Friday 28 October 2011

2008 Upper Deck Series 2 rack pack

A great deal was said at the time of its unveiling in 2008 but the photography was a big plus on this set. It outweighed Topps big time for effort however it still didn't stop the demise of Upper Deck a short while later. The photography is certainly crisp and clear, all cards appear to be action shots and, the entire front of the card is taken up with photo. I think they refer to it as full bleed. Great work from Upper Deck. This set was definitely better than some of the others Upper Deck offered in the same year, X, Heroes, Documentary or Timeline and cannot be compared to Goudey or Masterpieces as they were aimed at different sort of collector.
There was a whopping 799 cards in this set, of which 32 are the Red Sox. They are:
221 Tim Wakefield
222 Daisuke Matsuzaka
223 Julian Tavarez
224 Hideki Okajima
225 Manny Delcarmen
226 Doug Mirabelli
227 Dustin Pedroia
228 Mike Lowell
229 Manny Ramirez
230 Coco Crisp
309 Clay Buchholz RC
373 David Ortiz CL
384 Clay Buchholz HL
429 Josh Beckett
430 Jon Lester
431 Curt Schilling
432 Jonathan Papelbon
433 Jason Varitek
434 David Ortiz
435 Jacoby Ellsbury
436 Julio Lugo
437 Sean Casey
438 Kevin Youkilis
439 J.D. Drew
440 Alex Cora
736 Dustin Pedroia SH
744 Josh Beckett SH
745 Kevin Youkilis SH
747 Mike Lowell SH
773 Josh Beckett CL
786 David Ortiz SH
795 Josh Beckett SH
The rack pack Big B sent my way contains 36 cards, which includes 2 Diamond Collection exclusives.
The pack:
#405 Justin Upton D-backs (x2)
#424 Braian Roberts Orioles
#432 Jonathan Papelbon Red Sox
#448 Ronny Cedeno Cubs (x2)
#462 Carlos Quentin White Sox
#495 Ivan Rodriguez Tigers
#505 Mark Hendrickson Marlins
#508 Cody Ross Marlins
#517 Geoff Blum Astros
#527 Alex Gordon Royals
#535 John Lackey Angels
#547 Jonathan Broxton Dodgers
#555 Eric Gagne Brewers
#567 Craig Monroe Twins
#584 Ramon Castro Mets
#586 Mariano Rivera Yankees
#592 Shelley Duncan Yankees
#615 Matt Morris Pirates
#628 Khalil Greene Padres
#632 Micael Barrett Padres
#638 Randy Winn Giants
#648 Mike Morse Mariners
#707 Johnny Cueto Reds
#709 Scott Kazmir Bay Rays SH
#728 Wesley Wright Astros
#735 Derrek Lee Cubs SH
#748 Ryan Braun Brewers SH
#763 Indians checklist
#769 Padres checklist
#777 Tigers checklist
#789 Jimmy Rollins Phillies SH
#4456 Reggie Jackson YSL
#DC-10 James Shileds Bay Rays
#DC-11 Jarrod Saltalamacchia Rangers
A solo Red SoxThanks for those two packs Big B. I was beginning to forget how good it feels to open packs.

Thursday 27 October 2011

1989 Topps Big baseball cards 1st series

The Topps BIG baseball set is based very loosely on the 1956 Topps set. They are the same size and orientated landscape as were the '56 set. So could this be considered as a retro set?
Just like its 1988 counterpart it was released in 3 separate series. The 1988 released in 3 sets of 88 cards, however the 1989 set was much bigger and released in 3 sets of 110 cards. Series 1 being cards #1-110, series 2 cards #111-220 and the series 3 cards #221-330.
The packs contained 7 cards and were wrapped in cellophane.   
The Red Sox available from this set were:
Series 1
#18 Jim Rice
#42 Roger Clemens
#72 Rich Gedman
#97 Jody Reed
Series 2
#119 Rick Cerone
#142 Carlos Quintana
#169 Dennis Lamp
#193 Dwight Evans
#211 Mike Greenwell
Series 3
#222 Mike Smithson
#241 Wade Boggs
#259 Ellis Burks
#278 Marty Barrett
#296 Mike Boddicker
#316 Nick Esasky

This particular pack came from Big B at Waxaholic and contained:
#24 Carlton Fisk White Sox
#42 Roger Clemens Red Sox
#84 Fred Manrique White Sox
#90 Les Starker Twins
#93 Tino Martinez Mariners
#97 Jody Reed Red Sox
#106 Sid Bream Pirates

Wow 2 out of the possible 4 Red Sox in series 1, that is great odds.