DA Drops of the Week: 3/27-4/2

Fresh off a Sabres 6-5 win over the Blackhawks last night, with a spectacular *wink, wink* goal by Tage Thompson, we’re back with this week’s DA Drops.

Since we’re on the subject of Hockey, let’s get into the new release by Upper Deck.

Hockey 

Wednesday marks the anticipated release of 2020/21 Upper Deck Premier Hockey, featuring rookies such as Alexis Lafreniere, Kirill Kaprizov, and Tim Stutzle.

Upper Deck says Premier has loads of autographs, all “hard-signed,” and a 100-card base set consisting of vets and the top rookies, all numbered 299 or less.

Premier has nine parallels, including four memorabilia parallels (jersey, patch, fight strap, and neckline). Also available is three autograph parallels, highlighted by the 1/1 Platinum parallel, and two “all-new” low numbered regular parallels, Gold (#’d to 65) and Platinum (#’d 1/1).

Collectors should look for a regular veteran base set or base set parallel cards (#’d to 299, 65, or 1 and one regular rookie base set or base set parallel card (#’d to 299, 65, or 1) per box on average.

According to Upper Deck, horizontal variants of “top-tier” rookies are back after what UD calls a successful debut in the 2019/20 product. Regulars are #’d to 99 or 49, Gold parallel cards #’d to 25 or 15, and 1/1 Platinum cards.

Keep an eye out for Acetate Auto Patch cards, rookies #’d to 249, 149, and 99, and star veterans #’d to 35, 25, and 15. On average, there is one of these cards per box.

UD says all of the veteran cards feature game-worn patch swatches.

You can also add these new rookie-specific insert sets to your collection:

• 2020 Premier Rookie Autograph: This low #’d set (99 or 25) features 2020-21 rookies accompanied by a hard-signed autograph and a jersey swatch. Look for rare Patch (#’d to 15) and Tag Patch (#’d 1-of-1) parallels.
• Rookie Paramount: Only the best rookies made the cut. Keep an eye out for Patch (#’d to 35) and Patch Auto (#’d to 99 or 49) parallels.
• Rookie Expose: This is an acetate hard-signed autograph set featuring the best rookies, each #’d to just 35.

Lastly, collectors may want to hunt for low #’d (49 or less) Premier Mega Jersey and Mega Patch Duos, Trios, and Quad cards.

The hand-#’d Premier Mega Patch cards feature chest logos, sleeve numbers, shoulder logos, and commemorative logos.

There is one pack per box and six cards per pack.

For the full product breakdown, click here.

Football 

Wednesday will also have a new Panini release, 2021 Clearly Donruss Football, loaded with all acetate autographs, parallels, and inserts from this past year’s deep rookie class.

Panini tells collectors to look out for the Clearly Rared Rookie Autographs of Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Mac Jones, and more.

There will be “fan-favorite” inserts and autograph parallels like Clearly My House, Clearly The Rookies, Clearly Out of This World, and Cleary Dominant.

You may also be on the hunt for Rated Rookie tribute cards Panini says feature acetate re-creations from “some of the most iconic rookies in the NFL’s recent history.”

Also, collectors may chase case hit acetate inserts in Gridiron Marvels, Night Moves, Downtown, and 1/1 Holo Platinum parallels.

It’s one autograph, two parallels, and eight Rated Rookies per box. There are four packs per box and five cards per pack.

For more on Clearly Donruss, click here.

Baseball

Wednesday seems to be a big release day across multiple sports and doesn’t exclude baseball. Topps is bringing this year’s Inception Baseball to shelves.

There will be one pack per box with seven cards per pack.

Each box will contain one autograph or relic card and two base card parallels. Topps says collectors should look for dual auto-relic book cards.

In a case of Inception, collectors will receive four Inception Autograph Patch Cards, one Inception Silver Signings Autograph, and one Autograph Jumbo Patch Card or Autograph Jumbo Hat Patch.

Topps says the 2022 Inception product will have all the most collectible young stars. It will feature the 2022 MLB Rookie Class and on-card autograph cards and autograph relics.

For a product breakdown, click here.