Upper-Deck Artifacts 11/12: 4 Pack Break

Continuing my thread of boxing day box and pack break extravaganza is the rundown of what came out of 4 packs of Artifacts 11/12. This is hands-down THE best product so far of the 11/12 season. The packs can be a little expensive at $10 each but there is a guaranteed hit in each one! This guarantee is included in all the Artifacts products from previous years except the 11/12 product includes the biggest and most numerous hits!

Two of the four packs had common hits, which I refer to the subset base cards as. These cards are broken into two groups, Stars and Hockey Legends. Both of these sets are serial numbered out of 999 and continue the base card numbering. These sets are getting tired as they have been included in each year Artifacts has been produced, but it is fun to see which current NHL star will be included for that year. Regardless, I pulled one Star and one Legend from the packs. Thankfully the other two packs provided a much bigger jaw dropping experience!

The first big hit was an Artifacts Tundra Trios card, numbered 148 of 149 that featured three jersey swatches. The jerseys came from Subban, Price, and Plekanec of the Montreal Canadiens and features two red and one white swatch. I loved that more than one color was found in the jerseys and loved it even more that the card featured some of my favorite players from one of my favorite teams! Awesome jaw dropping moment!

The fourth hit of the packs was huge! This hit was of a jersey and patch base parallel numbered 42 out of 65! The card is of Patrice Bergeron, and yes I know it is sacrilege to like both Boston and Montreal. Nonetheless, the patch is beautiful with three breaks, featuring a large yellow chunk and a smaller black and white area along with a second tiny black piece in the corner. The jersey is lackluster as it is solid white but who cares when the patch is this prominent!

Striking two big hits like the Montreal Trios jersey and Bergeron patch /jersey cards are why I will keep going back to this season's Artifacts product! Just awesome stuff!

UD Srs II 10/11: Buyback

Today I picked up a bunch of baseball and hockey cards because of a boxing week sale at my nearby card store. I'll be bringing up a number of posts from this box and pack breaking extravaganza, and here I begin with 6 packs from the Upper-Deck srs II 10/11 product that I opened.

I keep buying UD srs II 10/11 because of the high-frequency of case and box break cards that you pull. I've pulled some seriously great cards such as 2 black parallel Victory rookies (short printed to about 5) and an exclusive Parjavi UD Young Gun rookie serial numbered to 100. So with the sale I decided to try another 6 packs. Amazing I only pulled two duplicate Young Gun rookies while finding 1 that I previously didn't have. I also pulled 3 Victory rookies that I didn't have, making that 6 rookies from 6 packs! Pretty awesome odds considering rookies fall roughly 1 in 4 packs. On top of these rookies, I also pulled an UD Exclusives base (of Chris Kelly) numbered 87/100 and another Young Guns, this time a UD Exclusives Ryan Reaves rookie numbered 40/100. This blows the odds out of the water considering Exclusives fall one per box!

Buyback

The big hit of the box was a case break Buyback card. These cards are previously released Upper-Deck cards that have been purchase through the secondary market by UD to be re-released in current products. I had only pulled one buyback before in an OPC 08/09 box, which was a signed 07/08 OPC rookie. This time around the buyback was an Ilya Kovalchuk jersey card numbered 73/100 from their 07/08 Black Diamond product. The card is unaltered and was packed within a plastic sleeve and had a Buyback certificate inserted alongside it (pictured left). The card itself looks OK, but it is lackluster in that it was not signed like my previous buyback. Further, the card itself seems pretty random and I don't understand of why UD would go through such a hassle of buying back an average jersey card. The whole thing isn't helped either by me not being a Kovalchuk fan -I actually loathe the player and will probably sell it, back to the secondary market!

Upper-Deck Series I Hockey: 2011/12

Upper-Deck series I & II hockey are perhaps the best sets available for this sport. It is an affordable product where the base set is easy to build and rookies and subsets add an element of chase, not to mention some very attractive case breaks. While this is traditionally a great product, it has become stagnant over the years and UD has addressed this by offering three types of parallel cards, more types of case breaks, and overhauled the Hockey Heroes subset which is a mainstay of this product. On all of these revamped fronts the 2011/12 product has hit a bulls-eye, however the base cards are perhaps the most poorly designed ever.

