Configuration:
Packs per box: 4
Cards per pack: 1
Boxes per case: 10 (two 5-box inner cases)
Box Break:
• Autographs – 1
• Memorabilia Cards – 1
• Base Cards or Inserts – 1
• Additional Autographs, Memorabilia, Base or Insert Cards – 1
2017-18 SPx Hockey continues with the brand’s long tradition of premium construction and bold designs. There might not be holograms like there were when the line launched in the late 1990s, but the cards are thick and come with a variety of looks that highlight things like intricate foil and Shadow Box cards.
Each 2017-18 SPx Hockey hobby box has just four cards, which are divided up into single-card packs. Each box promises both an autograph and a memorabilia card as well as one base or insert card, which Upper Deck has dubbed a “technology” card. The final pack has a second one of any of these three options.
Besides SPx-branded cards, UD Black makes the jump over to the release.
Base Set
The 2017-18 SPx Hockey main set is divided up into four sections. Base set Stars and Legends have the smallest print runs at 249 copies. Parallels for these start with Spectrum cards, which have varied print runs.
Additional versions can be found with autographs and memorabilia pieces. Star Autographs come in three tiers with either 149, 49 or 15 copies. On the memorabilia side, Star Materials cards are 1:18 packs while Stars Premium Materials are numbered to 10. Stars Gold Premium Material Autographs (Tier 1 /49, Tier 2 /25, Tier 3 /10) and White Premium Material Autographs (/5) round out the veteran parallels.
Legends take a similar path as far as autograph and memorabilia styles go but without tiers. These cards have Material (1:240), Autographs (/15), Gold Premium Material Autographs (/10), Premium Material (/5) and White Gold Premium Material Autographs (/5).
Rookies make up the remaining two parts of the 2017-18 SPx base set. Regular Rookies are numbered to 399. Parallels come in numbered Spectrum, Rookies Material (/299), Rookies Autographs (/199 and /99), Rookies Gold Premium Material Autographs (/49 and /25), Rookies Premium Material (/25), and Rookies White Premium Material Autographs (/5).
Shadow Box Rookies return, offering a layered look that mixes Upper Deck’s Light F/X technology and acetate. Base versions have 298 copies while variations are numbered to 98. Shadow Box cards don’t have any memorabilia parallels but there are two tiers of autographs numbered to 148 and 98. Gold Spectrum Autographs have either 18 or eight copies each.
Autographs and Memorabilia Cards
2017-18 SPx Hockey has a couple of other hit cards outside of the UD Black content. On the memorabilia side, there’s Extravagant Materials, which land 1:20 packs. These have Premium Materials Black versions that are numbered to varying amounts.
Double XL Duos have over-sized swatches from a pair of players. Tier 1 cards are numbered to 199 while Tier 2 land with 99 copies each. Black parallels that have premium swatches have 15 copies.
Autograph themes include Superscripts Autos (1:20), Impressions Autos (/249, /125 and /25), and Lasting Marks Autos (/25).
UD Black
Sometimes UD Black is a standalone release. Sometimes it’s part of another product. For 2017-18 SPx Hockey, it’s the latter.
Staying consistent with the product as a whole, designs are dark, living up to the UD Black name. Overarching themes aren’t too complex, but with each there are also parallel versions to chase.
Lustrous Rookies have 299 copies. From there, they have Onyx (/25), Jersey (1:20 packs), numbered Autograph, Auto Patch (/65 and /35), Onyx Patch (/35) and Patch (/3) parallels.
Obsidian Scripts bring more autographs to the table. Rookies and veterans are available in both memorabilia and non-memorabilia versions. For those without swatch, parallels come Onyx (rookies – /35, veterans – /25) and Gold Spectrum (rookies – /10, veterans – /5). These numbers stay the same for Material Onyx parallels while Obsidian Material Scripts Gold Spectrum cards have just three copies each for rookies. Veterans are one-of-ones.
Rounding out the UD Black content are Trademarks inserts. Rookies have 299 copies each. Veterans are noticeably tougher with 199. Both have patch parallels as well.





