The fifth installment of the annual Upper Deck USA Baseball Box Set was released on May 1st, 2007. The print-run for this set was announced by USA Baseball officials at the customary 10,000 sets. MSRP at the time of release was $49.99 per set and cases consisted of 24 sets. The sets were available for direct purchase from USA Baseball and customers were rewarded with a special “Teammates” dual autograph card not found in the box set with each set purchase. The box set consisted of a 50-card base set that featured 23 players from the 2006 National Team and 18 player from the 18U Team, 4 autographed cards (2 National Teamers/2 18U Teamers), 2 autograph/jersey cards (1 National Teamer/1 18U Teamer), 1 card from the various insert sets, and a “Bound for Beijing” memorabilia card. This issue was a complete makeover for the annual box set as it featured bigger and better packaging, multiple insert sets and the debut of USA Patch cards. Also new was the departure of the card design from the “living set” theme of the previous three box sets.
The product was not advertised as being produced by Upper Deck, but customer service issues were directed to Upper Deck and it was an obvious Upper Deck product. In 2006, the legal department for the University of Texas issued cease-and-desist orders to several ebay sellers who were selling USA cards featuring Texas players Kyle McCulloch and Drew Stubbs. The issue eventually faded away with no official legal action taken. The problem stemmed from the fact that people were making money from products featuring amateur (i.e. college) players. As a non-profit organization, USA Baseball was shielded from legal ramifications as the box set sales were classified as a fundraising endeavor that were directly poured back into the organization. In what can only be seen as a legal maneuver, the 2006-07 box set was advertised as being produced by the USA Baseball organization itself and not a private, for-profit company (i.e. Upper Deck). All future box sets were advertised as being produced by Upper Deck so the “behind-the-scenes” legal stuff was obviously worked out.
Base Set
The National Team portion of the base set (#1-30) featured the 23 National Team members; a Coaches card; four “Behind the Image” cards showing select members (Jemile Weeks, J.P. Arencibia/David Price, Julio Borbon, and Nick Hill) participating in pregame promotions; a special “Commodore Connection” card featuring the three National Team players and Coach from Vanderbilt (David Price, Pedro Alvarez, Casey Weathers and Tim Corbin, respectively); and a National Team Checklist card.
The 18U Team portion of the base set (#31-50) featured the 18 18U players; a Coaches card; and an 18U Team Checklist card.
Each set also contained two parallel “gold foil” cards (one National Team player and one 18U Team player). Although no print run or short-prints were announced, simple math yields approximately 240 cards produced for each player in this insert set.
National Team/18U Team Autographs & Autograph/Jerseys
The 2005-06 box set of the prior year featured only black, red, and green auto parallels, and blue, red, and green auto/jersey parallels. The 2006-07 set was expanded to include black, blue, red, and green parallel versions for both autos and auto/jerseys. Unique to the black autograph line was the announcment of short printed variations for four players from each team depicting a “posed” portrait version and an “in-action” version. The various numbering sequences for all of the cards can be viewed on the Complete Set Checklist.
TO BE CONTINUED…
National Team and 18U Team Patriotic Patches
Patches debuted this year in the box set and featured a jumbo patch swatch of most players; these cards were numbered to /20 and the first numbered card for each player (1/20) featured the full USA Flag patch from the player’s jersey. These patches fell 2-per-case (1 from each team).
National Team and 18U Team Autographed Patches
Numbered 1/1, these jumbo patch cards featured a large patch swatch of the players jersey number, autographed by the player.
Alumni Patches
These cards featured jumbo patch swatches of players from prior USA National Teams; these cards were numbered to /20 and were inserted at a rate of 1-per-case.
Bound for Beijing Inserts
Highlighting the professional World Cup team, this insert set spanned several lines; an autograph line numbered to /50, a game-used memorabilia line (various numbering), and a jumbo patch line numbered to /20.
First Round Draft Picks Autographs
The FRDP autograph line highlighted past USA alumni drafted in the first round of previous MLB Drafts; these cards featured black, blue, and red parallel versions and were numbered differently for each player.
Youth National Team Autographs
These cards featured autographs from the 2004 Youth National Team; each card was numbered to /475; at the time of release, the big pulls were of Justin Upton and Andrew McCutchen.
Filed under: 2006-2007 Upper Deck USA Box Set
Tagged with: 2006-2007 USA Box Set, Baseball Card Set Reviews
