Site: Concord Mall; Concord, DE
A stack of 180 Topps Allen & Ginter singles and short-prints (Paid $50)
Total Spent on Cards: $50
Bridge Tolls: $3
Parking and Admission: FREE
Grand Total: $53
Like I said in the review, "With so much of the wax being broken, singles are becoming easier, and cheaper, to acquire." Needless to say, I've decided against busting a second box of TA&G, and am buying singles. By sticking to singles, I was able to get just as many base set cards as a full waxbox, for half the price. Unless you're chasing after autogamers or a Rip Card, you might want to hold off on that second TA&G box.
Still working on that box break of '06 Fleer Trad. Hold your horses folks, it will come eventually. But to tide you over, I'll say this: '06 Fleer Trad sucks.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Box Break and Review: 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter
One Box of 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball (paid $95)
24 packs per box, seven cards per pack (MSRP $3.99/pack)
Inserts:
No doubles
For all intents and purposes, TA&G is same product as Topps 206, Topps 205, Cracker Jack, et al. Just like in the aforementioned products, you get an original-sized parallel in every pack, and every box contains two framed autogamers and an essay written by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. (No, that picture you're looking at is not Photoshopped, nor is it taken out of context. That really is the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann behind the O'Reilly mask giving it the ol' "Seig Heil!" to a recent gathering of TV critics. Infamous, deplorable? More like despicable. But I digress.)
The base set contains 350 cards -- 300 more than the original -- and as the case with the other "Topps nostalgias," there are some short-prints. Of course, none of the 50 cards are marked as being short-printed, and (as usual) Topps did not make public a list of SPs until well after the product's release. I will not reprint the full list here, but if you pulled a card with a "5" in it's number, chances are, it's probably short-printed.
The main draw to TA&G has been the inclusion of over fifty non-baseball related athletes and celebrities -- which is a bit ironic for a "Major League Baseball" card set. You all know about Danica Patrick, Hulk Hogan, and that Japanese guy who can eat all those hot dogs. But I found card #347, Billy the Kid, to be the most interesting. The back reads:
As for the inserts, each pack comes with an original-sized parallel, and they all come in a wide variety of flavors and scarcities (just like 20X, Cracker Jack, etc.). In addition in the regular "plain-vanilla" minis, there are: black bordered minis; minis without card numbers (neither sequential nor serial); solid wood, true one-of-one, minis; and my favorite, minis with a picture of the Quaker Oat Man on the back. (Actually, it's not the real Quaker Oat Man, but the original 19th Century Allen & Ginter logo.)
If there is one thing truly sucks about TA&G, it's the "Rip Cards." These allegedly innovative inserts are standard-sized cards with a mini-card embedded inside them. The deal is, in order to get the mini-card, you have to physically destroy -- or "rip" open, as it were -- the larger card. As previously mentioned, Topps ripped the idea off (pun intended) from equally infamous, deplorable, 1998 Zenith set, a.k.a. "Dear-to-Tear." As I said then, and continue to say now: "Dare-to-Tear was a lousy idea that no one in The Hobby took seriously, and should have died the same death as the company (Pinnacle Brands) that came up with it." But at least it's not soup cans!
Another thing about TA&G that sucks are the Dick Perez Sketch inserts. OK, "sucks" is a bit harsh. Disappointing is more like it. While, the set structure does duplicate the old Diamond Kings -- 30 players, one from each team -- unfortunately, Topps had Perez draw his sketches to scale, making it very hard to distinguish each player. (The 30 original sketches have been embedded into the Rip Cards.) Beckett says that if you cover of the player's name and hat logo, you can't tell who's who. I tried it, and I couldn't either.
Rounding out TA&G are the two-per-box autogamers. The demand for these cards, especially the "player-touched" autographs, is the driving force behind the wholesale pack-busting of this prodcut. Again, just like in the 20X products, all the autogamers are mini-sized, and come encapsulated in a 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" frame.
Product Rating: 4 Gumsticks (out of five)
...and another thing
The oversized chiptopper cards are, well, interesting to say the least. My box yielded an A&G postcard of Miguel Tejada. The front a nice team picture of the 1897 Batlimore All-Americans. The back has a Miguel Tejada postage stamp affixed to the upper-right corner and reads, "I love the players, I love the team, I love everybody here. -- Miggy." Yes, it's signed "Miggy." This has got to be the cheesiest concept for an insert I think I've ever seen. But, again, at least it's not soup cans!
24 packs per box, seven cards per pack (MSRP $3.99/pack)
The Details
Chiptoppers:- One checklist/essay written by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann.
- One individually wrapped oversized card (Hobby Only)
Broken Down by Short-Print Scheme:Parallels*:
- Short Set: 300 cards
- Short-Prints: 50 cards (odds not stated)
- Short Set Minis: 300 cards
- Short-Print Minis: 50 cards (1:13/packs)
- A&G Back Short Set Minis: 300 cards (1:5)
- A&G Back Short-Print Minis: 50 cards (1:65)
- Black Bordered Short Set Minis: 300 cards (1:10)
- Black Bordered Short-Print Minis: 50 cards (1:130)
- Non-Numbered Minis: 350 cards: (1:60, limited to 50)
- Bazooka Back Minis: 350 cards (1:125, numbered to 25)
- Wood Minis: 350 cards (1:3100, one-of-one)
- Rip Card Minis: 25 embedded cards
- Press Plates: 350 cards: (1:865, four for each mini card)
Inserts:
- Dick Perez Sketches: 30 cards (odds not stated)
- Dick Perez Original Sketches: 30 embedded cards (one-of-one)
- A&G Postcards: 15 oversized cards (1:2 chiptoppers)
- N-43: 15 oversized cards (1:2 chiptoppers)
- Rip Cards: 50 cards (1:265, production varies from 10 to 99 copies)
- Framed Originals (1:3227)
- Framed Autographs: 54 cards
- Red Ink Autographs: 54 embedded cards (numbered to 10)
- Framed Relics: 52 cards
- N-43 Autographs: 2 oversized cards (1:970 chiptoppers, numbered to 10)
- N-43 Relics: 2 oversized cards (1:379 chiptoppers, numbered to 50)
- Personalized Postcards: 15 oversized autographed cards (1:3000 chiptoppers, one-of-one)
The Pulls.
