I received three cards in the mail today and opened my first pack of hockey cards in probably 10 years. Hockey was one of my favorite sports to collect as a kid. While I did drift away from new hockey products, I never stopped buying singles that I needed.
By far my most focused player I collect is Jordan Leopold. Leopold played defense for the University of Minnesota from 1998 to 2001, where he helped them win a national championship in the 2001-2002 season and won the Hobey Baker award the same year.
2002-03 In the Game Be A Player Signature Series Signatures #195 
2003-04 Upper Deck Canada Exclusives #31 Jordan Leopold /50
The 2002-03 In the Game Be A Player Signature Series autograph was a card that I thought I had, but recently discovered I only had the gold version.
Also from the mail was this Andrew Brunette short print. Mid-2000’s Upper Deck Exclusive parallels can be hard to find at times, but when they pop up on eBay (for cheap), I make sure to grab them.
2003-04 Upper Deck Canada Exclusives #94 Andrew Brunette /50
Beginnings of a set?
During a quick target run today, I glanced at the card section when I came in and noticed they had a single fat pack of 2019-20 Upper Deck MVP hockey, I hadn’t opened hockey in a long time, so I figured I would give it a whirl.
2019-20 Upper Deck MVP #12 Nathan MacKinnon 
2019-20 Upper Deck MVP #20 Charlie Coyle 
2019-20 Upper Deck MVP #79 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 
2019-20 Upper Deck MVP #93 Zach Parise 
2019-20 Upper Deck MVP #129 Mikael Granlund 
2019-20 Upper Deck MVP Laser Shots #S-5 Connor McDavid
I am impressed. For an entry-level product, the design, photo quality, and card stock is really nice. Both sides have a really nice gloss finish. To top it off, the price point is actually entry level-ish.
A small rant; I didn’t realize just how bad Panini’s entry-level products are until I until I got my hands on this. Panini’s Donruss and Hoops use horrible design (only small changes from year-to-year), re-used photos, extremely cheap card stock, and bad gloss finish on one side. The high cost is justified by cramming in some sticker autos.
I’ll be on the look out for some blasters next time I am at the store.
2 replies on “Small Mail Day”
I don’t go out of my way to buy basketball or even football anymore, but I have to say that I agree with your complaint. As a casual collector of those sports… the Panini stuff does seem to look to just blend in together. I don’t think they’re all terrible designs, but who who wants to see the same designs over and over again. I think the best (or worst example) is Contenders. I used to like that product back in 1999. These days… not so much.
Fuji,
Agreed– Not all of their products are bad, but their entry stuff is terrible. You can tell not much effort goes into it.
Contenders is horrible. I have no idea why they even put base in that product. People just want the autographs.
When I was collecting the recent Hoops sets last year, I noticed the backs look so similar from year-to-year, that I had mixed a few years up in the same set. I have since rid my collection of almost all Panini basketball and football.