Trade List > Baseball > 2008

The following cards are available for trade. If you see anything that interests you, please feel free to drop me an email.

Allen & Ginter:

A&G Back Minis:
249. Serena Williams, Tennis

Bowman: 6, 8, 11 (2), 26, 47, 99, 132, 146, 155, 183

Gold:
21. Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays
100. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

Prospects:
BP6. Glenn Gibson, Tampa Bay Rays
BP38. Mike Brantley, Milwaukee Brewers
BP43. Luke Montz, Washington Nationals
BP87. Matt Rizzotti, Philadelphia Phillies

Chrome Prospects:
BCP73. Jason Fernandez, Oakland Athletics
BCP91. Sean Danielson, St. Louis Cardinals
BCP98. Aneury Rodriguez, Colorado Rockies
BCP106. Jose Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals

Gold Prospects:
BP107. Jason Stephens, New York Yankees

Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects: BDP11, BDP32, BDP37, BDP41, BDP45, BDP51

Prospects:
BDPP34. Brett Hunter, Oakland Athletics
BDPP35. Tim Federowicz, Boston Red Sox
BDPP37. Logan Schafer, Milwaukee Brewers
BDPP44. Bryan Shaw, Arizona Diamondbacks
BDPP56. Anthony Capra, Oakland Athletics
BDPP64. Bobby Lanigan, Minnesota Twins

Gold:
BDP44. Edgar Gonzalez, San Diego Padres
BDP50. Jai Miller, Florida Marlins

Gold Prospects:
BDPP103. Gerardo Parra, Arizona Diamondbacks

Bowman Chrome Draft Picks and Prospects: 24, 50

Prospects:
BDPP15. Niko Vasquez, St. Louis Cardinals
BDPP37. Logan Schaffer, Milwaukke Brewers

Refractors:
BDP43. Clayton Richard, Chicago White Sox

Donruss Threads: 3, 8, 45, 61, 66

Stadium Club: 1, 4, 7, 11, 13, 14, 17, 22, 23, 24 (079/999), 25 (2), 26, 29, 31 (2), 32 (2), 33 (582/999), 34, 37 (2), 38, 41, 42 (003/999), 43, 46, 50, 52 (2), 53, 56 (3), 58, 59, 60 (572/999), 62, 65, 67, 68 (2), 70, 71, 73 (2), 76 (2), 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 88 (2), 89, 92, 101, 104, 105 - Variant (100/999) (337/999), 109, 114 (471/999), 114 - Variant (098/999), 115, 116, 117 - Variant (944/999), 125, 129 (286/999), 130, 131, 133, 135 - Variant (177/999), 142, 143, 147 - Variant (847/999), 148 - Variant (163/999), 149, 150 - Variant (367/999), 175. Jed Lowrie (RC Autograph), 182. Nick Evans (RC Autograph), Checklist (2)

First Day Issue:
3. Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals
12. Miguel Tejada, Houston Astros
18. Michael Young, Texas Rangers
27. Carlos Lee, Houston Astros
33. Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks (2)
36. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
48. John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels
51. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
57. Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros
60. Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays
72. Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
78. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
81. Lance Berkman, Houston Astros

Topps: 190 (2), 341, 354, 397, 409, 426, 460, 470, 495, 503, 504, 526, 527, 570, 575, 579, 598, 622, 637, 644, 546

Topps Updates and Highlights: UH80, UH167 (2)

Topps Co-Signers: 81

Topps Heritage: 36, 68, 70, 130, 148, 158, 204, 207, 222, 239, 258, 274, 368, 403, 478

Black Box:
79. Mark Loretta, Houston Astros
195. Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox
347. Chuck James, Atlanta Braves

