If you’re bored of flagship, you’re bored of life.

That isn’t to say that everything is perfect – far from it! – but as sets go, it’s hard to get too emotional one way or the other. It’s affordable! But there aren’t many high-end chase cards. it’s consistent! But sometimes that means boring. As long as three flagship sets are released every year and they include a Young Guns in every fourth pack, what is there to worry about? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

That being said, let’s review some of the inserts and parallels in 2024/25 Series 2 and see how we’re doing (spoiler: fine-adjacent). This won’t be a comprehensive list but hopefully an entertaining one – let the ranking begin!

The Chase Cards.

I’d be surprised if anyone doesn’t love these cards. These are the standouts! The Fancies! And, in some few examples, the dollar signs.

Young Guns Renewed. When these were first announced for Series 1 I’ll be honest and admit I was not convinced. On release day I would have had these firmly in the “Acceptable” tier and moved happily on. These slowly became my favorite insert this year – I love the players selected, the unique art, just… all of it.

“Renewed” offers a little bit of extra value in a box that doesn’t exist because of unobtainable lotto cards. For many of us this is a nice way to enjoy Young Guns that we will probably never get to touch, let alone own. And while I don’t believe that they are exhaustively created works of art, it’s clear that Luke has put time into each and every one of them. Upper Deck got this sorted and planned in advance, and that’s something you can’t say about everything this year (you’re going into bike spokes like its 1987, UD Portraits!) so I am going to take the win on this one.

The Checklist is also really decent; teams missed in Series 1 like the Canucks have 3 cards in Series 2 (Brock, Elias, and Quinn) which gives fans in Vancouver something to look forward to, which they could use. Hellebuyck, Mcdavid and Drai, Makar… I hope Caufield looks cool, and Suzuki! It’s a great collection so lets get… collecting. Whatever.

Young Guns. I have never met anyone who doesn’t like Young Guns, or hates getting one in a pack. Sure, sometimes you’ve never heard of the player and they have already played their last game in the NHL. Stay hungry, Maxim Tsyplakov! That was random, I’m sure he has a long a healthy career ahead of him. Mark has some esoteric theory about the need to split rookies and Young Guns into their own things and I encourage you to ask him all about it, but aside from that The People have spoken. Yes, Extended is almost always a horrific sideshow consisting of career AHLers and future European yourneymen. You can’t have it all! But with this Series 2 at least we get to chase after Celebrini, Michkov, and Geekie, to name a few.

You know what Young Guns are, and you love them. All the “hot takes” are below, so lets get this party started.

Acceptable If You Get Them.

Look, I am not going to sit here and say that you’re collecting cardboard wrong. You might be! One can never be sure. But these are the inserts and parallels that are… fine. You might enjoy them! But you probably won’t tell Visa your card was stolen if your box contains a few.

On Tour. I’m holding back my emotions until I have one of these in hand, but… Yeah? Could be worse, right? I want to argue that these are the B-Sides (music reference!) left over from Credentials’ “Live Tonight” series, which was fantastic and are still fairly expensive when you search on eBay. The foil effect is really well done as well, when you see it in person, which was a nice surprise.

If you collect team sets, there is a card in there for you. They are 1:5 hobby packs, so they should be dirt cheap, and every card features 2 players you probably like if you follow that franchise. Will people be fighting over Kadri/Sharangovich? Maybe. But also: probably not. Sorry, Calgary! But they get it.

Program of Excellence. There are a lot of names on this checklist, but do average people want players from before they were in the NHL? Yes when its Bedard, obviously, but those prices drop the moment real cards start hitting. But what of Ethan Del Mastro? Brennan Othmann? Lets not forget that Mark Messier can go fuck himself. So mixed results, I suppose. 1:96 Hobby is fairly rare, and I admit a 1:864 black and white does look fine. Final ruling: inoffensive!

Day With The Cup. Unless you are a big Panthers fan, or still colelct That Player Your Favorite Team Drafted And You Have All His Jerseys From Before He Was Traded To Florida, this series probably isn’t for you. But, sinners rejoice: Florida fans will buy your cards. For money. These cards always look fine, and are generally a lot of fun. Put a hot dog in the Cup for the lulz! There are no rules. Did I mention they are generally worth a few dollars, and are rare? That more than anything gets them into the Acceptable Tier.