Base Set: 144 of 350 (41.14%)No doubles
Broken Down by Short-Print Scheme:Parallels:
- Short Set: 132 of 300 (44.00%)
- Short-Prints: 12 of 50 (24.00%)
- 14 Short Set Minis
- 1 Short-Print Mini: Queen Victoria
- 4 A&G Back Short Set Minis: J. Kendall, K. Wood, J. Santana & H. Killebrew
- 1 A&G Back Short-Print Mini: C. Lee
- 3 Black Short Set Minis: R. Harden, S. Rolen & Wilbur Wright
- 1 Black Short-Print Mini: J. Lieber
- 13 Dick Perez Sketches
- 1 A&G Postcard: M. Tejada
- 1 Framed Autograph: D. Lee
- 1 Framed Relic: M. Buehrle
The Review.
In what has become the latest in a string of products that have the appearance of pre-War (or in this case pre-20th Century) card sets; but in structure resemble more modern ones instead, comes Topps' latest "nostalgia product:" Topps Allen & Ginter. "TA&G" has been out for a couple of months, so forgive me for being a little late to the game, but the word on The Hobby street is that TA&G is one of the best (if not the best) products of 2006. Judging by the number of singles available, it's certainly the most broken-up product of 2006. With such praise, I finally had get in on the action, and while I wouldn't go as far as giving it the "set of the year" -- my money's still on Upper Deck's flagship -- TA&G is a pretty solid product, nonetheless.For all intents and purposes, TA&G is same product as Topps 206, Topps 205, Cracker Jack, et al. Just like in the aforementioned products, you get an original-sized parallel in every pack, and every box contains two framed autogamers and an essay written by the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann. (No, that picture you're looking at is not Photoshopped, nor is it taken out of context. That really is the infamous, deplorable Keith Olbermann behind the O'Reilly mask giving it the ol' "Seig Heil!" to a recent gathering of TV critics. Infamous, deplorable? More like despicable. But I digress.)The base set contains 350 cards -- 300 more than the original -- and as the case with the other "Topps nostalgias," there are some short-prints. Of course, none of the 50 cards are marked as being short-printed, and (as usual) Topps did not make public a list of SPs until well after the product's release. I will not reprint the full list here, but if you pulled a card with a "5" in it's number, chances are, it's probably short-printed.
The main draw to TA&G has been the inclusion of over fifty non-baseball related athletes and celebrities -- which is a bit ironic for a "Major League Baseball" card set. You all know about Danica Patrick, Hulk Hogan, and that Japanese guy who can eat all those hot dogs. But I found card #347, Billy the Kid, to be the most interesting. The back reads:
"William McCarthy grew up a teenage outlaw in the mid-19th Century Old West. He endures as a legendary figure who has been characterized as everything from cold-blooded killer to romanticized swashbuckler.I can only imagine what the back of card #347 in the 2123 UpperFleerPlayoffDeck "Topps 2006" set will read...
"Reputed to have shot dead anywhere from four to 21 men, Billy the Kid most famously headed a vigilante group called The Regulators. Once convicted of murder, he escaped, but was killed at age 20."
"Usama bin Laden spent his formative years as a mujahadeen in the mid-1980s Afghanistan. He endures as a legendary figure who has been characterized as everything from a cold-blooded terrorist to a romanticized freedom fighter.
"Reputed to have been the mastermind behind the '9/11' terrorist attacks, bin Laden headed a jihadist group called al-Qaida. Once captured, he was convicted of mass-murder and crimes against humanity. He was publicly executed on September 11, 2011, by being thrown off the New York City's Freedom Tower by President Rudolph Guliani."
As for the inserts, each pack comes with an original-sized parallel, and they all come in a wide variety of flavors and scarcities (just like 20X, Cracker Jack, etc.). In addition in the regular "plain-vanilla" minis, there are: black bordered minis; minis without card numbers (neither sequential nor serial); solid wood, true one-of-one, minis; and my favorite, minis with a picture of the Quaker Oat Man on the back. (Actually, it's not the real Quaker Oat Man, but the original 19th Century Allen & Ginter logo.)If there is one thing truly sucks about TA&G, it's the "Rip Cards." These allegedly innovative inserts are standard-sized cards with a mini-card embedded inside them. The deal is, in order to get the mini-card, you have to physically destroy -- or "rip" open, as it were -- the larger card. As previously mentioned, Topps ripped the idea off (pun intended) from equally infamous, deplorable, 1998 Zenith set, a.k.a. "Dear-to-Tear." As I said then, and continue to say now: "Dare-to-Tear was a lousy idea that no one in The Hobby took seriously, and should have died the same death as the company (Pinnacle Brands) that came up with it." But at least it's not soup cans!
