By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor

Collectors might have found a surprise or two when opening 2012-13 NHL Artifacts.

Even without a current hockey season, Upper Deck added extras to Artifacts to entice collectors. One of the most notable additions is the inclusion of Sidney Crosby buyback autographs.

The two cards collectors can find are 2005-06 Artifacts #224 RC (only five copies available) and 2008-09 Artifacts #160 (10 copies). The cards are autographed and hand-numbered in blue ink.

These aren’t the only differences with Artifacts. Upper Deck got a hold of several new players, who did not have autographs or memorabilia cards in last year’s product. Names include Ed Belfour, Ray Bourque, Zdeno Chara, Dominik Hasek, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr and Curtis Joseph.



Jean Beliveau and Johnny Bower are also new names, but their memorabilia cards are unique. Both game-used cards feature items from the 1960s, and Beliveau has jersey cards from the 1963 All-Star Game, according to Upper Deck.

Additional signers include Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Steven Stamkos.

One more note about Artifacts: There is a sapphire parallel for the base cards 1-198, which are numbered to 85 and are hobby-exclusive cards.



Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Hockey. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter @yanxchick