Buzz Break: 2020-21 Upper Deck Series 1 hockey cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2020-21 Upper Deck Series 1 hockey cards (retail tin)
Where to buy: Click here

Keep reading to see a full rundown of what was in this one.

Packs per box : 10 (nine standard packs and one three-card O-Pee-Chee Glossy pack)
Cards per pack: 8
Cards per box: 75
Base set completion: 
68 of 250 (27 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base card notables – Alex Ovechkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Phil Kessel, T.J. Oshie, Anze Kopitar, Oscar Klefbom, Jack Eichel, Tuukka Rask, Bo Horvat, Nikita Gusev, Ryan O'Reilly, Elvis Merzlikins, Aleksander Barkov

Young Guns Rookie Cards (2) – Vitek Vanecek, Reid Duke

Inserts: 7 (all in gallery below with some base)
O-Pee-Chee Glossy Rookies (2) – Tyler Benson, Gabe Vilardi
Gold O-Pee-Chee Glossy Rookies (1) – Josh Norris
UD Canvas (2) – Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski
UD Portraits (1) – Ryan Getzlaf
Dazzlers Orange (1) – Andrei Svechnikov

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

What’s Buzz-worthy: The prices being paid for Alexis Lafreniere Young Guns Rookie Cards here -- hundreds for his basic card, thousands for rarer parallels -- got me to bite here on a tin that has a decent pack volume but seems to be light on anything beyond base cards. Everything pulled here is within the odds -- a couple of RCs, a Canvas card or two and an insert or two. The topper pack is apparently all rookies, too, though none of my newcomers seemed to be anything more than lesser names. My biggest card here (less than $5) looks to be the Hughes canvas card. The base set was very consistent -- the photos perhaps a little repetitious -- and clean and crisp feeling on the fronts. The backs were a slightly different story with nearly all cards having a little hunk hanging off the bottom edge and some rough/chippy back corners that feel like they were off some type of different printing/cutting routine (see gallery) ... almost like pre-punched forms were used or something. And, actually, if you look at that Ovechkin above, the corners on the front definitely do look funky, too. (Cut slightly rounded but nothing is frayed.) Ultimately, none of this is a huge deal unless you are grading stuff. (The inserts and RCs did not have these issues.) I did my part in chasing a key rookie -- I did that back with Connor McDavid and then the year after him with Auston Matthews -- but hockey isn't really my thing unless it's a hit-driven release. Young Guns are landmark cardboard dominators, so landing a Lafreniere should be on your to-do list this year if you're an NHL collector.

Product Grade: A (helped a ton by Lafreniere presence)
Box Grade: C+ (feels average this time)
Fun Grade: B- (see above)

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