2007 commemorative box arrived

Today was a rather slow day for business. Only two Legendary SP's came to be from Ebay, there would have been a third, but my track ball decided to stop working with less than 1 minute left on "Oil Can" Boyd. I have a lot of trades in the hopper, but no envelopes today, so I was very happy to see my package from Upper Deck sitting on the porch. Something to open up!

This was the Red Sox 50-card commemorative set that I treated myself to ordering on Fathers Day. Definite props for a quick delivery, however, I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed with the product itself...which is sad because this was supposed to be a memorable keepsake from my 2007 world champs. There cards are not all bad, but they are definitely hit and miss.


Firstly, the 25 card team set: I am pretty happy with these, though there is nothing to really jump up and down about as all of the player cards feature similar poses, zooms, and style. 18 of the 25 cards are vertical shot, and each card tends to blur out all but the player. I guess the main point is that there is not a lot of variation or creativity here.


There are 15 season highlight cards. Here is an example:

See that background? On every card. Basically another close up vertical shot superimposed on a background. Sure there is a little story on the back of the card, but I guess I was thinking that these would be candid shots of the season. Nope, just 15 cards virtually identical to the card above. disappointing.

Then there are 9 memorable moment cards

Oh yeah, I remember this one, this is where Beckett....threw...that....pitch. While not quite as mundane as the season highlight cards, the blurry backgrounds lend nothing to a story. But of course you can read a story on the other side of the card.

Now there are a couple of items that I did like about this set. I could not find an actual jpeg of the card, but they included an MVP card of Mikey Lowell

Of course it has always been of my opinion that both Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia should have been MVP's the way there tore it up that entire series against the Rockies, but one was a rookie and the other was not even considered a rookie at the time, so it makes sense*

This last card is an oversized commemorative that came with the set. I love this card and wish that more of this series had followed this example:

So, a mixed bag. I have these safely stored in their three-ring pouch, and there they will stay, but overall I would have to say that upper deck could have put a lot more effort into creating a memorable product. And where the heck was Wally? Maybe after THIS years team wins it all, Upper Deck will get it right!