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I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab myself a box of the season's first set,
Upper Deck's
2026-27 MVP (Retail version):
The main set has a nice futuristic, computer chip-y design that UD could have used on a more premium set (but I'm glad they didn't):
I miss when the backs had
statistics from the previous five seasons, but having an anecdote for every single player is actually a pretty decent feat. The box cost me $80 (plus taxes, which amounts to $92) for 36 packs of 7 cards each - 252 in total. All told, I pulled 29 insert cards, which means I got 223 base cards.
As far as inserts go, here is how they break down:
6
Silver Scripts, a returning sub-set, of
Sam Bennett,
Tim Stützle,
Nils Hoglander,
Dylan Strome,
Vincent Trocheck, and
Alex Laferriere:
Now, granted, these aren't
Young Guns from the flagship product, but folks are mostly chasing the
Rookies cards, of which I pulled 7 (the first four of which I'm very happy to have):
Nathan Gaucher,
Anton Frondell,
Konsta Helenius,
Cole Hutson,
Drew Fortescue,
Avery Hayes, and
Sandis Vilmanis:
Another returning sub-set is
Clutch Performers, where I present you
Nikita Kucherov and
Carter Verhaeghe:
Paired Up features two players who at least ended the season on the same team, as seen here with
Brady Tkachuk / Stützle of the
Ottawa Senators and
Kirill Kaprizov /
Matt Boldy of the
Minnesota Wild:
Gotta Have Hart is a good idea, but I'm on the mind that
Nathan MacKinnon may have a better chance of winning it than
William Nylander:
The Slot (possibly the heir to
the "old" Net Crashers sub-set) sees
Martin Necas and a pre-wealthy
Leo Carlsson playing around the opposite goalie:
There were two
Welcome Freshmen cards, of
Danny Zhilkin and
Angus Booth:
Another sub-set that is reminiscent of the past is
Let It Rip!!!, with Boldy and
Sidney Crosby:
But my very favourite sub-set this year is the (card-sized with rounded edges)
Stickers. What a terrific design!
That's
Josh Samanski, Vilmanis,
Quinn Hughes and Necas.
Affordability and value are key issues in 2026, and the design of these cards make it a solid 8/10.
