Preview – 2009 Upper Deck Football

Introduction

Although Upper Deck puts out several quality football products each year, when it comes to a base product I’ve always been more of Topps guy.  With the Topps jumbos you get 470 cards, 3 hits, and a shot at a Rookie Premier auto:  one of the best rookie autos to get every year.

With 2009 Upper Deck, it looks like things are getting a little more interesting.  While the card count and price point haven’t changed sine last year, the potential hits certainly have.  It looks like Upper Deck may have realized that football is all they have left (well… football, hockey, and Tiger Woods).

Overview

Release Date: 09/01/2009
Pack Price: $4.50
Box Price: $66.00
Configuration: 20 Cards, 16 Packs, 12 Boxes

The base set consists of 325 Cards.  Cards 1 – 200 are veterans, cards 200 – 300 are the common rookies, and cards 301 – 325 are the short printed rookies.  As you would expect, all of the marquee rookies are short printed.

Rather than doing Premier as a standalone product this year (apparently it hasn’t sold very well over the past two years), Upper Deck has decided to insert premier cards into this product at a rate of one per case.  Overall the list of inserts is pretty solid and a big improvement over the previous years:

Autographs

• Signature Shots – Veteran autographs.  Not numbered.  This is the auto most of us will probably end up with.
• Same Day Signatures -  Similar to Topps Rookie Premier autos.
• Premier Auto Rookie Jersey – Most of these are # to 40.  Stafford and Thomas are numbered to 5.  Moreno and Crabtree are # to 25.
• Premier Stitchings Signatures – Featuring legends, veterans, and rookies all # to 10
• Premier Penmanship – Veterans # to 5
• America’s Team – ?
• Iconic Cuts – As usual the print run is not know.  Includes greats such as Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza, Marion Motley, and Leroy Kelly (as well as many others)

Relic Cards

• UD Game Jersey – Veterans, not numbered.
• UD Rookie Jersey – Not numbered
• Game Day Gear – Veterans, not numbered.
• America’s Team – ?

Inserts

• 3D Stars – A lenticular card featuring three different posses (hence the 3 in 3D).

Each box will have (on average… of course):

• One Autograph
• Three Memorabilia Cards
• Two Lenticular 3D Stars
• A minimum of 64 rookie cards

Each case will have:

• One Iconic Cuts Signature Card
• One Premier Signature Card
• One Same Day Signature Card

Promotional Imagery:

(click thumbnail to enlarge)

My Thoughts

In my opinion Upper Deck is taking a huge step in the right direction with the release of this product.  The lower price point keeps 2009 Upper Deck as accessible to the casual collector as it always has been while inserting the Premier autographs and Iconic Cuts will cater to the high end collector.  This is the way a low-end product should be:  a set you can actually complete with a slim chance at a big pull at a decent price.

I don’t believe that Upper Deck’s Same Day Autographs will supplant Topps Rookie Premier autographs as one of the best early release rookie cards anytime soon.  However, adding these cards to the product does position base Upper Deck to compete with base Topps better than it has ever before.  It looks to me like Topps is going to have to kick it up a notch come next year.

The full-bleed photography is a matter of taste.  I prefer my cards to have a white border like the 2009 base Topps cards.  Although both Upper Deck and Topps have done an exquisite job with their designs this year, I prefer the Topps design.  Overall Upper Deck’s design is very well done.  The autograph are easy to read.  The memorabilia pieces seem to fit into the designs and the graphic elements don’t detract from the player.

While some people may not really like the Lenticular cards, I think this is an awesome insert to include in this product.  It reminds me of the inserts companies use to put into products when I was younger.  I really think these cards will appeal to kids and help draw in the younger crowed.

Conclusion

As I mentioned in the introduction, I’m a Topps guy for base products.  In fact, I’ve already done my box of 2009 Topps Jumbo (you can read the review here).  However, there is no denying that it looks like Upper Deck has put together a very solid product here.  Why not buy a box or two?  I should be able to put together most of the set and I’ll have a long shot at a great hit.