Another thing about TA&G that sucks are the Dick Perez Sketch inserts. OK, "sucks" is a bit harsh. Disappointing is more like it. While, the set structure does duplicate the old Diamond Kings -- 30 players, one from each team -- unfortunately, Topps had Perez draw his sketches to scale, making it very hard to distinguish each player. (The 30 original sketches have been embedded into the Rip Cards.) Beckett says that if you cover of the player's name and hat logo, you can't tell who's who. I tried it, and I couldn't either.
Rounding out TA&G are the two-per-box autogamers. The demand for these cards, especially the "player-touched" autographs, is the driving force behind the wholesale pack-busting of this prodcut. Again, just like in the 20X products, all the autogamers are mini-sized, and come encapsulated in a 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" frame.
The Bottom Line:
Just about every pack contains something of value, which is why dealers and collectors are busting the bejesus out of TA&G. In my box I pulled 12 base set short-prints, ten "non-vanilla" parallels, 13 Dick Perez Sketch inserts, a framed autograph of Derrek Lee, and a framed Relic of Mark Buehrle. Throw in a Miguel Tejada chiptopper (see below), and that's 38 "hits" in a 24 pack box. A pretty good rip, if you ask me. With so much of the wax being broken, singles are becoming easier, and cheaper, to acquire. At $100 per box, TA&G isn't the most affordable product out there, so two waxboxes should be all you need.Product Rating: 4 Gumsticks (out of five)
...and another thing
The oversized chiptopper cards are, well, interesting to say the least. My box yielded an A&G postcard of Miguel Tejada. The front a nice team picture of the 1897 Batlimore All-Americans. The back has a Miguel Tejada postage stamp affixed to the upper-right corner and reads, "I love the players, I love the team, I love everybody here. -- Miggy." Yes, it's signed "Miggy." This has got to be the cheesiest concept for an insert I think I've ever seen. But, again, at least it's not soup cans!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
What I Got at the Card Show: 9/9/06
Site: Woodbridge Center; Woodbridge, NJ
One box of 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter (List Price: $99)
One box of 2006 Fleer Tradition (List Price: $58)
Both wax boxes were purchased from the same dealer, who charged me $150 for both.
A big ol' stack of set fillers and commons. (Paid $50)
Total Spent on Cards: $200
NJ Turnpike Tolls: $4.40
Parking and Admission: FREE
Grand Total: $204.40
Stand-by on those box breaks.
The $50 worth of "set-fillers and commons," is a nice sized stack of over 120 '06 base set cards. You'll be thrilled to know (as I am) that I was able to complete the first series of '06 Upper Deck, and have put a nice size dent in the second series. I also finished off the '06 Bowman short-set ("Reds" and "Greens"), and have only four "Blues" remaining to dust-off the Prospect "inserts" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). There were a smattering of singles from Ultra, Fleer, Topps series 2 as well.
All of these singles were purchased from a New York area dealer, and as such, charges a "regional premium" for Yankee and Met players -- even the commons. He wanted $2.50 for David Wright's '06 Ultra card, $3 for Derek Jeter's '06 Topps, but only a dime for Ryan Howard's '06 Topps. Go figure.
Needless to say, the only cards now needed to complete my '06 Topps (#500, Jeter) and '06 Fleer (#394, J. Posada) base sets; and my '06 Ultra short-set (#93, D. Wright), are all Noo Yawkers.
Oh, and another thing. I found out what neat-o present Upper Deck is sending me for that Exquisite redemption card I pulled: A Jim Thome/Reggie Jackson dual-autographed card numbered to 20 copies. Hopefully, it's not a one of those cheesy "sticker autograph." I guess I shouldn't be complaining though.
In fact, some of the other "prizes" are pretty sweet: Low-numbered autogamers galore; an '06 Exquisite factory set (only 75 sets produced); tours of the UD facilities; and, my favorite, one wax box of every 2007 UpperFleerDeck product.
One box of 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter (List Price: $99)
One box of 2006 Fleer Tradition (List Price: $58)
Both wax boxes were purchased from the same dealer, who charged me $150 for both.
A big ol' stack of set fillers and commons. (Paid $50)
Total Spent on Cards: $200
NJ Turnpike Tolls: $4.40
Parking and Admission: FREE
Grand Total: $204.40
Stand-by on those box breaks.
The $50 worth of "set-fillers and commons," is a nice sized stack of over 120 '06 base set cards. You'll be thrilled to know (as I am) that I was able to complete the first series of '06 Upper Deck, and have put a nice size dent in the second series. I also finished off the '06 Bowman short-set ("Reds" and "Greens"), and have only four "Blues" remaining to dust-off the Prospect "inserts" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). There were a smattering of singles from Ultra, Fleer, Topps series 2 as well.
All of these singles were purchased from a New York area dealer, and as such, charges a "regional premium" for Yankee and Met players -- even the commons. He wanted $2.50 for David Wright's '06 Ultra card, $3 for Derek Jeter's '06 Topps, but only a dime for Ryan Howard's '06 Topps. Go figure.
Needless to say, the only cards now needed to complete my '06 Topps (#500, Jeter) and '06 Fleer (#394, J. Posada) base sets; and my '06 Ultra short-set (#93, D. Wright), are all Noo Yawkers.
Oh, and another thing. I found out what neat-o present Upper Deck is sending me for that Exquisite redemption card I pulled: A Jim Thome/Reggie Jackson dual-autographed card numbered to 20 copies. Hopefully, it's not a one of those cheesy "sticker autograph." I guess I shouldn't be complaining though.
In fact, some of the other "prizes" are pretty sweet: Low-numbered autogamers galore; an '06 Exquisite factory set (only 75 sets produced); tours of the UD facilities; and, my favorite, one wax box of every 2007 UpperFleerDeck product.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
We don't need no domain name renawals, let the m*f*er expire!
