Christmas Box: 2009 UD A Piece of History Hobby Part 1

I've finally gotten all of the Christmas looseys posted, so it's time for one of the big dogs.  My father-in-law gave me hobby boxes of 2008 UD Masterpieces and 2009 UD A Piece of History for Chistmas; here is the APOH:














Question: when you open a hobby box, do you tend to fold the box top into "display mode" like I did, or do you just bust into it?  I so rarely open boxes that I like to get into the feel of having my own box of packs to rip.  It makes me feel like I'm beating the system or something; like I'm sticking it to the man.  I don't get the opportunity to do many box breaks, so I'm going to milk it for all it's worth. The box has 16 packs, 7 cards per pack, with one auto, one player relic, and one Hollywood relic per box. I had some mercy on y'all, because I originally thought about splitting this box into 4 sets of 4 packs, but instead I'm going with 2 sets of 8 packs.  Without further ado, let's get to the packs.

Pack 1:
  94 Ian Kinsler
  14 Jonathan Papelbon
  46 Torii Hunter
  105 Alfredo Aceves RC Green #112/150
  140 Jose Mijares RC
  168 Women Vote in New Zealand
  142 Robert Parnell RC
>>> I mentioned a few posts ago, BA Benny loves that I always pull Yankees/Mets refractors/parallels.  So why not start the box off with the Aceves Green (Yankees).  I love the New Zealand card, but only because it makes me think about Flight of the Conchords. 

Pack 2:
  57 Jose Reyes
  9 Nick Markakis
  41 Miguel Tejada
  182 First Anesthetic Used Blue #060/299
  731 Sergei Federov Upper Deck 20th Anniversary
  164 1989 San Francisco 'Quake
  148 Gaby Sanchez RC
>>> I like the History set in this, but I think they should have gone without parallels of the Historical cards.  I'm really glad I wasn't that first dude to get anesthetized (see picture below). The UD 20th Anniversary cards are to 2009 APOH what Yankee Stadium Legacy is to 2008 Masterpieces.  Still no David Price RC to complete my set.

Pack 3:
  89 BJ Upton
  25 Edinson Volquez
  73 Jimmy Rollins
  SS-DM Daisuke Matsuzaka Stadium Scenes #864/999
  188 Thanksgiving Becomes Holiday
  136 Will Venable RC
  191 National League Established
  139 Devon Lowery RC
>>> Always good to see an Upton, even if I already have a bunch of this card.  The Stadium Scenes inserts is one of my favorite insert sets. Tell me that isn't a perfectly laid out player picture and serial number combo. This pack had 8 cards...unusual to see two rookies and two historical cards in one pack.

Pack 4:
  78 Jake Peavy
  62 Alex Rodriguez
  10 Josh Beckett Blue #200/299
  726 Hakeem Olajuwon Upper Deck 20th Anniversary
  200 Czechoslovakia Splits in Two
  144 Jason Pridie RC
  152 Eisenhower Inaugurated
>>> It would appear as though I jinxed the Yankees/Mets run after the first pack.  Now we have back-to-back Red Sox insert/parallel packs.  Gotta love opening baseball packs and getting a Hakeem "The Dream".



























1/4 of the box and no hits yet...

Pack 5:
  61 Pedro Martinez
  13 Jacoby Ellsbury
  CSC-MM Joe Mauer/Russell Martin Cut from the Same Cloth #695/999
  716 Frank Thomas 20th Anniversary
  138 George Kottaras RC
  192 International Games Begin
  150 Mitch Talbot RC
>>> I knew I wouldn't get too far through a box before Russell Martin appeared.  Another UD 20th with the Big Hurt, I love it.  I've seen that Kottaras/Int'l Games/Mitch Talbot combo before...

Pack 6:
  3 Dan Haren
  99 Ryan Zimmerman
  51 CC Sabathia
  CSC-PC Albert Pujols/Miguel Cabrera Cut from the Same Cloth Green #045/149
  158 Germany Leaves League
  147 Luis Valbuena RC
  174 Golden Gate Bridge Completed
>>> Good to see Zim as always.  Finally, a parallel of an insert, and one of the best insert cards, too. Ah yes, Germany leaves the League.  I guess they didn't like the DH rule.  I'm looking forward to April, since I will be visiting San Francisco for a week, and hopefully getting to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

Pack 7:
  35 Justin Verlander
  19 Aramis Ramirez
  POH-HU A Piece of Hollywood Shirt "Outlander" John Hurt
  721 George W. Bush 20th Anniversary
  143 Fernando Perez RC
  194 New Orleans Founded
>>> And we have our first hit, and it's from a movie I've never heard of.  According to IMDB, Outlander came out in 2008, starred Jim Caviezel, and was about an alien man (Caviezel) who lands on Earth in the time of the Vikings.  I'll have to check it out.  Anyone seen it?  Of course, the swatch isn't from the main character, it's from John Hurt's character, Hrothgar.  The swatch is very satisfying; it appears to be some puffy felt fabric. I touch all of my swatches, so this was awesome.  This pack also yielded a Dubya and a New Orleans, ironic.
 
Pack 8:
  67 Mariano Rivera
  83 Ichiro
  30 Matt Holliday
  SS-RG Ryan Garko Stadium Scenes #320/999
  141 Jason Motte RC
  180 Pilgrims Land at Plymouth
  146 Justin Thomas RC
>>> Two future HOFers, some pilgrims and a nice-looking Garko.  The more I see the Stadium Scenes cards, the more I like them. 



















































That does it for the first half of the box.  I should have the second part coming soon.  Just to give a hint, we still have an auto and a relic to go, and the second half will be particularly appealing to Braves fans.