2005 Upper Deck All-Star Classics Box Break Part 1: The Base Set

Alrighty, I showed this box the other day in a teaser, but now it is finally opened:

It doesn't get much better than folding the box top into display mode.  I'll break this...er...break...up into 3 parts: the base set, the inserts, and the goods.

The 100-card base set consists of:
50 All-Stars from 2005 (cards 1-50)
25 All-Star Futures (cards 51-75)
25 Legendary All-Stars (cards 76-100)

The box has 24 packs, 8 cards per pack, for a total of 192 cards. The packs without relics have blocker cards, which means the relic packs actually have 9 cards.  That means the box will produce 194 cards.  Being that inserts/relics/parallels all together are roughly 1:2 packs, this box will yield approximately 182 base cards.  That means you would ideally end up with a complete set and at least 2/3 of a second set.  I happened to be collecting this set before I bought the box, so my hope is that I can actually end up with 2 complete sets when combined with what I already have.

Here's the breakdown of what I got

50/50 All-Stars (41/50 doubles, no triples):

These cards are a homerun as far as I am concerned.  The front design is clean and leaves plenty of room for the picture.  The foil work is great, especially on the All-Star Classics logo.  The scan doesn't do the foil justice, as the names are much easier to read in person.  The cards are substantial and have a nice gloss to them.  The backs are simple, yet well done with some stats and a blurb. 

25/25 Futures (21/25 doubles, no triples):

The Futures card fronts are very similar to the All-Stars, but the backs are modified to show a longer blurb and no stats.  I have to say that this David Wright card is probably my favorite Wright base card.  The action shot is a rare one for an infielder as he is tracking a popup.  What really makes the card great is that it is zoomed in to where he fills the whole frame.  Most cards with this shot have way too much green space because they are so far away.  

25/25 Legends (21/25 doubles, no triples):

This is where the set really becomes great.  The wood-grain motif of the first 75 cards is replaced with the old-style jersey look. The range of pictures used is also fantastic.  Some of the players are black and white, some are color, some are crisp, some are slightly blurred.  The variation from cards to card really gives authenticity to the set and the concept of legendary All-Stars throughout the years. 

Overall, I was incredibly pleased with the base cards in the box.  The checklist is strong and the cards are great-looking.  I got one complete set and 83/100 of a second set.  When I combined it with the cards I already had, I came up short of a second set by 6 cards.  I'm very happy with the collation since there was one complete set and there were no triples.  For those of you doing the math out there, since I got 183 base cards, that leaves 11 inserts/relics/parallels.