Big Trade Days

And when I say big, I mean BIG!

This is the case hit from 2007 UD Masterpieces that I traded away my Troy Tulowitzki Exquisite Rookies autogamer in order to get. Don't worry, I didn't get ripped off. I also got a Nate McLouth UD Clear Path to Greatness red ink signature, numbered 13/35.

The Martinez auto is very cool, though. It measures 5x7, and came in the top-loader, too, so now I don't have to buy that as well. It is an on-card auto, which is more than I can say for the Tulo or the McLouth. This is certainly one of the centerpieces of my collection, now.

Masterpieces of the Universe

OK, I've said it a million times already, but I love UD Masterpieces. And Upper Deck better get their heads out of their proverbial behinds and bring this product back while canning some of the really overpriced, overhyped, overexposed, over-junkified, over-relic'ed stuff like X and Documentary. (I can't think of the names of the high-end stuff right now, but I know you know what I'm talking about.)

In the meantime, let me extol the virtues of UD Masterpieces. The base cards are terrific, except maybe for the Papelbon squat, the Maddux pot, and the Hochever goofy deer in the headlights look and oversized cap. Oh, and the factual errors on the backs. And the tendency for the bordered cards to get torn, ripped or bent. And the sketchy gold leaf on the base cards that is hard to read. 

Other then THAT, I love them. It is a manageable sized set, with only 30 short prints, and numerous parallels. 

The frame effect is fantastic, especially on some of the short-prints.

The game-used are simple and classy, the autos are on-card, and the patches are very nice.

 

If there was one product I wish they would bring back, it was this. Maybe I'll make my own icon like the Bring Back Stadium Club. I guess I should be careful what I ask for, because I just may get it, as the reincarnation of TSC shows!

Vice or Virtue?

All those packages I sent out have been coming back in spades lately. That's what I love about this online community: I send you some things you need, you send me some things I need. I really don't have a burning desire to keep those Biff Pocoroba doubles around, but gimme a good Rick Manning, and I'm happy. 

In fact, the other day on NPR (yes, I'm one of those kinda people, y'know, commies!), there was an interesting segment on whether the give and take in politics, like what is going on in Illinois with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is actual just business as usual and nothing illegal, or is it bribery and influence peddling. There was no consensus by the panel, but there were interesting facts put out on both sides, as I would expect. In the Blagojevich case, they are not actually going after him for corruption, but for other misdeeds as a way of getting him out of office. The selling of President-Elect Obama's Senate seat is just the incident that sent everyone over the edge and brought a consensus to impeach him. 

How does this pertain to what we do on the blogosphere of the sport-card hobby? 

Am I expecting a favor in return for the cards I send to you? Do I expect a Quid Pro Quo in response to my generosity? As the Godfather said, "Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me." Is this vice or virtue?

The latest "favor" comes from Scott of Hand Collated, who sent me the cards I really needed: the two base cards from the '08 UD Masterpieces, the Fukudome and the Hu cards. Now, I only have the SPs to finish, which is proving to be harder than expected. So, to all those who "owe" me, I'm calling upon you to "do me a service." Or you may end up like Luca Brasi - sleeping with the fishes!

Scott also sent some '78 Topps which I needed. I'm getting closer now. But don't you just love the array of weird uniforms from the 70's? The all-yellow Pirates? The yellow-and-brown disasters in San Diego? Were the Astros awful rainbow-colored uniforms around then? Why did teams go with the same color, besides white, for pants and jerseys? The worst had to be the Indians all-red unis from 1975, I believe. I can still see Frank Robinson in it, and the program with the immortal Wayne Garland on the front in all-red. AARRRRRGGGGGHHH!

   

Look at Cliff Johnson in the Yankees photo. He's actually thin, actually squatting behind the plate! Was this the last time that he ever did that? I only remember him being very large, very slow, and very powerful. But here, he is actually looking like an athlete!

Thanks, Scott.

08 UD Masterpieces review

Have I mentioned lately how much I like Masterpieces? It is a beautiful product, my favorite of 2008. It is well-designed, with great pictures that seem as if they are hand-painted on canvas, simple accents such as the subtle gold double border (which separates it from the single border of the 2007 version), and generally interesting and relative facts on the obverse, aside from the few factual mistakes that have been noted. The parallels are not-too-difficult to pull, despite the colors that sometimes are hard to discern, and great inserts, such as Strokes of Genius and Captured on Canvas. The short prints are not exceedingly difficult to find, and the base cards are a tidy 90 cards. My kind of set.

I've already detailed how I pulled some beautiful inserts in the two boxes and variety of packs that I've bought, both from retail and hobby. I was in my favorite card shop in Rochester, and spied a lonely box sitting up on the shelf with only six packs left in it. They were calling to me: Hey, Mister, take us home with you.

