2014 Upper Deck Golf

About 21 months ago, I made my very first post here at APTBNL. That pack was the 2012 release of this product. Today is the final round of the final major for 2014, so let's show off this year's version of UD golf cards.

Pretty much a Tiger world when it comes to Upper Deck and golf. He's the poster boy of every pack for the past many years. Very yellow pack this year. Not a lot going on, but don't be quick to judge simple. It works. Four cards to show, so let's have at it.

Same idea as the 2012 release, of a full color golfer infront of a faded out background. Nice leather texture/style in the bottom name panel. The name is in black, however. Only the logo and a couple thin lines are foiled - good job, UD.

About the big issue with the set is the same poses for all the base cards. Best I can tell. Though, not a lot of choices when you think about it. How about someone lining up a putt? Or maybe pulling a club out of the bag? Upset over a worm burner? Something...

Insert alert. At least we get something other than the player at the end of their swing following the flight of the ball. Kind of phoned in this design, though. Boring and amateurish.

W00t! Southpaw. It looks a little different, but not really. And the backs.

Recycled photo as usual, though you can see the background. Small bio paragraph, and then a little personal information. Weir needs to get a real job. 5'9" and only 155 pounds?? You are not making enough to eat on the tour, son.

2008 Upper Deck Red Sox Fan Pack

In 2008, Upper Deck came out with an interesting product, fan packs for the Indians, Yankees, and Red Sox (if anyone knows of others please let me know).

The first time I came across this kind of pack was in a repackage product from Wal-Mart.  My wife bought me one on ebay, and the other day I picked this pack up from Target.  In 3 packs, the collation is horrible, the players in this pack were represented in the others as well.
Upper Deck reprinted cards mainly from 2007 and with each set made subtle changes.  I have grouped these cards according to set.
2007 Upper Deck Series 1 and 2:

#590, David Ortiz (Series 2)
#580, Julian Tavarez (Series 2)
#73, Curt Schilling (Series 1)
#66, David Ortiz (Series 1)
#575, Hideki Okajima (Series 2)

#74, Jonathan Papelbon (Series 1)

#573, Josh Beckett (Series 2)

#66, Manny Ramirez (Series 1)

#76, Jon Lester (Series 1)

These nine cards are virtually identical to their 2007 counterparts, except for the fact that the reprints are printed on thinner card stock.   

I don't care much for the border.  Why is it only on two sides?

2008 Series 1:

#221, Tim Wakefield

#230, Coco Crisp

#222, Daisuke Matsuzaka

#229, Manny Ramirez
#224, Hideki Okajima

My guess is that this Fan Pack was produced before Series 2 came out, as I have never pulled anything from 2008 other than Series 1.  As much as I have compared these Fan Pack pack cards to the regular 2008 Series 1 cards, I find that there is no difference, except for thinner card stock in the Fan Pack cards.

This may be my favorite Upper Deck flagship set from the 2000's.  The full image, no border cards are great.  I miss these types of cards.

2007 MLB Artifacts:

#3, Manny Ramirez

#77, Daisuke Matsuzaka

Again, we have cards that are "reprints" with nothing different about them except for thinner card stock. By the way, I loathe the Artifacts set.  Anyone else feel the same way?

2007 Future Stars:

#14, Curt Schilling

#11, David Ortiz

#12, Manny Ramirez

Finally, the evidence of reprints can be seen.  With these particular Fan Pack cards, the green in the background is a darker tone and the foil is silver, as opposed to gold on the originals.  

This set always confused me.  The term "future stars" should be reserved for rookies and players who have been in the league less than 4-5 years.  Schilling had been playing for 19 years when this card came out.  His future in baseball was less than limited by that point.

SP Legendary Cuts:

#7, Cy Young

#9, Wade Boggs

#10, Carlton Fisk

There is a variation to these reprints that can be picked up with a keen eye: the foil is silver.  In the regular version of these cards, the foil is gold.  

I am conflicted about these cards.  I love the player selection, and it is great to see the great Cy Young as a Red Sox player.  However, the oval portrait style really limits the enjoyment of the card. 

2007 Masterpieces:

#59, Bobby Doerr

#5, Carlton Fisk

#25, Carl Yastrzemski

These happen to have the biggest difference between the originals and the reprints: the reprints are glossy as opposed to the canvas like cards in the original set.

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces is one of my favorite all-time base sets.  The image selection is great and the card stock is fantastic.  Buying a hobby box is frustrating, as the hits aren't great and the framed parallels are a nightmare.  The base set, however, is great.

2014 Panini Golden Age

It's my scan folder again. I think I will just keep posting until it's empty, then load it back up again and crank out some more posts. Today, let's look at the 2014 offering from Panini of their A&G counterpart, Golden Age.

Not a lot of change from last years pack. Sure, the color moved from gold to blue, and some scroll work on the cello, but it's a lot of the same in regard to the overall feel of the pack. And that's not a bad thing in my opinion. Six cards in a pack - 5 base/insert and one mini.

Brighter colors over last year's release. I like last year's design a little better, but I am not displeased with this one. Standard crop picture to avoid licensing issues. The ribbon going into the image, though, is a bad design choice.

Panini has a NBA license, so no shopping here. Can't think of the last time I saw Gervin in a set, but then again, I don't collect any basketball cards.

That look pretty much says Chuck is going to kill you.

And if Chuck doesn't, Jack will. Who would have thought cold blooded killers get immortalized on cardboard?

Ever notice how difficult it is to shop out the background on older photos? The Ruby, Connors, Gervin all look nice. You can really see the edging when old players are in a set. Just something I noticed.

Card back. Panini sure loves burgundy. No stats, though. Only a short biography about the person on the front.

