Released March 1, 2023 • hobby box includes 18 packs with 10 cards each, 180 cards total • click here for checklist on Trading Card Database
My review:
The most fun cards in the hobby return for another season with a fantastic 2022-23 release. Both base and retro designs are strong, the inserts are too, and with a strong rookie crop and more serial numbered cards than ever, you might even hit a card with some decent value. Thankfully, return on investment is still not the focus with O-Pee-Chee though. Instead, it remains about a relatively affordable kick of nostalgia.
While I like the base design taken on its own, it does a feel a bit too similar to the 2021-22 base design. And I do miss any hint of fun and color, but colorless, modern designs have been the norm for O-Pee-Chee base cards since 2017-18. Upper Deck now leaves that retro feel for just the retro parallel set, back for a 15th straight OPC release. The retros once again manage to feature a fun, classic look without repeating an actual design from the past, and remain my favorite cards in the hobby.
As far as inserts go, the familiar playing cards are back for a seventh straight release and look as great as we’ve come to expect. Gone are any sort of mini, tallboy, or non-standard sized insert set. As a big fan of minis, I miss the inclusion of an odd sized insert set. Instead, the standard sized O-Pee-Chee Premier insert features a big checklist with 100 cards and a nice design. They feel high-quality in-hand. I like the Premier rainbows numbered to 99 as well.
Between those Premier rainbows /99, retro black borders /100, base neon pink borders /75, printing plates, /1, red blank backs /1, four levels of parallels for the All-Stars and Marquee Rookies at /350, /100, /33, /1, and Platinum Preview parallels, your chances of hitting a numbered card are better than ever with O-Pee-Chee. Those mixed with other rare inserts such as Trophy Winners, Marquee Rookies 3-D, and Woodies do undeniably give 2022-23 O-Pee-Chee a bit more of that modern chase factor than usual. But even if you don’t hit a big card, O-Pee-Chee will deliver on its promise of an enjoyable dose of nostalgia.
My ratings /10:
base design 7.7 retro design 8.5 inserts 7.7 overall 8.7
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Regular Print Base Cards #1-500
Short Prints #501-600 • 1:1 hobby packs
All-Stars #501-540, Marquee Rookies #541-600
The high-numbered short prints have a different make up than ever before with the addition of All-Stars paired with the usual Marquee Rookies. The All-Stars players get both a regular print base card and a high-number All-Star card. Gone are familiar sub-sets such as team checklists, season highlights, and award winners.
The rookie crop is very strong, especially by O-Pee-Chee’s standards, thanks in part to the later release allowing for some rookies who debuted in 2022-23 to be included. Matty Beniers and Matt Boldy are 1A and 1B in my book, and are joined by a slew of other youngsters with potential such as Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky, Marco Rossi, Jack Quinn, Owen Power, Kent Johnson, Pyotr Kochetkov, Jake Sanderson, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Dylan Guenther.
Retro parallels • 1:1 hobby pack
Other Parallels:
retro black border • numbered to 100
retro blank backs • odds unannounced
neon pink border • numbered to 75
blue border • 1:3 hobby packs
red border • 1:18 hobby packs
yellow border • 1:1 blaster pack
All-Stars/Marquee Rookies rainbow foil • numbered to 350
All-Stars/Marquee Rookies black rainbow foil • numbered to 100
All-Stars/Marquee Rookies green rainbow foil • numbered to 33
All-Stars/Marquee Rookies gold rainbow foil • numbered 1/1
red border blank back • numbered 1/1
printing plates • numbered 1/1, there are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black plates for every base card and every retro card
Inserts:
Premier • 1:4 hobby packs
Premier rainbow • serial numbered to 99
Playing Cards • 2-10, 1:5 hobby packs, Jacks-Kings, 1:34 hobby packs, Aces, 1:102 hobby packs, Jokers, 1:203 hobby packs
Manufactured Patches • overall odds 1:72 hobby packs, there are different tiers
Platinum Preview • odds unannounced, includes base cards as well as 10 parallels
Top Rookie Puzzle Redemption • 1:96 hobby packs
Marquee Rookies 3-D • 1:864 hobby packs
Woodies • unannounced, expect one every 32 boxes or so
base variations—outdoor game, black & white, head shot, pre game, draft night • unannounced, click here for a guide from Cardboard Connection
No update set
Because of the later release of the main set, there will be no 2022-23 O-Pee-Chee update cards (usually inserted into Upper Deck Series 2). This is the first year since 2012-13 to not have OPC update cards.
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