Seeing as I have only two or three base cards and a dozen or so SP's to go, I bought them and broke them right there. I've never had great luck with any of the other packs or boxes I buy at the store, even with the "lucky" daughter of the shop owner picking the packs or boxes for me. (For example, the box of Heritage that didn't have an auto in it, or anything else really all that worthwhile. Maybe that is why I'm not actively trying to collect the High-Numbers set to go along with the base set of Heritage.)

Here is what I got out of those six:

• base cards: 24
• short prints: 4 - Seaver, Stargell, Clemente, Gibson

 

 

• black border parallel: 2 - Mauer, Magglio Ordonez
• red border parallel: 1 - Chin-Lung Hu
• green border parallel (#/75): 1 - Hanley Ramirez
• Strokes of Genius auto: 1 - Geoff Jenkins
• Captured on Canvas relic: 1 - Verlander

 

  

Not bad for only six packs. The only complaint that I have is that I got another Verlander relic, my second, and another Sheffield base, my fourth or fifth. These two guys are haunting me! Has there been as big a disappointment last year as Verlander? I can throw Ordonez into that crowd, too. I get WAY too many of these Tigers.

Maybe that is what it is: I'm being stalked by Tigers!

Mail Call from Heartbreaking Cards

As you may notice, yesterday was a big day for getting cards in the mail. Three nice holiday treats for me and for Joshua. Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius (long name! couldn't we shorten it to Hard Stags, or something like that?) sent over a bunch of cards needed for sets, including fifteen for that hard-to-finish set that was my re-introduction to high-end set collecting, 2008 Finest. Maybe I picked the wrong set to start with, but I liked the metallic look and the interesting design of the Finest set. Little did I know that it would be a sizable flop for Topps, and that very few people (including myself and Dave from Fielder's Choice) would try to finish it off. I think I have more of the inserts and parallels than I do of the base cards!

  

One superstar, and two may-be-better-than-just-your-average-players. The jury is still out on Carmona, as he had a sub-par year after a fantastic year as the sidekick to CC Sabathia in 2007. Teixeira may or may not be worth all that money that Scott "Pay Up Now" Boras is asking - OK, nobody is worth that - but he certainly did perk up the Angels last year, and will bring a great bat to whomever signs him. But he better get signed soon, as Spring Training is only 6 weeks away. 

And Oswalt? Well, I believe that he is a bonafide candidate for the Hall of Fame. Just check out his numbers:

Career record: 112-54 (through 2007)

ERA: 3.07 

K/BB: 1170/323

WHIP: 1.198 (through 2008)

And, I believe, he did nothing to hurt that last year: 17-10, 3.54 ERA, 1.17 WHIP. He has been consistently one of the three or four best pitchers, year-in and year-out, in the Majors during his career. 

Matt also threw in a some Heritage, some A&G minis, some '07 Goudey and a Topps Walmart Dick Perez of Joba:

  

    

What does Ramirez think he's doing! He looks like a guy from that Mr. Microphone commercial saying "Hey, baby! We'll be right back to pick you up!" Giles is, of course, an ex-Indian, so his inclusion here is necessary. Sorry we ever gave him up. And for what? Not much - Ricardo Rincon. And Joba? I just like the Dick Perez cards, although I still HATE the idea of different card subsets in different stores.

Matt also included a  FANTASTIC '08 UD Masterpiece base card, which is especially relevant given my entry into the Blog Bat-around. 

Yes, that is Joe Dimaggio, from his great 56-game hitting streak in 1941, which I wrote about. Matt, that is GREAT timing on your part. Thanks!

Thanks for the trades!

Some trade news - didn't take long, did it?!!?!!

Thanks to dayf from Cardboard Junkie for sending a whole stack of Indians along, including these two:

 

I always love getting autos, and the Cliff Lee is superb, since this is from a set I collect! Awesome, Dave!

The Night Owl, a.k.a. Greg, who is from up in this neck of the woods, sent over some set-building stuff, including some '73 and '75 Topps, some '08 Allen & Ginter, '07 Goudey, '08 Heritage and '08 Topps inserts. One of the '73s that I'm in awe of is the Jim "Catfish" Hunter #235. He was a 21 game winner two years in a row! He had 16 complete games in 1972, and he was only tied for the team lead! Can you imagine any pitcher these days (except maybe for C.C. Sabathia) polishing off anything near that many? Not me.

Finally, from Thorzul, a nice package of Goudey. I'm gonna finish that set if it kills me! He also sent along this beauty:

I love anything from the '07 or '08 UD Masterpieces, like I said.

Keep those trades coming!

More 2008 UD Masterpieces

For 2007 UD Masterpieces, I bought mostly retail from Target, and only when it was in the $1.59 Powerpacks box. It took me quite a while to collect all 90, and only with the help of my fellow collectors.

