This Just In: Mythical Jersey Card Found!

Some time ago, 2008 Upper Deck First Edition received the "Ultimate Checklist" treatment. In that post, I made the following assertion:

Granderson has that card, a green version of a starquest card and the mythical game used card (#FECG) numbered to 750 that I have never seen nor heard of anyone having. I wouldn't be surprised if that card was announced and never released, but still made its way onto beckett by error.

I made reference to it again when talking about a similarly mythical relic card in 2008 UD Timeline.
This time The Hamiltonian chimed in with some insight:

The Timeline relic card probably does exist. They weren't available in hobby boxes, but were seeded one per blaster box. I have only seen one copy of the Hamilton relic card from the set, but they are out there.

Its a lightly broken product, coupled with being only available in retail, making it very painful for to find the one you need. :(

Seeing as how she is wise in the ways of player collecting, I figured she was probably right. Of course, I used the same logic on the First Edition card and have kept my eyes peeled for an appearance of a card that was not really broken heavily, had a stronger retail presence than hobby and doesn't have particularly good odds for pulling relics etc., given its low price point. After a few months, this little number popped up on eBay, into our hearts and finally, into my home.

2008 Upper Deck First Edition #UDFE-CG Curtis Granderson Jersey

For what its worth, the print run of 750 was listed on Beckett, and may very well be an announced print run, but the card is not serial numbered. I also tend to really like Upper Deck's relic cards. We've got a large, full-bleed photograph of Granderson with a new picture, and a simple, basic design. Sure the gigantic "UD" isn't elegant, but I like a little shape to my swatches instead of just a square, don't you?

Mail Day!

A quick lunchtime catchup post.

Back when Miguel Cabrera was hitting .500 and Justin Verlander was stinking up the American League I got a nice little package of Upper Deck First Edition from Marie at A Cardboard Problem. Since then, Miguel Cabrera has cooled off to a a measly .393 average and Verlander has looking like Cy Young himself in his last few starts. Let's take a look, shall we?





I'm a fan of this year's starquest offering, much more so than last year's. The sunburst effect projects more of a star quality and is pretty neat. I'm sure that Upper Deck has paralleled this to death in their regular release, but as an isolated card this isn't bad at all. Word on the street is that Granderson is in line for Series 2 so we can get a direct 2008 vs. 2009 comparison going then.

Speaking of comparisons:


Am I crazy, or is First Edition better in many ways? Sure, that big 'ol FIRST EDITION banner down the side kills the card, but other than that, I think it's a winner. I'm not anti-foil, by any means, but there is something nice about being able to actually read the stuff printed on the cards. Take away a little gloss, let me read the players' names and keep that logo clear and crisp and I'm a happy camper. I feel like too often, regular Upper Deck leaves me twisting cards in the light to see things from the right angle.

Also of note with this side by side: The Old English D on the cards. Upper Deck First Edition uses the D that the Tigers have adopted as their primary logo in the last few years (replacing the Tiger jumping through the D). It can also be found on their jersey. Regular Upper Deck uses the D from the hat, which I would always doodle on notebook paper as a little kid, before I realized that there were actually two different D's. The jersey D is certainly more suitable for a primary logo, it seems. I'm sure that Upper Deck didn't even notice this as they opened up their logos/baseball/detroit.jpg file without so much as a second thought, but it actually helps distinguish the two similar card versions from one another a little bit more.

So, thanks to Marie! We tend to send small packages back and forth to one another and I am never disappointed. Once I find some more cards for her collection they will be on their way.

Ultimate Checklist: 2008 Upper Deck First Edition

First Edition is a very simple release that basically looks the same as regular Upper Deck, but costs less and doesn't have the fancy foil. My only two cards from the set were recently posted but I thought a side-by-side comparison might be useful. First the First Edition:

2008 Upper Deck First Edition #360

Followed by the regular Upper Deck card:

2008 Upper Deck #499 Curtis Granderson

See? There is no major difference, other than the foil. In fact, the First Edition card is actually easier to read! Still, that doesn't mean that it is a very worthwhile set. Granderson has that card, a green version of a starquest card and the mythical game used card (#FECG) numbered to 750 that I have never seen nor heard of anyone having. I wouldn't be surprised if that card was announced and never released, but still made its way onto beckett by error.

Anyway, nothing special with First Edition here, I'm not really sure why they have it at all, but I won't complain. It just makes for two easy and cheap cards to pick up and bolster the collection.