Nostalgic Box Break: 1999 Upper Deck Ovation

Alright. You guys deserved a better box break after I finished off 1999 UD Choice. How about this one?

1999 UD Ovation. Even better, a frigging BLASTER of 1999 UD Ovation. So we're not going any further or behind in time, but we're upping in class.

Not exactly premium, but, as you'll see, effort was put in. Plus, the hook was that you could find a game-used bat card of somebody good, which was kind of new in 1999, after SP Authentic made it a thing you could do regularly.

10 packs, 5 cards per, so this should be pretty quick. Here we go!

 Pack 1-
Hall of Famers: 3/5
Team Hall of Famers: 5/5

 I shot this before Thome's election, but these two Hall of Famers can show the general base design, and it's pretty cool. Player cutout with circle of background, with ridged stitching pattern and, again, ACTUAL EFFORT PUT IN. This has been constructed to look good. Where was that with 1999 UD Choice?

 Pack 2-
Hall of Famers: 1/5
Future Hall of Famers: 1/5

 THERE HE IS! THE GREATEST! Even if his cards are overexposed and he's tanking the Marlins, Derek Jeter is still one of my favorites, and I will never not enjoy pulling his cards. This is a pretty nice one, too.

 Hey, an insert that actually looks cool and isn't contrived. Plus, there are several Tony Gwynns on this card and none of them look bored. Plus, this one's pretty well designed, too.

 Pack 3-
Borderline hall-of-famers: 3/5
90's Expansion-team heroes: 2/5

 The 98 D-Backs uniforms just look hella cool. Even if someone like Matt Williams is wearing it.

 Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff, two guys who'll be in my collection until the end of time probably.

 Pack 4-
Hall of Famers: 2/5
Borderline Hall of Famers: 2/5

 Frank Thomas just looks cool on this card. The whole swing is even cooler cut out of the circle.

 Johnny Damon as a Royal, still a cool thing to pull. And I do like the pop-out quality of the Biggio shot, too.

 AH, YES, REMEMBER 1999, WHEN LITERALLY EVERYONE WAS GOING APESHIT OVER MARK MCGWIRE???
This is a multi-product insert set of Big Mac, commemorating the 70-HR season in 1998. It hasn't aged well, mostly thanks to the steroids thing.

 Pack 5-
Hall of Famers: 2/5
Borderline HOFers: 2/5

 This is what the WORLD PREMIERE subset looks like, with Preston Wilson's rookie being showcased here. Well enough designed, with the colored-background standing out.

 Larry Walker, another swing that looks great cut out, and Pedro Martinez, whose card is made better by the green-foil in back of him.

 Oh, yeah, and another nice Tony Gwynn card. Glad to see he was still putting out quality cardboard into the last legs of his career.

 Pack 6-
HOFers: 1/5

 Nice card of Mike Piazza, but it was at the point in his career where you had to double-check which team he was playing for.

 Pack 7-
Hall of Famers: 2/5
Future Hall of Famers: 1/5
Steroid Abusers: 1/5

 This isn't EXACTLY a Beltran rookie, but it's a nice early card of the guy, and a great red-flavored insert of him.

 A base card of Ken Griffey Jr., which I will never say no to pulling cards of.

 ANNNND a MAJOR PRODUCTION insert of Randy Johnson.

Let's see, what's wrong here:
-Pictured in a Mariners uniform
-He's pictured in an Astros uniform on his base card (trust me, you'll see it)
-He's listed as a Diamondback

That's 3 flavors of not right, and takes the sting out of a nice-looking foil-based insert.

 Pack 8-
HOFers: 2/5
Steroid Abusers: 1/5

 THERE'S RANDY JOHNSON'S BASE CARD! And he's an Astro. So there.
Gary Sheffield as a Dodger was a thing for a little while.

 This is a Superstar Spolight insert of Mike Piazza, and...yeah, it looks pretty damn cool.

 Pack 9-
HOFers: 1/5

 This may look familiar, but the gold plating is more pronounced, and the listing says something cool that I can't particularly read. And when you turn it over...

 You find that you've pulled a parallel of a Hall of Famer numbered to 500.

Which is pretty damn nice.

Pack 10-
Nothing really to call home about here, but I still proved my point.

