CGC Cards Featured Card of the Month: 2023-24 Upper Deck Allure #102 Connor Bedard
Posted on 10/11/2024
Sport: Hockey
Set: 2023-24 Upper Deck Allure
Card: #102 Connor Bedard
What makes it special? Canadian-born Connor Bedard is considered a generational talent at only 19 years old, and after only one season he's already living up to the hype. Selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft, Bedard made an immediate impact on the ice for the storied franchise.
Perhaps it was fate that the young hockey star ended up in Chicago. His distant relative, James Bedard, played 22 games for the Blackhawks from 1949 to 1951. His family connection to the team was a bonus, but Bedard's on-ice prowess is what attracted every NHL scout to the high schooler.
Previous to his NHL career, Bedard became the first Western Hockey League (WHL) player to earn exceptional player status, which allows talented underage hockey players to join the major junior circuit earlier than usual. During his debut WHL season, he won the league's rookie of the year award. By his third season, Bedard led all WHL scorers and won the league's MVP award. He would also win three gold medals playing for Team Canada in the World U18 and World Junior Championships. Bedard was clearly ready for hockey's biggest stage.
As an NHL rookie, he picked up where he left off in Canada. Bedard put up numbers that many veterans would be envious of. He scored 22 goals and earned 39 assists for a total of 61 points in 68 games played, which led all NHL rookies last season. The Blackhawks star would go on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the NHL's rookie of the year. With his second NHL season getting underway this month, Bedard will try to build on his rookie season success by leading Chicago back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Did you know? Connor Bedard put together an extremely impressive first season as a professional hockey player while still just a teenager. Many accolades followed for his efforts, including being selected to the NHL All-Star team. However, his jaw was broken after getting checked in a game the day after the selection, which impacted his involvement with the All-Star Game. The injury kept Bedard out of the All-Star Game roster, but if he would have played, the NHL phenom would've been the youngest All-Star in NHL history.
Total graded by CGC Cards: There are numerous examples of Connor Bedard's Allure rookie card, including a handful of parallels with different colors and background designs. Of the base Allure #102 version, there are 4 graded examples of the standard card in the CGC Cards Population Report, as of early October 2024. CGC Cards has also graded 3 different parallels of the same card: Black Rainbow (1), Red Rainbow (1) and Yellow Taxi (1).
CGC Cards median grade: CGC 9.5
CGC Cards highest graded: Out of 7 total graded examples, there are several Gem Mint 10s, but none have earned the coveted grade of CGC Pristine 10. There are 3 base examples graded CGC Gem Mint 10, as well as 1 parallel graded CGC Gem Mint 10: Yellow Taxi (1).
Sales highlights: Two examples of the Allure #102 base rookie card graded CGC Gem Mint 10 realized $56 and $49 respectively through Fanatics Collect in September 2024. In addition, the Red Rainbow parallel graded CGC 9 realized $43 through Fanatics Collect in September 2024.
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