The other day I picked up 6 packs of UD srs I. My superstition, which is shared by many card collectors, is that I always grab the last few packs in a box. Again, this was a case where I wasn't disappointed!

Base: As per usual with UD srs products, we have here a 200 base card set, with another 200 base card set tacked on with the srs II. The base cards feature a few of the key players from each team and nothing else too fantastic. This year's base cards are no exception, but for perhaps some of the best photos I have ever seen in this product: loved how Getzlaf is turned into a pretzel in his photo! My criticism for this year's base set is that the front design is very bland, with an uninspired silver outline puck shaped area that presents the player's name at the bottom. The graphics around this puck shape are also very bland and blend into background, which does feature a great photo that is not obscured by the graphics or text. The other weak note is that the backs of the cards have little to no colour, making them again very bland. The text stands out well and even features french translations. The worst part of the backs is that there is a massive negative space between the stats and blurb about the player. This negative space is non-existent on players who have been in the league for more than 8 or so years, but on sophomore players this space is massive! I don't know if UD didn't have enough to say about each player or if someone was too lazy to move the text up a centimeter to match where the stats ended. Either way, I greatly disliked the look of the base cards.

Hockey Heroes: I pulled one of the Hockey Heroes cards and they look superb! For series I, the subset features the great players of the 1950's, and here I found a Bobby Hull card. I love the graphics and the whole concept of this subset! This is a must collect set for sure.

UD Exclusives: I pulled on parallel card from the 6 packs. These parallels are numbered out of 100 and fall roughly one per box. I didn't find a great parallel card (Zidlicky), but it was still nice to pull one. On the side of criticizing the base cards, this parallel base differs from the regular base only in the addition of the gold foil, numbering, and statement that it is a parallel card. Again, the design is weak and the gold foil does little to improve it.

UD Game Jersey: While not a favourite player, Ilya Kovalchuk is a star player and I was delighted to pull it! The jersey card is pretty much the same as every year except that the design is different. The design differs in the geometric patterns that appear behind the player's photo and in the shape of the jersey window. As per usual, these memorabilia cards are not numbered, but do look pretty sharp. On average these cards fall 2 per box.

Young Guns UD Canvas: I pulled a second short print but un-numbered parallel. This time it was of a rookie card instead of the regular base. The card has a textured front, similar to a canvas, and is printed on thicker stock. The design is also slightly altered from the regular edition rookie cards. This fall one per 2 or so boxes, so I was definitely lucky to pull one of these.

Overall UD srs I is a fun-as-expected product to break. I definitely lucked out on the cards I pulled, and will be returning to this product shortly. I love the price point and the canvas cards are very cool looking; perhaps even better than last year's retro rookie cards. The only down fall of this product is that the base cards have a horrible design, but the rookie and subset cards are what most people collect this product and I am really no different. This is a sweet if slightly soggy pickle of a product!

Upper Deck ICE 08 /09: Collection

Upper Deck Ice is one of my favorite products in the arena of hockey cards. Ice has a great original design and features quality box and case breaks. As I haven't had the money to pick up any new packs of cards, I've begun showcasing what I have bought in the past. In this post I am highlighting my collection of Upper Deck ICE 08 /09, which is the result of opening 3 boxes.

Base Cards: The base cards feature what I suppose has become an almost standard design of a photo of a hockey player removed from his original background. This silhouetted figure is placed upon a light colored color backdrop that includes a few geometric shapes. The background also has small scratches embedded into the card that are akin to scratches on an ice rink. The outline of the player is also raised up and a slight shadow is cast on the lower edges. This gives the card a nice 3D effect and certainly makes it memorable in comparison to so many other products.

Rookies: I absolutely adore the ICE rookies. The acetate card with serial number printed on the card make them unique and highly collectable. The images always look sharp and the acetate gives the images a wonderful soft and realistic feel to the photographs. The silver foil accents also add another dimensions to the card's appearance and appeal. Additionally, there are several levels of the rookies with higher draft picks receiving lower serial numbers, ranging from a printing run of 1999 to 99. From the 1999 print run I picked up a  Karl Alzner rookie and from the 499 print run a Patrik Berglund rookie. Both have become strong and important players in the NHL. The cream-of-the-crop rookie that I pulled was a Kyle Turris numbered 1/99. Turris was a first round pick and has become a strong player on the Coyotes team. Turris is not a household name due primarily to him being a part of a third-string NHL team. Regardless, rookies numbered to 99 fall one per case which makes the Turris card a tremendous hit!

