2009 SPx Rookie Redemptions

Back when 2009 SPx first came out, I grabbed a couple of packs just to see what they were like.  I would have grabbed more than two, but after seeing what I got and what people were pulling out of video box breaks, the $8 per pack price tag was enough to keep me away.  The base cards weren’t all that great looking and the multitude of single color, unnumbered jersey cards weren’t anything to get excited about.  I was lucky enough to pull a rookie redemption which is one in every 7 boxes (126 packs) and figured that I would quit while I was ahead.  I went online, redeemed the card and found out that I had Rookie Redemption #6.

Recently, Upper Deck has started a page on Facebook.  They’ve offered some very cool first looks on the page of things such as Exquisite Basketball and Ultimate Collection Basketball.  This is also where Upper Deck posted the first images of the Rookie Redemption cards.  The first card to be posted is that of Koji Uehara.  The card is numbered to 99 and Uehara signed 25 of those in Japanese.

The first Uehara cards have popped up on eBay and while the redemption cards have been selling in the $40 range, the first two Uehara cards have sold for $102.51 and $111.00 and there is currently a third at $133.00 with 15 hours to go.  All three are the English versions.  If this price holds for the English version of the card, it’ll be interesting to see what a Japanese variant sells for.  It will also be interesting to see if the price of this card increases the price that the redemption cards are selling for.  The only sticking point there is you don’t know who you are getting until you redeem the card.  It could be Uehara, it could be 8 other unannounced players or it could be the recently announced Colby Rasmus.

All of the cards will be numbered to 99 and so far all of them have had 25 cards with a variant signature.  This one is kind of interesting.  Instead of adding an inscription to the card, the inscription has replaced Rasmus’ signature.  Will collectors be as interested in a card that a player has written on, but not signed?  Is the only important factor that there’s only 25 of the variant?  It will be interesting to see as the Rasmus cards are sent out by Upper Deck and begin to show up on eBay.

I really like the design of the Rookie Redemption cards.  They look nicer than the base cards from the set.  I think it may be due to more of the X being blocked out by the picture.  I should know in 12 – 18 weeks which player I’ll be getting for my redemption card and I can’t wait to see who it is.

EDITED TO ADD: IT looks like my eBay search was a little off earlier.  The first Uehara to sell on eBay went for just $76 which may have been partially due to the fact that it was just a one day auction.  One ended soon after that at $150 BIN.  That one day auction was done to beat the first card posted on eBay in a 5 day auction and that card sold for $102.51.  They’re selling anywhere between $100 and $140 with the price steadily climbing.  The first Japanese card to show up on eBay sold for $158.05 which seems to be low given what the English cards are selling for.  I guess it’s not that big of a difference between 74 of one and 25 of the other.

Technorati Tags: 2009 Upper Deck SPx Baseball,Koji Uehara,Colby Rasmus,Rookie Redemption

Don’t Count Them Out Yet

When it was announced that Kevin Garnett would not be able to play in this year’s NBA Playoffs, most immediately dismissed the Celtics’ chances of repeating as Champions.  While the road will be a lot tougher without Garnett, especially with improved Cleveland and LA teams, I wouldn’t completely count out the C’s for two reasons.

While Rajon Rondo played solidly in last year’s playoffs, he took a back seat to the New Big Three.  Most of the offense ran through those three with Rondo just dribbling the ball up the court.  In last year’s playoffs Rondo averaged 10.2 PPG, 6.6 APG and 4.1 RPG with only 1.81 Turnovers per game.  Rondo has always been a great ball handler.  Rondo’s shooting percentages last year were .407 FG%, .250 3P% and .691 FT%.  It got to the point where Rondo was not on the floor late in games because his low free throw percentage was a liability.

