My father took me to see the band Emerson, Late, & Palmer on Sep. 19, 1997, at the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, IL. I was 17 years old at the time. I was more of a grunge kid who enjoyed Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden at the time. 

I enjoyed listening to Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, even though their music did not have n the aggression of an angry nineties version of Eddie Vedder. 

I was excited to attend the Emerson, Lake, & Palmer show. This was not a concert I was forced to see. I genuinely wanted to go.

The core memory for the gig happened somewhere in the middle of the set. Keith Emerson, as seen above, has a crazy set up. He is surrounded by keyboards and a massive synthesizer. 

I do not recall the specific song. Emerson spent what felt like minutes unplugging cords, recording loops, plugging cords in, unplugging cords again, and this process continued. It was like watching a mad scientist mixing ingredients from one test tube to the next, searching for the perfect mixture.

Finally, Emerson had the exact sound he wanted. He shrugged his shoulders in accomplishment and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Upper Deck Premier Hockey has always been a great product. Each year the product gets a bit better. Buyers are happy paying $200 USD or greater per box knowing the value is there.

The stars have aligned perfectly for Upper Deck 2023-24 Premier Hockey. Upper Deck can shrug their shoulders in accomplishment like Emerson after creating the perfect sound at that concert.

Upper Deck 2023-24 Premier Hockey released Wednesday, Mar. 19. Presales were in the $225 USD range. As of writing, Upper Deck 2023-24 Premier Hockey retails for $285. That number is expected to continue to climb.

Each box contains one rookie or veteran autograph patch card and one additional autograph. The Mega Patches are a staple of Premier and one of the best chasers.

The Rookie Auto Patches rival the quality of The Cup's Rookie Auto Patches. Premier Rookie Auto Patches can be chased for 20% the price of The Cup's Rookie Auto Patches.

Everything is great, not good! The best aspect of Upper Deck 2023-24 Premier Hockey is the price. Nearly every 2023-24 Upper Deck Hockey product has retailed for 200% to 300% of the same product from the previous year. With that logic, Upper Deck 2023-24 Premier Hockey should have retailed for $400. 

The ceiling is massive and the floor is higher than most product's ceilings.

There is no Connor Bedard tax on Upper Deck 2023-24 Premier Hockey. The rise of the price point since release day is based on the demand for the product. Breakers are having no issues filling case after case. Local card shops are having a hard time keeping Upper Deck 2023-24 Premier Hockey on the shelves. 

About the only complaint is the increased difficulty to pull Mega Patches. Mega Patches would average one or two per 10 box case in previous versions of Upper Deck Premier Hockey. Now it feels like you average three Mega Patches per five cases.

Every 2023-24 Upper Deck Hockey product has had a higher print run then the same 2022-23 product. It makes sense why the Mega Patches are tougher pulls.

That does not mean the amount of overall hits has decreased by any means.

The final criticism is the repeating of hits from the same player in a case. This issue is not limited to Premier Hockey, it happens in nearly every Upper Deck product. Unfortunately, it feels like lower level players like Lukas Reichel get repeated a lot more often than Connor McDavid.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new all-time leader for Gawlik's score. Upper Deck 2023-24 scored a 9.1 on Gawlik's scale. The release day pricing, value, excitement, hit threshold, and current demand fueled the exceptional score of 9.1.

I am shrugging my shoulders in accomplishment as I put a bow on this article, Upper Deck deserves a standing ovation for their efforts on 2023-24 Premier Hockey.

Happy hunting and collecting!