Ultimate Checklist: 2008 SPx

After checking and double-checking, I think that I’ve got the hang of Curtis Granderson in 2008 SPx. Let me tell you, it is not a simple release. I will start by saying this: There are, in essence, three cards in this set. #36, the base card, may well be my favorite.

From Curtis Granderson Collection

Look at it! This card has two things going for it. It is shiny in the way that gives off that rainbow reflection. I have found that I am a sucker for those types of cards. Two, look at how it’s cut! This card has actual dimension and layering that most cards try to do through fancy borders or photography tricks. Not here, the actual card comes in at the corners, which is not something that you see very often. The second card is the “hit” of the SPx set. In this case it is his “Winning Materials” card. Here’s my favorite from my collection, which interestingly is the first one that I acquired:

From Curtis Granderson Collection

The third card is a “Winning Trios” card numbered OGV for Ordonez, Granderson and Verlander. I don’t have one of these to share, but ebay tells me that there are three small pictures on top of three jersey swatches.

Here’s the trick. There is one version of the #36 base card, four versions of the “Winning Trios” card and TWENTY-ONE versions of “Winning Materials!” The Winning Materials cards are differentiated by two things: background color and the swatch shape/quantity. Oh, and background color is either Gold-ish, Silver-ish or Blue-ish, none of which are terribly exciting. There are, for example, cards with one piece of jersey.

From Curtis Granderson Collection

These swatches are:

Baseball Shaped (#/99)
#28 (#/125)
MLB (#/125)
*OF (#/75)
SPX (#/150)
A Die-Cut SPX (#/150)
DET (#/99)
The Upper Deck Logo (#/99)—I have no idea what this looks like
SPX—Limited Patch (#/99)
DET—Limited Patch (#/50)

Fun, right? Oh, there is also an Autographed single swatch in the SPX shape that is numbered out of 20. The list of Dual Swatches is a bit more reasonable:

From Curtis Granderson Collection

#28 (#/35)
MLB (#/20)
*OF (#/20)
SPX (#/50)
DET (#/25)
SPX—Limited Patch (#/50)
DET—Limited Patch (#/25)

Triple Swatches narrow down the pack a little bit more:

From Curtis Granderson Collection

SPX (#/15)
DET (#/10)
MLB—“Triple Swatch Autograph” (#/5)
“Triple Limited Patch” (#/15)—I’m guessing that this is in SPX shape

It would not surprise me if there is a DET Triple limited patch numbered to 10 that exists (not on any checklists I’ve seen), given the patterns of the other cards, but I’ll believe it when I see it. As for the Winning Trios Cards there is a regular version #/75, a “Gold” (#/25), Another “Gold” (#/15—I do not know the difference here, maybe different shaped swatches?) and a “Silver Limited Patch” (#/25).

You can see now why it took me so long to make this post. That checklist is a pain. It also makes me wonder. Adding up all of the Winning Materials Cards, all of which are essentially the same, you get a print run of 1,361 total Winning Materials cards in existence.
Can that really be more rare than that awesome unnumbered base card?

Addendum: At the start of the year, I had 7 of the 21 Winning Materials Cards, all of which can be seen in my collection or the soon-to-be updated version of the 2008 Ultimate Checklist