Upper Deck finally has a second release out and...... it looks exactly the same as their first one. Well, not exactly the same, but close enough for government work. I've yet to find a Heritage blaster of any type anywhere so I grabbed a couple of packs of this instead.
167 Ian Snell
134 John Lannan
101 Rafael Betancourt
247 Jorge Posada
214 Mark Grudzielanek
180 Ian Kinsler
282 Bill Murphy RC
56 Jim Edmonds
265 Harvey Garcia RC
SQ-19 Jose Reyes Starquest Green
Anyone who bought First edition last year will remember that it was different from regular Upper Deck in two ways: it had no foil stamping and it was printed on a matte stock. This year's set still has no foil, but they changed back to the glossy stock which is a shame. Last year it was a distinct set from big boy UD, now it looks like a cheap knockoff. The checklist doesn't appear to be much different from the main set either, although I can't find an official checklist to compare yet. It looks like they cut out the checklists, highlights and a few base cards which unfortunately wipes out a bunch of the stars from series one. This pack wasn't all that great, with 300 cards you'd think they could do better than John Lannan and Mark Grudzielanek. The StarQuest cards are awesome though. To differentiate them from the StarQuest cards in the main set, they made the cards green. REALLY green. Jealous leprechaun green. Kermit the Frog with food poisoning green. The Chicago River tomorrow morning green. These cards are GREEN. I kinda like it too, it's just as gaudy as the horrible Opening Day red, but it's a more aesthetically pleasing shade of obnoxious. They fit in with the silver, gold and blue of the main set too. I haven't seen any uncommon or rares from First Edition, so I should probably be very afraid though. Fluorescent orange and hot pink may be in my collecting future.
Dayf - I think we shop the same Walmart - Johnson Ferry? We were there Saturday during the tornado warnings. My 7 year old son saw these packs and, thinking they were UD Series 1, was excited they were only $.99. I did not see the packs until we made it to the car. Quite disappointing when expecting Series 1. On its own seems like a decent inexpensive set. Better design than similarly priced Topps product.
ReplyDeleteI just dropped $10 (ten packs)on these cards with a clearly mistaken expectation that it would be different than the Series 1 set. I agree that the only thing cool is the green Starquest cards. I know I should have researched it a little bit before jumping the gun on this purchase. I guess the set is smaller because the numbers of some of the players are different than Series 1 (Kyle Kendrick, for example, I know had a smaller card number on the First Edition than Series 1).
ReplyDeleteOne cool thing I got though was another card in the Yankee Stadium history set (game #6091 - Tino Martinez), bringing my total up to 7 for that.
I am taking a break from 2008 sets until the second series come around for UD and Topps. For now it's ebay time and building my Matt Schaub (and occassional Phillies) collection
Do the First Edition Cards use the same photos as Series One? Also, does Topps Opening Day use the same photos as Topps Series one?
ReplyDeletethejaw - base cards from UD 1st Ed. and Topps O.D. both use the same photos as their respective series 1.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I don't see any need to buy those since I have both Series 1 sets. What a waste.
ReplyDeleteI also bought 10 packs of the First Edition at the local Target. UD has had these First Edition versions for a few years so I knew they'd be pretty close to the originals. All of the StarQuest cards I got were commons. I suspect the other grades will be hard to get in this set. And I don't plan to buy anymore. All I wanted was a sample.
ReplyDeleteFor a buck a pack thought, they are pretty nice cards.
Cliff
www.capewood.blogspot.com
DaveH - I'm usually at the Acworth or Chastain Meadows Wally World, but I've been to the Johnson Ferry one before. They recently renovated to keep up with the Super Target down the street, right?
ReplyDeleteKevin - That's cool, I wasn't sure if they actually inserted the Yankee cards in the packs. I bought five and didn't get any.
TheJaw - The Miguel Cabrera card in Opening Day is different, it's not photoshopped and has him in a Marlins uni. The rest looked the same, but I've only got two packs. I think there is also some players from series two in the Opening day set, but I'm not sure who.