Picked up this box today at the local shop.  Owner picked it, as always.  He seems to have better luck than me.  Possibly due to his strategy of taking the  box at the top of the stack, whereas I always try to outthink myself.  Here’s the goods.

The Basics
Price: $76.96 + tax CDN
Configuration: 8 cards per pack / 24 packs per box (Hobby)
The Odds: Young Guns (1:4 packs); Superstar Inserts (1:4);  UD Game Jersey (1:12); Big Playmakers (1:288, /75); UD Game Patch (1:864, /15); Signature Sensations (1:288); Die Cut Cards (1:288, includes Clearly Canadian /100 and Clear Cut Trios /25);  Parallels (1:48, includes Exclusives /100 & HG /10); All World Team (1:12)
Checklist: Official Checklist on UD’s site here.

The Break:
Base: I haven’t sorted my base.  I didn’t notice any obvious duplicates, nor were there any major damage issues.  Base UD sets are always known for their great photography, and this year’s set is no exception.  The design has been seen before in the other sports UD does, but the photography is always worth checking out.  I always like it when you can pinpoint when a photograph was taken.  UD made it easy this year, as a number of the Pens have Stanley Cup celebration photos, and some Hawks have Winter Classic photos.  I scanned a couple below.

Inserts:  These drop often enough to keep you interested, and it means there aren’t a lot of ‘just base’ packs in a box.  Here’s a look at all the ones I pulled.

Face of the Franchise:  Henrik Lundqvist, Roberto Luongo

All-World Team: Carey Price, Joe Thornton

Season Highlights: Martin Brodeur

Martin Brodeur Hockey Heroes : Two Different

Top Guns: Zach Parise, Eric Staal

Draft Day Gems: Dominik Hasek

Memorabilia Cards
UD Game Jerseys (1:12): Joffrey Lupul, Jason Pominville.  See anything wrong with the Lupul?

That sure is a shiny view of cardboard in the swatch window – someone forgot to add the jersey swatch.  Disappointing.  The card is essentially worthless now.  Intact, it could likely easily be traded to a set builder, but not for the value  and time that it would cost to send it back and wait for replacement.

Big Playmakers (/75): Alexander Ovechkin.  Didn’t see this coming.  Big Playmakers are a case hit.

Rookies

Base Rookies: Somehow Chris Butler snuck into the base set without having any previous RCs issued.  UD hasn’t done this since Mike Green in 2005-06 UD Series 2.

Young Guns (1:4): John Tavares, Victor Hedman, Ville Leino, Ray Macias, Brian Salcido, Matt Beleskey

So, yeah.  I hit the first two picks in the latest NHL Entry Draft.  One could argue that there are better hits than Hedman, but you can’t do much better than Tavares.  I was happy when I pulled Hedman, as it meant I wasn’t going to get all low-end guys, but Tavares was unexpected.

Review: I find it hard to give an opinion on the product as a whole based on this box.  Obviously, it was a great box.  Excellent Young Gun selection, which really makes this product, and the Ovechkin Big Playmakers as a case hit was an added bonus.  Just based on the value I got out of this box, the product is top tier.

The Lupul jersey that is missing the swatch leaves a sour taste in my mouth, though.  Obviously, with how well I did with the rest of my box, I can just laugh it off.  Someone who misses out on the case hit, or gets  a lower tier of Young Guns doesn’t have that luxury.  UD Series One never really surprises you.  The breaks are quite consistent, it is a rare box that is short Young Guns or Jerseys.  As always, player selection is key, but the big crowd of set builders make that Matt Beleskey pull a little easier to stomach.