This year, I have purchased two boxes of 2008 UD Masterpieces, and I'm happy to report that I have collected 87 of the 90 base cards, and 11 of the 30 short prints. In addition, I've managed to get two autographs (one a patch-auto), two relics, two numbered framed parallels, two red parallels, and eight black parallels. Not bad at all. I only had one double after the first box, and now I have 21 after the second box, but that can be forgiven for the nice collation out of the two boxes. 

The prime cards of the second box, besides a Brandon Phillips Strokes of Genius (my second Phillips auto from this set!) auto and a Jered Weaver relic, are the following two parallels:

The Chipper is really nice, and the Oswalt is numbered 036/100.

All in all, I'd say that the 2008 UD Masterpieces are very nicely done, save for some factual errors, well collated, and a pretty good value for what you get in a box.

08 UD Masterpieces Mystery

I'm having a bit of a problem, and I know that the more experienced of you out there can help me solve it. As I posted previously, I bought a box of '08 UD Masterpieces, and pulled some really amazing stuff from it. (BTW, I updated the post with scans of some of the cards.) The Zambrano framed card has me puzzled. The frame is greyish with speckles of color, like a granite. It is numbered 18/25, as you can see from the scans below.

Let's take a close-up look at the number and the frame:

Now, when I go to the Upper Deck website to check on what the exact color of this is (Hades, anyone? Bronze Ore? Ionized?!!?!!?!), the only parallel that has a print run of 25 is Forest Green Linen. This doesn't look like Forest Green to me. I would have guessed Ionized, if anything, except that Ionized has a print run of 100. Huh?

Anyone who can solve this mystery will earn my eternal gratitude, a special place in heaven, and probably a relic or two from me.

2008 UD Masterpieces

I bought a box of 2008 UD Masterpieces on Saturday at a mall card show for $71, and opened it immediately with Joshua. We couldn't wait to see what treasures awaited us inside this small box. Could there finally be that Derek Jeter autograph that we have been hoping to find? Maybe an A-Rod or Pujols parallel? Even a Pence or Longoria relic, hopefully. What we got, though not as memorable or thrilling, was very pleasing, nonetheless.

2008 UD Masterpieces

• 12 packs, 6 cards per pack
• Base cards: 59
• -doubles: 1
• Black frame parallels: 4 - Greg Maddux, Ernie Banks, Tim Lincecum, Russell Martin
• Red frame parallels: 1 - Whitey Ford
• Grey frame numbered parallels: 1 - Carlos Zambrano #18/25
• Jersey insert: 1 - Justin Verlander
• Patch auto insert: 1 - Brandon Phillips #08/25

The design is too similar to the '07 UD Masterpieces, but still very nice, although several of the photo-based drawings are not very flattering. The Greg Maddux cards (same for base and parallel) show an old, tired pitcher with a paunch, and the Robin Yount, as noted by Thorzul, is a strange portrait in which he is staring at something really scary or he has just been beaned by a Nolan Ryan fastball. The Jonathon Papelbon shows him in his Incredible Hulk pose after striking out a Yankee.

Also, as Thorzul pointed out, there is at least one factual error in the factoid on the back of the cards. Yount did not get the Rookie of the Year award, as stated on the back, and was not even in the top 5 in the voting. Tsk, tsk Upper Deck.

The prize of the box was the Auto Patch of Brandon Philips. It would have been even nicer to get a superstar auto-patch, but this is one beautiful card. It is so thick that only one other card was in the pack with it! It is an elegant simple design with Brandon's signature across the "Patch" watermark, and the patch itself is a three-color seamed portion of the Reds patch from his "game-used" uniform. Very, very nice.

The Whitey Ford is very interesting, also. Whitey has a bit of a clown-face going, and is holding up two balls with black stripes on them. However, upon reading the back of the card, it tells you why he is holding up the two balls: he threw back-to-back one-hitters. According to Baseball Reference, the only other pitcher that I can find since 1956 who did it was Sam McDowell for the Indians in 1966.

All in all, I would say this is as good a product as last year's version. It is beautiful, well-designed, interesting and easy to collect the base set. It is one of my favorites, and is highly recommended.

Final Grade: A- (for the factual errors)

Walter is in the house!

Thanks to dayf over at Cardboard Junkie for the cards I got in the mail from a trade with him, mostly for 08 Topps Heritage and 07 Goudey. He did sneak in there the Walter Johnson that I needed, too. So now I have a complete set of the 07 UD Masterpieces! Thanks, Dave!

Shout out to Fielder's Choice

I got a package yesterday from Dave at Fielder's Choice yesterday. This was part of a trade where I sent him a bunch of 08 Topps Heritage, 08 Topps Chrome, 08 Finest, 08 Upper Deck and 08 A&G. In return, I got some 08 Heritage, 07 Goudey, and one of the two 07 UD Masterpieces that I needed. Now, all I need is #21 Walter Johnson.

So, if you have this and would feel terribly guilty keeping it while knowing that I only need this one little card to complete my set, let me know so I can give you a prize in return. Thanks.