Upper Deck Series One: 5 (2), 7 (2), 8, 10, 11, 12, 18, 21, 30, 31 (2), 32, 35, 43, 44 (2), 46 (2), 47, 49, 60 (2), 63, 64, 69, 70, 71, 74, 89, 90, 99 (2), 102, 108, 109 (2), 110, 122, 125, 129, 130, 140, 141, 147, 148, 149, 156, 164, 171, 173, 177, 180, 186, 187, 188, 190, 195, 200, 208, 224, 225, 226, 227, 229, 234, 239, 241, 242, 247, 255, 258, 263, 265, 268, 273, 278, 281, 291, 294, 299, 303 (2), 305 (2), 306 (2), 312, 314, 315, 321, 324, 325, 327, 330 (2), 332 (2), 339, 341 (2), 348, 350, 351, 359, 360, 361, 363 (2), 366, 368 (2), 369 (2), 375, 378 (2), 387, 388, 390, 395, 396

Presidential Predictors:
PP-1. Rudy Giuliani (Jeffrey Maier)
PP-9. Jon Stewart/Bill O'Reilly (Wild Card)

Starquest (Common):
SQ-4. Ken Griffey Jr., Cincinnati Reds
SQ-7. Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies
SQ-10. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves
SQ-11. Carlos Lee, Houston Astros
SQ-16. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
SQ-20. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
SQ-24. Mark Teixeira, Atlanta Braves
SQ-25. Frank Thomas, Toronto Blue Jays
SQ-30. Michael Young, Texas Rangers

Starquest (Un-Common):
SQ-2. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
SQ-15. Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres
SQ-28. Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks

Starquest (Rare):
SQ-8. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
SQ-13. Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers

Upper Deck Series Two: 407, 414, 418, 424, 443, 454, 456, 459, 464, 465 (2), 473, 489, 495, 501, 511 (2), 513, 515, 519 (2), 531, 532, 534, 541, 542, 559 (2), 562, 563, 574, 577, 589, 596, 603 (2), 606, 607, 623, 628, 630, 631, 636, 641, 642, 654, 655 (2), 656 (2), 659, 666 (2), 669, 676, 677, 683 (2), 685, 695, 697, 701, 718, 728, 732, 746, 748 (2), 757, 758, 760, 763 (2), 765, 767, 771, 779, 783, 792

Gold Parallel:
528. Tony Pena, Kansas City Royals (13/99)

Hit Brigade:
HB-13. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
HB-14. Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies

Junior National Team Blue Autograph & Jersey:
USJR-MG. Mychal Givens, USA (104/300)
USJR-TW. Tyler Wilson, USA (007/235)

National Team Autographed Patch:
USA-BH. Brett Hunter, USA (68/99) [White swatch with red stiching in the middle and a small bit of blue patch on the edge]

Presidential Running Mate Predictors:
PP-10. The War in Iraq (Barrack Obama/John McCain)
PP-11. Taxes (Barrack Obama/John McCain)

Starquest (Common):
SQ-35. C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland Indians
SQ-40. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox
SQ-58. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

Starquest (Un-Common):
SQ-42. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Starquest (Rare):
SQ-55. Pedro Martinez, New York Mets

Starquest (Ultra Rare):
SQ-53. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

USA Junior Team:
USJR-5. Jeff Malm, USA

Upper Deck Goudey: 1 (2), 4, 6 (2), 10, 12, 13 (2), 20, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 37, 38, 39, 51, 53, 56, 58, 62, 63, 64, 65 (2), 69, 72, 79, 80, 81, 82 (2), 84, 86, 88, 89, 90 (2), 91, 98, 102, 103, 105 (2), 106, 107, 108 (2), 109, 110 (2), 111, 115, 116, 117, 124, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134 (2), 136 (2), 141, 142, 143 (2), 155, 157, 160, 162, 167, 168, 169, 176, 181, 182, 183, 185, 186, 188 (2), 192, 193, 194, 195, 199

Short Prints:
204. Carl Yastrzemski
211. Al Kaline
221. Reggie Jackson
225. Steve Carlton
226. Tony Gwynn (2)
228. Bob Gibson (2)
233. James Madison
234. James Monroe
238. Ulysses S. Grant
244. William McKinley
246. James K. Polk
250. James Buchanan
251. Albert Pujols
255. Chase Utley
257. David Wright
259. Hanley Ramirez
261. Jake Peavy
266. Matt Holiday
267. Prince Fielder
274. Tom Seaver
276. Bruce Jenner
288. Julius Irving
291. Chase Utley
296. Julie Foudy
300. Michael Jordan

