Product Review: Upper Deck 2024-25 Artifacts Hockey - a Lot to Like but One Thing Still Drives us Nuts!

Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey has been a long time staple of hockey cards. Artifacts Hockey combines a nice checklist of legends, veterans, and some of the new rookie class.

Okay, we need to get this out of the way. Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey features some of the cards from the year's rookie class. The rookies that do not have cards are available via redemption.

Many of the best rookies of the 2024-25 hockey card class are available via redemption. There are roman numeral, "SP", and wild card redemptions. Each team has one unknown rookie redemption.

Does that sound confusing? I agree, it is confusing.

The cool thing is if you pull a roman numeral I or San Jose Sharks redemption, it is likely Macklin Celebrini. You will not find out until the spring and you will not get the card until sometime in the late summer. That is how the timetable plays out historically. Maybe this year will be different?

Okay, now that we got that out of the way. We can dive into the good of Upper Deck 2024-25 Artifacts Hockey.

Upper Deck 2024-25 Artifacts Hockey lives up to its name by offering two amazing inserts. The Arena Artifacts feature relics from the old Philadelphia Spectrum. The Inaugural Access Tickets feature ticket stubs from various games. These cards are very collectible and each card tells a story.

There are a variety of inserts featuring rookies, veterans, and legends. Upper Deck Artifacts 2024-25 Hockey features a checklist that you will not get board from.

Just like my Upper Deck 2024-25 Synergy Hockey review, the new Artifacts Hockey does not feature enough Macklin Celebrini. The lion's share of Celebrini cards will be in redemption form.

If there is a positive, there are more live Celebrini hits than Connor Bedard rookie hits in 2023-24 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey.

But there needs to be more Celebrini!

Upper Deck 2024-25 Hockey is a good product, that needs to be stressed. The reason for the 5.9 score is the situation with the redemptions and lack of Celebrini. It is hard to give a high score to a card product that holds redemption cards hostage for half of a year, or longer.

Upper Deck 2024-25 Artifacts Hockey has the potential to be an incredible product for the $140 price point. Maybe one day Upper Deck will improve their redemption process for Artifacts Hockey?

Happy hunting and collecting!