Expire, m*f*er, expire!
So I forgot to renew my site's domain name. What's the worst that could possibly happen? Fortunately, this issue has now been resolved -- at least for the next three years anyway.
As you were.
So I forgot to renew my site's domain name. What's the worst that could possibly happen? Fortunately, this issue has now been resolved -- at least for the next three years anyway.
As you were.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Finally, an explaination on back-logoing.
Yep, I knew it all along. The MLBPA did indeed change the definition of "ROOKIE CARD." At least for this year. (Mad props to Tuff Stuff for finally getting to the bottom of this.)
Money paragraph...
"Regarding players like (Prince) Fielder, Jose Capellan and Jonathan Papelbon who have received RC logos this season but were in the majors before Sept. 1 last year, (Evan) Kaplan (the PA's trading cards and collectibles czar) said they were a one-year exception, included as RCs this year because they were Rookie of the Year eligible and baseball licensors didn’t want this new RC system to debut in a year in which the Rookie of the Year didn’t have a 2006 rookie card." (emphasis added)
Hmmm... Fielder, Capellan and Papelbon. Where have I heard those names before?
"'We wanted players who qualified for a rookie this year and had the opportunity to win the Rookie of the Year this year (to receive the RC logo),' Kaplan said. 'Moving forward, it’s going to be an Aug. 31 cutoff.'"
To sum up, if a player has ROY eligilbility this season, and has made his Major League debut by the time you read this, all of his remaining 2006 cards will be eligible to have the "ROOKIE CARD" logo. That, and the guidelines the PA previously announced for this year, won't go into effect until next year. Fair enough.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Box Break: 2006 Upper Deck series 2
Two Additional Boxes of 2006 Upper Deck series 2 baseball (paid $65 each)
24 packs per box, eight cards per pack (MSRP $2.99/pack)
For a proper review of this product, see my earlier post.
Base Set: 171 of 500 (34.2%)
One double
Parallels:
3 Golds: J. Grimsley, C. Ross, R. Spilborghs
1 Silver Spectrum: C. Demaria
2 Rookie Bonus Silver Parallels: J. Broxton and M. Napoli
1 Rookie Bonus Gold Parallel: J. Capellan
Inserts:
4 Player Highlights: R. Howard, Piazza, Pujols, and Griffey, Jr.
1 First-Class Legends: Ruth
2 Speed to Burn: Ichiro and D. Wright
3 Run Producers: T. Cobb, Griffey, Jr., and J. Foxx
3 Inaugural Images: A Couple of Cuban Guys and A. Beltre
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Materials: R. Palmeiro (solid gray, with no needle marks)
1 Exquisite Collection Redemption Card
Base Set: 172 of 500 (34.4%)
One double
Parallels:
2 Golds: R. Martinez and R. Doumit
2 Silver Spectrums: Rockies Checklist (Helton) and C. Villanueva
2 Rookie Bonus Silver Parallels: C. Demaria and T. Ishikawa
1 Rookie Bonus Gold Parallel: S. Olsen
Inserts:
4 Player Highlights: J. Varitek, B. Colon, Ichiro and B. Roberts
1 First-Class Legends: Ruth
2 Speed to Burn: L. Brock and A-Rod
2 Run Producers: D. Ortiz and A-Rod
4 Inaugural Images: D. Cabrera, a Korean Guy, another Cuban guy, and a Japanese Guy
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Materials: Jeter (solid white)
After the first two boxes, I built a little more than half the base set. Combined with these two boxes, I now have a little less than two-thirds (323 of the 500, or 64.6%) of the base ser, and about as many extras. The "Law of Diminishing Returns" in action. Four boxes is enough for me.
I guess you can say that box #3 was a "juiced box," as it yielded a Jason Grimsley Gold parallel, a Rafael Palmeiro jersey card, and a big money redemption card.
Speaking of which... The "Exquisite Collection" redemptions are a "stealth insert" good for a low-numbered autogamer. According to the dealer I bought these boxes from, they're dropping at the rate of one-per-case (12 boxes), and are the reason why these boxes are going for about $5-$10 more than they were a couple of weeks ago. I'd like to tell you what Exquisite Collection card I will be receiving, but "2006 Exquisite MLB - Card info will be revealed on 9/1/06." Whatever. I'm willing to play along, but this better not suck, Upper Deck!
24 packs per box, eight cards per pack (MSRP $2.99/pack)
For a proper review of this product, see my earlier post.
Box Three
Base Set: 171 of 500 (34.2%)
One double
Parallels:
3 Golds: J. Grimsley, C. Ross, R. Spilborghs
1 Silver Spectrum: C. Demaria
2 Rookie Bonus Silver Parallels: J. Broxton and M. Napoli
1 Rookie Bonus Gold Parallel: J. Capellan
Inserts:
4 Player Highlights: R. Howard, Piazza, Pujols, and Griffey, Jr.
1 First-Class Legends: Ruth
2 Speed to Burn: Ichiro and D. Wright
3 Run Producers: T. Cobb, Griffey, Jr., and J. Foxx
3 Inaugural Images: A Couple of Cuban Guys and A. Beltre
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Materials: R. Palmeiro (solid gray, with no needle marks)
1 Exquisite Collection Redemption Card
Box Four
Base Set: 172 of 500 (34.4%)
One double
Parallels:
2 Golds: R. Martinez and R. Doumit
2 Silver Spectrums: Rockies Checklist (Helton) and C. Villanueva
2 Rookie Bonus Silver Parallels: C. Demaria and T. Ishikawa
1 Rookie Bonus Gold Parallel: S. Olsen
Inserts:
4 Player Highlights: J. Varitek, B. Colon, Ichiro and B. Roberts
1 First-Class Legends: Ruth
2 Speed to Burn: L. Brock and A-Rod
2 Run Producers: D. Ortiz and A-Rod
4 Inaugural Images: D. Cabrera, a Korean Guy, another Cuban guy, and a Japanese Guy
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Materials: Jeter (solid white)
Review
After the first two boxes, I built a little more than half the base set. Combined with these two boxes, I now have a little less than two-thirds (323 of the 500, or 64.6%) of the base ser, and about as many extras. The "Law of Diminishing Returns" in action. Four boxes is enough for me.