This is a nice enough set, and it gives you enough eye-candy and semi-premium base cards to keep you satisfied, regardless of the 1999-ness and the UD-ness of it all. Still enjoyed it more than UD Choice.

Yu Gotta be Kidding Me

I did not expect this.

First of all, I did not expect the free agent/trade market to suddenly explode like this. I was thinking we'd get another week of hemming and hawing and going 'WHY HASN'T ANYONE SIGNED, HOW SCREWED IS THE MLB' before we got even an INKLING of where Yu Darvish was going.

Second of all, never in a million years did I think Yu would be headed to the Cubs. I thought the Brewers had locked up Yu discussions. I thought he was headed to Milwaukee to live out his dream of Hideo Nomo with better range control. But somehow the Cubs had enough money to land the guy, and lock him down for six years.

So now that this has happened, and now that the guys who've been in the NLCS for the last three years have locked up one of the best pitchers in baseball to replaced their slightly-more-problematic former ace (who likely WILL be going to Milwaukee this year unless something crazy happens), what does that mean for the Cubs?

It means that in a year where the Brewers are suiting up, the Cardinals are suiting up, and the Reds may be the sneaky breakout squad...the Cubs want to stay on top. The Cubs want to strike first and stay the team to beat, while the teams that try to do what they did will get clobbered. The Cubs have become what they took down in 2015, and they've become even stronger than who they took down.

The stakes will be high, and the pressure for the lineup to stay explosive, and by that I mean 2016 explosive, will be higher, but the Cubs just proved they want to win. So I feel like they might do some of that.

Nostalgic Box Break: 1999 UD Choice (Part Four)

Robin Williams voice: "eight months ago...we started a box. It was a terrible box. It unleashed horrible things. It did terrible things to us. And now...we're all going to *sit down*...and we're going to finish it."

I did the last bit of this box in June. I opened this box in 2015. I am FINALLY....FINALLY GOING TO END THIS TODAY, with the last nine packs. This set nearly broke me. It did not try. And when it did, it tried malevolently.

Let's finish this goddamned thing.

 Pack 28-
This is where we're at. Most of the remaining base cards are either dupes or lone needed ones. Most of the subsets are dupes because they're so badly seeded.

 This is not a well-designed set, but this is one of the few really nice photos they use in this set. Mostly they're very bland and uninspired, kinda like modern Topps, but the Valentin one is good.

 Two hall of famers, Craig Biggio and Chipper Jones, bridging Paul O'Neill, a Yankee legend.

 Pack 29. More of the same. Only the Cover Story cards really stand out, and they're not well designed at all.

 Yes, this is a nicer base card, of Ellis Burks' rare San Francisco stint, but it's cropped a bit too short and we could have seen more of the catcher, too.

 Belle and Galarraga, two of the best hitters of the 90s, in unfamiliar uniforms.

 Aramis Ramirez on the Pirates, always a welcome sight, and Ivan Rodriguez, a Hall of Famer and catching legend.

 Annnnd a Head-Up insert of a guy whose head has definitely inflated a ton, Mark McGwire.

 Pack 30- All dupes

 Pack 31- All dupes. And they're not even FUN DUPES or anything.

 Pack 32- Base dupes and subset highlights:

 Kenny Lofton in his Indians greatness, and Eric Chavez before he got great (and injured).

 Pack 33- All dupes

 Pack 34- Thankfully not all dupes

 A great, zoomed out card for then-rookie phenom Scott Rolen, and a great catching card of then-backstop-great Jason Kendall.

 JOHNNY DAMON, YAY. Even if it's a bland photo.
And Vinny Castilla still being kinda relevant in 1999?

 Pack 35- Okay, I did get a nice-seeded insert in this, but...

 It's one of Greg Vaughn. Yes, it's a YARD WORK one, which is pretty cool, but...Greg Vaughn. His cards have not aged well.

 And, as it's 1999, a rare insert of NOMAH.

 Pack 36- The box ends with a Heads-Up insert of Juan Gonzalez. Uhhh, quick, give me something to make me feel slightly better!

Okay, good, color-coordinated StarQuest of Adrian Beltre. I feel alright now.

So...that was 1999 Choice. I never have to open another pack of this goddamned thing again. I am happy. I am content. Also, now I can focus on posting a much better 1999 product's rip.