A Recent Pick Up... Wildcat Style

When Upper Deck released the checklist for the College Mascot patches included in the 2013Upper Deck Football release I set my sights on the Wilbur the Wildcat patch. Since the release went live I have missed out a handful of times, loosing on last minute bids or insane prices, so when this one showed up with a couple of minutes left and at a very reasonable bid I tossed my hat in the ringer and waited. No last minute snipers this time, it ended up at $6.05 plus another $2 for shipping and I am now a proud owner of this kick ass University of Arizona Wilbur the Wildcat College Mascot patch.

This one is actually a win for the old memories, it brings me back to when I was a kid and my dad would take me to U. of A. football games. I think I was 7 or 8 when I went to my first game and I have been an Arizona fan ever since.

A Quick View At 2013 Upper Deck Football

Upper Deck is releasing 2013 Upper Deck Football on April 9^th, just a bit over 2 weeks before the NFL Draft. This gives collectors a chance to get their favorite college players in their college uniform before they get drafted. Last year’s release did pretty well with the College Mascot patches and inserts based on the 1993 & 1994 SP sets leading the way, this year the College Mascots patches are continuing with 60 news cards added to the on-going set. The retro inserts include 1995 SP and 1995 SP Prospects, which in my opinion do not even come close to holding a candle to the 1993 SP and 1994 SP cards.

 

This set overall just seems dismal, simple (not in a good way) base cards, a retro insert based on the ugly 1995 SP cards and the continuation of the ugly-ass Ultimate Rookie card (new design but still ugly). To me this set is a disappointment, which I rarely say about Upper Deck products because they usually do most things pretty well if not outstanding.

 

It does not help that this year's NFL Draft will be Defensive and O-Line heavy in the first couple of rounds, most are saying that only a handful (many analysts are projecting only 5-7) of skilled position players in the First Round. It is hard to create a buzz for the set when the players you are using for sales materials/advertisement may be lucky to get drafted in the 3rd or even 4th Rounds... or is a USC Quarterback.

 

On to the set basics:

Each $95 box will contain 20 6-card packs, you will pull 3 autographs, 4 1995 SP or 1995 SP Prospects cards, 4 College Football Heroes and 2 Ultimate Collection Rookies. There will also be a couple of different parallels. The College Mascot patches are 1:40 packs which should be just about every other box.

 

Wilbur The Wildcat Makes His Apperance

When Upper Deck released 2012 Upper Deck Football one of the big hits was the College Mascot Patches, a manu-patch depicting various college mascots. They continue with the patches in 2013 Upper Deck Football, scheduled for an April release.

 

I will cover the upcoming release in depth later on but the biggest news, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the University of Arizona’s Wilbur the Wildcat. I was disappointed last year to see AS(Who?) was included but not Arizona but Upper Deck has seen the error of their ways and made things right.