2009-10 MVP pack

I purchased a pack of 2009-10 Upper Deck MVP hockey cards the other day. $1.99 (plus tax) gets you 8 cards. That's pretty good, considering that a pack of Fleer Ultra only nets you 5 cards for that price, while an 8-card pack of Upper Deck costs $1 more at $2.99. Fittingly, last year's Stanley Cup MVP Evgeni Malkin is on the MVP card wrapper. Anyway, on to the cards!!!

Card #248, Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames - Getting "iggy" with it. A good way to start off this pack. Not only is the guy a superstar, but he's an Olympian too. 2010 will be his third Olympic tournament. 

Card #176, Keith Ballard, Florida Panthers - Hey Keith, watch that stick! 

Card #200, Loui Eriksson, Dallas Stars - Eriksson will represent Sweden in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Card #156, Marek Zidlicky, Minnesota Wild -  Zidlicky will also appear in the Olympics this year, playing for the Czech Republic.

Card #275, Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins -  Bergeron currently leads the Bruins in scoring. Oh yeah, he'll be in the Olympics too, playing for Team Canada.

Card #63, Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins - Man, there are some great cards in this pack! 

Card #132, Shea Weber, Nashville Predators - Another guy who will play for Canada in the 2010 Olympics, Weber is one of my favorite defensemen of today.

Card #325, Alexander Sulzer, Nashville Predators - MVP Rookies are seeded 1 in every 2 packs. Believe it or not, Sulzer will be in the Olympics too, for the German team.

Overall, this was a pretty sweet pack. Some superstars and some Olympians, and a rookie card.

My biggest problem with Upper Deck MVP is the shiny foil silver facsimile autograph on the front of each card. I collect autograph cards TTM, but I don't like getting MVP cards signed because they already have a pre-printed 'graph on it...and that just looks silly when you get a real autograph on it.

I can also do without all the other shiny stuff. The Upper Deck logo in the corner I can live with, but the MVP logo should have been smaller. Instead, that garish blob of silver becomes the first thing your eye notices.

But believe it or not, I still like these cards. They're pretty good looking (for MVP, anyway). Hey, at least Upper Deck retired that shield-type design that they used every year since 2006.