2008 UD A Piece of History Hobby Break Box 1 Part 1

Now we get to the good half of the boxes.  Yeah, that's right, the A&G boxes were the bad part.  They yielded 6 hits, which was 2 more than guaranteed, so you know these boxes are going to be sick.  Since I've told you I got 17 hits total for the 4 boxes, you know there are 11 in these next two.

First, here's a preview of what is expected in 2008 APOH:

16 packs per box, 8 cards per pack
2 Memorabilia per box
1 Hollywood Memorabilia per box
1 Autograph per box
All inserts are serial numbered (/699 or /799 typically), and there are a ton of them. Each has multiple parallels (down to /25).  Normally I wouldn't care much, but they are done very well.  The serial numbers are stamped on the front, in a color matching the parallel.
Yankee Stadium Legacy cards ~ 1:4 packs
Yankee Stadium Legacy Momorabilia ~ 1 per case

The base set is set up just like the 2009 version: 100 Veterans, 50 Rookies, and 50 Historical Moments.
I seriously had a love affair with these boxes.  Getting 3 bonus hits, I know I'm a little disillusioned, but still.  These boxes are a justification of my blog title.  I felt like I needed to apologize to my wife for how much I enjoyed these boxes.

I'll do these boxes 8 packs at a time.  I thought about doing 4, but I don't want to drag it out too long.

Pack 1:
136 Nyjer Morgan RC
166 Invention of Cotton Gin
124 Jonathan Meloan RC
180 Hindenburg Blows Up
CSC-HP Haren/Peavy Cut From the Same Cloth #774/799
71 Joe Blanton
97 Scott Rolen
19 Daisuke Matsuzaka
58 Jose Reyes

>>> So pack #1 yields an extra card...a good start I'd say.  Upper Deck, in this set especially, has a way of leaving space for jersey swatches without leaving Panini-esque blank spots on the cards.  The foil team logos work well, especially on the Cut From the Same Cloth cards. The /799 The Hindenburg Historical Moments cards is the first of several aerospace-related HM cards in the set, one of the reasons I like it so much. 

Pack 2:
192 Liberty Bell
122 Luke Hochevar RC
196 Lewis and Clark Gold #35/75
84 CC Sabathia
45 Mark Teahen
6 Jeff Francoeur
YSL5823 David Wells Yankee Stadium Legacy

>>> Pack 2 reveals the first YSL insert as well as a sweet Lewis and Clark parallel.  Anyone collect Lewis and Clark and/or explorers?

Pack 3:
178 Paul Revere's Ride
150 Justin Maxwell RC
164 Geneva Summit
FM4-15 Jones/Beltran/Edmonds/Griffey Jr. Franchise Members 4 #167/799
80 Trevor Hoffman
15 Manny Ramirez
41 Roy Oswalt
67 Joba Chamberlain

Pack 4:
108 Lance Broadway RC
185 1st Heart Transplant
129 Alberto Gonzalez RC
171 Bell X-1 Breaks Sound Barrier
2 Dan Haren
28 Aaron Harang
93 Michael Young
FH-21 Ivan Rodriguez Franchise History Gold #29/99

>>> My second parallel numbered under a hundred is Pudge, on a nice Tigers card.  The color matched foil work in this set is truly spectacular.  Nice Sound Barrier card. 1/4 of the way through the box and no hits yet.

Pack 5:
155 First Space Shuttle Launch
113 Joe Koshansky RC
197 Battle of the Alamo
BSM-10 Alfonso Soriano Box Score Memories #028/699
TM-44 Phil Hughes Timeless Moments Jersey
35 Gary Sheffield 
74 Jimmy Rollins
100 Ryan Zimmerman
61 Johan Santana

>>> This is the point at which I fall in love with the set all over again.  A Space Shuttle card, A Zim, A numbered insert, and a jersey all in one pack.  The Box Score Memories cards are really nice in my opinion, but the Timeless Moments leave a little to be desired. The BSM cards aren't as nice as the All-Star Box Scores from 2005 UD All-Star Classics, though.  Hughes isn't the greatest pull, but, to continue in my teaser role, it's the worst hit of the two boxes.  It does have a little topography to the swatch, as well as a hint of stitching.

Pack 6:
196 Lewis and Clark
126 Mitch Stetter RC
HM-23 Mel Gibson - We Were Soldiers - Pants A Piece of History Memorabilia
22 Aramis Ramirez
96 Alex Rios
31 Todd Helton
YSL5848 Tino Martinez Yankee Stadium Legacy

>>> Here is the guaranteed Hollywood Memorabilia card.  Mel has three cards in the set (Pants, Shirt, Shoes SP), and I got the one most likely to have grazed his junk.  This card is reserved for Sam's wife. We Were Soldiers is a pretty good movie, you should see it if you haven't already.

Pack 7:
141 Bronson Sardinha RC
183 1st World's Fair - 1851 London
127 Jose Morales RC
FH-6 Jonathan Papelbon Franchise History #007/699
57 Delmon Young
83 Travis Hafner
18 Jonathan Papelbon
44 Alex Gordon

>>> Papelbon hot pack! I love the 007 serial number.

Pack 8:
152 Wright Brothers 1st Flight
138 Colt Morton RC
194 Human Genome Project
110 Heath Phillips RC
5 Mark Teixeira
70 Rich Harden
32 Magglio Ordonez

FM3-15 Jeter/Giambi/Cano Franchise Members 3 Red #76/99

>>> In 8 packs, I got 4 aerospace-related history cards.  The Wright brothers one is perfect.  This pack also produced the thrid card #'ed under 100 with a nice Yankees trio in red. I completely dig how the bats look like they are coming out of the picture over the back and that the Franchise Members title is over top of the bats.  Those features really give the card a lot of depth.