Better Bang For Your Buck? 2022-23 Upper Deck Stature or Ultimate Collection

Today we are putting two great products side by side and seeing which is better bang for your buck, 2022-23 Upper Deck Stature or Ultimate Collection. 

Upper Deck Ultimate Collection is a quick rip, each box contains four cards. The hit ratio is one autograph card, one memorabilia card, one base set or Ultimate Introductions card, and one additional hit, an autograph memorabilia card, Premium Tech Card, or Premium memorabilia card. 

Upper Deck Ultimate Collection retails for $140 USD per box. 

Upper Deck Stature features eight cards per box. The hit ratio is two base cards, four numbered hits (one low-numbered hit), one autograph, and one additional hit that may be an autographed card, autographed patch card, or an additional numbered base or insert card.

Upper Deck Stature retails for $170 per box. It is important to note that Stature recently had a price increase and could be found for as low as $135 per box in June. 

The checklists for both products are similar. The noteworthy 2022-23 rookies are accounted for in both products with a fair amount of retired legends.

The products have some separation when it comes to the autographs. The autographs in Stature are a bit easier to follow. There aren't any parallels, besides patch autos, that were created specifically for autographs. The Stature autographs follow the same color pattern as the non-autographed cards.

Ultimate Collection has an assortment of autographs to collect. But parallels like the Ultimate Victory parallel seem out of place.

Stature and Ultimate Collection have a variety of patch cards and memorabilia cards to collect. Ultimate Collection features at least one memorabilia card per box whereas Stature could have just one or two patch autographs in a 16 box case.

The Stature patch autos will bring a premium for multiple reasons. They are much harder to hit and most of the patches feature two or more colors.

The product hit is the defining card for nearly all products in the sports card industry. It is what separates a product from the rest.

The NHL Shield parallels are one of the biggest chases in the hockey collectibles market. Shields are on the top of the mountain as a must-have card for your collection.

Stature is an amazing product, but Stature lacks a true product hit. A variety of amazing patch cards and one of one parallels can be found in Stature. But Stature does not have anything that compares to pulling a shield from Ultimate Collection.

Stature or Ultimate Collection, What is the Better Bang For Your Buck?

The nod goes to Ultimate Collection based on the price per box. Ultimate Collection is $30 less per box than Stature and most Ultimate Collection boxes have two autographs versus one auto per box in Stature.

The upside of the Shields is too much to pass up, especially at a cheaper price point than Stature.

Stature is an amazing product, these are two heavyweights squaring off in the center of the ring. If you prefer more cards per box, Stature is a great buy. You are more likely to pull a one of one parallel in a 16 box case of Stature versus a 16 box case of Ultimate Collection. 

In closing, both products are fun. Perhaps Stature would be the better bang for your buck if it was priced the same as Ultimate Collection.

Happy hunting and collecting!