Fresh Threads Jersey Cards: The Fresh Threads cards feature two small square swatches of 'event-used hockey memorabilia' from a rookie player and does not sport a serial number. The cards have an excellent design that compliments the base and rookie card designs; this makes the product more cohesive when subsets and base cards have a similar design. I also love the 'cracked ice' design on the lateral margins of the card. While I cannot be absolutely positive it appears that the two swatches always feature two different colors, which makes the cards that much more attractive. As a side note, the word 'memorabilia' has replaced 'jersey' for many products as the material is being drawn from the player's entire uniform, from the pants to the jersey.

From the Fresh Threads series I pulled two parallels. One is an Oscar Moller card with a serial number of 12 /100. The front and back of the card have an acetate cover that adds a wonderful gloss and shine to the card, and of course makes it slightly more thick. The second card is a jersey /patch card of Andreas Nodl numbered 11 of 25. This is a great card for it has the same design as the other Fresh Threads but includes a two color break on a patch and has a very low serial number.

Frozen Fabrics: Fresh Threads featured rookie NHL players and in contrast Frozen Fabrics features retired and current superstar NHL players. This series has a similar design with angled lines and a cool blue motif as the Fresh Threads, but inverts the position of the two material swatches. The regular version of the Frozen Fabrics that I pulled features Larry Robinson of the Canadiens. The second Frozen Fabrics card I pulled was a parallel version numbered 44 out of 100 and showcases Sergei Fedorov from when he played for the Capitals. This card has an acetate front and back, the same as the Moller parallel mentioned above.

Glacial Graphs: I pulled three Glacial Graphs, which are autographs on clear acetate cards. These cards do not sport serial numbers. The three cards feature (individually), the autographs of Alexander Edler, Luke Schenn, and Devin Setoguchi. These are three very strong names for the 08 /09 NHL season and I was ecstatic when I pulled them. Again the cards feature a complimentary design to the rest of the set through the usage of angled lines and a light grey /blue color scheme. The autographs are signed with a fine blue marker in an open spot on the acetate card next to a medium sized silhouette image of the player. The autographs look absolutely superb as they are of a great size, and the Schenn auto has great detail that does not look rushed or tired, unlike so many other autographs you might pull.

Upper Deck Ice 08/09 is a truly great product and was the highlight of that season for me. I loved the cohesive design and the usage of acetate. I loved how the material and autos were brought to the forefront on the card and featured recognizable NHL players. The great collectability of the rookie cards with different levels of print runs also makes each box exciting to open and encourages the collector to continue picking up more; I'm still yearning for a Stamkos rookie! As per usual, 08/09 ICE is a certifiable cold and crisp pickle, fresh from the canning jar picked up at grandma's house -and nothing's better than that!

UD Trilogy 09 /10: 4 Pack Break

Akin to how I went about collecting the previously discussed UD SP Game Used product, I every so often would pick up on pack of 09 /10 Trilogy alongside a stack of a cheaper product's packs.  Trilogy is a higher end product that boasts at least one hit per pack, but unlike SPGU the hits are a mixture of autograph and material. According to Josh Zusman (UD brand manager), the product is named Trilogy because each box contains three autograph cards, three rookie cards, and three jersey cards.

The 09 /10 Trilogy product has numerous problems, most notably that the hits you receive are not worth the price you pay. Hence why I picked up only 4 packs. I only picked up this many because they were on sale and because I thought I was just having poor luck.

One important negative with the 09 /10 Trilogy product is that the base card design is really bland. Base card design is important to me because it is the base cards that comprise the majority of the pack. It is the base cards that also comprise the majority of the collection and in my opinion work as a standard of quality of what the better cards (the hits) in the series will look like. If the people that put together a product cannot afford a high quality base card then how can they be expected to produce a high quality hit.

The second important negative is that only one hit from the four packs was actually worth what I had paid into the product. It would be foolish to consistently expect the cards from each pack to be worth the same amount as you paid for the pack; otherwise the manufacturer is loosing money as they have to spend more money to make better cards while selling the product at face value. It unfortunately does not work that way. However, I believe that the cards pulled from a pack should be (on average) worth between 50 and 75% of what you paid for the pack. The more expensive the product, the more valuable the cards that you pull. Otherwise why would people continually purchase a product that they never pull valuable cards out of (this is why there are products like Victory that are very cheap and produce likewise cheap cards).