Black Mini:
280. Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies "Sports Royalty" (20/34)

Red Mini:
252. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees "Black and White"
269. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies "Black and White"
273. Amy Van Dyken "Sport Royalty"

Goudey Graphs:
GG-EE. Edwin Encarnacion, Cincinnati Reds
GG-FC. Fausto Carmona, Cleveland Indians
GG-JG. Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles
GG-JP. Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox
GG-KJ. Kelly Johnson, Atlanta Braves
GG-NS. Nick Swisher, Oakland Athletics

Goudey Memorabilia:
M-HO. Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres

Hit Parade of Champions:
HPC-2. Don Mattingly, New York Yankees
HPC-3. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
HPC-17. Lebron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
HPC-26. Roger Clemens, New York Yankees

Upper Deck Masterpieces: 13, 14, 15, 29, 47, 59, 63, 67, 74, 75, 77, 81

Black Border:
113. Steve Carlton, Philadelphia Phillies

Captured on Canvas:
CC-CF. Carlton Fisk, Chicago White Sox (White Swatch)

Upper Deck Spectrum: 22, 23, 82

Upper Deck Sweet Spot: 23, 27, 42, 90, 92

Sweet Swatch Memorabilia:
SS-NM. Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles

Upper Deck Timeline: 50

Prospecting Gone Wrong: Grant Desme

Normally it's an injury or simple lack of elite-level skill that causes a prospect to leave baseball. As of today you can add a new reason: priesthood. Grant Desme, a 23-year-old prospect in the Oakland A's system has retired to join the ranks of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict approves.

The A's second-round pick in the 2007 draft, Desme was the only 30-30 player in the Minors last year, racking up 31 homers and 40 stolen bases for Kane County and Stockton. Desme also struck out 148 times.

Desme has appeared in a handful of Minor League sets (including autographs):2007 TriStar Prospects Plus, 2008 Just Autographs, 2008 TriStar PROjections and, most recently, 2009 Donruss Elite Extra Edition. I wouldn't be surprised if Desme gets a bit of a following due to the move, but anyone holding out on him becoming a star are bound to be disappointed.

Although not a Catholic myself, I've always admired athletes for sticking to what they believe in, Muhammad Ali being the biggest example. Would Jose Canseco fit in this category too, in some twisted way?

Upper Deck Offers Appeasement for Upper Deck Icons Redemptions

Upper Deck has announced via Facebook that they're tossing collectors a bone for the wait on their 2009 2008 Upper Deck Icons Football redemptions. It seems that they've got some Letterman cards ready to ship out and have added a little something extra: one of six exclusive Brett Favre cards. Yup, six of them. And from the two they've shown, they look pretty swanky.

I'm glad they're doing this. Redemptions still suck but what better way to make them a little less sucky than with some swanky free cards.

If, for some reason you're not connected with Upper Deck on Facebook, they've been offering lots of good info.

(Edit to note that these are 2008 redemptions. What the heck, Upper Deck? Favre can play for the Jets, retire, make a Sears commercial, unretire, sign with the Vikings and  lead the team to an amazing start before you can get some unautographed Letterman cards produced. That's a production issue for the ages.)

Box Break: Razor Ink Vault (Part 1)

The demise of Inkworks has meant deals (or softer prices, depending on how you look at it) for collectors as their excess stock hits the market. A couple of dealers on eBay have a lot of the stock as well as Razor, who bought up a bunch of autographs and, guessing from their Ink Vault release, a lot of unopened material as well.

Ink Vault marks Razor's second release heavily featuring Inkworks autographs. The first, Ink Archives, offered collectors one random autograph per pack in an encapsulated holder. As tempting as it was, I stayed away largely because of the $15-20 price tag per pack and some uncertainty over the level of autographs found inside, especially after it was discovered a partner of Razor's was selling singles of some of the best cards Inkworks made over the years.

Ink Archives went over well and Razor upped the ante with Ink Vault, which offers a box-within-a-box gimmick. First off, each sealed box contains three random Inkworks autographs placed in a top loader with a Razor seal. The box also contains an unopened non-sport box, most likely of which will contain further "hits." At first I figured this would be a way to get rid of a lot of junk and even at $50 per box, it would be something of a letdown.

