Personal Product Review: 2008-09 Upper Deck MVP

[molly1984]

Picture of the Box

Product Description and Highlights:
Release Date- September 30, 2008
8 cards per pack; 24 packs per box; 16 boxes per case (Hobby)
Approximate Price- $1.99 per pack, $37-45 per box

• Find one memorabilia card or autograph per box, on average!
• Look for Kobe Bryant MVP insert cards, chronicling every game from his award-winning 2007-08 season!
• Look for Hobby-exclusive 1-of-1 parallels of the entire 260-card base set!
• Find one MVP Rookie card in every pack, on average!
• Look for Dual Memorabilia and Patch cards!

Set Features:
Base Set
-260 card base set
-Subsets are: 30 Team MVPs, 40 MVP Rookies (1 per pack), 20 MVP Legends (1:2 packs)

Parallel Sets (1:4 packs)
- Silver Script parallel set, 260 cards
- Gold Script parallel set (#ed to 100), 260 cards
- Super Script parallel set (#ed 1 of 1), 260 cards

Inserts
-Kobe Bryant MVP (1:2 packs), 100 cards
-Ultimate Victory (1:2 packs), 90 cards
-Upper Deck SE (retail only), 90 cards

Memorabilia Cards (1:24 packs)
-Game Night Souvenirs (1:36 packs), 40 cards
-Star Combos Dual Memorabilia (1:84 packs), 20 cards
-Game Night Souvenirs Patch (#ed to 25), 40 cards
-Star Combos Dual Patch (#ed to 25), 20 cards

Autographed Cards
-Signatures Required (1:288 packs), 50 cards

(Note: On Upper Deck’s website the checklist for the rookies is missing two, so there may only be 38 rookies actually produced. Card numbers 222 and 239 are not listed.)


Overall Break:
Base - 155/260 (60% complete)

• Rookies - 29/40 (72.5% complete)
• Legends - 16/20 (80% complete)

Missing/Needed - 105
Duplicates - 5

Pictures of Base Designs

Pictures of the Rookie Card Designs


Silver Script Parallel - 6
#49 Monta Ellis
#67 Cuttino Mobley
#116 Keith Bogans
#187 Al Jefferson
#216 Marreese Speights (MVP Rookies)
#254 Pete Maravich (MVP Legends)

Picture of Silver Scripts


Gold Script Parallel - 1
#38 Marcus Camby (#’d 029/100)

Picture of Gold Script


Kobe Bryant MVP - 12/100 (12% complete)
KB-1, KB-5, KB-16, KB-17, KB-26, KB-57, KB-59, KB-60, KB-63, KB-79, KB-90, KB91

Picture of Kobe Bryant MVP insert set


Ultimate Victory – 12/90 (13.33% complete)
#1 Joe Johnson
#2 Al Horford
#16 Richard Hamilton
#18 Stephen Jackson
#30 Shawn Marion
#47 Brandon Roy
#59 Gilbert Arenas
#74 Anthony Randolph
#76 Marreese Speights
#83 Courtney Lee
#87 J.R. Giddens
#90 Patrick Ewing Jr.

Picture of Ultimate Victory insert set


Memorabilia Cards - 0


Autographed Cards – 1
#SR-DG Kevin Durant/Jeff Green Signatures Required AUTO

Picture of Signatures Required Autograph

Final Ratings (Out of 5)
Base Set - 4.5/5
Fun - 4/5
Overall Design - 4.5/5
Value - 4/5
Rebuy - 3/5
Final Grade: 20/25 (80%)

This year’s Upper Deck MVP box is a great box for a low end collector. Each box is around $40 and contains 24 packs with 8 cards in each. The base set (including rookies) is rather large at 260 cards, so you will not be able to pull a whole set from this box. Something that I really like about this set is that the base cards are set up nicely. Some products are not really organized in any particular way but the base cards are organized by team and in alphabetical order. The base cards also have a nice simple, but still decorative, look to them with a white/hardwood border. There are three subsets in addition to the main base cards. One player from each team is represented in the Team MVPs 30-card subset. Rookie cards fall one per pack, but I found that a few of the packs had more than one. There are 40 rookie cards that feature the players in their college uniforms and have a hardwood background. I like how these cards look but it is preferable to have the rookies in their NBA uniforms. 20 former NBA players are also included in the MVP Legends subset. Some of the most popular retired players are featured such as Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Patrick Ewing.

Each pack generally included at least one insert. There is a special insert set that features 100 Kobe Bryant cards highlighting every game he played in for his 2007-2008 MVP season. These cards are very nicely designed, Kobe Bryant fans will really enjoy these. The cards feature a picture from each game on the front and have a black snake design for the border because of Kobe’s nickname “Black Mamba”. On the back of these cards stats from the game are included. Ultimate Victory is the other insert set. These cards have a foil look and feature both veterans and rookies. There are 90 cards in this insert set so it is also rather large.

Each box will also yield a few cards from the Silver and Gold Script parallel sets. These parallels of the base set feature a facsimile signature of the player in either silver or gold and the Gold Scripts are numbered to 100. If you are familiar with Upper Deck Pro Sigs or Upper Deck Collector’s Choice Silver Signature from past years these cards have a similar style. There is also a third parallel set called “Super Scripts” which are 1/1 parallels.

Lastly, each box contains one hit on average. Typically a memorabilia card will be pulled as these have odds of falling one in every 24 packs. There are both single player and dual game used cards as well as patches in this product. Only the patches are numbered. My box yielded a dual auto of Kevin Durant and Jeff Green which I was very happy with because of the odds. In general, most other products out there will contain more GU and Auto hits per box. The one hit from this box will likely not always be worth the price of the box.

I would recommend this box to people who like to collect sets and rookie cards. Kobe Bryant fans in particular will also enjoy this box for the Kobe Bryant MVP insert set which is a really unique idea for an insert set. If you are mainly looking for game used and autographed cards or high valued hits then this is not a good box for you.

[molly1984]

To see the pics click the links, we don't have IMG code in the card talk forum so that is why I had to make them links.

Also nothing is for trade from this except my duplicates, which I will post trading posts for eventually.

[XxViSiOnxX]

lol hey molly a few of the pics are duped, like the scripts and a few others just letting ya know.

[molly1984]

Sorry about that, I fixed them all I think :)

[XxViSiOnxX]

yes you did and thanks for the info :D

[MatthewLee]

Great info and review Molly, Thanks!!!
Not really sure I like UD's use of 'jungle green' as the highlight/border color though.
Pretty sickening.

And the MVP cards sure look like Topps Treasury...
I wonder who's came out first.

[DAVE30]

Nice break Molly!!!!


Dave

[jubei777]

nice hit on the dual! i was tempted to buy a case on discount but couldn't pull the trigger.

[garnett_21]

Wow, you got a nice auto hit! Nice review too! :-D

[molly1984]

Thanks all!

and MatthewLee, I agree about the green. I like the look of the base and the RC, but the legends and Team MVP don't look as nice. There is also an insert set called "Upper Deck SE" in this product in the retail that I pulled some of in a blaster and they are green bordered.