A third negative is that Trilogy seems utterly directionless. Most products have specific types of cards that are highlighted, such as SPGU that emphasizes material (jersey or patch) based hits and Be A Player that emphasizes autographed cards. Trilogy does not seem to emphasize anything as it offers a mishmash of material and auto cards, alongside limited serial numbered cards. The motif of the cards are also non-nonsensical as it seems to have little to do with the sport of hockey -as in random geometric designs.

What I pulled:

Jersey card: I pulled on Honorary Swatches of Eric Staal. The card features two square swatches that have a couple of breaks with red and black color. The card design is bland with odd geometric shapes used almost as filler with an image of Staal to the left. For a high-end product, each hit should be serial numbered but unfortunately this is not the case here. On the plus side there is a fair amount of fabric shown, there are a few breaks in the fabric which make it more interesting, and the card features a B or A level player.

Autographs: In all I pulled three autographs. The frist was a young Star Scripts autograph of Matt D'Agostini. It is my understanding that these cards are to feature rookie or sophomore players. D'Agostini is not exactly the best player in the league (posting +/- of -17 & -12 in his first two years with the Canadiens), but at least I picked up a player from a team I do like. The big downside to this card is that the auto is on a sticker, which is ok on cheaper products but not on higher end products (it costs more than SP Authentic which does offer hard-signed autos).

The second autograph is a Super Star Scripts and features the autograph of Dustin Penner when he was still with the Oilers. I'm not a big Oilers fan but I do think highly of Penner, even more so now that he plays for the Kings. Penner is also a fairly big name and not someone you have to Google. Again it is unfortunate that a sticker auto was used and the design is really dark and filled with nonsensical geometric designs; auto cards always look better with simple and light colored designs that allow the autograph to take center stage.

The third autograph was the one that made the pack worth picking up. This is a Trilogy 1-2 Clearcut Combos autograph of Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio. The autographs are in blue atop a thick acetate card (thickness of a patch card). The card is serial numbered 24/100 and features two great black and white photographs of these legendary Detroit Red Wings players. The card also has a simple design and the placement of the autograph is well executed. This is an excellent card and is what should be expected in each pack from this product. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case.

Lastly, I also picked up a Frozen in Time card of Jonathan Toews. This card is made on thick acetate the same as the Clearcut Combos. The card is not autographed but is limited to 442 our of 599. Like the Combos card, this features a great design that reminds me of something the UD Ice product would release.

In sum, the 09 /10 Trilogy product is pretty close to a waste of money. There are some nice cards to be had but they do not seem to be too common, and the majority of the cards have an absolutely awful design. You are much better off spending your money on other products like Be A Player or SPA. I give 09 /10 Trilogy one unhappy, soggy and brown pickle.

Upper Deck SP Game Used 09 /10: Collection

For a period of time I picked up a solitary pack of Upper Deck SP Game Used (spgu) alongside multiple packs of a cheaper product. I did this because I knew that the SPGU guaranteed at least one hit per pack, which is something the cheaper product could not boast. SPGU has a high-end price tag, where each pack runs between $20 and $30 and the average hit is a jersey of some sort. In all I believe I picked up 6 packs and managed to find a box or case break in each pack, which are incredible odds and is why I picked up as many packs as I did.

The 09 /10 season was the first time I had picked up packs of SPGU and it might be my last as well. This is because the 09 /10 season has the sharpest designs I have ever seen come from the product's line and has the highest ratio of great hits. I've not known previous or later years of SPGU to release so many great hits but I suppose the ratio of hits might have been my uncanny luck and not due to the manufacturer. The other reason I am not inclined to buy into this product again is because it has a high price tag that only guarantees you a jersey card. The regular jersey card is not numbered and honestly not all that special in comparison to the jersey cards you automatically receive from a box of regular series 1 or 2 UD, which costs only slightly more than two packs of SPGU. For this price tag I'd be better off purchasing a middle-range priced box or saving for a pack of Ultimate or whatnot.