This year, Kevin Garnett is out and the Celtics need other players to step up.  Rajon Rondo has certainly done that and then some through three playoff games.  He’s averaging close to a triple double while frustrating the other team on defense (4 steals per game so far this playoffs).  Currently in the Bulls series, Rondo is averaging 22.7 PPG, 9.7 APG and 10.7 RPG.  His turnovers per game are up to 2.0, but that is still an astounding number and due to the fact that Rondo is handling the ball a whole lot more.  His shooting numbers so far are .500 FG%, .500 3P% and .750 FT%.

Once considered a liability when it came to outside shooting, Rondo has hit some big three pointers in the series.  He can drive on most point guards in the league and his floor awareness is amazing.  He was overshadowed by Rose for one game, but has been the more consistent producer.

Another Celtic who has stepped up is the player that is replacing Garnett in the lineup, Glen Davis.  “Big Baby” was improving steadily as the season progressed, but it wasn’t until Garnett went down and Baby’s minutes increased that he really began to shine.

Deceptively quick for his size, Davis has a knack for getting his shot off in the post against taller players.  He also spent a lot of time on what is now a very consistent jump shot.  Davis is third on the team in scoring with 19.3 PPG in the playoffs, but the most important thing that he has brought to the team is an increased defensive presence.  Davis had 6 steals in Game 3 against the Bulls and his 6 blocks for the series are tied for the team lead.  His 9 Offensive Rebounds have also been a big reason that the Celtics have been able to turn this series around.

Through three games Davis’ numbers are 19.3 PPG, 2.7 APG and 7 RPG.  That doesn't even compare to his numbers last year of 2.3 PPG, .4 APG and 1.5 RPG.  Of course, Davis was only playing 8.1 Minutes per game last year in the playoffs while this year he’s leading the team in minutes played with 40 MPG.  If he can keep up this level of play, the impact of losing Garnett won’t be as great as many thought.  The biggest impact is that Davis is no longer available to come off of the bench, but that’s why he’s playing 40 minutes a game.

Last year, the Celtics were expected to win it all.  Even though many of the “experts” were picking the Lakers to win it all, you had a feeling that you couldn’t deny three veterans who hadn’t yet achieved that ultimate goal.  This year, the team has a lot to prove and I’m going to enjoy watching them do it.

Technorati Tags: Rajon Rondo,Glen Davis,Boston Celtics,2008-2009 NBA Playoffs

Breaking the case, breaking the case.

One thing that was completely new to me upon getting back into the hobby, especially now that so much of it takes place online, is that of the case break.  To put it simply, case breaks allow the average Joe a shot at cards they may not otherwise be able to get.  To me, the best case breaks would be those that are affordable, but also give you a decent shot at something good.  A lot of the case breaks out there are ones of really high end product where sometimes people walk away with nothing or just one card.

While browsing the card blogosphere one day I came across a case break that seemed to fit my description of a good break.  The break is of a case of 2009 Topps Finest over at I Am Joe Collector.  There are 30 slots in the break which will get each person 16 cards.  In each case there averages 16 numbered autographed rookie patch cards including David Price and Michael Bowden, 8 rookie redemption cards and 80 numbered parallel refractors.  So, everyone has got a pretty good chance of getting something good.  If you get something good, but not exactly what you were hoping to pull then you can try and work out a trade with someone else in the break.

I had my eye on the break for a little while before jumping in, but once I raised some funds via eBay, I grabbed my spot.  Finest comes out on Wednesday so I figure that the case will be broken around the end of the following week.  Can’t wait to see what I get.  I’m hoping for one of the two previously mentioned patch cards or a redemption card.  It’s too bad that not everyone will be able to get either a patch card or a redemption card, but there are only 24 of those cards combined for 30 people.  So, at least 6 people aren’t going to be happy unless they get a really nice refractor.  Maybe someone will be lucky enough to get a one of one refractor.  There are also the Finest Moment autographed cards, but no odds are given for those.  That’s a pretty good set for Red Sox fans with autos to be found of Jon Lester, Jason Bay and David Ortiz.

Wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: 2009 Topps Finest Baseball

What is Upper Deck really selling you?

Anyone who bought a pack of Upper Deck Baseball in 2008 was very familiar with the Yankee Stadium Legacy cards that were included in almost all of the sets.  It even continued into 2009 with updated cards in the 2009 UD Flagship product.  While Yankees fans, especially those dying for a chance to meet Derek Jeter, ate this up many other fans couldn’t care less about the cards.  Being a Red Sox fan, I think I had more fun during my recent root canal than I did pulling Yankee after Yankee in packs of cards.  Truth be told, I don’t even think that I would enjoy this set if the subject matter were Fenway Park and the Red Sox.

Things got really ridiculous with 2009 Upper Deck Baseball.  Along with the additional Yankee Stadium cards there is also an update to 2008 Documentary featuring all of the playoff games from 2008.  Then there are Historic Firsts and Historic First Predictors.  Last but not least is the 20th Anniversary set.  Yes, you may get 20 cards in a pack of Upper Deck, but most times you’ll get two junk cards from these insert sets in the pack.  The nice OPC and Stars of the Game inserts are a lot rarer.

If you’re looking to build the set then it looks like retail packs are the way to go.  For a hobby pack you’re going to pay $4 - $5 for 20 cards, two of which are probably non-base inserts along with the chance at the two jersey cards and one auto per box which aren’t all that great unless you are extremely lucky.  For the most part, those cards are non-factors unless you pull your favorite team or player.  The odds of that aren’t very great.  Retail packs contain 19 cards and sell for $3.  That dollar or more difference adds up quickly and you can use that extra scratch on eBay to purchase any of the OPC, Stars of the Game, Jersey or 20th Anniversary cards that you may want.  That way you get your set and insert cards that you want instead of a pile of trade bait.

Retail pack, price per base card: $3/18 = $0.166
Hobby pack, price per base card: $4/18 = $0.222

Right there you’ve got a six cent difference and it can be even more depending on what hobby packs are going for.

Things have gotten extremely ridiculous with the release of 2008-09 UD Lineage.  When I first heard about this set, I was pretty excited.  I love the design of 1991-92 Upper Deck and was excited to see current players framed by that classic design.  Once I saw that it was selling for around $100 a box, I got a little less excited.  You get two autographs per box, but the majority of the autographs will cost you a buck on eBay to acquire.  There’s a buyback redemption card, but the possible cards you can get from that are horrible as well.

Each pack has 8 cards in it and will cost you around four or five dollars.  If you’re a Michael Jordan fan then you’ll love these packs because you’re going to get one or two Jordan cards in every single pack.  There’s a Mr. June 23 card set that is only in Lineage and then a Michael Jordan Legacy set with a card for every game that he played in which will be spread out over 4 UD Basketball releases.

Since you average 2 insert cards a pack, that brings you down to 6 base cards per pack.  6 x 24 = 144 out of 200 cards.  There’s no way that you should be this far from completing a set like this after busting open a box.  That’s with perfect collation which is a rarity for Upper Deck.  If all 8 cards were base cards you’d have 8 x 24 = 192 which is a lot closer to a complete set.  Subtract a few cards for your autographs and the Rookie Standouts and you’re still close to a set.  Instead you get more insert cards that are all over eBay and are close to worthless.

Again, retail packs are the way to go if you want to put together the set of Lineage.  Hobby packs have 8 cards, but in almost every pack two of those cards are Jordan or Rookie Standout inserts.  You average 6 base cards per pack.  Retail packs are 6 cards with a lot less of the Jordan and Rookie Standouts.  So few, that you average just under 6 base cards per pack.

Retail pack, price of base card: $3/6 = $0.50
Hobby pack, price of base card: $5/6 = $0.833

Again, the difference in price adds up quickly and that extra money can buy you the insert cards that you want.  You won’t have a chance to pull any of the Jordan or LeBron autographs, but most people buying boxes won’t be pulling those either.  There are a lot of clunker autographs in this set.

