Christmas Box: 2008 UD Masterpieces Hobby

I have wanted to open a box of 2008 UD Masterpieces so bad.  I seriously think I had some kind of religious, spiritual moment when opening this box.  UD Masterpieces is so aptly named.  I've already completed the base set (w/out SP's) yet I still had to open a box. 

Isn't she beatiful? I didn't just rip open these packs.  I undressed them.  These cards are the perfect representation of this blog's title.  My wife doesn't get it.  The box is 12 packs, 6 cards per pack.  I should see two hits, one memorabilia and one autograph.  The checklist for relics and autos is very hit and miss, so I'm hoping for at least a decent auto.

Pack 1:
  75 Tony Gwynn
  47 Prince Fielder
  19 Ryne Sandberg Black Frame
  32 Justin Verlander
  18 Alfonso Soriano
  81 Ichiro
>>> Great start with a Sandberg parallel.  Gotta love getting Ichiro and Gwynn in the same pack.  The Verlander card from this set is truly a masterpiece. 

Pack 2:
  26 Grady Sizemore
  16 Jonathan Papelbon
  94 Ryne Sandberg SP
  YSL5443 Yankee Stadium Legacy Wade Boggs
  67 Eric Chavez
  53 Carlos Beltran
  88 Frank Thomas
>>> The first short print from the box is Ryne Sandberg.  2/2 on Sandberg so far.  I'll probably see 3 or so more Yankee Stadium Legacy cards in this box.  They'll go in a pile with the other hundred YSL cards I have sitting around.

Pack 3:
  2 Justin Upton
  79 Russell Martin
  64 Joba Chamberlain
  YSL5493 Yankee Stadium Legacy Wade Boggs
  60 Whitey Ford
  39 Roy Oswalt
  90 Ryan Zimmerman
>>> Two PC players in one pack, why doesn't that happen when I don't already have the cards?  We jump 50 games forward for the Yankees with another Boggsy, only this time he says, "no, I will not look at the camera!" Oh, and there's that damn Russell Martin again.

Pack 4:
  50 Joe Mauer
  117 Stan Musial SP
  CC-VW Captured on Canvas Jersey Vernon Wells
  42 Andruw Jones

>>> Here is the relic, a Vernon Wells jersey.  I love the look of these cards.  Not the greatest relic on the checklist, but not bad either.  Vernon is up for trade for anyone interested.  Stan Musial short print makes this a great pack. 4 packs in a I've only seen one bordered parallel, but I did get the first hit, so we're on track.

Pack 5:
  22 Kosuke Fukudome RC
  43 Chin-Lung Hu RC
  26 Grady Sizemore Black Frame
  76 Greg Maddux
  48 Ryan Braun
  69 Chase Utley
>>> So I get the Japanese and Chinese RCs in this pack.  The Grady card looks pretty good framed in black.  I call him Grady because he's the wrong Sizemore.

Pack 6:
  85 Chris Carpenter
  99 Ken Griffey Jr. SP
  92 Cal Ripken Jr. SP Black Frame
  20 Carlos Zambrano
  83 Ozzie Smith
  6 Mark Teixeira
>>> I vote this for sickest non-hit pack of the box.  Screw that, unless I get some ridiculous auto, this is the pack of the box, hands down.  The Griffey SP is classic and the black framed Ripken SP is probably the best card in the box.  The Iron Man looks great with the black border.  Getting the Wizard doesn't hurt either.

Pack 7:
  65 Jorge Posada
  108 Joe DiMaggio SP
  20 Carlos Zambrano Blue Frame #092/125
  62 Alex Rodriguez
  34 Gary Sheffield
  13 Curt Schilling
>>> Apparently we've hit the stage in the box where all the framed cards are. Zamboni looks good in blue.  A nice looking DiMaggio short print rounds out the pack.

Pack 8:
78 Barry Zito
119 Dave Winfield SP
24 Adam Dunn Red Frame
70 Jimmy Rollins
42 Andruw Jones
28 Travis Hafner
>>> Yep, definitely in the frame groove.  A blue Cub and now a red Red.  Crazy.  The Dave Winfield short print makes up for the Andruw Jones dupe. 2/3 of the way through the box and only one hit.  The auto awaits!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pack 9:
  57 Pedro Martinez
  29 Troy Tulowitzki
  30 Matt Holliday Black Frame
  77 Jake Peavy
  63 Hideki Matsui
  35 Magglio Ordonez
>>> Ok, we get it, we're in the frame section.  Another color appropriate frame saves an otherwise boring pack.

Pack 10:
  71 Ryan Howard
  23 Jim Thome
  86 Carl Crawford
  YSL5468 Yankee Stadium Legacy Don Mattingly
  55 Johan Santana
  41 Vladimir Guerrero
  27 Victor Martinez
>>> I shouldn't have messed with the frame swerve.  A third Yankee Stadium Legacy, but this time it's Donnie Baseball.  My favorite stat of his is that he hit 6 grand salamis in 1987, but never hit one in any other season.

Pack 11:
28 Travis Hafner
15 David Ortiz
CC-CA Captured on Canvas Autographs Matt Cain
110 Yogi Berra SP
>>> Alright, the auto is an Auto/Relic of Matt Cain, which is definitely more than I was expecting.  That's my first Auto/Relic pulled from a pack so I'm stoked. The on-card auto looks incredible. It's also up for trade if anyone is interested.  The Yogi Berra short print makes this pack just plain awesome.  The Travis Hafner is the second dupe of the box, though.  On a side note, I have a few Hafner jersey cards if anyone out there collects him.  He's the one guy I seem to pull more than anyone else.

Pack 12:
1 Brandon Webb
36 Miguel Cabrera
8 Jim Palmer
YSL5443 Yankee Stadium Legacy Wade Boggs
56 Jose Reyes
7 Evan Longoria RC
84 Jason Varitek
>>> It's easy to overlook the last pack once all the hits are pulled, but this pack had the Longoria RC, the best non-SP base card in the set.  Seriously, I got a Yankee Stadium Legacy dupe?  6,661 cards in the set, and I can't get 4 unique YSLs in the box? Really?  Sorry, I had to have something to complain about.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It doesn't get much better than that for Christmas.  I made out like a bandit this year.  All of the framed cards, both hits and the YSLs are up for trade.  I haven't decided whether or not to try to complete the SPs now that I have 10 of the 30, so I'm going to hang on to those for now.  I'm holding tight with 49 followers...c'mon somebody click that follow button and put me over the half-century mark.