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Cardola: 2008 SP Authentic

One Hobby Box supplied to me for free by Upper Deck of 2008 SP Authentic (street value: $100)
24 packs per box, five cards per pack

Part One

Part Two

The Pulls

Base Set: 95 of 191 (49.74%)
1 Double

Short Set: 93 of 100 (93.00%) with one double
1 Rookie Jersey Autograph: (36 cards*, production varies) B. Bocock, numbered to 599
1 Rookie Autographs: (55 cards*, production varies) G. Petit, numbered to 999

Parallels: NONE

Inserts
12 Authentic Achievements (50 cards^): D. Jeter, K. Griffey, Jr., B. Webb, E. Bedard, Dice-K, Big Papi, J. Peavy, J-Roll, Phat Albert, L. Berkman, M. Teixeira, M. Buehrle
12 Marquee Matchups (50 cards^): Beckett/Jeter, Pujols/Lidge, Rivera/Ortiz, Willis/Hafner, F. Hernandez/V. Martinez, Griffey, Jr./Oswalt, P. Martinez/Howard, Wagner/Teixeira, Reyes/Glavine, Zambrano/Fielder, Hamels/Beltran, Smoltz/H. Ramriez

Mirrors
6 Yankee Tedium Luncay (1:4): #2029 (V. Raschi), #2054, 2389, & 2439 (A. Reynolds), #2079 & 2414 (P. Rizzuto)

Autogamers
1 By The Letter Autographed Manufactured Patch (47 players on multiple cards*, production varies): C. Lee "N," numbered to 15#

* Overall odds of finding any autograph: 1:8/packs
^ Overall odds of finding an Authentic Achievements or a Marquee Matchups: one-per-pack
# The Carlos Lee "N" I pulled is serial numbered to 15 copies, but the cumulative production run for all Lee BTL's is 160 copies.

The Bottom Line

It's been seven years since I've busted a box of SP Authentic, and after busting this box I remember why I quit collecting SPA. It's a set that's not even worth the trouble to collect.

Oh sure, you can get autographed rookie cards of Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, Clayton Kershaw, and an un-autoed, game jersey card of Kosuke Fukudome. But for every RC of these guys, there are dozens players similar in caliber to the two I pulled out of this particular waxbox: Brian Bocock and Gregorio Petit. Caveat Emptor.

All of which begs the question: Why are there 90 different autographed rookie cards (there are two different Evan Longoria's -- one with and one without a jersey swatch) in SPA anyway? Are there really 90 players worthy of an autographed rookie card serial numbered to 999 or less in a $100/waxbox product? How exactly does an AUed RC of a guy who was called up and sent down from Triple-A three times this past season (Petit) and of another guy who hit .220 in Single-A (Bocock) "add value" to a product like this? If I had actually paid the street value of $100 for this box, why would I want to spend another C-Note on another box if what I'm expecting to receive are two AUed RCs of obscure all-glove, no-bat shortstops?

With that said, the rest of the base set -- the part that you can actually collect -- looks great. You can't really tell from the video, but the way the player's jersey number is "spot glossed" into the whitespace is really neato.

Other positives: You get one of 100 different insert cards in each pack, meaning you get something of value for your money. In addition, you get one of those autographed manufactured "By The Letter" patch cards in every box -- for those of you who are into that.

Box Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 2 Gumsticks (out of five)

... and another thing.

You know what 2009 SPA needs? (Well, other than about 75 fewer autographed rookie cards) HoloViews.

Yes, HoloViews.

I'm just saying....

Labels: 2008, box break, card-ola, SP Authentic, Upper Deck, videos

Cardola: 2008 Upper Deck X

One Hobby Box supplied to me for free of 2008 Upper Deck X (Market Price: $50-$55)
20 packs per box, eight cards per pack.

