Tim Hortons and hockey are two very Canadian traditions. Tim Hortons has brought the variety of any major card show to any participating Canadian Tim Hortons. October 27th 2021 was the official Tim Hortons 2021-2022 Upper Deck release at participating Tim Hortons locations in Canada. For American readers this is like when McDonalds releases Beanie Babies and the thrill of what’s available lures you back for any product that has something to peel and win.

The Canadian based coffee chain invests in youth hockey leagues called Timbits creating a fan base of both the coffee and the sport from a young age. The challenge to American Collectors is that the current Canadian border restrictions will come into play as of this time.

Thankfully, collectors can purchase these cards online. Those prices are at a premium of course and the 1:12,000 Tim Hortons Wayne Gretzky has multiple eBay listings for hundreds of dollars.

This is definitely not the first effort of Tim Hortons and NHL cards, but it is certainly conceivable that some dads and kids may break records for the numbers of coffees purchased in a single visit. There is also a very fresh YouTube break that shows exactly what’s inside of a box — and what’s in each pack!

While this is of course a personal opinion, many of the new 2021-22 cards are visually stunning compared to many of the past hockey cards from various manufacturers over the decades. That is going to be up for debate over the more scarce Wayne Gretzky tribute cards, but again that is an opinion.

Beckett also released its checklist of the Tim Hortons Upper Deck base cards. Here are the details:

• Cards per pack: 3
• Packs per box: 100
• Boxes per case: 8
• Set size: 125 cards
• Release date: October 27, 2021

The 125 cards are done on foil stock. According to Tim Hortons, there are at least 18,204,800 packs available. Packs cost $1.00 with a purchase or $1.99 without purchase. Beckett also has more data about the release.

A recent eBay sale included the entire Upper Deck base set with Tim Hortons album and six insert sets. This along with a Jarred Tinordi jersey autograph plus the 2 official hockey hall of fame medallions sold for $416.00 CAD after 48 bids on October 28, 2021.

The sale included the following:

• COLLECTORS ALBUM
• THE 125 BASE CARDS SET
• PHOTO FINISH 15 CARDS SET
• SUPERSTAR SHOWCASE 15 CARDS SET
• GOLD ETCHINGS 15 CARDS SET
• NHL CANVAS 15 CARDS SET
• DIE CUT RED BASE VARIANT 50 CARDS SETS
• PROMOTION 15 CARDS SET

If the amount of card possibilities seem overwhelming you are not alone. The base set of 125 cards is followed by gold etching issues, die-cuts, heroes, canvas, autos and many more. That may not be unique for modern card collectors with parallels and special numbered cards, but here is an itemized list of every card possibility.

Here are the facts of finding certain cards according to Beckett:

• 2021 NHL Draft Pick: One NHL draft pick is available in every 12,000 card packs. There are 1,517 copies available to find. The card can be redeemed via prize redemption.
• Gold Etchings Checklist: There are 15 total cards to find. One can be found in every 8 packs.
• Hockey Heroes Checklist: There are 20 total cards to find. One can be found in every 24 packs.
• NHL Canvas Checklist: There are 15 cards and one can be found in every 9 packs.
• Photo Finish Checklist: There are 15 cards and one can be found in every 5 packs.
• ProMotion Checklist: There are 15 cards and one can be found in every 12 packs.
• Red Die-Cut Checklist: There are 50 cards and one can be found in every 4 packs.
• Superstar Showcase Checklist: There are 15 cards and one can be found in every 6 packs.
• Wayne Gretzky Tribute Checklist: There is one card to find and one can be found in every 12,000 packs.

With the Gretzky card being so new none have been graded and eBay auctions have not had enough time to be completed. Here are recent eBay auctions that are ongoing for the Wayne Gretzky Tribute card:

• 2021-22 Tim Hortons #WGT-1 Wayne Gretzky Tribute Card (1:12000) with a current bid of $455.00 CAD after 22 bids. Auction ends Monday November 1st at 3:48 pm.
• 2021-22 Tim Hortons #WGT-1 Wayne Gretzky Tribute Card (1:12000) with a current bid of $255.01 CAD after 20 bids. Auction ends Thursday November 4th at 6:09 pm.
• 2021-22 Tim Hortons #WGT-1 Wayne Gretzky Tribute Card (1:12000) with a current bid of $247.28 CAD after 9 bids. Auction ends Monday November 1st at 11:16 pm.

Collectors can buy the cards now on auction sites like eBay. However to some collectors the thrill may still be in the chase. To the sports card investor, the thrill is in the scarcity. Wayne Gretzky is offered once more from Upper Deck and the scarce tribute nature will have collectors talking for years ahead.