Tigers Gallery Checklist: 2010 Upper Deck (Series 1)

Ok, I’ve been able to get pictures of most of 2010 Upper Deck and thought that it was time to share. This set looks and feels like the Upper Deck that we’ve come to know and love, with one notable exception–those shots, you know, the ones that just make you want to stare at the card forever, they seem to be missing. There’s not one card in this set that has a “wow” photograph. And that hurts, because without that, what are these cards, really?

On a side note, there are logos plastered all over the pictures of these cards, as we all know by now. The fact that they clearly try to take shots that obstruct the logos in some shots while ignoring it in others just doesn’t make any sense. Do them all or don’t do them at all. The cards with logos look like any licensed baseball card that ever has been and ever will be. There is nothing to indicate that this is not a card of a Major League Baseball team (especially when the backs of some cards include “Tigers” and other team names).

I was not planning on buying the set, but am currently on the fence for continuity’s sake. We’ll see how I feel after posting this, because the bottom line is that I’m not sure that I’m really a fan of how these cards look.

Base Set I’ll let the cards speak for themselves:

#192 Edwin Jackson	#193 Clete Thomas	#194 Marcus Thames
#195 Ryan Raburn	#196 Fernando Rodney	#197 Adam Everett

#198 Brandon Inge	#199 Miguel Cabrera

#200 Gerald Laird	#201 Joel Zumaya

#202 Curtis Granderson	#203 Justin Verlander	#204 Bobby Seay
#205 Nate Robertson	#206 Rick Porcello	#207 Ryan Perry

#208 Fu-Te Ni	#550 Comerica Park
#580 Granderson/Verlander Checklist

Inserts Upper Deck’s inserts and me have never really gotten along, although I’m not sure why. This set has it all: die-cut cards can be really neat and the Portraits set looks outstanding. At the same time, the Biography set is an excellent concept but the design kind of bores me. Supreme is the new starquest with a better design, but may be just as hard to see details in person. I like the tape measure shots. The best of the whole bunch, however, are the Exquisite inserts. Exquisite is a high-end UD brand, and their inclusion in the regular Upper Deck release really makes for some good stuff. Is there a reason we can’t reduce the total number of inserts out there but make all of them like this?

#SB-6 Miguel Cabrera	#SB-7 Justin Verlander	#SB-61 Rick Porcello
#SB-154 Brandon Inge	#SB-199 Justin Verlander	#548 Brandon Inge (Rookie 10th Anniv.)
#SE-27 Rick Porcello (Glossy #/99)	#SE-28 Justin Verlander	#SE-29 Miguel Cabrera
#PH-9 Justin Verlander	#AW-13 Magglio Ordonez	#33 Justin Verlander (Exquisite #/75)
Miguel Cabrera Exquisite (#/75)	#S-17 Brandon Inge	#S-18 Justin Verlander
#S-65 Miguel Cabrera (Blue)	#S-66 Curtis Granderson

#TMS-17 Brandon Inge	#TMS-21 Magglio Ordonez

Relics Jersey Dump? Upper Deck decided to go all out here, giving game-used jersey cards to any player with a pulse–even some that don’t have cards in the base set. It’s a bit ridiculous, to say the least, considering it devalues (emotionally–we all know that these cards basically have no value any more) any last thought that cards like this were special. Boy, that was some cynicism shining strong, so let me rephrase. I’m amazed by the number of jersey cards in this release. I hope people enjoy them. There is also a patch version numbered to 25.

Oh! And there are Exquisite inserts in regular UD packs, including the pretty ones above. In the relic department this includes really nice looking Exquisite Patches (if you were reading for sarcasm, you’re sorely mistaken). These cards look outstanding and are everything that a relic card should be. Am I the only one who thinks that we need a dramatic production shift to make cards like this rare and special again? I maintain that 2009 O-pee-chee was a breath of fresh air for making these cards hard to come by, but I digress…on with the jerseys:

#UDGJ-GA Armando Galarraga	#UDGJ-BI Brandon Inge (Err. J. Anderson)
#UDGJ-CG Curtis Granderson	#UDGJ-EJ Edwin Jackson
#UDGJ-FN Fu-Te Ni	#UDGJ-FR Fernando Rodney
#UDGJ-JB Jeremy Bonderman	#UDGJ-VE Justin Verlander
#UDGJ-MI Miguel Cabrera	#UDGJ-MO Magglio Ordonez

#EP-JV Justin Verlander (#/50)

Autographs These are mystery cards to me, as no Tigers have surfaced yet. As soon as they do you know where you can find them.

#SS-BO Jeremy Bonderman	#SS-CG Curtis Granderson	#SS-MC Miguel Cabrera