What I pulled:

Base: The base cards are not serial numbered but do have a great design. The lettering and team logos are embossed in silver foil and make the cards look very attractive. The image of the hockey players are silhouetted against a mostly white with limited geometric patterned background. The pattern also has a texture similar to cloth, with stitching going over the top margin of the design. This design is great because it ties the base set into what the SPGU is all about: jersey cards.

Base Card Parallel: I believe that one parallel of either a jersey, rookie, or base card was inserted into each box. I pulled one parallel of a Drew Doughty base card numbered 100 out of a 100. It is a very nice looking card that has the same design as the regular base set except that the foil and bottom of the card is gold colored. My only complaint is that the serial number is part of a sticker. I much prefer it when serial numbers are stamped onto the card as it seems less like an afterthought or a lazy method to serial number a card.

Rookies: SPGU is not known for its highly collectible rookie cards. These tend to be listed in the Beckets for almost half the value of products with half the retail values; for example Ice has twice the value of SPGU rookies and SPGU rookies are roughly on par with regular UD rookies. Despite the lack of collectability, the 09/10 SPGU rookies have a nice design to them. The fronts sport a silhouetted photo of the player in question alongside a serial number out of 699 at the top of the card and the back of the card has a small bio and stat listing. Overall a nice looking rookie card. I can't say I pulled any big names from the packs but I am still happy with what I did pull because of the sharp design.

Jersey: I pulled one regular Authentic Fabrics jersey card of J.P. Dumont. The card does not have a serial number and features a medium sized square swatch of his jersey. This is roughly the size of jersey swatch found in the UD Ice product. Overall it is a nice design, but with a high price tag each memorabilia card should be serial numbered.

I also pulled three parallel Authentic Fabrics jersey cards, which do have serial numbers. Like the base parallel, these are serial numbered out of 100 and have the same overall design as the regular Authentic Fabrics except for the addition of some gold coloring. Of the parallel jerseys I pulled a Jay Bouwmeester (awesome card since I live in Calgary) and two Steven Stamkos jerseys. I'm still a little stunned I managed to pull two Stamkos parallel jerseys due to their rarity, and have a hard time parting with the duplicate since he's a big name and the cards look so damn nice!

Patch Time!: There is a chance to pull a patch per box, and I pulled a doozey! This was a Dual Athentic Fabrics patch numbered 24/25 of Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. This was my second Malkin patch (first is from Ultimate 07/08) but the first Ovechkin memorabilia! The patches are slightly smaller than the jerseys from the regular Authentic Fabrics cards but the patches themselves are really nice and easily make up for the smallish size. The Ovechkin patch features 8 breaks and 4 colors, while the Malkin patch has two breaks and two colors.

Significant Numbers: Continuing with the theme of Evgeni Malkin, I also pulled one Significant Numbers of Evgeni Malkin that features a swatch of his jersey (black) shaped into his jersey number that is accented by a sticker auto below it. While a hard auto would have been nicer, the auto is signed in blue and the combo material and auto make the card a real prize! Also is that the card is limited to his jersey number, meaning this card is serial numbered 19 out of 71! Terrific looking card.

The final hit from SPGU was not actually pulled from a pack. Instead this was sent to me by UD because they had lost one of my redemption cards. I don't recall exactly who the player was, but I do remember that it was not a big name player. So in apology for the delay (it took about a year) and for them loosing the card, they sent me a Dale Hawerchuk Marks of a Nation autographed patch card numbered out of 6! This is an absolutely amazing card and really made me think highly of UD. These limited marks of a Nation cards were inserted roughly 1 per case of SPGU, and each player's card was limited to the number of letters found in their home country's name. These were in celebration of the Olympics and featured prominent players both past and present from across the world who have played in the NHL. For Mr. Hawerchuk I received number 1 of 6, meaning I got the letter C. Along the side of the C is his autograph signed in metallic silver. Absolutely great card.

The 09 /10 SPGU product is filled with massive hits. The overall look of the cards, from base to jersey designs are all spot on and have great details (like the stitching I had mentioned). The hits feature A list players and I managed to pull quite a few case and box break hits. While the price tag is prohibitive, and the previous and later years products of SPGU were not as strong, I would still recomend picking up a pack or two of the 09 /10 line. In all the SPGU 09 /10 product is sweet and delicious pickle with many surprises!

