2023-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey: Everything You Need to Know

Releasing with an exciting new configuration to please the Upper Deck Series lovers, we find ourselves with the most dramatic changes seen in over two decades.

From new base parallels to the increase in odds due to pack count being halved, collectors will still receive the same expected number of Young Guns, UD Canvas cards, and various inserts.

The flagship attraction of any Upper Deck release is the Young Guns rookie cards. Collectors can still expect six Young Guns per hobby box (no change), but with the inclusion of new numbered parallels, the chase becomes even more exciting.

• Download: The 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey Excel Sheet¹
• Download: The 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey PDF
• Download: The 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey CSV

2023-24 NHL Upper Deck Series 1 Release Date

The 2023-24 NHL Upper Deck Series 1 box was released on October 18, 2023.

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What Is Series 1 Hockey?

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The Upper Deck Series 1 hockey is the company’s time-tested venture that is a three-part trading card product, following Series 2 and the extended series. The set offers the first major hockey card release each season.

This format is very popular among collectors because it covers every single player on a big checklist, always comes with fresh inserts and parallels, and never leaves anyone out.

See Also: 2023-24 NHL UD Series 2 and How to Order?

The 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Checklist Overview

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In all, there are 250 cards (#1-250) in the base set, with the inclusion of 198 veterans (#1-198), and 49 most anticipated rookies every year, the Young Guns (#199-247), along with 3 checklist cards (#248-250) to keep you updated. The change in the configuration means overall fewer packs to rip but increasing the odds at the same time.

As a classic series set design, the base set has a big player display with the team name and player name at the bottom in a skewed title plate that moves quickly.

The Young Guns subset is the most iconic and valuable part of UD Series 1. Famous Young Guns rookie cards from the 2023-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Checklist include:

• Luke Hughes
• Matthew Knies
• Devon Levi
• Matt Coronato
• Simon Edvinsson

Another headline-worthy feature of the Upper Deck Series 1 is its big list of base set parallels. Several new additions are accompanied by the classic ones. The 2023-24 UD Series 1 offers 4

Here is a complete list of UD Series 1 base set parallels:

• Clear Cut Parallels (1 in four hobby boxes) (acetate-special)
• Clear Cut—Young Guns (1 in twelve boxes)
• NEW! Deluxe Parallels (#’d/250) (Hobby-Exclusive)
• Exclusives Parallel (#’d/100) (Hobby-Exclusive)
• High Gloss Parallel (#’d/10) (Hobby-Exclusive)
• NEW! Outburst Silver (1 in two hobby boxes)
• NEW! Outburst Red (#/25) (Hobby-Exclusive)
• NEW! Outburst Gold (1/1) (one of one young guns available here) (Hobby-Exclusive)
• Jumbos Parallel—Young Guns (One per Jumbo Blaster)

Additionally, an unannounced Conor Bedard draft pick card is included in the product, but it is extremely rare and tough to pull.

Moreover, a new base set parallel, Outburst Silver (1:90 retail packs), has made its way into the retail stock, providing a chance to chase additional young guns.

Other Inserts: Additions to the Set

A general trend can be noticed with the addition of newer inserts being paired with the few staple ones. It seems that Upper Deck is trying to make the chase more exciting and less dependent on the base set.

This move seems to have been made to compensate for the nearly non-significant presence of the autograph and memorabilia inserts. Moreover, inserts too are offered more in numbered, three instead of one from the past years.

UD Canvas (1 in every 2 hobby) cards offer young guns too and land four per hobby box despite a lower number of packs. The insert has its own 120-card checklist and even continues in Series 2 and the Extended series. They come in Black and White (Hobby-Exclusive) and Printing Plate (1/1) parallels.

The UD Portraits is another such staple, but with an unrecognizable look from the last year. The players are presented as nobility, and no two portraits are the same. Silver (#’d/99) and Red frame (#’d/99) parallels are only available in hobby and e-packs.

