Hobby Musings: Cracking 2020/21 Upper Deck SP Signature Edition Legends Hockey
The Breakdown
18 Packs per box, 5 cards per pack
2 Autographs per box
1 Profiles Bounty card per box
1 Rare hit card per box
3 base set gold foil parallel cards per box
The Hits
Rick Kehoe Decagons autograph
P.J. Axelsson autograph
Greg Gilbert parallel 10/10
Mark Messier and Martin Brodeur Profiles Bounty Card
Hobby Musings: Cracking 2020/21 Upper Deck SP Signature Edition Legends Hockey
Highlighting some of the best legends and fan favorites the NHL has ever seen, Upper Deck’s SP Signature Edition Legends hobby box hit the market. Carrying an SP Authentic style vibe with it, each box comes with two autographs and a heck of a lot of other inserts.
My box didn’t yield any Hall of Fame signature cards, but darned if they weren’t really awesome cards. Penguins legend Rickie Kehoe signed a die-cut Decagons autographs with a picture-perfect signature. My initial reaction was that it was one of the coolest-looking autograph cards that I’ve ever seen. Several hours later, I still feel that way. My impression of the card was heightened even more when I realized it was an on-card autograph, not a sticker. Former Bruins player P.J. Axelsson was my second autograph in the box. Like the Kehoe, it was an on-card signature. Unlike Kehoe, this was a traditionally sized trading card featuring a classic design originally debuted in 1997. While I certainly wouldn’t have minded pulling a bigger name, I can easily say that I was incredibly pleased with how they looked. Any way you hack it, kudos to Upper Deck for the on-card signatures in the product.
Each box of SP Signature Edition Legends Hockey advertises one rare hit card. Mine ended up being a parallel of three-time Stanley Cup winner Greg Gilbert. Numbered out of 10, it had the cool quirk of being the last card in the parallel line. One way I beat the odds in my box was with the Profile Bounty cards. Each box is supposed to yield one, and I ended up pulling two in my box. One was of Mark Messier, while the other was of Martin Brodeur. While it can
be a daunting challenge to assemble the 48-card set, Upper Deck offered up some nice rewards for completing it, including some cool autographed cards.
Aside from the above, I also came away with a sweet Canvas card of Wayne Gretzky among my other inserts. I appreciated that each pack had an insert of some type and not just base cards. The variety of inserts in the box was nice as well. The SP Authentic style products in the past felt a little basic, but it seems like Upper Deck has addressed that and mixed things up a little bit.
Overall, this was a fun box to break. I loved that Upper Deck included legendary players who don’t often get cards anymore. For fans of these players or maybe even autograph collectors, it’s a nice way to add some more cards of them. The variety of what the box provided was cool. If you’re strictly looking for big name autographs, this can be a bit of a gamble, but if you hit nicely, it can pay off quite well.
Hobby Musings: Cracking 2020/21 Upper Deck SP Signature Edition Legends Hockey – Image Gallery
Hobby Musings: Cracking 2020/21 Upper Deck SP Signature Edition Legends Hockey
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Hobby Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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