But then I started looking at the breaks. The boxes, which I figured would be mostly old Inkworks retail boxes like Tomb Raider and Godzilla turned out to be fairly solid. Razor also emphasized that not all of the boxes were from Inkworks. I've seen others such as Batman Archives from Rittenhouse and Star Wars and Indiana Jones boxes from Topps.

As for the autographs, the breaks seemed to be yielding better results than Ink Archives. Of the three autographs, there appeared to be at least one that I wouldn't lump in as a "common." Combine the good liklihood of a solid box and at least one autograph worth getting excited about and I decided to give a box a try.

Here's what I landed:

First the autographs:

Alien vs. Predator

A6. Ian Whyte as Scar (the Predator)

This is a set I've been planning on tackling. I love the Alien series (although I do not acknowledge the existance of Alien Resurrection) and there's not a lot of pricey cards in the set. I'm very pleased with this one.

Small Soldiers

S4. Stan Winston

Outside of Ray Harryhausen, Winston was probably one of the best known special effects artists in history. He sadly passed away in June, 2008. I already had a Winston autograph from Terminator 3 but I like this one much better. Plus I already have the Kirsten Dunst from the set so I might have to track down the couple of others that I'm missing one day.

 

 Smallville: Season Three

A17. Camille Mitchell as Sheriff Nancy Adams

I made it through half a season of Smallville and couldn't take any more. Of the three autographs in the box, this one definitely goes onto the trade list if anybody is interested. 

With those three autographs, I'd be fairly happy. But there's still the box inside the box. So no matter what it is, I consider it a bonus in this case. And it's a good thing too because here's my box:

 The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

There is one card in this set that I want but the rest I would love to avoid as much as possible. The box does promise an additional autograph (no redemptions here) and a Pieceworks costume card.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Razor Ink Vault box break. 

Can Someone Please Explain 2008 Stadium Club Baseball to Me?

All right, so I'm slowly plugging away at my 2008 Stadium Club Baseball set but there seems to be way too many weird things going on. Can someone please correct me if I'm wrong and clarify the base set to me.

Here's what I know:

• Cards divisible by 3 (3, 6, 9, 12, 45, 90, etc.) are #'d/999. Does this hold true for the RC's as well?
• First Day Issue parallels of cards divisible by 3 (3, 6, 9, 12, 45, 90, etc.) are much easier to come by than the rest.
• RCs (#101 - 150) have variations. Are they vertical and horizontal?

Seriously, this is the worst set up of a set I've ever seen. There should be no confusion building a simple base set. And who's stupid idea was it to shrot print every third card? It truly messes up the look when you try to put the cards in a binder.

Masterpieces and More

Thanks to Eric at the Pettite Pursuit (who is partial to Andy Pettite) and Dan at Saints of the Cheap Seats (who cheers for Cleveland and pursues Omar Vizquel, amongst others), my set of 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces is dwindling. Yay. Both sent packages northward during my hiatus that were waiting in the mailbox. Although not nearly as iconic as the 2007 set, this is still a beautiful set - usually.

Although I'm sad that it doesn't appear to be in the works as a full-fledged set in 2009, I know I wouldn't mind if Upper Deck limited it to an insert set like they are with their 2009-10 Upper Deck Basketball set.

Both packages also included other goodies. Eric sent along some Canuck-ian ball players. I don't know why, but 2008 UD X is kind of growing on me. Only a little. As in a smidge. 

Dan included hits from this set,

 

this set, 

 

this set,

 

and this set.

Thanks again Dan and Eric!

Random Pack Breaks: 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum

Other than a couple of one-time celebrity autographs and a couple of Canadians I've received in trades, I hadn't touched a pack of Upper Deck Spectrum until a recent re-pack. I'll tear in and share my thoughts afterward.

22. Jermaine Dye, White Sox

82. Tim Linecum, Giants

23. Jim Thome, White Sox

Yankee Stadium Legacy 143. Herb Pennock

Yuck. They might be shiny, but definitely not in a good way.The blue and the smoky blacks just aren't doing it for me. It's all kind of stuck in the in-between of low end and high end (simply because it shines). The design looks like something out of SPx, another brand that appears dead.