Part One

Part Two

The Pulls

Base Set: 100 of 100
13 Doubles

Parallels
20 Die-Cuts (one-per-pack)

Inserts*
10 UDxponential (90 cards): B. Phillips, C. B. Young, C. Guillen, H. Matsui, Ichiro, J. Kent, J. Varitek, ManRam, P. Konerko, Pronk Hafner
7 UDxponential² (75 cards) : B. Roberts, C. Jones, D. Lee, J. Papelbon, M. Holliday, P. Fielder, T. Tulowitzki
2 UDxponential³ (25 cards) : Big Papi, J-Roll
1 UDxponential⁴ (10 cards): A. Soriano

* Odds of finding any UDxponential are one-per-pack

Mirrors
5 Yankee Tedium Lunacy (1:4): #5959 & 5977 (D. Jeter), #6484 (R. Johnson), #6509 (M. Rivera), #6534 (J. Posada)

Autogamers
2 UDX Signatures (30 cards, 1:10): E. Meek, J. Newman

The Bottom Line

I've now busted a full Hobby box of this stuff, and I still don't understand what Upper Deck was going for with UDX.

Just about every one of the one-per-pack die-cuts has either A) A huge roller mark running the length of the card, or B) Is not properly die-cut.

I had no idea who the two AU were until I looked them both up on baseball-reference.com. Both Evan Meek and Josh Newman are 25-year-old rookie middle-inning relievers.

UDX-JO!!!!!!

Box Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 1 Gumstick

I hope Upper Deck comes to its senses and brings back Fleer Ultra for 2009. (And by that I mean "Fleer Ultra" and not "Ultra SE.")

Labels: 2008, box break, card-ola, Upper Deck, videos, x

Cardola: 2008 UD Masterpieces

Well, here goes ten year's of credibility right down the drain!

One box supplied to me (for free) by Upper Deck of 2008 UD Masterpieces Baseball
Twelve packs per box, six cards per pack.

The Video

The Pulls

Base Set: 58 of 120 (48.33%)
2 doubles

Short Set: 52 of 90 (57.78%)
6 Short Prints (1:2): F. Robinson, N. Ryan, L. Brock, D. Jeter, R. Jackson, J. Carter

Parallels
4 Black: L. Berkman, W. Ford, Chutley, J. Bench
1 Red: M. Young
1 Blue (numbered to 125): H. Killebrew

Inserts: NONE

Mirrors
4 Yankee Tedium Lunacy (1:3): #320 (T. Lazzeri), 345 (B. Meusel), 370 (E. Combs) 5934 (T. Martinez)

Autogamers
1 Captured on Canvas (1:12): N. Markakis
1 Autographed Captured on Canvas: B. McCann

The Bottom Line

Yeah, yeah, I got my precious six SPs. I'm happy. I still don't think SPing the base set was a smart idea though. Like I said, I love the base set but UD should had left well enough alone.

If you recall, in the Hobby box I paid for, I pulled a blue framed parallel of Hideki Matsui. This card was serial-numbered to 50 copies. In this box I got a framed blue parallel of Harmon Killebrew, but this one was numbered to 125 copies. (The frame on the Matsui is a slightly lighter shade of blue.)

There are a grand total of ten parallel insert sets in 2008 UD Masterpieces; however, Upper Deck does not list anywhere on their website, or on the pack wrapper, what the specific production figures for each set are. So, even though I pulled a Harmon Killebrew parallel numbered to 125 copies, I have no idea whether it is a "Deep Blue Linen" or a "Perisan Blue Linen."

I also can not determine whether the Michael Young red parallel I pulled is a "Hades," "Red Linen," or a "Pinot Red."

And now the $64,000 question: If I had actually paid hard currency for this box, instead of getting it for free, would I have been happy with this box? Well, it was better than the one I actually did pay for. But if I had spent $70-$75 for this box, I don't believe I would have gotten my money's worth.

Box Rating: 2 Gumsticks
Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks

Labels: 2008, box break, card-ola, UD Masterpieces, videos