. I really wished that they'd at least change it up a little when it came to these cards. It wouldn't make the product worth anymore, but at least they would break up the action just a little.

Thankfully, there are some inserts that are colorful and different. The Scratch Off cards can be opened up like a book. Collectors can actually play a little game of baseball using them... not that anyone would really do that though. These Scratch Off cards come at about one-per-box, but I would prefer them to be a case hit. That would give these a little bit more interest. As they are now, there's just not too much to them.

You can easily see that changing the border color makes a huge difference. I really like the look of the black bordered parallel card. The card looks really sharp and has the pop that the standard base cards lack. The other parallel card that I got in the box was the chrome variation. The chromes look great as well. It's just too bad that these cards are few and far between. I think getting one of these black bordered cards per box is about right... but the chromes should be much more prevalent. It would incentivize collectors to perhaps go for a set. As it stands, trying to do either border variation set is an extremely difficult task.

Most boxes of Heritage will net you a plain jersey card of some sort. That's what I got in my first box from earlier this year. I was shocked to pull this Rod Carew on-card autograph today. Rod is a hall of famer and this card is very sweet. I consider myself very lucky to have gotten it as I know how few and far between autos can be in this product.

Positives:

• Great set for hard core set builders to get their teeth into.
• Some of the variation cards are extremely expensive and rare pulls.
• The High Number set has rookies from the 2019 season.

Negatives:

• Very boring design year.
• Only one (usually jersey) hit per box.
• Variation cards are hard to spot - you have to look at the little number on the back of the card.

Overall Rating:

7/10

2019 Bowman Sterling Review

Last week Topps released the high-end Tribute cards. This week they're back at it with Bowman Sterling. This high-end young rookies and prospects brand will cost you over two hundred dollars per box and will net you 5 total autographs. Sterling was a brand that Topps put out a few years back, but hasn't made an appearance until this year's release. If you love rookies and prospects, this may just be the high-end release for you.

Product Thoughts
The main draw of Bowman Sterling is the one-per-pack autograph that you can find in the little mini-boxes of the product. The vast majority of the autographs will be of young players - up and coming or not. Most of the autographs you find will not be worth the chrome stock they are printed on in five years, but baseball collectors love to speculate on talent, and this product is all about that. The cards themselves are a nice silver color, but nothing about the way they look really stands out. In that way it is very Bowman-esque. It doesn't matter how the cards look, it just matters that they will be worth a lot later!

Prospects and rookies are split 50-50 throughout the base set. Each is numbered according to their status. Rookies like this Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will have the traditional rookie logo in the corner. Some current stars are also featured in Sterling, but they are hard to come by.

In baseball, the parallel cards are extremely popular, and getting a popular rookie or prospect with a low number is often better than a standard autographed card of some random player. A lot of times these low numbered colored parallels are worth quite a bit. It is very exciting to find the colored parallel cards when cracking packs open.

The autographs that I've seen out of Sterling have all been on-card. And that's the way it should be for a product that costs as much as it does. I've found that it is good just to carefully store away the hits you find in these prospect-laden products as you never know how they will mature in the future. Imagine going back through your cards and finding a player's first Bowman card that is now a star. With Bowman you just have to be really patient.

What's better than an autograph or colored parallel? An autograph that is a special parallel. Typically these cards are serial numbered. The numbering goes all the way down to 1/1, so there are some pretty rare cards to find. These parallel cards have a lot of appeal to them. First of all, they look really awesome. And secondly, some of the prices the best players can realize can be pretty insane.

Positives:

• Collectors will find 5 autographs per box.
• The autographs are on-card.
• There are many rookies and prospects that could be the next super-star.

Negatives:

• Getting a box of this isn't cheap. A box of 5-mini boxes is over $200.
• All the prospects and young players from this year could be terrible.
• The Bowman Sterling brand isn't as popular as the standard Bowman Chrome name.

Overall Rating:

8/10

2019 Topps Tribute Review

Tribute is one of Topps' premium card sets. Boxes of only six packs will cost nearly three hundred dollars. The products boasts that each box will have 3 on-card autographs as well as 3 memorabilia cards. Tribute contains a mix of both legends and current players. Rookies are also prevalent in the product - especially in terms of the autographed card selection.

Product Thoughts
At first glance, I couldn't figure out why this product was so expensive. I get that there are six hits in the product, but Tribute just doesn't have that premium look that I am used to. Cards in hand, the set does look nice as the cards are thick and made of glossy acetate. It's a pretty untraditional looking 'premium' card. I do applaud Topps for utilizing a design that veers away from the usual all white or ornate looking background. It's a unique set, but definitely a bit too pricy in my opinion.

One of my favorite things about game-used baseball memorabilia is that sometimes you'll get a little MLB sticker that has a number on it. Go to the MLB authentication site and you can find out where the piece of jersey you got came from. This particular David Ortiz jersey piece came from a game in which he played the Oakland A's back in September of 2016. Being able to do that is pretty awesome. It definitely adds meaning to the little piece of cloth in the card. This was my first card with a MLB hologram like this, but I've seen many cards pulled out of Tribute with this affixed. It's very sweet.

With a name like Tribute, you'd expect to only find the best of the best from baseball. In terms of old-timer content, it is certainly there. Many of my base cards were of baseball legends. From newer retirees like Jeter back to guys like Johnny Bench. Getting Hall of Famers is always a good thing, so I'm happy with a pull that nets me some older mem pieces.

Triple piece memorabilia cards are pretty common pulls from Tribute and many of these cards feature more recent players. The design of the card is decent, but for a product that is this expensive, I feel that these cards are a bit lackluster. Also, the numbering on the card is quite high. This particular Eddie Rosario is numbered to 150. Mid-tier products have that sort of numbering. Something that costs this much should have numbering around 100 or less.

Speaking of high numbering, check out this rookie card of Rowdy Tellez. Yikes! This card is numbered to 435! That just feels like a lot to me. With a number so high it Topps could have just left the serial numbering off. At least that way people would be left guessing at the rarity of rookie cards like this. As it stands, I'm not terribly excited about pulling a rookie to 435.

The standard autographs that you'll see out of Tribute all basically look this Mitch Haniger card except with different colored borders. This is a purple variation numbered to 50. Other parallels are blue or green or some other color. The look of these cards is pretty nice as the colored borders really pop. Having all the cards autographed on-card is also a very nice touch. Better yet are the shadowbox autographs, but those come maybe one per case. My box, sadly, didn't have one of those.

Positives:

• Each pack has a hit (memorabilia or on-card autograph).
• The cards sport a different look than most premium sets.
• Cards are made of acetate which give them a glossy feel and shine.

Negatives:

• Boxes are in the high two hundred dollar range.
• The serial numbering of the cards seems to be a bit too high.
• Many breaks I've seen seem to be lacking in terms of quality hits.

Overall Rating:

7/10