Released September 7, 2016 • hobby box includes 32 packs with 8 cards each, 256 cards total • click here for checklist on Trading Card Database
My review:
For reasons unknown to me, Upper Deck chose to expand the usual 600 card O-Pee-Chee set to 660 cards for 2016-17. It was only a one year thing, with base + SP sets having been back to 600 cards ever since. Also different was the make-up of the high number short prints, which had always included only Marquee Rookies and Marquee Legends. Gone are the legends, replaced with Season Highlights, Team Checklists, and League Leaders. (That change has stuck –the short-prints have included the same sub-sets through 2019-20.)
The 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee base design is a bit of a snooze, though it isn’t terrible. The retro design has considerably more charm, but is still far from a favorite (not a fan of the typeface). But 2016-17 still brings the goods, and that is mostly due to a perfect one-two punch of inserts, namely the V Series C minis and the new playing cards. It was the third and final year for the awesome V Series inserts.
For the playing cards, 52 different players feature across a full deck. The cards feel and look just like classic playing cards. (Is it a coincidence that standard sports cards and standard playing cards are the same size?) The 48 cards between twos to kings are not terribly rare, falling one per nine hobby packs, but finishing off the complete deck is challenging thanks to the aces being considerably short-printed (1:200 hobby packs) and featuring some of the most in-demand players.
Unlike most of the O-Pee-Chee inserts from the Upper Deck era up to this point, the playing cards do not have any particular inspiration from a product from the past, which gave them an up-hill battle in achieving the perfect feel for an O-Pee-Chee set. But the designers and developers absolutely nailed them, and the playing cards strike just the right notes of fun and novelty while still feeling just like an insert that could have been in the past.
I gather the playing cards are a hit with collectors. Upper Deck has brought them back in O-Pee-Chee every year since, including the upcoming 2020-21 release, which will mark the fifth straight O-Pee-Chee release to feature playing cards. I have watched just about all of the O-Pee-Chee box breaks on YouTube that I can find, and it has gotten funny to me how seemingly every single person (myself included!) coming across a playing card comments on how cool they are. I don’t know that a lot of people try to collect a full deck though – the twos through kings don’t seem to sell a ton quantity-wise or for very much price-wise. Aces on the other hand will generally set you back around $10-$30 as singles. I understand the reasoning for including the “chase” element to the aces, though their scarcity and cost does probably dissuade people from going after full decks, possibly depressing demand for the other 48 cards. (The value of the aces also makes me hesitant to actually use a deck as playing cards! That hesitation will soon be put to the test–I have the last card I need in the 2019-20 deck headed my way, and my daughter says we have to play a game with it when it’s complete. I’m actually grateful for the nudge, because I totally do want to!)
My ratings /10:
base design 7.1 retro design 7.8 inserts 8.3 overall 8.9
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Regular Print Base Cards #1-550
Short Prints #551-660 • 1:2 hobby packs
Marquee Rookies #551-600, Season Highlights #601-615, Team Checklists #616-645, League Leaders #646-659, Checklist #660
There are a few decent rookies to look for, most notably William Nylander & Anthony Mantha.
Retro parallels • 1:1 hobby pack
For the third year in a row, the retro set featured 18 unannounced and super short printed cards added to the checklist (#661-678). Nine awards winners from the previous season are included along with eight retired “all-timers” and one Cup Captains card of Sidney Crosby. These cards are so scarce that it is hard to consider them part of the regular set, a point driven home by the fact that the update cards start their numbering at 661, meaning there are two completely different cards with the numbers 661-678 in the master set.
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 • 5 per wrapper redemption pack
Inserts:
V Series C • 1:16 hobby packs
Playing Cards • 2-King, 1:9 hobby packs, Aces 1:200 hobby packs
box bottoms • two per blaster box (base design), four per hobby box (retro design)
Signatures • 1:192 hobby packs
Team Canada Signatures • 1:384 hobby packs
Glo-Pee-Chee • unannounced, very rare
Manufactured Patches • 1:96 hobby packs
Puck Stickers • 1 per wrapper redemption pack
Update Set #661-710
Inserted into Upper Deck Series 2, the update set is loaded with good rookies including Mitch Marner, Jake Guentzel, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Matthew Tkachuk, Sebastian Aho, Mathew Barzal, and Auston Matthews.
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