I know I've only busted one pack, but Costco only gives me a little paper cup of ground pork and potato salad to make my decision on whether to buy or not. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't piss away $80-100 on this stuff when it came out last year.

The celebrity autograph gimmick is what sets this brand apart. I say if Upper Deck's going to continue it, do so but combine it with Piece of History and merge the two crappy brands into one, bringing over it's great idea but horribly executed movie costume cards.

Moment in History Passes With Death of Millvina Dean, Last Titanic Survivor

Millvina Dean, the last survivor of the Titanic, has passed away at the age of 97. Much will be written in the coming hours and days about the fateful voyage of the 'unsinkable' liner and its place in history. While the sinking of the enormous ship and the tragedy that went with it is very saddening, I'd argue that the Titanic has become just as much a part of pop culture as it has become a part of history.

From T-shirts to books to 3D puzzles to the highest grossing film of all-time, Titanic-mania is a historical brand up there with Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana. It's pretty creepy how tragedy solidifies our collective imaginations. Non-sport cards have not been immune to Titanic-mania, especially since teenage girls first fell in love with Leonardo Dicaprio.

It was only after the film came out and was a huge success that Inkworks produced a set based on the Titanic movie in 1998. Available only as a factory set, the 25 movie cards came in a fancy steamer trunk. The set was "limited" to 10,000 copies and included a certificate of authenticity. It turns out 10,000 isn't all that limited when it comes to card collecting so the set can still be tracked down. Buy It Now prices on eBay have it going for around $30-40.

Another closed non-sport producer, Dart Flipcards, went the historical route for their 1998 set. The 72-card base set features a mix of photographs and artwork on the card fronts and informational text on the back. Inserts included six die-cut gold-foil White Star cards inserted 1:18 packs. Two autographs, one from Dean (pictured above) and one from Ralph White, the late filmmaker who documented the discovery of the Titanic in 1985, were inserted at a rate of 1:246 packs (one in seven boxes). Factory sets also included four bonus cards. Dart made three promo cards as well as four show exclusive promos to help generate buzz for the set.

The Titanic hasn't escaped the pop culture craze that has invaded sports sets either. 2008 Topps Mayo Football included a card of the ship in their mini inserts dedicated to famous ships.

I Broke Down and Bought My First Razor Cut Signature Card

After swearing I'd not buy a Razor cut signature card, I ended up going and doing just that when I spent $25 (about 25% of the original pack price) on a single from a legendary actor/director from 2008 Razor Cut Signature: Encore Edition.

The card in question:

 

That'd be Warren Beatty, star of this

this

  this

 

and this

The card features a check for $12 and change from 1975 with a clean and full signature. I love Bonnie and Clyde and Bugsy and look up to Beatty for being a part of the anti-establishment film movement that revitalized Hollywood in the late 60s and early 70s. To that end I've wanted his autograph for a while. At $25 and little question about the authenticity given its being a check and I thought this was quite a little bargain, even if it was from a product I didn't want any part of.

Looking at the card and it's easy to see how Razor gets around licensing. Not only is Beatty's picture not on the card, there's not even any mention of the name. That's saved for the Beckett holder that jails the card, not allowing anyone to even handle it.

So while it's not my first choice for autographs, this is an exception I don't at all mind making if it means I can have an affordable Beatty autograph in my collection.

Since When Were Football Cards Used to Sell Liquor?

I was just browsing eBay and saw the following:

The card is from 2008 Upper Deck Icons Football and features none other than Lando Calrissian, Billy Dee Williams. Check out the inscription on the card, "Drink Colt 45 Malt Liquor!" Wow! I know inscriptions are being used to jazz things up a bit, but promoting heavy beverages?

I'm actually wondering if this was signed through the mail or at a show after the fact. I guess I could email the seller and check. Either way, is such an inscription a sign that maybe Lando has been living in Cloud City a little too long?

