I blasted Upper Deck for their O-Pee-Chee redemption card error back in March. There was no excuse for not honoring the card, even if it was an error. Their response to my inquiry was lacking good customer service. All of that at a time when they were putting out inferior products with many reporting damaged cards in brand new unopened packs of last season’s UD series products. This led me to be less than enthusiastic about ordering new products, even though I was anxious to get my hands on Young Guns of Cole Caufield and Trevor Zegras. While 2021-22 Series 1 still had quality issues and pack mistakes, it seemed like improvement was coming. Series 2 seemed a bit better, but some were still seeing issues in quality. And let’s not forget the price hikes that most of their products have had.

Now, with UD’s release of Extended Series, it feels like they are correcting the problems and starting to make it up to the fans. This newest set wasn’t terribly exciting at first, but I’m a completist, well at least when it comes to the base, so I want every base. I needed a Marc-Andre Fleury in a Blackhawks jersey and Seattle Kraken players in Kraken gear. I got that and more. The new series had wonderful Kraken cards, some even designated Inaugural game. There were also great inserts from Trilogy, throwback Black Diamond, and SPx—so many of them numbered. And while I wasn’t incredibly thrilled with the crop of Young Guns that would be featured (no big chase card), the retro Young Guns were worth it. They were great and offered you the opportunity to pull an alternate version of a Young Gun that was featured in one of the previous series of the season. Including canvas cards in extended was also a wise choice, especially with the addition of mascots. I will be buying more if my pocketbook allows because I wasn’t lucky enough to snag a box with one of those mascots or the Young Guns Canvas of Michael Bunting, yet.

So, thank you Upper Deck for giving fans their moneys worth this time. Now, if those prices weren’t so darn high.