The NEW! 200′ x 85′ design draws inspiration from the exact dimensions of a hockey rink, featuring a backdrop that cleverly incorporates a measurement scale to highlight its length and width. They are available 2 in every hobby box and also come in Gold, Red (#’d/99), and Black (1/1) parallels, whereas Green parallels are reserved for tin boxes.

For collectors who love chasing the rainbow, Dazzlers is the way to go. It has

• Blue (1 in every box),
• Black (tin-exclusive),
• Green (Blaster-exclusive),
• Orange (tin-exclusive),
• Pink (rare), and
• Red Parallels (tin-exclusive).

Honor Roll is back too. It has foilboard usage and also offers printing plate parallels that are numbered to 4. Both Honor Roll and Dazzlers in Series 1 feature veteran stars only. Rookies can be collected in Series 2 hockey.

Population Count inserts are available for the second time in 1000, 500, 50, 25, 10, and 1 parallels but will be on an acetate stock. Rookie Retrospective showcases top rookies from the previous season.

Other NEW! additions include Special Edition (1:5 packs) and Star Box Fillers (1:6 packs). NEW! Star Surge and Star Zone, both with odds of 1 in 7 packs, showcase rising stars and veteran stars of the game. The Star Surge comes with Red and Gold (#’d/25) die-cut parallels.

Teachers Pet (1:5 packs) is another NEW! fun addition, and has a classroom-themed design. Finally, Debut Dates highlights players’ NHL Debuts with the date and the opponent team mentioned at the bottom.

A special mention to the Hard-Signed and Hand-Numbered UD Canvas Signature making its cameo as content apart from inserts.

Retail Exclusivity: Not Leaving Anyone Behind

1994-95 Rookie Die-Cuts looks after the retail exclusivity. They can be found in 1 out of every 2.2 Black Friday blaster packs.

Commemorative Class is a tribute to the legendary players and their contributions to the game with their special anniversaries or career achievements. (Target mega blaster exclusive)

OPC Glossy (1:3 packs) is a pick from the O-Pee-Chee set, which is exclusive to tin, retail, blaster, and hanger.

Box Configuration: What’s Inside?

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Each box guarantees:

Box Type	Cards Per Pack	Packs Per Box	Boxes Per Case
Hobby Box	12 cards	12 packs	12 boxes
Mass Blaster	12 cards	4 packs	20 boxes
Gravity Feed	12 cards	–	–
Mass Hanger Box	24 cards	–	–
Tin Box	12 cards	8 packs+1 exclusive dazzlers pack	–

Box Break: Hobby Box

Feature	Box
Debut Dates/Rookie Retrospective/Stat Box Fillers and/or Teacher’s Pet Cards	8
Young Guns	6
Honor Roll and/or UD Portraits Cards	6
Special Edition/Star Surge and/or Star Zone Cards	6
UD Canvas and/or UD Canvas Young Guns	4
200’X85′	2
Outburst Silver Parallel (veteran or young gun)	1
Blue Dazzlers Parallel	1
Clear Cut parallel/UD Canvas—Black & White Parallel or 200’X85’—Gold Parallel	1
Wildcard (including all Rare Ratio’d and #’d cards)	1

Box Break: Retail Box

Feature	Box
Young Guns	1
Inserts	3
OPC Glossy	1
Honor Roll	1
Green Dazzlers (Blasters and the Starter Kit-Exclusive)	1 in every box (1 in 3 packs)

Box Break: Tin Box

Feature	Box
Young Guns	1
3-Card Exclusive Dazzlers Pack	1

2023-24 Upper Deck Series 1 Inserts and Parallels

Chase Cards: Rare Finds (SP)

• Unannounced Conor Bedard Draft Pick card
• UD Canvas Signatures

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FAQs:

1. Download our exclusive checklist with separate base, autograph, memorabilia, inserts and team sheets. ↩︎