I guess you can say that box #3 was a "juiced box," as it yielded a Jason Grimsley Gold parallel, a Rafael Palmeiro jersey card, and a big money redemption card.
Speaking of which... The "Exquisite Collection" redemptions are a "stealth insert" good for a low-numbered autogamer. According to the dealer I bought these boxes from, they're dropping at the rate of one-per-case (12 boxes), and are the reason why these boxes are going for about $5-$10 more than they were a couple of weeks ago. I'd like to tell you what Exquisite Collection card I will be receiving, but "2006 Exquisite MLB - Card info will be revealed on 9/1/06." Whatever. I'm willing to play along, but this better not suck, Upper Deck!
What I Got at the Card Show: 8/26/06
Site: Wildwood Convention Center; Wildwood, NJ
Two more boxes of Upper Deck series 2 baseball (paid $65 each)
Total spent on cards: $130
Parking and Admisssion: FREE (although I had to circle around for 15 minutes to find a place to park)
Grand Total: $130
Box breaks forthcoming.
Two more boxes of Upper Deck series 2 baseball (paid $65 each)
Total spent on cards: $130
Parking and Admisssion: FREE (although I had to circle around for 15 minutes to find a place to park)
Grand Total: $130
Box breaks forthcoming.
Not even The Hobby media understands the "Rooke Card" criteria.
I had an interesting e-mail exchange with one of the "higher ups" at a major Hobby publication. Guess what? They can't figure out the MLBPA's "ROOKIE CARD" guidelines either! (I have chosen to keep the identity of this certain "higher up" anonymous.)
Money lines...
It's good to know that I'm not the only one out there who has made that observation.
Geez. You think?
My source was unable to tell me why the PA has changed the RC criteria, which was the whole point my query. However, he also told me that "they" will be investigating the situation further. I'll believe it, when I believe it.
Money lines...
"None of the three players (Fielder, Capellan, and Papelbon) should have RCs this year -- they all played before Sept. 1 last year."
It's good to know that I'm not the only one out there who has made that observation.
"Many collectors and dealers consider the RC situation an absolute mess this season."
Geez. You think?
"They've put RC logos on parallels, which probably can't be helped, but also pure inserts, plus cards of players who aren't rookies by their (MLBPA's) own definition."
My source was unable to tell me why the PA has changed the RC criteria, which was the whole point my query. However, he also told me that "they" will be investigating the situation further. I'll believe it, when I believe it.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Box Break and Review: 2006 Upper Deck series 2
Two Boxes of 2006 Upper Deck series 2 baseball (paid $59 each)
24 packs per box, eight cards per pack (MSRP $2.99/pack)
Chiptoppers: One advertisement for 2006 Upper Deck Ovation.
One three-card "Rookie Card Bonus Pack."
Base Set: 500 cards, nothing short-printed. (yay!)
Parallels:
Golds: 500 cards (numbered to 299)
Silver Spectrums: 500 cards (numbered to 99)
Rookie Bonus Parallels: 100 cards (three in each chipptopper bonus pack; each numbered to 399)
Inserts*:
Player Highlights
First-Class Legends
Speed to Burn
Run Producers
Inaugural Images
* As of this posting -- nearly a week after the product's release -- Upper Deck had yet to post a checklist of Upper Deck series 2. For that matter, I could not find any reference to this product on upperdeck.com. (Nice going, Upper Deck.) Therefore, I am unable to list the set size or insertion ratios for any of the inserts. It does state on the side of the display box that the inserts are seeded at the rate of one-per-pack.
Autogamers#:
UD Game Materials
UD Game Patch
# Stated odds of finding an autogamer (as stated on the display box) are one-per-box.
Base Set: 173 of 500 (34.60%)
No doubles
Parallels:
3 Golds: O. Hernandez, J. Cirillo, and A. Montero
1 Silver Spectrum: R. Langerhans
3 Rookie Bonus Parallels: T. Ishikawa, B. Hendrickson, and M. Prado
Inserts:
5 Player Highlights: ManRam, T. Hafner, M. Tejada, A-Rod, and J. Reyes
2 First-Class Legends: Ruth and Cobb
2 Speed to Burn: A. Soriano and J. Reyes
2 Run Producers: Jeter and V. Guerrero
3 Inaugural Images: Some Japanese Guy, Derek Jeter, and Some Cuban Guy
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Patch: R. Weeks (solid navy blue, with no noticeable stitching)
Base Set: 165 of 500 (33.00%)
3 doubles
Parallels:
3 Golds: M. Timlin, M. Thames, and A. Nunez
1 Silver Spectrum: J. Santana (the Phillies reliever, not Minnesota's ace)
3 Rookie Parallels: J. Verlander, J. Van Benschoten, and R. Hill
Inserts:
4 Player Highlights: A. Jones, C. Carpenter, D. Lee, and V. Guerrero
1 First-Class Legend: C. Mathewson
2 Speed to Burn: C. Figgins and J. Reyes
2 Run Producers: G. Sheffield and M. Schmidt
4 Inaugural Images: B. Williams, K. Griffey, Jr., Some Korean Guy, and Another Japanese Guy
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Materials: G. Atkins (white with purple vertical pinstripe)
Here it is folks, the much anticipated second series of the best product so far this year. Is 2006 Upper Deck series two, as great as the first? You betcha! There are a few minor tweaks that make it a little different from the first series, but all-in-all, UD makes a strong case for "Set of the Year." In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that 2006 Upper Deck will go down as one of the greatest products of our time. There, I said it.
