The long and cold Canadian winters of our youth meant one thing....hockey. Constants in most of our lives were 6 am practices, playing on the pond and watching our NHL heroes skate on TV. During this special time, we were introduced to our hockey card hobbies. Whether it was Howe, Orr, Gretzky or Sakic....O Pee Chee, Upper Deck, Score or Parkhurst everyone remembers the sets and players where they developed their passion for collecting hockey cards. The rebirth of the NHL in 2005/2006 also brings about a renaissance in hockey card collecting. With the one-two punch of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin and an army of sets featuring cards we couldn't even dream of as kids, this year is the most exciting year for collectors in over a decade....if not ever. This series of articles will breakdown many of 05/06's most talked about hockey card sets. Upper Deck Series 1 Arguably, the most important hockey release of 2005/2006 is Upper Deck Series One Hockey. Every season this is the set that hockey card collectors look for, and this year especially with that addition of Sidney Crosby. The key card of 05/06 Upper Deck Series One Hockey is Crosby's Upper Deck Rookie, #201 of the Young Guns set is already valued at $250. Crosby's presence, along with the return of the NHL have caused the availability of Upper Deck Series one hobby boxes to begin to dry up. The limited availability of 05/06 series one hobby boxes has increased their value. Fans looking to pull a Crosby or other members of the young guns set can also purchase retail or blaster box versions of 05/06 Upper Deck Series One. Other Important rookie cards found in 05/06 Upper Deck Young Guns set include; Mike Richards, Dion Phaneuf, Corey Perry, Alexander Steen, Zach Paris, and Rostislav Olesz, Brent Seabrook, Petteri Nokelainen, Jeff Woywitka, Jim Slater, Alexander Perezhogin, Andrej Meszaros, Cam Ward, Keith Ballard, Braydon Coburn, Wojtek Wolski, Hannu Toivonen, Peter Budaj, Henrik Lundqvist, Rene Bourque and Brandon Bochenski. Aside from Young Guns rookies, 05/06 Upper Deck includes regular cards, and three memorabilia cards per box. You can find inserts in approximately 1 out of every 6 packs. Every second pack includes either a rookie card or a basic insert. Exciting inserts to note are Notable Numbers (serial numbered to the player's jersey number), featuring big names such as Gretzky, Brodeur and Hasek, the Big Playmakers (numbered to 50 copies each), the Game Patch card (numbered to 15 copies each), and the High Glossy parallel cards (numbered to 10 copies each). Whether you are looking for Crosby, the bevy of other special cards and young guns, or just collecting to make a complete set, boxes of Upper Deck Series One Hockey are a great pick up for collectors. As always Upper Deck features the highest quality photography and cutting edge designs. Collectors have come to expect and even demand this type of quality from Upper Deck, ever since they rocked the hockey world with their 1990/91 release. Basic Info: 200 card base set, 42 card Young Gun subset, 24 packs/box Parallels: 242 UD High Glossy (#'d to 10) Memorabilia: 42 Game Jerseys (1:12), 42 Game Jersey Patches (#'d to 15), 25 Shooting Stars (1:32), 10 NHL Generations Dual (1:144), 7 NHL Generations Triple (1:288), 42 Big Playmakers (#'d to 50) Autographs: 100 Notable Numbers (#'d to player's jersey number) Inserts: 14 Gold Rush (1:12), 14 Hometown Heroes (1:12), 7 School of Hard Knocks (1:24), 7 Playoff Performers (1:24), 30 Hockey Scrapbook
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