Retail Review #273 (Target Authentic Memorabilia Box)

It's been a while since I did an episode of Retail Review. It was never my intention to completely end this series, so you'll be seeing them from time to time - just not on the weekly basis it used to be. I'm also changing the format of the blog postings. Rather than pay an absurd fee for photo hosting on Photobucket, I'm going to stop using pictures and just have video up. I'll stick with this look for the time being and see how it goes!

Price - 

$9.99

Packs - 3

16/17 MVP, Artifacts, and Upper Deck Series 2 (Retail packs)

This break is a throwback to the early days of Retail Review. Back then these re-pack boxes were pretty commonplace for me. I'd go to Target, check out some of the repacks and pick one up to open. They were cheap and fun, but didn't yield much. This particular repack guarantees a memorabilia card along with three packs.

I was surprised to find that the memorabilia card I pulled was pretty decent. It was, however, upsetting that it didn't come with any card sleeve or protective plastic to hold it in. The card has a minor corner issue, and it probably came from the lack of a holder. The packs were from last seasons releases, which was a nice little surprise. Usually you get backs from a few years back. I appreciated the fact that these cards were pretty up-to-date!

For about ten bucks you could do a lot worse. I think this particular repack box was pretty decent. It was a fun little break and I'm glad I picked it up!

Top three cards: 08/09 Forsberg Ice dual jersey, 16/17 Stamkos/Tavares Canvas Checklist, 16/17 Ovechkin MVP puzzle checklist

Overall Rating:

8.5/10

2016-2017 Upper Deck Black Review

I thought The Cup was the final product last season... guess I was wrong! Upper Deck Black gets the final product honors.

Black is a one pack/box product and is considered to be high-end. For around $200, you only get 5 cards. Thankfully, the cards feature on-card autographs and do away with the manufactured patch ridiculousness that was Black Diamond. I would happily purchase this Black product over that one.

I love the look of the cards. The base cards feature some great looking rainbow foil, as do the hits. The foil looks really amazing on the black backgrounds of the cards. Black has always looked amazing and this year's edition of it carries on in the same vein.

The pack/box that I opened had three on-card autographs, a base card, and a standard jersey hit. I'd have to say that overall I was satisfied with what I got out of it - of course, pulling an Ovi patch numbered to 10 will always leave you with a nice feeling.

Would I recommend this year's Black? I think I would.

The cards look top notch and Black has traditionally been a strong product to collect for well-to-do collectors. It certainly is high-risk and high-reward, but if I had to take a chance, I'd do it with Black.

Overall Score: 9.25/10