Upper Deck’s hobby packs tend to be sports versions of lottery tickets.  The only problem with that is you’ve probably got better chances with the lottery tickets.  When you aren’t making it easy for set collectors and the “hits” end up being misses, who exactly are you trying to sell your product to?  It is no wonder that so much Upper Deck product can be purchased for a big discount a year after it is released.

Mail Day: The marathon edition

I had won a package on eBay, but two weeks later it hadn’t arrived yet.  I contacted the seller who gave me the tracking information for the package.  I tracked it and… there was an attempted delivery 12 days before that, but they didn’t leave a notification card.  It’s hard to go to the Post Office to pick up a package when you don’t know it’s there.  I called to find out what I needed to be able to pick up a package without the little pink card and was told they had a few packages for me.  I went to the Post Office after work to find 8 packages waiting for me from eBay, Wax Heaven and family.  I’ve gotten a couple of other packages since then and my DSL modem has gone kaput so I can write, but I can’t post so this will be an extra long edition of the mail bag once it gets posted.

Here’s three of the Skybox cards that I picked up through SportLots.com.  I got Glen Davis, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo who are pictured along with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Al Jefferson who I still love even though he’s now a Timberwolf and out for the season.  He’s going to be one of the top big men in the league for years to come.

Here’s one card from a 10 card lot that I picked up on eBay.  I usually stay away from lots this small because the shipping kills it.  You end up paying something like forty cents a card and often end up with duplicates.  At that rate you’re better off picking out a bunch of eighteen cent cards at SportLots and having them shipped to you.

Here’s part of a lot that I got from SportLots.  I didn’t want to bother with the ridiculous Target and Wal-Mart blasters at all.  I don’t need three versions of the same set, but the player collector in me most certainly wanted three different versions of the same card.  One seller had almost all of the Red Sox at eighteen cents a pop so I grabbed one of each as well as some other stars that I like.  Here’s what I got: Dice-K, Big Papi, Francona, Lester, Lowell, Lowrie, Lincecum Cy Young, Okajima, Youkilis, Delcarmen, Josh Hamilton AL RBI Leaders, Lincecum, Hamilton, and Van Every.

There don’t seem to be as many Target retro cards out there yet so I’ll wait on those and then do the same thing to get those.  It’s a fraction of the cost of a blaster and I end up with every card that I want.  I don’t have the amount of funds to buy parallel blasters and cereal boxes just for a few cards in them.

This same seller had some nice Piazza cards selling at the minimum so I picked those up as well.  I got the 2007 Goudey Mini green back, 2003 Leaf Passing Through Time, 2005 Upper Deck Bound For Glory, 2006 Topps, 2006 Topps Updates & Highlights, 2006 Upper Deck, 2007 Bowman Heritage, 2007 Upper Deck, 2007 Upper Deck Team Checklist, 2007 Upper Deck Future Stars and 2006 Fleer Ultra.

Here’s a card from a 22 card Pierce lot that I won on eBay.  There are some shady lot sellers on eBay.  They mention “some duplicates” and then send you 4 or 5 of the same card in a lot.  Yet another reason to go player hunting on SportLots (which I’m no longer selling on and have mastered all of the search by seller functions that are well hidden and didn’t know about).

I think these cards might be my favorite part of the Mayo set.  The base set is alright, but I just can’t get into football cards anymore and don’t really have an interest in anything but Patriots cards.  I picked up all three panels of the three Patriots Super Bowl victories.  I still can’t stand the Flying Elvis Patriots logo.  I love the old Pat the Patriot logo and it seems like I’m not alone because I see more vintage logos around town than the new logo.  These cards were more eighteen cent specials on SportLots.

