Card coloration is it's availability
white = I'm keeping it
green = available for trade
red = already claimed/traded |
| Man, Dice-K was everywhere in 2008, wasn't he? |
Today's blaster is 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces. 8 four card packs, nothing guaranteed.
On with the show.
pack one
43 Chin-Lung Hu - Dodgers
85 Chris Carpenter - Cardinals
4 Chipper Jones - Braves
46 Robin Yount - Brewers
pack two
8 Jim Palmer - Orioles
23 Jim Thome - White Sox
32 Justin Verlander - Tigers
18 Alfonso Soriano - Cubs
pack three
86 Carl Crawford - Rays
65 Jorge Posada - Yankees
YSL 782 Babe Ruth - Yankees
81 Ichiro - Mariners
67 Eric Chavez - Athletics
pack four
57 Pedro Martinez - Mets
29 Troy Tulowitzki - Rockies
39 Roy Oswalt - Astros
90 Ryan Zimmerman - Nationals
pack five
15 David Ortiz - Red Sox
1 Brandon Webb - Diamondbacks
76 Greg Maddux - Padres
48 Ryan Braun - Brewers
pack six
2 Justin Upton - Diamondbacks
102 Nolan Ryan - Astros (short print)
53 Carlos Beltran - Mets
88 Frank Thomas - Blue Jays
pack seven
79 Russell Martin - Dodgers
64 Joba Chamberlain - Yankees
YSL 1336 Joe Gordon - Yankees
25 Joe Morgan - Reds
25 Joe Morgan - Reds
11 Carl Yastrzemski - Red Sox
pack eight
50 Joe Mauer - Twins
22 Kosuke Fukudome - Cubs
74 Luke Hochevar - Royals
60 Whitey Ford - Yankees
IMPRESSIONS
Design: A-
They named this set well, because these are Masterpieces. Most of the paintings aren't as good as the 2007 set, but there are only a couple that I didn't think looked that good. The Verlander card is my favorite due to the detail of the scoreboard during his no hitter. Fantastic. I am on the fence on the textured front. It just doesn't feel like a card, but I can overlook it because at least it's different.
Inserts / Hits: D-
This is not the product for hit seekers, at least not the blasters. I am not aware of any insert sets other than parallels in this set, but I don't think there are any. I will say one thing about the (usually ignored on this site) Yankee Stadium Legacy cards in this blaster. I was not bothered by them one bit because they did not replace a regular card. These types of basically uncompletable sets only bother me if they impede my attempt to collect something else.
Value: B
Not bad, nothing great popped out other than the Ryan short print (which looks great in its rainbow goodness). But there were some good cards and I feel like I go my money's worth out of this. And when all is said and done, that's all I am looking for.
Rox in the Box: 1
Well I missed out on the Holliday to finish this set, but it's not horrible or anything. I got 1 Rockie out of 32 cards, that's right where it should be considering there are 30 teams. I was hoping for the Holliday, but I did not expect it.
Will I Collect This Set: F
As good as this set is, it really just isn't my style. I have always thought card collectors fell into one of two main categories, photography lovers and stats lovers. I am more the latter, but I am not a crazy new school sabermetrics fanatic. But when I started collecting the numbers fascinated me more than the pictures. This is a set ideal for the photography/art lovers though.
Overall: B
This is great set for what it is. I would never want a flagship set to be like this with all the retired players and funky design, but for a side set this isn't bad at all. Just like with 2008 UD Timeline, I was right on the fence for collecting this set, but the short prints decided it for me again. Even though I am not going to pursue this set, I would buy a (discounted) blaster again just for the fun of seeing these cards in person.
