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Product Review: 2019-2020 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee |
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While there’s no doubt that collecting is increasingly aimed at the high roller collector who can afford to gamble a few hundred bucks on a box of wax, there are still a few products out there that can both provide a cheap thrill and allow you to introduce the next generation of collectors to the hobby without breaking the bank. O-Pee-Chee is one of those products, at around $60 for a hobby box of 18 packs containing 10 cards each, odds are the young collector will find a nice little assortment of cards to the get to grip with the basics of the hobby. This is by no means a hit based product, in fact, it will take you back to the good old days of collecting, you know, when you cracked open a pack and cheered because you got Patrick Roy’s base card and that once you got home you drop to your knees, got your cards out on the floor and make up your dream line-ups before acting out a game, scratching the cards in the process? Those were the days. Even the card stock of the product is reminiscent of those days, it’s not shiny, it’s not glossy it’s got the same good old rough feel of the 1980’s products, in fact, if there was a stick of gum with it, you’d think you’re staring in your very own version of Back to the Future.
That being said, on top of the gigantic 600 base set cards, you’ll find some easter eggs such as retro logo cards and base variation image cards. If you don’t know they are there, you might not even see them. If you still enjoy opening packs and take the time to actually look at the base cards, you’ll notice them and to be fair, it’s a great way to develop a little one’s observation skills. As per usual, there is also a retro variation set as well as different insert sets such as Trophy Winners Patches Manufactured Relics which are fairly rare falling from 1 to 937 packs (King Clancy, Ted Lindasay, Art Ross etc.) to 1 to 1,875 packs for the rarest ones (Stanley Cup). There are also Hall of Fame manufactured patches and manufactured logo patches. In a different style you can also find the playing card inserts (#2 to Kings falling 1:5 packs while the Aces are short prints found in 1:120 packs) and new from this year, the Caramel inserts that come in 2” x3.5” sizing (the set comprises 40 cards 6 of which are short prints (C-29 to C-34) falling 1:43 packs and 6 being super short prints (c-35 to C-40) falling 1:86 packs. There are also Cup Captain Commemorative set, In Action set, the 2019 Stanley Cup Moments set and the OPC Platinum preview set. Overall, that’s a pretty wide assortment of inserts that are bound to keep young fans interested.
So here are the hits from the box Upper Deck graciously provided us with:
Caramel minis:
C-2 P. Rinne
C-12 J. Thornton
C-13 B. Point
C-16 J. Toews
Playing Cards:
9 Taylor Hall
10 Claude Giroux
Queen Evgeni Malkin
King Nathan MacKinnon
Marquee Rookies
524. Zack MacEwen
530. Joel L’Esperance
534. Jacob Middleton
538. Rem Pitlick
544. Erik Brannstrom
546. Taro Hirose
Retro Marquee Rookie
525. Rudolfs Balcers
Marquee Rookie Blue Parallel
524. Zeck MacEwen
Trophy Winners Patches Manufactured Relics
P-12 Henrik Lundqvist – Presidents’ Trophy
Grades
Design: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Resale value: 2/5
Variety: 4/5
Break enjoyment:5/5
Final grade: 80%
As long as you are well aware of what this product is, it makes for a very enjoyable break. If you are of the rip it and flip it type, this is not the product for you. At this price point, you can imagine that there isn’t that much value in the resale market. However, if you have a bout of nostalgia and you feel like building a set like in the good old days, this will hit the spot. It’s all about knowing what you are after and managing your expectations. Furthermore, it’s a great product to rip with youngsters, since there aren’t that many “hits” you don’t have to worry about the kids damaging high price cards. Last week at the Anti-Expo I saw plenty of dads make their way to the Upper Deck booth for the wrapper redemption program and open a box of OPC with their kid.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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