This is my favorite card from a 27 card lot that I won on eBay.  This lot had a couple of duplicates, but not too many.  It’s just a shame that the seller didn’t care to protect the cards.  There were 2 of the same three cards on the front and the back of the team bag and they all got wrecked.  Why not use different doubles on each side of the pack?  Fail.


That reminds me, this should be the spot where I talk about the nice Pierce, Allen, Garnett, Rondo Luxury Box quad jersey card that I won at a great price, but the seller sent it loosely between two top loaders and it got a couple of huge creases across the card.  I got my payment and shipping back, but the next time that the same card sold it went for over twice as much.  How hard is it to package a card securely?

Due to his injury last season, Ortiz rookies have taken a little bit of a dip.  I figured that this would be a great time to pick up his Ultra rookie.  I’ve got two of the Fleer rookies that I pulled out of a couple of retail boxes that I bought way back in 2005.  You won’t find this card in Boston for just over $10 that’s for sure.









I love absolutely everything about the Topps Murad set and so I had to get the Pierce jersey card.  It’s just a tiny little piece of jersey, but it is a great looking card and you couldn’t beat the price.  The numbered jersey cards are going for more making the unnumbered versions very affordable.




I participated in the Wax Heaven directory claiming David Ortiz, but that’s not a David Ortiz card there on the left.  What’s the deal with that?  Mario had written a post about breaking up with your collection and since Lowell is no longer with the Marlins, the card got shipped up to Boston.  (oh oh ooooooooh)  How awesome is that?  Mario is always including the best extras in his packages.  Since he’s got just about every Andrew Miller out there, I’m reduced to sending custom 2009 Topps Double Headers that I made with my duplicates from the 1989 set.

Mario also sent the Big Papi cards from Upper Deck, Attax and Spectrum.  Another surprise was extra BoSox cards from Spectrum such as the Papelbon to the left.  I’m kind of fond of the Spectrum cards.  They look pretty good in person.  I wouldn’t buy a box because the hits are ridiculous.  Then again, I wouldn’t complain if I was lucky enough to pull Leslie Neilsen and Ed O’Neil out of a box.

I went to my first card show in years specifically to pick up the last six cards that I needed for my 2009 Topps Baseball set so I could put that to bed, but I forgot my checklist.  That’s what happens when you’re out of practice.  Back in the 90s, I’d never be seen at a card show without my little notebook full of checklists.  There was almost no wax to speak of.  One guy had some unopened boxes and another had 3 or 4 open boxes.  I decided to do some player collecting and hit the quarter box for some Pierce and Ortiz cards.  I had to pick up the 06-07 Finest card because it’s a great design.  The dealer also had the Larry Bird card from the set which went to my wife who picked up some cards of Larry Legend and Bernie Williams.

I also had to pick up this Bowman Elevation card.  I still haven’t decided whether or not I like the card design.  I thought that maybe there was some rhyme or reason to the design that I would eventually figure out, but that hasn’t happened yet.  It’s shiny and it’s mine and at some point in the future I might really love it or really hate it.  I also grabbed his Bowman Best rookie, 03-04 Showcase, 07-08 Co-Signers, 06-07 Trademark Moves, 02-03 Pristine, 07-08 Luxury Box, 06-07 Topps Chrome, 99-00 Gold Label, 06-07 1952 Style, 03-04 Hardcourt, 07-08 SP Rookie Threads, 01-02 Ultra Gold Medallion, 99-00 Retro NBA New School, 03-04 Topps Love It Live, 00-01 Ionix, 06-07 Hardcourt, 04-05 Upper Deck and 06-07 Ovation.

Here’s my favorite Ortiz of the four that I picked up.  The 2007 Bowman’s Best looks better in person than it does in the scan.  I also grabbed 2004 SPx, 2007 Bowman Chrome and 2006 Bowman Chrome.