The base set is, just like the first series, 500 cards. Unlike UD1, UD2, does have a couple of subsets. The first 370 cards (501-870) are the regular player cards, all arranged alphabetical by team, with a handful of rookie cards scattered, smothered, and covered in with the veterans. This is followed by thirty team checklist cards (871-900), and a 100-card (901-1000) rookie subset, all MLBPA approved.
Speaking of subsets... It appears that the last hundred cards are about as close as we're going to get to a "Star Rookie" subset this year -- a subset that has been the only consistent feature of this ever evolving brand since 1989. For all the changes in The Hobby since '89, you could always count on the Upper Deck baseball set's "Star Rookies." I guess the MLBPA's "ROOKIE CARD" program prohibits UD from referring to them as such anymore. Oh well. Like most cards bearing the "RC" logo, most fall into the parenth-RC category. And yes, there's some back-logoing chicanery going on as well. More on this later.
The team checklist cards are a nice addition, especially if you're a team set collector. Unfortunately, the obverse sides are virtually indistinguishable from the regular player cards, and the reverses only list those players appearing in the second series. Isn't the point of having "Team Checklist" cards, to include all the players in the entire set? (They did this last year, and with only a 180 card second series, it was kind of laughable. Some of the "Team Checklists" had as few as three cards listed!) And why do the team cards look the same as the regular player cards anyway? Couldn't Upper Deck had done something, anything, to make the team cards at least a little different than the regular player cards? Memo to Upper Deck: I'm pretty sure that someone, somewhere, still has Vernon Wells' dad's phone number in their rolodex. Give Vern's Old Man a call, and have him draw up some cards for the 2007 team checklists.
Just like in all the other UpperFleerDeck products this year, there's a bevy of insert cards. Also, just like in all the other UpperFleerDeck products this year, you have no idea just how many of them there are to chase after, and you have no idea what the exact pack insertion ratios for each of the specific sets are either, because there's no checklist, and the odds aren't listed on the wrapper. Unlike in the first series however, there are no parallels of the non-parallel inserts. If there's one thing I hate more than a meaningless parallel of a base set card, it's an even more meaningless parallel of an insert card.
Also, I found it curious (to say the least) that I pulled a couple of cards from the series one "First-Class Legends" insert set, in my series two packs. I don't ever recall a card company seeding the exact same set of inserts in both series of a product. The cards look exactly the same as the first series FCLs, however, I did notice a slight variation. On the reverse side, where all the legal mubmo-jumbo is printed, UD added their mailing address. Other than that, they're the exact same cards you pulled in the first series.
One other note about the inserts. All of them are sequentially numbered. None of that let's-get-cute-and-use-the-player's-initials-as-the-card-number-as-if-it-were-a-game-used-card BS.
Wrapping up UD2 are the gamers, and it wouldn't be an Upper Deck set without some sort of game used element, wouldn't it? Hell, it's Upper Deck baseball, the product that introduced the things to The Hobby back in '97.
Individually, each box produced about a third of the base set. Combined together, my two boxes yield a little more than half the set (257 of 500), with a healthy stack of doubles for trade bait.
Just like the first series, you'll have to purchase at least four waxboxes to even come close to building a full set. (I only had enough money for two, but I'll soon be buying a couple more.) At $60 a pop, that's not exactly cheap. Add that to the four boxes of series one you'll need (or in my case, already bought) and you're talking about an investment of almost $500 on wax alone just to build your 2006 Upper Deck base set. And yes, it's worth it!
The inclusion of the "Rookie Card Bonus Pack" chiptopper appears to be the only noticeable difference between the Hobby and Retail versions of this product. Nearly every pack contained at least one card -- and in some packs two -- from the "Rookie Card" subset, so at the very least you're guaranteed to get something of value in each pack. Speaking of one-per-pack, on the side of the display box, in very, very, small type, it clearly states that each pack has an insert card. However, in both of my boxes, not every pack came with the promised insert. Box one had 14 inserts, four parallels, and a load-bearing thick Patch card of Milwaukee shortstop Rickie Weeks. The second box had 13 inserts, four parallels, and a gamer of Rockies third-baseman Garret Atkins. That's 37 inserts in 48 packs.
Product Rating: 5 Gumsticks (out of five)
2006 Upper Deck baseball is probably the best edition of their flagship brand since the legendary 1989 set, and the best baseball card product Upper Deck has released since 1994 SP. So yeah, I do recommend this.
Here we go again with more "ROOKIE CARD" back-logoing.
"Back-logoing" is the term I've given to cards bearing the MLBPA's "ROOKIE CARD" logo of players who have had cards issued without the logo earlier that year. I documented such back-logoing in my review of '06 Topps series 2, and in my subsequent open letter to the MLBPA -- a letter which has yet to be answered. In the case of 2006 Topps series two, the cards of Jose Capellan and Jonathan Papelbon were all "back-logoed."
Now comes this: In Upper Deck series two, Prince Fielder's card (#976) has the MLBPA "ROOKIE CARD" logo. But wait a second. Didn't Prince Fielder appear in the first series of Upper Deck already? And didn't that card come without the logo? Yep and Yep. Card #264 in the first series of 2006 Upper Deck is a card of Prince Fielder without the logo.