Ultimate 10 /11: 2 Pack Break

Ultimate 10 /11 is a far superior product than the 08/09 & 06/07 products that I had ripped in previous years. The latest product features a sharp design, and even better, the product is loaded with big hits. The two packs I opened are proof of the big hits and make you salivate for more!

What I pulled:

Base: Ultimate 10/11 has a small run of base cards, from 1-60 with many of these featuring classic players. The cards are numbered out of 399 and have a great gray tone design that makes the color photograph of the hockey player pop. I pulled a Ron Hextall and Ron Francis cards. The Francis card is pretty interesting since I don't remember seeing a retro Francis card before in any previous UD set.

Rookies: I unfortunately did not pull any big name rookies, despite there being a lot of big names in the 10/11 season. There is an autographed and non-autographed version of the rookie cards, with the autographed versions having print runs of either 299 or 99. Both my rookies did not have an autograph and are numbered out of 399. I pulled a Jamie Arniel and a Matt Hackett rookie. Despite the lack of auto and that these are not first rate rookies, the cards are still very sharp looking and include the player's stats on the back.

Materials: I pulled one Debut Threads jersey numbered out of 200. The card is of Justin Falk and is of one color. The jersey window is massive as it takes up around 1/3 of the card and has a nice looking gold foil border. The design of the card again is quite sharp and despite it not featuring a big name player it still adds some depth to the pack.

In addition to the jersey, I also pulled a Debut Threads Patch. This is a beautiful looking card with the patch being the same size as the jersey in the previous card. The patch has three breaks and four colors! The card is numbered out of 35 and belongs to Kevin Shattenkirk, one of the better rookies of 10 /11. This was pulled from the first pack and made it all worthwhile.

Autograph: From the second pack I pulled the mother-load of autographs, Bobby Orr. I have never pulled a Bobby Orr autograph before and I was shocked to the say the least when I did here! The card is unfortunately not numbered. It has a beautiful design and the auto was signed in blue. As the guy at the shop said when I pulled the card, this is to be a cornerstone of my collection!

I also pulled a redemption card for an autographed debut thread jersey, numbered out of 50. I'll post about this card when it arrives in the mail.

Overall the Ultimate 10 /11 product is absolutely stellar and is hands down my favorite of the season. The cards look really sharp and each pack seems to sport at least one really tremendous card. Online it seems that every second pack has a patch in it too, suggesting UD ramped up the number of hits per case! This product deserves a big ol' sweet and perfectly chilled pickle!

Artifacts 2010-11: Two 3-Pack Adventures!

On two separate occasions I picked up 3 packs of 2010-11 Artifacts. I really enjoy this product as it has a low price-point that produces a hit per pack that could either be a serial numbered card or a material /auto card. Also, the cards look really sharp with a flashy foil accents on the borders.

The hits I pulled:

Legends: Pulled 1 Cam Neely Legends card numbered out of 999. The card is without auto or material attributes, but nonetheless is a nice looking card. The card is not part of a subset but rather belongs to the regular set which is broken into base cards, rookie cards, legends cards, and stars cards. This is the same organization as the previous years' Artifacts product.

Rookies: Pulled 2 rookies, both numbered out of 999. The rookies weren't big names (Tokarski & Hamill), but the cards are still sharp looking serial numbered rookies that always adds depth to a card collection.

Jersey Cards: I pulled a base card parallel where two small swatches of jersey were placed at the bottom, and the card numbered out of 150. This is a great way to produce a base card parallel, and while the jerseys are white and the player is not a big name, the card is still very sharp looking and a fine addition to the collection. The second jersey card I pulled was of Roberto Luongo and is also numbered out of 150. The card belongs to the Frozen Artifacts subset and features two square jersey swatches, with one above the other. Not a bad looking card of an A-list player.

Patch Cards: This is perhaps the best patch card I have ever pulled from an Artifacts product. This is a duel patch card of the Tundra Artifacts Tandems subset and features the two A-list players of Henrik Lundqvist and H. Zetterberg. The card is numbered out of 15. The patches are of the same size and shape as the jersey cards: two squares over top one another. The patches are really unique as the Lundqvist patch is all white, but the material is looks like looped wool; really neat looking. The Zetterberg patch is also very nice looking, with a seem on the left side, showing a splash of red along the squares border.

Overall I felt I did quite well with these 6 packs. Artifacts continues to be a strong product, but I do wish they would make the jersey and patch windows a bit bigger.