Box Breakdown: 2005-06 Upper Deck Reflections
Upper Deck Reflections has been a set every single season ¿0acollectors can count on for brilliance – literally. True to its name Reflections ¿0ais full of mirrors, but this year Upper Deck did a fantastic job of creating a ¿0acard that not only pleases the eye but is also a joy to open.
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The Cards and The Odds
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Reflections comes in a box of 12 packs. Both the box and ¿0athe individual packs have images of Michael Jordan and LeBron James – fitting ¿0afor a product called Reflections considering the way James is considered by just ¿0aabout everyone. The box states that on average there will be four memorabilia or ¿0aautograph cards per box – not a bad ratio with only 12 packs.***image4:right***
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Each pack has four cards. The base cards have only a ¿0awhite border across the bottom with the Reflections logo in the middle, the team ¿0aname to the left, and the player’s position to the right. Just above the ¿0aposition is the team logo. The player’s photo dominates the middle of the card ¿0aon a mostly silver background, except for the team name in the team color in a ¿0aband across the middle. The player’s name is embossed across the top.
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Rookie cards are numbered to 1499 and come 1:4 packs. ¿0aThere are different levels of parallels that come 1:3 packs: purple; red #/100; ¿0ablue #/50; green #/25; gold #/5; and black #/1. Rookie purple parallels are ¿0a#/250, then follow the same numbering as the base cards.***image2:right***
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Of course there are memorabilia cards: Compare and ¿0aContrast features two players with something in common, such as being teammates ¿0alike Nene and Andre Miller, or similar rookies such as Chris Taft and Andrew ¿0aBogut. These have just a single swatch on them, but there are dual Compare and ¿0aContrast cards with a swatch from each player as well. In addition, Compare and ¿0aContrast has quadruple swatch cards. Fabric reflections feature a single player ¿0awith a swatch. There Another memorabilia set is called Mirror Images. All of ¿0athese insert sets have red, blue, green, gold, and black parallels.
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Autograph cards come at odds of 1:12 packs, or about one ¿0aa box. Signature Reflections features a mix of rookies and veterans; there are ¿0aCompare and Contrast autographs, dual autographs, and quad autographs; Fabric ¿0aReflections dual swatch autos, and Fabric Reflections Triple Swatch autos. There ¿0aare red, blue, green, gold, and black parallels of most of these as well.***image1:right***
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Reflections also features the single pack in the Michael ¿0aJordan/LeBron James series.
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The Breakdown
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I enjoyed opening this box – take a look:
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* 32/100 base cards - No duplicates
¿0a* 3/50 Future Reflections rookie cards #/1499 – Chris Taft, Von Wafer, Sarunas ¿0aJasikevicius
¿0a* (4) purple parallels – Luol Deng, Morris Peterson, Manu Ginobili, Jermaine ¿0aO’Neal
¿0a* (1) Future Reflections purple parallel #/250 – Daniel Ewing
¿0a* (1) red parallel #/100 – Andre Iguodala
¿0a* (1) Signature Reflections #/100 – Amir Johnson
¿0a* (2) Fabric Reflections – Gary Payton, Luol Deng
¿0a* (1) Fabric Reflections dual red parallel #/50 – Steve Nash
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* Michael Jordan/LeBron James pack – MJ21, LJ3, LJ27, ¿0aLJMJ5
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***image5:left***Favorite Card: My favorite card is the dual swatch ¿0acard of MVP Steve Nash. Unfortunately, Nash gets little love from the hobby as a ¿0awhole. For a guy who can completely turn around the fortunes of a franchise ¿0aalmost on his own – as Nash did with the Phoenix Suns last season – you would ¿0athink he’d get more respect. Think about – how many players can realistically do ¿0athat? Guys like LeBron, Kobe, T-Mac – all the players everyone is on a ¿0afirst-name basis with. Yet Steve Nash cards are practically a dime a dozen and ¿0ahis rookies can be had at rock bottom prices (that may not be true in the ¿0aPhoenix area, not sure). All that said, Nash is a fantastic player who is a joy ¿0ato watch on the basketball court – he’s almost a throwback to the NBA of the ¿0aeighties with the way he runs an offense. Steve Nash may not get hobby love, but ¿0athat doesn’t mean I won’t be ecstatic pulling a gem like this.
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Rookie Breakdown: There are five rookies here to ¿0atalk about: Von Wafer, Amir Johnson, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Chris Taft, and ¿0aDaniel Ewing. Wafer has played just four games with the Los Angeles Lakers – ¿0ascoring five points in 11 minutes – but it’s not expected he would play much ¿0abehind Kobe Bryant and playing under Phil Jackson. Johnson is with the Detroit ¿0aPistons and while he has yet to play in a game the word is the Pistons love his ¿0apotential – they plan on bringing him on slowly. Jasikevicius is having the best ¿0aseason of these five players. A veteran of the Euroleague he has started five ¿0agames at point for the Indiana Pacers, scoring 9.4 a night and dishing 2.9 ¿0aassists. His best stat is the 47.5% shooting from beyond the arc, hitting on ¿0a28-59 shots. Taft is part of the rotation in Golden State, though a small one at ¿0a8.8 minutes a game. In those minutes he is average 0.50 blocks, 2.8 points, and ¿0a2.3 rebounds. Ewing has started one game at point for the Los Angeles Clippers ¿0aand is seeing 17.8 minutes a night. He’s averaging 4.8 points and 1.6 assists a ¿0anight.***image3:right***
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The Conclusion
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Grades are given on a five-point rating scale – five¿0abeing the best.
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Basic Card Design – 5.0
¿0aRookie Card Design – 5.0
¿0aInsert Card Design – 4.5
¿0aBig Card Chances – 4.5
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Overall – 4.75 stars
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Upper Deck Reflections is fun to open and the cards look ¿0agreat on display. Boxes can be had for around $90 on the net (plus shipping) so ¿0ait’s not cheap, but it packs a great bang for the buck. All in all it’s a very ¿0anice product from Upper Deck.
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