One Last Go With Inkworks

A little more than a week ago I received what will in all likelihood be my final pair of redemptions from Inkworks. I bought a couple boxes of The Spirit a couple months ago and by the time I finally got around to sending them off, Inkworks had announced they were shutting their doors.

Crap!

Luckily they were still honoring the redemptions for The Spirit and will continue to do so until the announced expiration date of June 30, 2009. Yes!

The cards arrived less than a month after I sent them from the Great White North. That's astounding considering the fact it often takes envelopes a good couple of weeks to go one way to and from the US from here.

I was a little concerned with the plain white envelope they were sent in, but then again I wasn't lucky enough to pull a Samuel L. Jackson. Instead I got the following pair:

 

  

The first is Gabriel Macht who played the lead character. If I were a big fan of the movie this would be cool, but it looks pretty bad. Macht has been in a few movies here and there but nothing that gets me too excited.

The second is one of the ones from the set that I was really looking forward to. Dan Lauria might not sound like a familiar name and he's not really all that famous. Save for one role: Kevin's dad on the classic TV show The Wonder Years. As I continue to lament the loss of Inkworks, let's listen to a little Joe Cocker.

 

Farewell, hole-punched Inkworks redemption card.

Razor's Cut Signature Mistakes Didn't Start With the Presidents

It's been a few days since word broke that there have been questionable signatures in Razor's Cut Signatures: Oval Office Edition set. Autograph Alert has also provided an update to the story where Razor owner Brian Gray states that he's willing to go to great measures to ensure that things are made good.

But this isn't the first time the authenticity of Razor's cut signatures have come into question. Back around the release of the company's first entertainment release 2008 Cut Signature Edition. A user on Non-Sport Update's Card Talk message board brought to light a potentially fake Carrie Fisher (aka Princess Leia from Star Wars) that was in fact signed by her mother, Debbie Reynolds. You can read the thread here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Here's the image of the card with the questionable autograph:

And here's a signed photo that Carrie Fisher herself points out the fake signature, which the photo was originally signed with:

Wouldn't you know that the non-sport realm is a pretty tight-knit group and the owner of the Fisher card happened to be reading the thread. So was Razor's Gray. Gray promised to make good and the card's owner, Tom Wright of The Wright Stuff Collectibles took him up on the offer. I contacted Wright and he said that he and Gray agreed two packs of the more than $100-per-pack product was a reasonable replacement. Wright said that he pulled both a Richard Gere 1-of-1 and a President George Bush Sr. from his packs. So it's good to see that Razor does have a track record of following through on this questionable signatures.

That said, when you're charging as much as Razor is for these ultra high-end cards, extra steps for authentication need to be taken. Gray needs to increase the transparency of the sources of the autographs. I, for one, will not even consider buying any of these sets (either in pack form or on the secondary market) until the authenication process is noted on the card itself. A "Razor guarantee" has now been proven potentially wrong on more than one occasion.

So on the one hand, kudos to Brian Gray for making good. But really, should these mistakes have happened in the first place?

In the Game's Special Offer With a Handful of Autographs From Canada's World Junior Champs

In the Game has announced a special "Super Box" offer to coincide with Canada's five-peat at the World Junior Hockey Championships on Monday.

For $79.95 you get 30 packs of 2008-09 Heroes & Prospects Hockey and one of nine specially stamped autographed cards from Canada's gold medal-winning roster. Here's the autograph breakdown:

• John Tavares (30)
• Thomas Hickey (50)
• Alex Pietrangeo (50)
• P.K. Subban (50)
• Jordan Eberle (40)
• Tyler Ennis (50)
• Angelo Esposito (50)
• Zack Boychuk (50)
• Cody Hodgson (30)
  

A rundown of the math shows a total of 400 Super Boxes will be produced.

Here's a link to the order form.

A Swift Kick in the Nuts: 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Baseball

For men, there's few feelings worse than a kick to the crotch. In fact, I can't think of anything right now. I'm just having flashbacks to the time when I was taking a break playing from a round of tennis sitting on a ledge and watching my friend practice serving. And with one swift swing of his racquet I watched the ball quickly land right at the top of the tee with just the right amount of top spin. From there the world went into slow motion. When it regained speed again I was on the ground, curled up in a ball with tears dripping down both my cheeks and a sharp pain in my stomach.

