Ripping OPC Platinum Hockey With An Eye Towards Another NHL Season
The chase for Connor Bedard rookie cards continues.
A new NHL season may be upon us, but Upper Deck is still releasing sets from the 2023-24 season that feature hot rookie Connor Bedard.
Here's a look at some of the Connor Bedard on-card autographs you could pull in 2023-24 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Platinum Hockey 👀👉 https://t.co/vQCPRyhx4y
— Steel City Collectibles (@SCCTradingCards) September 16, 2024
Thanks @UpperDeckSports/@UpperDeckHockey for sharing! pic.twitter.com/aQcQM6ff5r
The latest Bedard chase will have collectors buying O-Pee-Chee Platinum Hockey, which is scheduled to be released on Sept. 25.
With the new season just weeks away, here are three things you need to know about Upper Deck's newest hockey release:
Chase the rainbow
This product is all about combining the nostalgic OPC brand with chrome. Here is what you can expect:
Rainbow -- 1:3 packs, Marquee Rookies – 1:6 packs
Sunset -- 1:6 packs, Marquee Rookies – 1:12 packs
Matte Pink -- 1:9 packs, Marquee Rookies – 1:18 packs
Black NHL Shield Variants -- 1:288 packs
Liquid Metal – /349
Violet Pixels – /299
Red Prism -- /199
Blue Fragment -- /125
Arctic Freeze -- /99
Cosmic -- /65
Seismic Gold – /50
Orange Checkers -- /25
Emerald Surge -- /10
Bioluminescence -- /5
Golden Treasures -- 1/1
On-card autographs
In addition to the color, on-card autographs are also among the highlights from this set.
Hobby boxes, which are selling for $300, come with one autograph. Set collectors will aim to build the 300-card base set with each hobby box featuring 12 packs, each containing 12 cards.
One of the biggest draws, however, are rookie autos:
Rainbow -- 1:100 packs
Sunset -- 1:120 packs
Matte Pink -- 1:216 packs
Violet Pixels -- /199
Cosmic -- not numbered
Red Prism -- not numbered
Seismic Gold -- /25
Orange Checkers -- /15
Emerald Surge -- /10
Golden Treasures -- 1/1
An eye on the coming season
Bedard may no longer be a rookie coming into this season, but his performance going forward with the Chicago Blackhawks -- a team that's still in rebuilding mode -- will determine whether his rookie cards go up or down.
The same goes for other notable rookies from last season who are entering their sophomore seasons, including Brock Faber (Minnesota Wild), Luke Hughes (New Jersey Devils) and Adam Fantilli (Columbus Blue Jackets). All three fell short of beating Bedard for the Calder, but they could nonetheless put up numbers this season that could raise their values.
Established stars, such as Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Austen Matthews, are expected to do well (put up 100-point totals) once again. Insert cards and autographs of these players -- and others like Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby -- are always a welcome pull. This is especially true of Ovechkin as he tries to get closer to eclipsing Wayne Gretcky's all-time goals record.
The NHL offseason, meanwhile, scrambled some rosters around. Steven Stamkos is now a member of the Nashville Predators, while Jake Guentzel replaced him on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils overhauled their goaltending with Linus Ullmark and Jacob Markstrom, respectively.
The Utah Hockey Club, a frachise known as the Arizona Coyotes last season before moving to Salt Lake City, won't have any representation in the 23-24 OPC Platinum set. Look for them in future Upper Deck releases throughout the 2024-25 season.
CLEMENTE LISI