Released September 6, 2017 • hobby box includes 32 packs with 8 cards each, 256 cards total • click here for checklist on Trading Card Database
My review:
After nine straight O-Pee-Chee base designs that attempted to strike a balance between nostalgia and modernity, the 2017-18 base design marked a new direction for the look of the set. To my eye, the base designs from 2017-18 through 2020-21 are firmly modern, some even feeling closer to current Upper Deck MVP designs than old-school O-Pee-Chee cards. (The fronts at least – the backs are still all old-school.)
It had been a tricky task to strike the perfect happy medium between retro and modern, but when they nailed it (like in 2012-13 and 2013-14) it made for a great set. Going for a more directly modern look in the recent sets frees up the designers a bit, but there is also a risk of getting away from that nostalgia hit that is O-Pee-Chee’s bread and butter. Thankfully, the base back designs, the retro variations, the inserts, and the size of the set are all plenty to still provide a super fun product with an overall killer mix of nostalgia and novelty.
And I actually like the 2017-18 base design quite a bit…at least today I do. I go back and forth on it. One element I consistently enjoy is how the photograph interacts with the border, with a shadow effect in the upper right portion and the color dropping out of the photo on the left edge.
The retros design is another winner, though it borders on repeating the look of the 2015-16 retros with the bold, vertical division of two bright background color blocks. When I compare 15-16 and 17-18 side-by-side though, there is just enough difference.
I really dig the alternating colors in the letters of last names, which calls to mind the great 1960 Topps baseball design.
Absent from the inserts for the first time is autographs of any kind. Autos had never been a focus in O-Pee-Chee, and the odds of pulling them had always been long, so I personally don’t miss the small chance of hitting one. Manufactured patch cards became a bigger focus, though long-shot “hits” have never been the main draw with O-Pee-Chee (even if it is still fun when you occasionally get one).
After the three-year run of V Series minis inserts, 2017-18 included a new minis insert set, this time the size of classic tobacco cards. Surprisingly, for cards with dimensions that bring to mind the earliest days of sports cards, the look of the minis is all modern, based closely on the regular set base design. I’m a sucker for minis and think these are great, though I do prefer a vintage look for minis, like those found in 2018-19 and 2019-20 O-Pee-Chee. The 2017-18 minis set has a robust 77 cards, including 15 short prints and 13 super-short prints.
Playing cards inserts also came back, “by popular demand” according to Upper Deck’s promotional material. Rainbow foil variations of the playing cards were included, an experiment that was thankfully only a one-year thing.
My ratings /10:
base design 7.3 retro design 7.9 inserts 7.7 overall 8.7
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Regular Print Base Cards #1-500
Short Prints #501-600 • 1:2 hobby packs
Marquee Rookies #501-550, Season Highlights #551-560, Team Checklists #561-590, League Leaders #591-599, Checklist #600
Rookies include Brock Boeser, Evgeny Svechnikov, Alex Tuch, and Clayton Keller.
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 • 5 per wrapper redemption pack
Inserts:
Minis • regular print, 1:7 hobby packs, short print, 1:35 hobby packs, super short print 1:86 hobby packs
Minis black foil • regular print, 1:21 hobby packs, short print, 1:103 hobby packs, super short print 1:256 hobby packs
Minis back variation • numbered to 27
Minis gold border • unannounced
Playing Cards • 2-King, 1:8 hobby packs, Aces 1:200 hobby packs
Playing Cards Foil • 2-King, 1:33 hobby packs, Aces 1:1,570 hobby packs
box bottoms • two per blaster box (base design), four per hobby box (retro design)
Retro Award Winners • 1:395 hobby packs
Retro Cup Captain • 1:2,765 hobby packs
Retro Top 10 Points in a Season • 1:276 hobby packs
Manufactured Patches • range from 1:190 to 1:25,000 hobby packs
Minis red border • regular print, 3:4 wrapper redemption packs, SP 1:6 wrapper redemption packs, SSP 1:16 wrapper redemption packs
Update Set #601-650
Inserted into Upper Deck Series 2, the update set includes rookies of Filip Chytil, Alex DeBrincat, Nico Hischier, and another Alex Tuch (this time with Vegas).
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