So let's see how much of a kick in the nuts my spontaneous pack of 2008 Sweet Spot Baseball was.

Price: $24.99 (Cdn.) for eight cards (so, a little over $3.00 per card).

 

  

  

 

The verdict:

This is why I don't buy the fancy packs. Sure, the players on the base cards are all pretty good (actually, I'm really digging seeing Jason Bay on the Red Sox) but the promised "hit" is a plain gray Markakis jersey.

Also the base design mixes the full bleed photography of 2008 Upper Deck Baseball with the embossed stiching of Upper Deck's old Ovation sets and finishes it off with the gold medallion from the 1995 Ultra Baseball parallels. Mashed potatoes, cherry pie and chocolate covered almonds all taste great but you don't go mixing them together. The same theory should apply here as well.

It's been probably a decade since I bought anything "high end" like this - if $25 is nowadays - and it'll be another decade at least most likely before I splurch again. I would have much rather had five packs of Goudey and had a small stack to put toward my set. Oh, well. Sometimes a kick in the nuts is nothing but your own fault.

Growing Up on "Skid Row"

When I was ten, I was something of a geek. Heck, I'm 30 now so I guess that means I've got at least two decades of geekdom under my belt. The big difference between myself then and now: acid wash jeans. Thank goodness I outgrew those two pairs of pants. I just hope some poor kid didn't have to wear them as hand-me-downs.

My one saving grace at the time was that I knew what was cool in music. Guns 'n Roses were relatively new to the scene but my big love was for Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" follow-up, "Bad Medicine." I owe a lot of my love for rock to my sister. She was constantly leading a quiet rebellion in the backseat of our family car reading Hit Parader and Circus and getting me into the hair bands like Poison and Motley Crew.

But Bon Jovi was king in our mainstream metal mansion. So when it was announced the band was coming to Vancouver (a mere ferry ride away), my sister determined it was her teenage destiny to make the trip. She had no cash so buying tickets was not an option. That left the radio contest. But she was already the underdog as it took a long-distance call to get through to LG73, the AM station that had the monopoly on the radio giveaway tickets. One would assume the lightning redialling required to win such contests would be hampered by the longer connection time.

Apparently not. One afternoon a round of screams came from my sister's room. She'd not only gotten through, but somehow she was caller 73. She had the tickets. Now it was time to convince the mother that she was old enough to go to a concert.

After a discussion she was allowed to go, but there was a provision. One that delighted this then 10-year-old who longed to torture his sister whenever the chance arose.

"You can go," my mom told her, "but your brother gets first dibs on the second ticket."

My mind started racing. I may have be new to the double digits in years lived but there was some simple and delicious logic here. How better, as a 10-year-old, could I destroy my sister's hopes at coolness than by being her chaperone to the concert of the year?

"You bet I'm going, mom!"

A few weeks past and my grandma took my sister and I on the ferry trip to Vancouver. My sister spent at least an hour getting ready. I guess the concept of craddle robbing hadn't been grasped yet. To this day I think she believed she was going to not only be picked out of the crowd, but be swept away and married by Jon Bon Jovi. I had my doubts and here's why - she's in the photo below (I won't say who, but a hint is "glasses") taken less than a year before the concert.

Even if it was 1988, Jon Bon Jovi was not going to marry someone wearing teal tights. So while my sister was busy getting on her dress, blow drying the hair and caking on the make-up, I was sitting in the hotel room watching TV in my track pants. I was ready to go.

The concert itself was awesome. Our seats sucked - nose bleeds facing the speakers with little view of the stage other than a sliver of the front. But the show ruled. They were filming footage for the music video of "Lay Your Hands On Me" so there was a big camera in the back of the floor section. In a surprise, toward the end of the night Aerosmith made an unannounced appearance and sang "Walk This Way." It wasn't quite the same without Run DMC, but Steven Tyler did do an awesome back flip.

What stood out for me was the "discovery" of a new band nobody at my school had heard of - Skid Row. Fronted by an ironic Sebastian Bach, they were the opening act for the night. Skid Row was still a few months away from making it big on the charts. They would later go on to have such hits as "18 and Life" and, well, that's about it.

