Box Break: '08 Upper Deck Series 2

This is my first box break/analysis, so bear with me.

However, here it is as promised...

The Product:



2008 Upper Deck Series 2 Hobby Box, courtesy of Big League Cards.

The Info:

Base Set:
400 cards (no SPs)

Parallels:
Gold (#ed to 99)

Inserts:
25 USA National Team (1:4)
20 USA Junior National Team (1:4)
12 Presidential Predictors (1:8)
Yankee Stadium Legacy Buybacks

Mirrors:
Yankee Stadium Legacy (1:4)

Autogamers:
45 USA Baseball Autographs* (numbered to 375 or less)
45 USA Baseball Jersey Autographs* (numbered to 199 or less)
45 USA Baseball Patch Autographs* (numbered to 99 of less)
10 1997 Game Jersey#
10 1998 Game Jersey#
10 1999 Game Jersey#
70 UD Game Jersey#
10 Throwback 1997 UD Game Jersey Patch Parallel#
10 Throwback 1998 UD Game Jersey Patch Parallel#
10 Throwback 1999 UD Game Jersey Patch Parallel#
70 UD Game Jersey Patch Parallel#
45 USA Baseball Jersey#
45 USA Baseball Patch#
Yankee Stadium Legacy Memorabilia Cards#

* = Stated odds: Two-per-box
# = Stated odds: One-per-box

(Thanks to Chris at Stale Gum for the info and subsequent review style!)

The Pulls:

Base Set:
295-ish of 400 (73.75%)
5 Doubles, give or take

Parallels:
1 Gold (#'d to 99):


644 - Jarrod Washburn

Inserts:

Inserts:
4 USA Junior National Team:



USJR-4 J.P. Ramirez
USJR-10 Matthew Purke
USJR-13 Riccio Torrez
USJR-17 Tim Melville

6 USA National Team:



USA-3 Brett Wallace
USA-5 Danny Espinosa
USA-9 Joe Kelly
USA-12 Justin Smoak
USA-16 Mike Minor
USA-25 Tyson Ross

Not sure the odds on these, but...

2 USA National Team Highlights:



USAH-1 USA Rallies for Win
USAH-3 USA Wins Thriller

Presidential Predictors:



PP-10 'The War in Iraq' (Obama vs.McCain)
PP-14A 'Healthcare' (Clinton vs. McCain)

Mirrors:
4 Yankee Stadium Legacy



YSL-6058 Derek Jeter
YSL-6165 Andy Pettitte
YSL-6190 Roger Clemens
YSL-6215 Andy Pettitte

Autogamers:
1 USA Junior National Team Game Used



USJR-LH L.J. Hoes

1 USA Junior National Team Auto



USJR-LH L.J. Hoes (Blue Ink)

1 USA National Team Autogamer



USA-TR Tyson Ross (Blue Ink)

Favorites/Observations:

Some amazing action shots were captured in Series 2... one reason why I'm loving 2008's product. Here are some of my favorites:



Note the Fukudome RC... something Topps seemed to miss out on. I pulled dupes of it as well... Some additional 'horizontal' love for ya:



Additionally, UD did well getting some things straightened out:



Willis, Santana, Bedard and Jones all on the correct teams along with an '07 Season Highlights with the Mets ace on his former team. Good work, UD.

Here's my big question, however:



Why would UD try and sneak these in with the stunning action shots of the majority of the base set? Additionally, why the hell would these guys agree to these snapshots?!? This isn't Glamour magazine, boys. I understand the photo of Milton Bradley taking a seat... it's impossible to injure yourself that way, right? And I'll allow the Jason Bay photo as well... he's Canadian. But the Kerry Wood and Carlos Gomez cards are unacceptable. Gimme a break.

I did pull rookie Darren O'Day's card and freaked out a little bit. This guy pitched at the University of Florida and played down in Single-A in 2007 while posting a 4-0 record and 0.75 ERA. He was called up to start the Angels' 2008 campaign and got some work in during the first week of the season. I was ecstatic not because of his stats, but because his girlfriend played lacrosse with my fiance, Grant's sister, at UF and is a pretty good friend of ours (and a Colorado native). Congrats to Darren and best of luck in the LAA organization.




Thoughts/Opinions:

I said it before and I'll say it again... I love UD's 2008 set. The photography alone is worth the price of admission. If they keep this up, I'll gladly pay the extra bones for this set over their competitors product.

The Team USA pulls were amazing. I love these cards for their overall appearance and quality, but I also like that the 2007 gold medalists are getting some rep. I know some people have some issues with high school players on cards, but until I form an opinion on that topic, I'll stay out of the argument. Until then, I'll keep my hits closed up in a 5k-count box out of direct light in the safety of my closet.

I'm a fan of the low number of inserts... I can handle the Presidential Predictors and tend to think there's some decent humor behind them. I'm a big fan of the Yankee Stadium Legacy cards. The Team USA inserts are stellar and I'm sure are quite appreciated by the young men who represented our colors last summer.

I'll be sticking with UD this summer for sure. Keep up the good work, but don't forget there are teams outside of New York and Boston that have players worthy of gracing future boxes of UD product.


That's all I got...

- J.C.F.