2015-16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey Details
Sometimes, even a well-established brand with a strong following needs to be rebuilt in order to remain fresh with collectors and Upper Deck has decided to make some radical changes to 2015-16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey after several years of remaining on a tried-and-true course.
2015-16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey comes fresh on the heels of their flagship series and it marks the first time a product at its intended price level has been released so early in the season. Each box contains just five premium trading cards. And with one of the most-anticipated rookie classes in a decade, the demand is expected to be high with the presence of Diamond Rookie Relics that fall once per case on average and contain one to four actual diamonds in them.
“We are excited to see the potential impact and secondary market value of the Diamond Relic Rookie Cards,” noted Upper Deck Senior Marketing & Social Media Manager Chris Carlin. “How much will Connor McDavid’s Quad Diamond Rookie Cards, limited to 99 numbered copies per, sell for? These cards will be the first super-premium rookie cards on the market. And the market has also been starving for an early high-end product from UD – so we’re really excited to deliver premium content so early in the release calendar schedule.”
Get a fully sortable 2015-16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey checklist.
Base Set
In the past, the Black Diamond set has been a multi-tiered effort and this will change for 2015-16 as it is pared down to 50 cards, split between 45 active stars and five legends, which are numbered to 199 copies each. Some of these cards have Pure Black or Relic parallels (numbered to 99 or less) and there are also Pure Black Autographs for some players. For an even tougher chase, collectors can hunt for Pure Black Prime Relics (limited to 35 or less), Diamond Relics (numbered to five), or the one-of-one Pure Black Diamond Relics that are sure to be coveted.
The set is also loaded up with Diamond Relic Rookie cards numbered to 99. Featuring one to four diamonds on each card, there will be a great deal of buzz around some of this year’s prime freshmen. The presence of Diamond Relics Gold (numbered to 5) and the Pure Black parallel that is a one-of-one should have a great deal of secondary-market action and could rank as some of the season’s best.
As a special bonus, there is also a Wayne Gretzky Quad Diamond Retro Rookie Relic. Fittingly, it is numbered to 99.
Autographs and Inserts
Signature Placards are the most common pulls for those hunting for autographs in boxes of 2015-16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey. They come once in every four packs. Silver on Black Signatures have the potential to make a great visual impact and the Retired Numbers insert set have a signed version as well.
Championship Rings, which has established a decent following in Black Diamond returns as well. These inserts drop once in every five packs on average.
Memorabilia
In recent years, Upper Deck has occasionally delivered oversized manufactured patch pieces in their products and Team Logo Jumbos (1:5 boxes) will debut in 2015-16.
“The Team Logo Jumbos are manufactured patch puzzles. Six storied NHL franchises (Blackhawks, Bruins, Canadiens, Penguins, Rangers and Red Wings) are each featured with nine players from varying decades, all way through to present day,” explained Carlin. “Each player will have a specific puzzle piece, allowing for consumers to put together the complete patch logo by collecting one copy of each card in the puzzle. For player collectors, the cards parallel to scarce Black Diamond (numbered to 15), Upper Deck (numbered to 5), and NHL Shield one-of-one Brand Logo patches, whereby the puzzle piece patch is replaced by a standalone logo patch.”
Additionally, collectors can look for Double Diamond Booklet Relics (numbered to 99) and their Premium Memorabilia Parallel (limited to 10).
Rookie Inserts
Upper Deck is going to great lengths to put plenty of extra rookie-themed content inside boxes of Black Diamond and it begins with the Rookie Gems inserts (numbered to 399) which also have a Pure Black parallel (numbered to 25). The Rookie Gems Pure Black Signatures Parallels have two tiers (numbered to 49 or 99) and are joined by multiple variants of Rookie Signature Placards and Rookie Materials Placards. Silver on Black Rookie Signatures are another way to get some freshman ink while memorabilia enthusiasts may appreciate Rookie Team Logo Jumbos (1:2.5 packs) that have rarer Black Diamond and Upper Deck logo parallels. Another strong pull is the Rookie Booklet Relics, which are limited to a very reasonable 299 copies and have a desirable Autographed Patch parallel numbered to 25.
Exquisite
Upper Deck finally brings their Exquisite brand to hockey collectors this season and Black Diamond is the first place to find these cards. Each box of 2915-16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey contains a one-card bonus pack that could contain a hobby treasure. Exquisite base cards are limited to just 149 copies each, but there is a strong array of cardboard goodness which includes Exquisite Rookie Previews (Tier 1 is numbered to 299, Tier 2 is numbered to 199) and Exquisite Material (numbered to 15), which has Combo and Quad editions limited to 49 and 25, respectively. The Rookie Previews also have a Spectrum parallel that is available in varying quantities.
If that was not enough bonus content, Upper Deck will also be pushing the envelope with Exquisite Rookie Jumbo Material (numbered to 35) and add to that with a one-of-one Shield parallel along with Dual Material (numbered to 149 with a Spectrum parallel limited to 25) and Quad Material (numbered to 99 with a Spectrum parallel limited to 10).
2015-16 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey at a glance:
Cards per box: 5 plus one Exquisite Collection card
Set size: 50 cards (plus minimum of 20 rookies)
Release date: December 16, 2015
So take a tied and true product and change it to a high end product. I don’t like it. But it does make one less product i will buy.
Isn’t that the same Sam Bennett photo they used on the MVP rookie? Why does UD keep recycling the same photo of a player in multiple sets? They’ve been doing it for years, and it’s getting annoying. It’s not like their photographers took only one photo of every player.
Also, this move is going to turn away a lot of collectors (kids, folks with limited collecting budgets). No more blasters at Target/Wal-Mart!
5 cards per box? And the price point will be what, $75-$100? No thank you.
This is another concession to the “case breakers” and not for the regular collector who enjoys busting packs. Case busters do not want to take the time to bust 20 packs when everything can be done in less than a minute with one pack. Over the past few years Black Diamond is a set that I put together, but this coming year, that is not going to happen. John posted a price point of $75.00 to $100. I think it will actually be higher than that.
it was definatly a time for a format change to black diamond.looking forward to this NEW product!!
Try $200-$250 If its high end then nothing less than this. As for whether I will buy it…..yes definitely. Yes I do cases because that is the best value to get all the hits in a case and best chances for resale. I agree it hurts the smaller collectors that enjoy pack by pack collecting but unfortunately that is not the hobby anymore. This is a business and Upper Deck sees that there are a lot of collectors spending large money on cards that are high end so they are cutting down on the small products.