General Forum

I'm going to buy my first box of hockey cards. I don't know that much about hockey cards though. Do you guys have suggestions on what I should start off with?

Upper Deck is the standard because of the popularity of Young Gund RC's.  There's lots of high end cost products and mid level as well. Basically everyone starts out with UD series 1 and 2.  What kind of budget are you working with?? 

Looking to spend $80 or less.

O-Pee-Chee may be another option then. That one and the UD one are the 2 main (largest) sets normally released during the year. But hockey is 3rd on my priority list so.... 

Going with the flagship Upper Deck series are a good start. The Young Guns inserts are the big hits. If you are looking at products that are more mid to high level, I would start out looking for singles for the players and teams you collect so you can slowly get to understand the break down of the sets. There are some upper end sets that can be confusing (similar to some of Panini's sets).

IT depends on whast your looking to buy. I agree wth others If newer go U.D. but if your going older I would go with OPC

Not a good year to start with Upper Deck. Boxes are $40 higher than usual right now

I think the only thing in that price range is MVP and OPC. Upper Deck is a bit high, and everything else is high end.

If your goal is to get as many cards as possible, OPC is the way to go. At 600 cards plus 30 or 50 more issued in Upper Deck Series 2 it's the largest set of the year. It also includes team logo cards but they are short printed. It also has the longest history... O-Pee-Chee has been producing cards since the 1930s, with a couple of breaks in there unfortunately. (It's actually the oldest card company still in the hobby, they contract with Upper Deck to produce the cards)

Upper Deck is a great set as well. It's released in two series, series 1 photos were taken last year but series 2 will have photos taken this year. Usually, not sure if this year will be messed up by the pandemic. 

If you are brand new to the sport then I think MVP should be your best bet, for the simple reason that each card has a pronunciation guide on the back. Some of the NHL names are not pronounced how they are spelled. For instance Byfuglien is pronounced "Bufflin" although he retired and won't be in this year's set. 

I started collecting hockey due to a thread on this very forum back in 2016. Now it's taken over for me. So be prepared in case it does it to you as well

I 2nd billy on this. MVP is a great starter. I am a fan of that set and Opeechee.

The way you talk about hockey billy, I am shocked you only started in 2016. Figured you were a lifer!!!