Released August 14, 2012 • hobby box includes 32 packs with 8 cards each, 256 cards total • click here for checklist on Trading Card Database
My review:
Hallelujah! The O-Pee-Chee logo was finally reduced down to a reasonable size! And the overall base design is a complete stunner, finding the exact happy middle between a retro and modern feel. The typeface used for first names on base cards is the same typeface used for full names on the retros, which is a nice little unifier of the two designs. This is the first of just two sets for which I rate the base design higher than the retro design. I like the retros, but they are a little plain and heavy on white space. The Marquee Legends & Rookies retros on the other hand are among my favorite of any Upper Deck-era O-Pee-Chee cards. I wish they would have gone with one or both of those looks for the entire retro set.
In addition to the massive improvement on the base design, inserts also took a big leap forward for 2012-13, mostly thanks to an awesome die-cut series called Pop-Ups that was no doubt inspired by 1936-37 O-Pee-Chee cards that featured perforated lines for collectors to punch out to give the cards a die-cut look around the player photo. The 2016-17 set features 50 players and falls only two per hobby box, so are fairly but not crazy rare. I’m a big fan.
Colorful sticker inserts were also new and are fun, but perhaps a little too common, falling one in every three hobby packs. Manufactured patch cards, now an O-Pee-Chee staple, also made their debut with team logos.
As much as I like the previous four offerings, 2012-13 is when Upper Deck really got O-Pee-Chee cooking, and they haven’t looked back since.
My ratings /10:
base design 9.3 retro design 7.5 inserts 6.0 overall 8.3
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Regular Print Base Cards #1-500
Short Prints #501-600 • 1:2 hobby packs
Marquee Legends #501-550, Checklist #551, Marquee Rookies #552-600
As usual for O-Pee-Chee, rookie cards are not a major draw. Chris Kreider, Jake Allen, & Jaden Schwartz are my picks for the highlights. For some reason, five would-be Marquee Legends got Marquee “Rookies” instead as the last five cards in the set.
Retro parallels • 1:1 hobby pack
Other Parallels:
rainbow • 1:4 hobby packs
black rainbow • serial numbered to 100
retro blank backs • odds unknown, estimated print run of 5-20
red border • wrapper redemption packs
Inserts:
Pop-Ups • 1:16 hobby packs
box bottoms • two per blaster box (base design), four per hobby box (retro design)
Stickers • 1:3 hobby packs
Signatures • 1:192 hobby packs
Buyback autographs • odds unknown to me
Team Canada Signatures • 1:384 hobby packs
Black & White • 1:960 hobby packs
Sport Royalty autographs • 1:22,490 hobby packs
Marquee Legends Gold • 1 per hanger pack
League Leaders • 1 per certain blaster boxes that are marked “exclusive insert card inside”
All Stars • wrapper redemption packs
Team Logo Patches • 1 per 96 hobby packs
No Update Set
Thanks to the semi-annual Gary Bettman Lockout that delayed and shortened the 2012-13 season, it was decided that rookie cards for any players making their debut in 2012-13 would have to wait for 2013-14 sets. There were fewer of the usual late-season releases overall, and O-Pee-Chee updates were one of the casualties.
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