Product Review: 2011-12 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection

Looking for a High-End product with minimal cards? Well you have one in the 2011-12 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection. For around $100 you will get 1 Pack with 4 premium cards. Each Box/Pack will contain the following: 1 Autograph card, 1 Numbered Memorabilia card, 1 Numbered Rookie Card, and 1 Numbered Base card. So do you want to gamble on these packs? You need to let any expectations you have on pulling a big hit covering your $100 out the window.
Even though the Base set is numbered to 399, you still need to have a decent player pulled in order to get some value out of them. The Rookies provide some stable value in this product with them falling one per pack with a run of /399, along with a chance to pull an Autograph /299, SP Autograph /99, Autographed Patch /35, Autographed Patch SP /25 or Autographed NHL Shield 1/1. The stated odds are that within a 15 box case you would pull a minimal of 4 patch cards and 1 autographed memorabilia card. not too bad odds with every other box bringing in a big hit.
The Autographed cards this year bring back the fan favourite Ultimate Signatures along with a case hit 1997 Legends Signatures. As for the rest of the Autographs; they will be parallels in regards to Nicknames /25, Autographed Dual Jerseys /10, Autographed Patches /10 and Autographed Dual Patches /5. if your ripping these packs/boxes these are the ones you want to pull out for your Auto hit.
Lastly the Memorabilia cards range in numbering from at the highest /200 down to /10. These will be covered by an assortment of parallels of Single, Duos, and Trios Jersey cards for both Veterans and Rookies. Patch cards will also follow the same pattern of Single, Duos, and Trios for Rookies and Veterans. The interesting Memorabilia out of this product are the larger pieces. Jumbo Swatches /35, Jumbo Premium Patches /25. Jumbo Autographed Debut Threads /50 and Over-sized Debut Threads Patches /100 should provide some good value on the secondary market for this product. People love their big sized game used memorabilia.
So are you still intrigued enough to buy a Box/Pack? These are the Boxes/Packs I love to buy, the gamble is high on them for the cost but the return could be great if you pull that hit. With the recent sales on eBay in the first day I was a little discouraged in buying a box. The prices for some really nice Auto's and Memorabilia patches were going for much lower than I anticipated. After a little more research on the previous years this product has come out I bought one. The potential of pulling a big hit is pretty good and I figure if I get a decent looking Patch or Swatch I might just keep it in the collection instead of flipping it.
So here is what I just opened and the results:

Base card: Jaromir Jagr /399
Rookie card: Carl Hagelin /399
Memorabilia Card: Chris Pronger Jumbo Swatch /35
Autographed Card: Brendan Smith Rookie on-card /299

So all done within a few seconds of opening the pack. The cards themselves are a nice thick stock used. Designs are nice but a little plain for a high-end product. Sadly, not too happy with the results of this one. The Pronger Swatch is big but all black and nothing special other than numbered /35. The Brendan Smith Rookie Auto is ok but again out of /299 so I don't think the value will be there for him. These could be the results of a High-end minimal cards box/pack so it is a gamble on these ones. I took the gamble and lost on this one.

Gambler Overall Rating: 3.33 out of 5
Cost: 3/5
Autographs: 3.5/5 
Memorabilia: 3.5/5

Design: 3/5

Rookies: 4/5
Fun Aspect: 3/5