I picked up 4 ball cubes that I needed for my baseball collection and called it a day.  What surprised me the most was the amount of relic and auto cards that you could buy for for a buck or two.  Just further proof in my mind that chasing hits isn’t worth it most of the time.  If you have a hard time selling your one per box or per pack hit for a buck then is it really worth it?

While it may not look so big here, this is the jumbo version of 1995 Bowman’s Best.  It’s large and refractory and all mine.

I also got the Dice-K 89 Reprint card from the same seller.  Classic design and it came in a “Rookie Card” top loader which amused me.  No matter what Topps wants to do with Bowman, insert cards shouldn’t be rookie cards.  This card, while cool, is not a rookie card.


I agree with all of the people who disliked the 2008 Upper Deck X set.  The set has some of the best looking insert cards ever though.  I saw this Big Papi card and just had to snap it up.  It’s shiny and embossed to the 4th power!










Below is an interesting lot that I picked up on eBay.  It included 3 Glen Davis rookies as well as one Larry Bird insert card.  The same seller was also selling a lot of 3 Rajon Rondo rookies and another of 6 Leon Powe rookies.  With combined shipping it was a great deal and I took advantage.  Rondo is one of the top 2 point guards in the league and I don’t have nearly enough of his rookie cards.  Powe is a solid player, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Celtics didn’t re-sign him after this season.  They’ve got too many players that do the same thing and need a little more variety off of their bench. 

The only good thing about Kevin Garnett getting injured has been the play of Glen Davis in his absence.  Big Baby has really stepped up and elevated his game.  He can score inside, is extremely quick on his feet for someone his size and also has surprising outside range.  The only thing missing from his game is a vertical leap, but he makes up for some of that with his quickness and intelligence.  If a rest Garnett can come back in time for the playoffs, the bench is a heck of a lot better now that they’ve got a guy on there who could be starting.  There shouldn’t be a lapse on offense when the big three take a seat.

The next two cards were failed attempts at taking advantage of combined shipping.  Yes, the cards themselves were cheap, but the shipping was not.

Pruitt has had some good minutes, but right now he’s behind both Rajon Rondo and Stephan Marbury.  He’s only going to play in blowouts right now.  He’ll be the backup again next season, but won’t get any major playing time as long as he’s with the Celtics.

Here’s another Big Baby for my collection.  Luckily it looks better in person than it scans.  It’s numbered 521/599 on the back.

Last and certainly not least was a huge contribution to my Murad set by Mario over at Wax Heaven.  With those cards and a quick stop over to SportLots, I’m now 13 cards away from my set.  Still loving this set.  It’s by far the best looking basketball set released this year.




There you go, hopefully no one fell asleep while reading this.  I thought about splitting it up, but at this point I just wanted to get it all done and out of the way so that I can get back on track.

Technorati Tags: Paul Pierce,Glen Davis,Mike Piazza,David Ortiz,Boston Red Sox,Boston Celtics

The Kid is a Hit

Had a bit of a rough week and so I thought that I’d make a Friday trip to Kenmore Collectibles on my lunch break.  When I got there, nothing really caught my eye.  2009 SPx Baseball was still there and it was still $8 a pack.  I’m not big on paying $2 a card when you’re pulling crap like Ubuntium cards and since I already pulled a rookie redemption card, everything else was downhill from there.  SPx Hockey was new, but I haven’t jumped on the Bruins bandwagon like the rest of the city.  I thought about getting a 2009 Topps Cereal Box, but I’d be buying it just for one card and that’s not worth it.  One thing that kept catching my eye was 2008 Sweet Spot Baseball.  Totally not my cup of tea.  Maybe it was because I knew that Stephen Strasbourg had an auto in there and if I was lucky enough to pull it I could finance my collecting for the rest of the year.

I decided to get a pack.  There were 4 packs remaining in the box and I decided to take pack #3 because everyone knows that 3 is a magic number.  Yes it is, it’s a magic number.

