At this point I've broken 6 boxes of 2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball.
Each box is one pack with 4 cards per pack, unless you get an Ultimate Patch pack and I think you get less base cards. But don't quote me on that.
There is one hit per pack.
First, I'm sure anyone who reads this is going to ask, what did he pull? Well here's what I pulled...
So, not too shabby.
Second, here are some general comments about the product.
1. Every case is loaded with Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. autos. I've personally seen one case plus 8 boxes opened and I think altogether there were 5 Griffey Jr. autos and 2 Griffey Sr. autos. Apparently UD is loading this product with their chief baseball spokesmen, which leads to point #2.
2. Most cases have at least one, sometimes two, Derek Jeter autographs. These do not seem to fall as frequent as the Griffeys above, but there do seem to be a lot of them.
3. The Ultimate Patch cards are amazing. I have yet to see a single-color Ultimate Patch card. Check out these eBay listings for some examples...
eBay Auction (Item number: 370330101713)eBay Auction (Item number: 120526350179) This one was pulled from the case broken at my local shop.
eBay Auction (Item number: 120526349475) This one was also pulled from that same case.
eBay Auction (Item number: 120526107742) This is about as plain as they get.
eBay Auction (Item number: 370328738647)eBay Auction (Item number: 380202409467)eBay Auction (Item number: 290398175403) HOLY COW!!!
Imagine trying to put together this set....
4. The base cards are just that, base cards. There are some nice rookies in the set and nice autographed rookies. I've seen autos of Rick Porcello, Matt Wieters, and Tommy Hanson.
5. I've seen cases generally break down as follows (15 boxes):
--three to four rookie autos
--three to four ultimate patches
--two to three Griffey Jr. or Griffey Sr. autos
--three six piece or eight piece jersey cards
--two to three other autographed cards
6. This product is licensed by the MLBPA, but not MLB. So, there are no MLB or Team logos on the cards. However, UD did not airbrush off the team logos on the uniforms. Apparently, MLB is not happy about this and is asking distributors and shops to return the product, but of course no one is.
7. The value per box in this product is really good, especially compared to most UD products, particularly to recent UD products.
8. Maybe most importantly,
all autographs are on card and they are gorgeous. I absolutely love the big flowing Griffey Jr. signature on my dual pictured above.
Positives: Overall, this is the first product in a while that I've really enjoyed opening. Most of the stuff I've seen lately has been horribly disappointing (for example Topps Tribute). It also appears that people are just eating up this product. Take into consideration that I sold the Mariano Rivera patch above for $175.00. The Bruce Sutter has currently been bid up to $46.00. People are loving the Ultimate Patch cards.
Negatives: The only thing I worry about is the decline in value we will probably see in Griffey and Jeter autos as UD has really chosen through this product to flood the market with these. My advice is to hold off on buying one of these autos from this set right now as prices are sure to tumble the more and more they are listed on eBay.