ElectrCITY. Ok. My first thought was “Filler” followed closely by some snobbish dismissal. And it is filler! But, being fair, this is the best possible edition of filler. Checklist is fine, no objections. Art is well done, no player glow effects which always pleases Mark. The name is clever enough, someone had a moment there. Showing the franchise’s skyline is coherent and works. Not every card needs to have monetary value to be good, and this one fits in the set nicely. Also, the card looks much better in person with the shiny foil effect, just like “On Tour.”

Fluorescence. Annoying word to spell, somewhat less annoying to look at. Sporting a vaguely art deco look this year, Mark thinks this is the best the insert has ever been. Being honest, I must find them forgettable as I had to look older years up, and he isn’t wrong. Another 50 card set, another opportunity to hype recent rookies.

Fanimation. Whenever I see one of these I chuckle a little bit, which is more than I can say for the next group of cards so congrats, Fanimation! You made it.

Garbage Cards For Garbage People.

I don’t really mean that! Not entirely. Still, though, it’s brutal out there.

Welcome Aboard. Possibly the worst inset in recent memory, I’m actually a little offended. Welcome Aboard is nonsensical and cynical, and is completely divorced from reality. We have Young Guns (and it’s 7 variants), we have 1994/95 Rookie Die Cuts (if only in Walmart Mega Blasters). Jumbo Young Guns continue to exist. NHL Firsts! And don’t forget Rookie Commemorative Class (Target Blasters) are a thing this release. There are too many rookie cards. Too many! And if, somehow, all those cards look and sell great, that won’t make this maliciously random inset any better.

And Its nautical themed, for some reason. I don’t get it. At all. Every Series has that one strange design, and this is it for 2024/25.

I don’t want to talk about these (or look at them) anymore. Moving on!

UD Portraits. I know Portraits has become a staple in flagship, and it isn’t always all bad. The AI editions that a lot of us avoided (thanks, Bedard Tax?) were dead on arrival for a lot of collectors purely based on Upper Deck’s usage of AI – something that is even more glaring when you see what UD can produce with the help of people like Luke The Cardist. For me at least they were full art cards that tried to do something original. I just wish they were willing to put a little money into it and hire a bunch of people from Magic The Gathering to get some really sick art created. But here we are! Back on topic.

This year’s crop of Portraits are hilariously bad. You can make these yourself in 5 minutes! Take any image whatsoever, grab a shape tool in 1998’s Paint Shop Pro (Photoshop self-terminates if you lower your standards to this level) and just throw red rectangles wherever you want. Get a line wrong? Don’t worry about it! Just keep working. Deadlines have to be met, presumably.

You know, while I am ranting, I wonder if this was a last minute rework following the AI pushback. With this level of artistic insight you could grind through the 30 cards before lunch. I have nothing good to say about these cards whatsoever. If you PC a player, get it. I’ve never even bothered to Google the Gold variants, so maybe some of those hold value. But, man. What lazy, ugly cards.

Brutal.

Incarnations. What fresh hell is this? Did we learn nothing from the 1995/96 Be A Player NHLPA series? I thought UD Portraits were cringe but Ovie looks like he is about to cry. Hide your shame, 8. Take down the mirrors, turn off the lights, and let it all out. No one needs to know.

My understanding is that these are SP or SSP, which is good because I never want to hold one, but maybe also sad because people are going to think its ok when these go for more than they should. Don’t let UD get away with this! We’re actively harming children now. Thanks again, Beloved Hobby, for allowing your Instagram account to fuel my nightmares this week.

Welcome To The End. You Made It.

Do I understand why there is a 9 card set of “Snow Spray” autographs? I do not, and why is that checklist so all over the place? I guess Dazzlers has fans out there, and die-cuts are ok if done well. In the end, Flagship is an entry-level product, after all, and the good more than makes up for any bad.

Deep inside my heart’s secret heart I think everyone knows what Series 2 is and what it isn’t, and anyone reading through this was probably looking for a laugh on their lunch break. Or while working, we don’t judge. I enjoy the set just like I enjoy OPC; it has cards to hunt, and it’s also a great base set to collect if you’re into that sort of thing. No wrong answers!

So go! Open another box and get that Celebrini High Gloss. What are you still doing here?