I rip off the shrink wrap, pop open the box and open the foil pack inside to be greeted by a Bernie Williams Yankee Stadium card.  If I’m going to get a Yankee card, it may as well be Bernie.  My wife is a big fan of his and the card can go to her.  I flip around to the front of the pack and see Francoeur, Markakis, Webb, Manny…  Here comes the one-per-pack-hit…

Ken Griffey Jr. autographed bat barrel card numbered 243/243.  This is KG5 one of the vanilla versions of this card.  From looking on eBay there are different versions of this card with different numbering and some with inscriptions.  The versions without inscriptions are selling for around $50 which means that the card probably books in Beckett for $250.  I had thoughts about selling the card, but for now have decided against it.  When it comes down to it, the only thing better than this that I could add to my collection would be a Piazza auto that has eluded me to this point due to the prices of them.  I’d love a Piazza Sweet Spot auto.

A post by Gellman resonated with me as well.  Griffey’s career pretty much spans the time frame that I’ve been a serious collector.  Sure, I bought packs here and there of stuff in the 80s, but it was mostly singles and my beloved specialty box sets that you found in places such as Woolworths and KB Toys.  I pulled a Griffey rookie out of some packs of 89 Upper Deck at the corner store down the street from my grade school and it was the first really valuable card in my collection.  A couple of years after that I was in high school and working in a baseball card store and my collection really took off.  So, I think this is the perfect card to give a home in my collection.

Technorati Tags: 2008 Sweet Spot Baseball,Ken Griffey Jr

Box Break: 2007 Upper Deck Elements Baseball

The first that I saw of 2007 Elements was when I received two packs for free upon placing an order with Dave and Adam’s Card World.  I pulled a Jason Bay autographed jersey card out of one of the packs and really liked the base cards.  I decided at that point that I would have to get a box with my next order from Dave and Adam.  The acetate cards don’t scan well at all since you can see the back through the player.  The cards look sharp, but the acetate cards suffer a little from poor design regarding the backs.





In the acetate minibox I pulled a Chris Carpenter autographed jersey card numbered to 99.  Carpenter finished 2008 strong, had an amazing spring and should return to form in 2009.  He’ll be the opening day started for the Cardinals.

 

My rookie in the acetate box was Kevin Kouzmanoff.  All rookie cards are numbered to 550.

My favorite off the three sets is the etched foil.  Here’s a great looking Chipper Jones from that set.  It looks like Chipper will be finishing off his career as a member of the Braves.  That’s great to see in an era of mercenary players who are only concerned about the money and teams no longer being loyal to players.

I forget which minibox I pulled this card out of, but I’ll put it here since it is another Brave.  Scott Thorman doesn’t have much of an autograph and didn’t have much of a career with the Braves.  He became a free agent after being sent back down to the minors by the Braves and is now with the Brewers.

My rookie for this box was Angel Sanchez.

The mirror board cards certainly do scan well.  Jason Bay looks like he’s playing in the surface of the Sun.  The cards look nice in person as well.  They have a bit of a refractor-y sheen to them.  I figured that I would put Bay up here since his card was partially responsible for me wanting to buy this box.

Here’s a Jim Thome dual jersey card.  It’s a nice looking card with a plain jersey and a pin striped jersey.

I’m not sure which minibox I got this card out of, but this was the pull of the box.  It’s a dual autographed card of Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter that is numbered to 15.  I thought it was strange getting two different Chris Carpenter autograph cards in the same box.  I would have loved it if it were David Ortiz or some other Red Sox player.


The rookie for the mirror board set was Adam Lind.

I don’t think that I could have asked for more from this box.  I did alright with the rookies that I pulled even if none of them were named Matsuzaka or Lincecum.  I pulled two low numbered autographed cards as well as a nice Thome card.  I also got a good selection of cards from the base set.  I like the way that the cards look and I think that I will definitely pick up another box of Elements at some point down the line.

Technorati Tags: 2007 Upper Deck Elements