So let me get this straight. Are we to understand that Prince Fielder's first series card is not a "ROOKIE CARD," but, somehow, his second series card is? Geez, and I thought that the whole point of the cross-brand logo was to standardize the definition of a rookie card! WILL SOMEONE, ANYONE, PLEASE EXPLAIN THE LOGIC OF THIS!
Upper Deck's finally posted a checklist on their site. It appears that there's a World Baseball Classic themed game used/game patch set, as well as autograph inserts (odds not stated), and printing plates. There's still no mention of the First-Class Legends inserts in this series.
UD still promises an insert in every pack; although, like I mentioned, not every pack in my two boxes came with one. It also says that you get five serial numbered cards in each box, as opposed to the four in each of mine.
Finally, the site says that all cards in the "Rookie Bonus Pack" are numbered to either 725, 425, or 75 copies. However, all six cards I received in my two Bonus Packs were numbered to 399.
The sizes for each of the insert sets are as follows:
24 packs per box, eight cards per pack (MSRP $2.99/pack)
The Details
Chiptoppers: One advertisement for 2006 Upper Deck Ovation.
One three-card "Rookie Card Bonus Pack."
Base Set: 500 cards, nothing short-printed. (yay!)
Parallels:
Golds: 500 cards (numbered to 299)
Silver Spectrums: 500 cards (numbered to 99)
Rookie Bonus Parallels: 100 cards (three in each chipptopper bonus pack; each numbered to 399)
Inserts*:
Player Highlights
First-Class Legends
Speed to Burn
Run Producers
Inaugural Images
* As of this posting -- nearly a week after the product's release -- Upper Deck had yet to post a checklist of Upper Deck series 2. For that matter, I could not find any reference to this product on upperdeck.com. (Nice going, Upper Deck.) Therefore, I am unable to list the set size or insertion ratios for any of the inserts. It does state on the side of the display box that the inserts are seeded at the rate of one-per-pack.
Autogamers#:
UD Game Materials
UD Game Patch
# Stated odds of finding an autogamer (as stated on the display box) are one-per-box.
The Pulls.
Box One
Base Set: 173 of 500 (34.60%)
No doubles
Parallels:
3 Golds: O. Hernandez, J. Cirillo, and A. Montero
1 Silver Spectrum: R. Langerhans
3 Rookie Bonus Parallels: T. Ishikawa, B. Hendrickson, and M. Prado
Inserts:
5 Player Highlights: ManRam, T. Hafner, M. Tejada, A-Rod, and J. Reyes
2 First-Class Legends: Ruth and Cobb
2 Speed to Burn: A. Soriano and J. Reyes
2 Run Producers: Jeter and V. Guerrero
3 Inaugural Images: Some Japanese Guy, Derek Jeter, and Some Cuban Guy
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Patch: R. Weeks (solid navy blue, with no noticeable stitching)
Box Two
Base Set: 165 of 500 (33.00%)
3 doubles
Parallels:
3 Golds: M. Timlin, M. Thames, and A. Nunez
1 Silver Spectrum: J. Santana (the Phillies reliever, not Minnesota's ace)
3 Rookie Parallels: J. Verlander, J. Van Benschoten, and R. Hill
Inserts:
4 Player Highlights: A. Jones, C. Carpenter, D. Lee, and V. Guerrero
1 First-Class Legend: C. Mathewson
2 Speed to Burn: C. Figgins and J. Reyes
2 Run Producers: G. Sheffield and M. Schmidt
4 Inaugural Images: B. Williams, K. Griffey, Jr., Some Korean Guy, and Another Japanese Guy
Autogamers:
1 UD Game Materials: G. Atkins (white with purple vertical pinstripe)
The Review.
Here it is folks, the much anticipated second series of the best product so far this year. Is 2006 Upper Deck series two, as great as the first? You betcha! There are a few minor tweaks that make it a little different from the first series, but all-in-all, UD makes a strong case for "Set of the Year." In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that 2006 Upper Deck will go down as one of the greatest products of our time. There, I said it.
The base set is, just like the first series, 500 cards. Unlike UD1, UD2, does have a couple of subsets. The first 370 cards (501-870) are the regular player cards, all arranged alphabetical by team, with a handful of rookie cards scattered, smothered, and covered in with the veterans. This is followed by thirty team checklist cards (871-900), and a 100-card (901-1000) rookie subset, all MLBPA approved.
Speaking of subsets... It appears that the last hundred cards are about as close as we're going to get to a "Star Rookie" subset this year -- a subset that has been the only consistent feature of this ever evolving brand since 1989. For all the changes in The Hobby since '89, you could always count on the Upper Deck baseball set's "Star Rookies." I guess the MLBPA's "ROOKIE CARD" program prohibits UD from referring to them as such anymore. Oh well. Like most cards bearing the "RC" logo, most fall into the parenth-RC category. And yes, there's some back-logoing chicanery going on as well. More on this later.
The team checklist cards are a nice addition, especially if you're a team set collector. Unfortunately, the obverse sides are virtually indistinguishable from the regular player cards, and the reverses only list those players appearing in the second series. Isn't the point of having "Team Checklist" cards, to include all the players in the entire set? (They did this last year, and with only a 180 card second series, it was kind of laughable. Some of the "Team Checklists" had as few as three cards listed!) And why do the team cards look the same as the regular player cards anyway? Couldn't Upper Deck had done something, anything, to make the team cards at least a little different than the regular player cards? Memo to Upper Deck: I'm pretty sure that someone, somewhere, still has Vernon Wells' dad's phone number in their rolodex. Give Vern's Old Man a call, and have him draw up some cards for the 2007 team checklists.