Only complaint about this card is a lack of Daisy Dukes. Multiple color backs again this year, which can drive you nuts if you are going for a master set. Seven different backs if I recall.

Oh, and again, I got a bonus card. In fact, if two packs I have ripped of Golden Age this year, I have received a bonus card. And those two packs contained something like this...

Yup. Both the packs that had relics had an extra base card. Foe non-baseball hits, this is probably the best you can pull from this set. The relic pulls are a nice selection in this year's release.

Ok - that's today. Will someone else post tomorrow? If not, I'll be back.

2013 Press Pass Ignite NASCAR

Alright, I am on a roll, and there is no stopping me. Mainly because pack wars was last night and I got a whole ton of packs to scan. So let's make some room in the folder. I think there is a NASCAR race today or something. I really don't follow the sport. But I have plenty of snark to go around.

NASCAR darling Danica on the pack with ....um.....some.....guy. Oh wait - that's Jimmy Johnson. Why is Danica on everything?

Oh yeah.

Anyway, 5 cards per pack, and there are hits of fire suit swatches, tires, sheet metal and autos.

Very Lord of the Rings background there, Press Pass. Also, did you get a deal on foil, cuz holy cow. These cards celebrate speed, I guess. I think the race in question was on the back of the card. These would be better horizontal, and without that Eye of Sauron behind it.

The cars are the only action in this pack, at least from the cardboard I pulled. Lot of guys (and a girl) standing around crossing their arms. Background of this is foil, which is why it looks dark in my scanner.

As I said - standing around crossing their arms. LOTS of logos. I am sure not a single company would want themselves photoshopped out. At least it doesn't look like Frodo will come bounding out of the background on the driver cards.

Aha - it wasn't the Eye of Sauron after all. Just the coloring. Still, that background must have been purchased from some graphics pack. Side note: love me some Honey Nut Cheerios.

Greg Biffle. Ok name, but he is no Dick Trickle.

You couldn't really tell from the foil on the front, but what is up with that name font? The "G"'s are too tall and the "B" looks more like an "8". Plus they recycled the front image. I should ask NASCAR John from my LCS how he feels about any of the racing cards I post.

2013 Panini Rookie and Stars

Alright, in the ultimate of pack dumps, here is the last scanned pack of football I have yet to post. But no one else has posted it, so let's all enjoy the virtual ripping.

As opposed to the last two days, no Geno Smith to be seen on the foil wrapper. Let's see - left to right we have....er.....some Packer, EJ Manual I think, RGIII, a Ram, douchebag Kapernick, and Luck I believe. If I ranked the 6 players, take a guess who is the one I like the least? Anyway, the pack is clean and easy to read. Eight cards in the pack. And ripping...

Now this is different. Kind of 1985-ish. The foil name at the bottom is a poor choice, but I don't mind this design. It's fresh. The full bleed is something that hasn't been seen in a football set for a while.

Team logo is well placed, and the selected images are either purposeful to be selected without other players, or well photoshopped.

Packer. That's all I have to say about that.

I do wish Panini would select images with the Pink-tober crap. Hey - I like breasts like the next man. It's important to work on a cure. But the whole Susan J Komen thing is nothing but an advertisement for the group, which should do more to help women and find a cure. They want to make us "aware" of it. Trust us - we all know. Now spend more money on research and less on public education and fundraising. (steps off soap box)

Cardinals - ditch the black. Trust me on this.

Oh boy!!!!! A Tebow. I think this is shopped.

Love the Bears throwbacks. And there's my obligatory Cutler, even if he isn't the primary player.

Double Rookie Class!!!! Oh wait - that's hockey. Sorry, I got excited with the logo. If the photo isn't the player in pads, then go find one. Flipping over.

All cards have the one line/career totals with a biographical paragraph. Clean, but a lot of wasted space.

Well - there are my eight cards. Didn't get anymore. Nope. No bonus card in the pack. No siree bob.

Ok - yeah I did. Remember my comment at the top of a lack of Geno Smith on the pack?

Here's why. A nice pull in that there is a great two color swatch. And take a gander at the serial right above his name. Yuppers - 10/10. EBAY 1/1!!!!!! I am sooooooo rich! This parallel is rainbow foiled and available for trade. You can find me at my 2x3heroes.com blog if you are interested.

2013 Topps Platinum

**ed note: guess I spoke too soon yesterday about a lack of an exclusive license with NFL cards and Panini just snagged the contract starting 2016**

OK, another football pack currently in my scan folder. Let's get it out before the upcoming season starts.

As with yesterday's pack, we get Gino Smith on the cover, sharing it with EJ Manuel. No thanks to the scan, you are hard pressed to read the characters between their helmets. Hobby edition, it tells you. Five cards. Let's see how we did.

The blue color is actually rainbow foil. Think of the Spring Fever cards you could get in the past couple years. It's a bit busy, but at least the name is easy to read. Logo is well placed on the card and the brand is nicely positioned.

I collect no football, but in the packs I rip, I always seem to get a Cutler. I think he's a jackass, and will never lead the Bears to a Super Bowl. I like how the brand logo gets covered up by the player.

I think this is a decent pull. I forget who is good anymore in the NFL. I do know that I hate the Seahawks uniforms.

Parallel card, and man this thing is thick. Think A&G mini framed relic thick. That background doesn't work well, though.

BOOM!!!! A pulled a hit of a 'Skins player. Again - no idea who he is. But he was nice trade bait and turned into a good autograph for my binder. The signature (if you can call it that) is on card, so that is a very good thing. I am not sure if all the autos are on card, but the few I saw pulled were not stickers. Turning one over...

One line again, with a career total. Along with advertising Topps' football twitter account, Topps included the player's account to follow. I'll pass on both.