ONE SHEET, ONE SET - 2006/07 Hot Prospects

This week, I'm taking a look at a newer set. Well, it's new to me seeing as Trevor Linden wasn't in the set. I was kindly given a box of base cards back a while ago and these were in there. They caught my eye and so here we go.


2006/07 Hot Prospects

A trend with a lot of recent card releases is that there is no variety when it comes to player shots. Meaning, for example here, they are all 3/4 body shots. Not that that's a bad thing, but I will say, I enjoy sets more that have a wider variety of photography.

This base set has 100 cards in it. There are 102 more cards officially in the 202 card release, but cards 101-202 are short print, serial numbered....so I'm not including them.

Another thing I like about these cards is that they are on a little thicker card stock and it has a glossier finish. It just makes the cards look and feel a little slicker.


Taking a closer look at the front of the card, you can see immediately that there is a color scheme going on. In addition to the name bar, the background of the shot is tinted in the team color. A nice subtle touch in my opinion.

A fairly simple design with good flow. The background shapes work quite nicely together and the top, main and bottom sections blend well.

The name bar is unique and creates the effect of the name sitting on top of the background. The texture on the upper portion of the name plate as well as the lower team name area is subtle, but nice.

The HP logo is a little hokey for me. I would have preferred a team logo or something. As well, I'm not completely sold on the "Hot Prospects" name across the top. Again, it looks like empty space that they needed to put something into.

One thing I didn't even notice until I scanned the card, the position of the player is in the corner of the background. When looking at the card, it gets lost real easy. A waste if you ask me.


The back of the card ignores cardinal rule #1...do not use the same photo on the back of the card as you do on the front. That just kills me - especially for this set. A nice extreme closeup of the player's face (or mask) would look awesome.

The text font style is consistent with the front and looks sharp - simple, but sharp. Another beef of mine is incomplete stats. You only get the last 3 year's worth...that's it. Some quirky "did you know" stuff at the bottom and a plethora of logos rounds out the back.

Overall, I like the set. I think the photography is sharp (even if it is limiting) and the layout is solid. A few pet peeves costs it style points.

For those looking to build the 100 card set. It shouldn't be too hard. The set is only a few years old and singles for it should still be readily available. I'd be willing to bet that a set could be built for under $10 (The Ovechkin and Crosby cards demand the highest price...and probably will be sitting in the dollar box at best).

3.5 masks out of 5