Just like in all the other UpperFleerDeck products this year, there's a bevy of insert cards. Also, just like in all the other UpperFleerDeck products this year, you have no idea just how many of them there are to chase after, and you have no idea what the exact pack insertion ratios for each of the specific sets are either, because there's no checklist, and the odds aren't listed on the wrapper. Unlike in the first series however, there are no parallels of the non-parallel inserts. If there's one thing I hate more than a meaningless parallel of a base set card, it's an even more meaningless parallel of an insert card.
Also, I found it curious (to say the least) that I pulled a couple of cards from the series one "First-Class Legends" insert set, in my series two packs. I don't ever recall a card company seeding the exact same set of inserts in both series of a product. The cards look exactly the same as the first series FCLs, however, I did notice a slight variation. On the reverse side, where all the legal mubmo-jumbo is printed, UD added their mailing address. Other than that, they're the exact same cards you pulled in the first series.
One other note about the inserts. All of them are sequentially numbered. None of that let's-get-cute-and-use-the-player's-initials-as-the-card-number-as-if-it-were-a-game-used-card BS.
Wrapping up UD2 are the gamers, and it wouldn't be an Upper Deck set without some sort of game used element, wouldn't it? Hell, it's Upper Deck baseball, the product that introduced the things to The Hobby back in '97.
The Bottom Line:
Individually, each box produced about a third of the base set. Combined together, my two boxes yield a little more than half the set (257 of 500), with a healthy stack of doubles for trade bait.
Just like the first series, you'll have to purchase at least four waxboxes to even come close to building a full set. (I only had enough money for two, but I'll soon be buying a couple more.) At $60 a pop, that's not exactly cheap. Add that to the four boxes of series one you'll need (or in my case, already bought) and you're talking about an investment of almost $500 on wax alone just to build your 2006 Upper Deck base set. And yes, it's worth it!
The inclusion of the "Rookie Card Bonus Pack" chiptopper appears to be the only noticeable difference between the Hobby and Retail versions of this product. Nearly every pack contained at least one card -- and in some packs two -- from the "Rookie Card" subset, so at the very least you're guaranteed to get something of value in each pack. Speaking of one-per-pack, on the side of the display box, in very, very, small type, it clearly states that each pack has an insert card. However, in both of my boxes, not every pack came with the promised insert. Box one had 14 inserts, four parallels, and a load-bearing thick Patch card of Milwaukee shortstop Rickie Weeks. The second box had 13 inserts, four parallels, and a gamer of Rockies third-baseman Garret Atkins. That's 37 inserts in 48 packs.
Product Rating: 5 Gumsticks (out of five)
Do I recommend this product?
2006 Upper Deck baseball is probably the best edition of their flagship brand since the legendary 1989 set, and the best baseball card product Upper Deck has released since 1994 SP. So yeah, I do recommend this.
...and another thing
Here we go again with more "ROOKIE CARD" back-logoing.
"Back-logoing" is the term I've given to cards bearing the MLBPA's "ROOKIE CARD" logo of players who have had cards issued without the logo earlier that year. I documented such back-logoing in my review of '06 Topps series 2, and in my subsequent open letter to the MLBPA -- a letter which has yet to be answered. In the case of 2006 Topps series two, the cards of Jose Capellan and Jonathan Papelbon were all "back-logoed."
Now comes this: In Upper Deck series two, Prince Fielder's card (#976) has the MLBPA "ROOKIE CARD" logo. But wait a second. Didn't Prince Fielder appear in the first series of Upper Deck already? And didn't that card come without the logo? Yep and Yep. Card #264 in the first series of 2006 Upper Deck is a card of Prince Fielder without the logo.
So let me get this straight. Are we to understand that Prince Fielder's first series card is not a "ROOKIE CARD," but, somehow, his second series card is? Geez, and I thought that the whole point of the cross-brand logo was to standardize the definition of a rookie card! WILL SOMEONE, ANYONE, PLEASE EXPLAIN THE LOGIC OF THIS!
UPDATE: 8/21
Upper Deck's finally posted a checklist on their site. It appears that there's a World Baseball Classic themed game used/game patch set, as well as autograph inserts (odds not stated), and printing plates. There's still no mention of the First-Class Legends inserts in this series.
UD still promises an insert in every pack; although, like I mentioned, not every pack in my two boxes came with one. It also says that you get five serial numbered cards in each box, as opposed to the four in each of mine.
Finally, the site says that all cards in the "Rookie Bonus Pack" are numbered to either 725, 425, or 75 copies. However, all six cards I received in my two Bonus Packs were numbered to 399.
The sizes for each of the insert sets are as follows:
- 20 Run Producers
- 15 Speed to Burn
- 35 Player Highlights
- 40 Inaugural Images
- 40 UD Game Jersey/UD Game Patch
- 60 World Baseball Classic Jersey Collection/Patch Collection
- 42 INKredibile
Sunday, August 13, 2006
What I Got at the Card Show: 8/12/06
Site: Hamilton Mall; Mays Landing, NJ
Two boxes of 2006 Upper Deck series 2 baseball (Paid $59 each)
Total Spent on Cards: $118
Atlantic City Expressway Tolls: $4
Parking and Admission: FREE
Grand Total: $122
Box breaks forthcoming.
Two boxes of 2006 Upper Deck series 2 baseball (Paid $59 each)
Total Spent on Cards: $118
Atlantic City Expressway Tolls: $4
Parking and Admission: FREE
Grand Total: $122
Box breaks forthcoming.
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