2016-17 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey Details
The NHL is in full playoff mode at the moment, but collectors have been getting a sneak peek at next year’s early products as of late. The road leading up to Upper Deck‘s flagship release in November continues with 2016-17 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey and it has the traditional selection of autographs and memorabilia along with a broad selection of parallels and Rookie Redemption cards.
Releasing just before the start of the 2016-17 season, each eight-pack box has a hit per pack on average and the set will have many members of a strong carryover rookie class. It should also be noted that this release will be eligible for the first wave of 2016-17 Upper Deck Overtime cards, so check with your local card shop to confirm that you will receive some packs with purchase.
Base Set and Parallels
2016-17 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey begins with a 100-card regular set that will be augmented with the brand’s traditional Stars (/499), Legends (/499), and Rookies (/999) subsets. The latter grouping features the previously mentioned carryovers which includes announced future stars like William Nylander and Anthony Mantha in
addition to potential cards of late debuts such as Hudson Fasching, Pavel Zacha, and Josh Morrissey.
Artifacts has always had a vast rainbow of numbered parallels and this time, there are up to six different types to collect for each card. All cards, including subsets, will have Ruby (/299), Emerald (/99), Orange (/55), Gold Spectrum (/25), and Black (/5) versions. There will also be a Black Autograph version of some players as well, and it will be numbered to five.
As expected, 2016-17 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey will have a strong Rookie Redemption program and there is once again a standard version (1:9) which gives collectors a rookie card for a player that will debut next season. All 30 teams will be represented and there will be several wild cards featuring players from teams which have had more than one strong freshman hit the ice. There are 20 different Autographed Rookie Redemptions (1:88) plus five different Rookie Relic Redemptions that come with Silver Jersey (1:119), Emerald Patch (1:478), Gold Spectrum Patch (1:1,353), or Black Patch Tag (1:9,472) varieties. Each of those also have a signed version which will be even tougher to get (Silver 1:478, Emerald 1:967, Gold 1,3,517, and Black 1:47,360).
Some of the regular and subset cards are going to have both Material and Autograph parallels as well. These will
consist of Material Silver, Autograph Material Silver, Material Emerald, Autograph Material Emerald, Material Gold Spectrum, Autograph Material Gold Spectrum, Material Black, and Autograph Material Black. Quantities produced will range from as high as 399 copies all the way down to one-of-ones.
Inserts
Aurum makes its debut in 2016-17 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey and the “set within a set” features a striking golden look. Made up of 50 different players, they fall once in every 21 packs, or roughly eight times per inner case. A Gold Spectrum parallel is also being produced and will be a tough pull (1:473).
Autographs and Memorabilia
The Artifacts brand has long been regarded as one which delivers a large amount of limited autograph and memorabilia hits and the 2016-17 edition does not plan to disappoint.
After a well-received debut last year, Honored Members is continuing its multi-year run which gives collectors either a relic or autograph (/27) or cut signatures (varied numbering) from a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Top 12 Rookie Signatures also returns after a year’s absence and the regular version (1:480) is joined by a 2015-16 Update collection (1:480).
Frozen Artifacts are the most common memorabilia cards to pull (1:24) and they have three additional parallels in Patch (/15), Premium Materials (/5), and Tag (one-of-one). Lord Stanley’s Legacy pays tribute to players which have hoisted the Stanley Cup and come in both Relic (1:140) and Signature (1:800) editions that have parallels which are very limited. For the Relics, look for Premiums limited to 5 and 15 copies along with a one-of-one tag. The Signatures parallels are numbered to 10 copies or less.
The 2015-16 freshman crop was a rather impressive one and many of the top talents are part of the Year One Rookies set (1:80). These cards will have scarce Premium Materials (/15), Strap (/5), and Tag (one-of-one) versions. Piece de Resistance (1:32) is a new feature in Artifacts and it will also have Premium (25), Strap (/5) and Tags (one-of-one).
Finally, Tundra Teammates are multi-player memorabilia cards and will come with either two or four pieces. Duos (/199) have the expected Premium (/15), Strap (/5), and Tag (one-of-one) parallels while Quads (/99) have the same enhancements that will be harder to get since they are numbered to 10 copies or less.
2016-17 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey at a glance:
Packs per box: 8
Cards per pack: 4
Boxes per case: 10 per inner
Set size: 100 base set cards plus subsets
Release date: September 28, 2016
What to expect in a hobby box:
– Three autograph, memorabilia, or Aurum cards
– Four serial-numbered cards
– One Rookie Redemption
The overall design of Artifacts hasn’t changed much since it’s inception, and it’s tired. The Aurum inserts look interesting, the redemption cards – not so much. I’m still waiting on last year’s redemption. I hate redemptions. If the company can’t have the cards made, then go with what you have. Redemptions will keep me away from boxes, even though I do like some of the past inserts in Artifacts.
Let’s work on people getting their artifact redemptions from last year befor posting on 2016-17 artifacts.
Skip it wait for regularUD my box was worthless
This redemptions in packs is getting out of hand. Wish the NHLPA step in and stop redemptions in boxes, it should be like in the 1960s 1970s 1980s if you cant put actual cards in the packs then don’t print a product, don’t just stick redemptions cards in the packs so you can sell your product and only to have collectors wait for ever to get the actual cards 6 or 18 months later in the mail or even worse have t settle to get a replacement instead of the actual card redeemed and only to blame the hockey players for not singing autos or not knowing who is going to play or not. Rookie cards autos ect should be found inside the packs and not this redemptions crap
In the instance of Artifacts, it’s because the product comes out so early. Rookies are not eligible until they debut. UD has decided to go with the redemption approach built right in, which is, in some ways, different from a player simply not signing. This is also a product where the redemptions are up front and not a surprise once the set is out.
That is understandable but as a whole Redemptions should not be in packs period.
I will give a better reason why.
2014-15 products the redemptions have not passed expired dates and by purchasing a team or teams and participating in wax box breaks you get a redemption card and you go online to get it redeemed and after only to find out on the site once you have redeemed and it says that the player has not yet fulfilled, So what is the point of having any type of redemptions cards in packs and after almost 2 years of release a collector gets a redemption card that cant be fulfilled meanwhile the product has been in the hobby market for 20 months, So if cant be fulfilled even after 20 months in hobby market then what is the point of having redemptions of any kind in the packs. I know the only reason and I will put in caps and im not yelling but in the online world caps consider yelling ( REDEMPTIONS ARE PUT IN PACKS UN PORPUSE SO THE PRODUCT WILL SELL ) take redemptions out and half the products wont sell.
we did well on this seasons artifacts got 2 hobby Boxes pulled 4 redemptions one specialty card I got was Paul coffey peice de resistance withe tag 1 out of 1
can anyone tell me how to find value of this card