Debuting toward the end of the hair metal movement, Skid Row never found much success as a band beyond their first album. I remember hearing about them here and there, but nothing compared to the time I saw them live wearing a pair of worn out K-Mart track pants while my sister stood next to me screaming her head off at the sliver of the stage we could see.

When I saw that Bach was signing for 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum's Spectrum of Stars, I knew one day I'd get one. I bid somewhat aggressively at first but soon saw the metal stars were very plentiful and there's only some much nostalgia to go around. I sat back patiently for a few months and eventually found one for less than a price of a pack.

Bach looks a lot older than I remember him from back in the day. But the hair's still there. Since his Skid Row days he's been busy, performing on Broadway, guest starring on the best Canadian show since Beachercombers and The Littlest Hobo - Trailer Park Boys, and becoming a whore for reality TV shows.

A few years ago I learned a revelation that I wish weren't true. I was merely a pawn for a complex game of teenage cliquiness hatched by my mom. My sister had two best friends at the time. If she took a friend, she'd be forced to choose to pick between the two. Enter the brother card. By "forcing" my sister to take me, the choice would be unneccessary. The story was better when I got to be the boy in black KMart track pants getting a big win over my older sister. But still, when I die I can say I saw the front of the stage where the once great Skid Row performed.

Random Pack Breaks: 2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

I've got a little to say about this set, but first two packs worth of cards:

Pack One:

 

  

  

 

Pack Two:

 

  

  

 

 How the mighty have fallen. There was a time not too long ago when Bowman Draft Picks was ripped by the case. It offered rookies galore in both basic and shiny chrome finishes as well as rookie autographs. It was a prospectors dream. But when the new rookie rules came along to simplify things, products like this have made it more confusing.

So while half the cards in my 2008 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects may not carry the ugly rookie card logo, they sure do look like rookies to me: MLB licensing, team logos, Major League  uniforms. They're just numbered a little different and they're missing the Players Association logo. I haven't cracked a Beckett in about five years so I have no idea if they list these as rookies, but when I go to eBay and see them listed as rookies, I don't necessarily disagree. And even if they're not, they certainly seem a step above the minor league issues from Tristar, Razor and Donruss.

Even without the confusion over what is and isn't a rookie card, this set is a bungled mess. Or rather all the sets within the set. When Bowman Draft Picks first launched you had your Bowman cards, Bowman Chrome and the appropriate parallels like Gold and Refractors. It was pretty easy to keep track of. Now you've got all those plus the Prospects, their Chrome counterparts and their parallels.

In my two packs I saw they following sets:

• Bowman
• Bowman Chrome
• Bowman Prospects
• Bowman Chrome Prospects

Yes, by "Beckett definition" the prospects cards are an insert set. But I'm sure most of us can agree that they're the selling point for the Bowman brand now. They're not "rookies" by technicality and corporate jargon. So two me, there's four different sets to build from a seven-card pack. And at least one of those cards appears to be set aside for a parallel. I'm fine with two sets in a single product. But this is a little much. I'm confused and don't know who 90 percent of these guys are and I doubt many of the 'prospects' - who seem to share rounds five through eight in common - will pan out to be much.

I'll be tucking these aside for a rainy day a few years from now to see if any of these guys turned into stars but otherwise my pack buying for Bowman Draft is done. Hopefully Topps will see that the demand is no longer there also (I'm guessing this from the stagnant wax prices on everything Bowman baseball related when compared to the stuff from five years ago prior to the new rookie card rules where prices for Bowman Draft wax has appreciated more than most products.

Although Topps may have an advantage with their ability to make "prospect cards" because of their grandfather clause, but they'd be doing the hobby a favor by sticking to the idea that nobody gets a card - prospect or otherwise - until they play a Major League game. There's only one competitor left and the livelihood of Topps is no longer dependant on Bowman. The hobby would benefit from collectors agreeing on what rookies are and we'd probably end up spending more because we'd be chasing rookie while they were establishing themselves rather than going back and tracking down the cards three to five years after they were issued. It works in hockey so why can't it work here?