Configuration
Packs per box: 1
Cards per pack: 5 plus one 2016-17 Upper Deck Exquisite card
Boxes per case: 5
Set size: 50 cards plus TBD Rookies
Last season, Upper Deck took a brand which had grown quite set in its ways and revamped it as a premium release which offered up some big hits from a strong rookie class and many NHL stars and legends. The experiment appears to have been a success and 2016-17 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey is back again later this year with a few new twists.
With a name like Black Diamond, collectors are looking for high-value hits and there are five cards per pack along with a bonus 2016-17 Upper Deck Exquisite Hockey card, which are spread across multiple releases throughout the season. Each case is also expected to yield one card with a diamond on average.
Base Set
The base set for 2016-17 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey is a relatively small affair at just 50 cards, but they will be individually numbered out of 249. The Rookie Gems cards (/399) also return for another season. Both have a Pure Black parallel (/99 for veterans and /25 for rookies).
Each card is expected to have several parallels as well. The base set gets the Diamond Relics treatment with up to four diamond pieces and they are numbered out of five, making for a challenging item for player collectors to track down. The Diamond Relic Rookie Gems are all numbered to 99, but there is also going to be a Retro Quad Rookie Gems card of Mario Lemieux which is numbered to his familiar 66. Even tougher are the one-of-one Pure Black parallels that are produced for both the vets and rookies.
Inserts
Black Diamond has a tradition of compelling insert content and Championship Rings (1:5) and Championship Banners (varied numbering) are back again. The Rings have a difficult to pull Gold parallel (/5), but there should be a lot of interest in the Championship Banners Gold Autographs. Run For The Cup comes in both Silver (/99) and Gold (one-of-one).
Memorabilia
Many of the game’s biggest stars from past and present found in the base set will get a Relic parallel and current players (/149) are easier to pull than the retired legends (/49). These cards will also have an even more limited Pure Black Prime edition. While Team Logo Jumbos (1:5) are manufactured memorabilia cards, they do come together in groups to put together a puzzle which will appeal to team collectors. A short printed segment of this set will exist as a long-odds (1:720) pull and also comes in a Gold Full Team Logo variation (basic /15, alternate logo /5, and NHL Shield one-of-one). Diamond Mine Relics come with either jersey (/199) or patch (varied) swatches.
Rookies will also get their own Team Logo Jumbo Patches (1:3), but there is a short printed segment to the set found at 1:45 odds along with signed editions with alternate logos (/25) or NHL shields (/5). Rookie Booklet Relics (/299) promise substantial pieces of memorabilia and additional versions will come as Autograph Jerseys (/49) or Autograph Patches (/10).
Autographs
Pure Black Signatures (varied numbering) for base set players kick off the main autograph program and they are joined by Signature Placards (1:5) and Silver on Black Signatures.
Plenty of rookie ink is expected to be put inside of 2016-17 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey and the Rookie Gems Pure Black Signatures have two levels of scarcity (/99 or /199). Signature Rookie Materials come with one of several types of memorabilia including jerseys (/99), patches (/25), sticks (/15), and gloves (/10). Silver on Black Rookie Signatures (/49 or /125) could gain a strong following as well.
2016-17 Upper Deck Exquisite Hockey
Exquisite’s return for 2016-17 begins with a base set where each card is numbered to 149 along with Exquisite Rookies which have varied numbering and a one-of-one Spectrum parallel. Some of the freshmen are expected to be part of the Exquisite Rookie Draft Day set (/199) and its Spectrum edition will be printed in varying quantities. Veteran players will be the focus of Exquisite Materials (/25) and both Combos (/35) and Quads (/25) are being made.
Rookie memorabilia will be plentiful in the bonus packs with two tiers of patches (/299 and /199) plus Spectrums for each (/25 and /10). Multiple pieces for members of the new rookie crop are on the Exquisite Rookie Dual (/99, Spectrum /10) and Quad (/49, Spectrum /5) Materials cards, but the greatest pulls are likely to be the Exquisite Rookie Jumbo Materials (/10) and its one-of-one Shield edition. The arrival of new NHL shield cards so early in the season is rare and will cause excitement among those pulling them from boxes of 2016-17 Upper Deck Exquisite Hockey.
Karty si ochranu zaslouží, ale jsou i tenké jersey a patch, které jdou v pohodě do folie.
A upřímně, nezajímá mě, jak to máš podle sebe hezky poskládaný, podstatné je, v jakém stavu karty jsou, ne jak vypadají hezky vedle sebe. To je druhořadá záležitost.
Já myslím, že je to každýho věc, ať si to skladuje jak chce. Konec konců jsou to jeho karty.