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SPORTS CARD REVIEW

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 25, 2007

Set: 2007 UD Masterpieces

Manufacturer: Upper Deck

Packs per box/cards per pack: 18 packs/4 cards per pack

Set completion: Base set, 64 of 90 (71.1 percent)

Autographs: Stroke of Genius, Austin Kearns
Game used: Captured on Canvas, Carlos Beltran, Coco Crisp, Mark Teixeira
Box topper: Billy Butler (a 5-by-7 card)

Parallel cards: Red Linen, Luis Aparicio (numbered to 75); Black Linen, Vladimir Guerrero (numbered to 99); Green linen, David Ortiz, Troy Tulowitzki, Ken Griffey Jr., Hanley Ramirez, Bobby Doerr.

Reviewer's Rating: A+

The Skinny: The paper stock for these cards are canvas, and the painted illustrations capture not only today's top stars, but also some of baseball's greatest moments. Included are Bobby Thomson's "shot," the Mets' upset win in the 1969 World Series, and Jackie Robinson's contract signing that broke the color barrier.

The cards look like they have been pulled out of a museum; the parallel cards, with borders of black, red and green, really drive the point home. The game-used cards are thick and the swatches are large.

A nice touch: Card No .86 depicts the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series title - their first in 86 years. It's $6.99 a pack ($4.99 for retail), but the cards' beauty offset the cost.

BEAUTIFUL BOWMAN: Bowman Heritage baseball continues to be a rookie-laden, pleasingly retro set. This year's model pays tribute to the 1952 Bowmans, and each pack also contains two cards of major-league prospects patterned after the 1954 Red Heart card design. Player photos are transformed into artist renderings, which give the cards a nice, old-time feel.

Each pack also contains a parallel foil card, made on thicker stock than the regular set. Each hobby box contains an autograph and two game-used cards on average.

HOCKEY: In its 2007-08 hobby box, Fleer Ultra promises six rookie cards, a rookie redemption, and two jersey or autograph cards per box.

Fleer made good on its promise, and then some. In addition to the rookie cards and redemption card, there are three jersey cards. All three are Ultra Uniformity inserts, but the bonus was a Patrice Bergeron jersey card numbered to 25.

Ultra always offers set builders a reasonable chance to succeed, and the full-bleed photography and attractive name scripts are what collectors have come to expect.

FUTURE STARS: Upper Deck throws a slight curve here, creating a base set of cards 1 to 100 and then adding a Daisuke Matsuzaka card at No. 189. Cards 101 to 188 are Clear Path to Greatness cards and are autographed. To muddle things a bit more, there is a Dice-K autograph card at No. 189, too.

Sharp, cutout pictures of players in action are dropped onto a vertical, rectangular green background on the card fronts. The backs contain information about the player, boiled down to eight lines of type. Succinct, yet effective.

Bob D'Angelo

SPORTS CARD REVIEW

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