2007 Upper Deck Spectrum

Set Size: 162 cards (100 veterans, 42 autographed rookies, 20 rookie exchange cards)

Design Notes: The foilboard background looks like a shiny mirror-like corner of a room with an S-shaped flooring design; the player's name and team are printed sideways on either side of the card. Backs use the same basic background with player statistics.

Parallels and Similars: Die-cut parallels were issued in three colors.

Distribution: Five-card packs came 20 packs per box.

Thoughts: Spectrum ended up being another pointless issue made by Upper Deck solely to appease collectors' interests in relics and autographs. The design is minimal, though with a small bit of additional effort it could have been a good looking card. I like the mirror-like floor and wall surface. But this is a release that could have been created on a computer in about 10 minutes at most.

2007 UD Black Game Day-Box Score Autographs

Set size: 42 cards

Front Design: The horizontal cards have a box score from a significant game in the player's career - for example, the Travis Buck card's box score above highlights his first career home run and reaching base 5 of 6 plate appearances. The left side of the card has (from top to bottom) the UD Black logo, a small photo with a serial number, the game date, and a team logo. The right side of the card has a dark box with a silver-pen autograph.

Back Design: The back has the same basic layout as the front, with design elements changed. The middle has a highlight writeup from the game and an authenticity statement, the left contains the card number, team logo, game date, and licensing logos, and the "autograph" area contains the location of the game celebrated on the card.

Parallels and Similars: Two parallels, numbered to 10 and 1/1, were also issued. There are other Game Day sets (ticket autos and lineup card autos) in the release.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of UD Black - a two-pack-per-box product where every card in the set is autographed, and each pack contains only one card. The Game Day Box Score set is serial-numbered to 50.

Thoughts: Any UD Black card is a good card - all cards are autographed and numbered to 99 or less. Players like Travis Buck can come cheap, though this is a landmark release and commands a premium because of its initial pack price. I like the idea of a set that highlights a specific event, as this set does. It's more than just an autograph!

2007 Justifiable Just Black Edition

Set size: 50 cards

Front Design: The card features a black background with nearly-vertical grey stripes. The player's name, position, and organization are printed on the left and right of the photo, which is outlined in white.

Back Design: A cropped version of the photo from the front is printed in a rhombus; the player's name is above the photo and his position below. Biographical and minor league stats are beneath the photo. A serial numbered hologram sticker is placed over the lower-right edge of the photo.

Parallels and Similars: This set is one of several parallels - a few color versions, a few glossy color versions, and autographed versions of each.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of 2007 Justifiable.

Thoughts: Unlike many parallels, where just a border or foil color changes, this parallel changes the entire background to black. However, Just Minors products were meant for autographs, and most cards from these releases are forgotten. I don't care for the white border around the player, though without it his legs might disappear into the background.

2007 Bowman Sterling Prospect Refractors

Set size: 118 cards

Front Design: A player portrait is placed inside a shield-shaped border with the word PROSPECT across the top. The player's team is in a banner beneath the photo, followed by the Bowman Sterling logo. The player's name is in a banner at the bottom. The cards have a foil background with a refractor finish. Of the 118 cards in the set, 68 are autographed, and 18 of those have memorabilia inserts.

Back Design: The backs are monochromatic. A top banner has the card number (or, letters, in this case). Beneath the card number is a shield with a player headshot. To the left is the player's name and team, acquisition history, and a highlight paragraph. That is followed by his prior year and career statistics. The bottom holds copyright information and a serial number stamp.

Parallels and Similars: The entire Bowman Sterling line is essentially parallels. The prospects set has three refractor versions and printing plates.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into (very expensive) packs of 2007 Bowman Sterling. All the cards in the set are serial-numbered to 199, regardless of being a regular card (above), autographed, or autographed relic.

Thoughts: Bowman Sterling really hasn't changed in years, just like the other Bowman lines. However, it is the top of the line set as far as the newest prospects are concerned. The excessive use of sterling-colored foil is a turn-off for my tastes - with some color in the design it could be enjoyable. I get it - Sterling. Silver. But there's nothing that really pops on this card.

2007 Topps Rookies 52 Signatures

Set size: 66 cards

Front Design: The set mimics the 1952 Topps design, with a color photo inside a black frame, and a star-bordered black and white box at the bottom containing the player's name and an authentic autograph. The team logo is placed over the upper-left corner of the autograph box; the cards have white borders.

Back Design: A red box at the top of the card has "white" (really, it's grey/brown cardstock color) text including the player's full name and biographical data. Beneath that is a short career paragraph and the player's past year and lifetime statistics. An authentication hologram is in the lower left corner, with copyright and trademark information filling the rest of the bottom of the card.

Parallels and Similars: As mentioned before, the card set is designed to look like the 1952 Topps set, and is a parallel of sorts of the regular "52 Style" set. A parallel exists of this set with red signatures on the front.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of 2007 Topps Rookies 52 Style cards. Three autographed cards were included in every 20-pack box of the product.

Thoughts: The 1952 design is perfect for on-card autographs, and this year's Lineage autographs help reiterate that fact (other than those giant boxes for the sticker autographs). The set focused on rookies, which means a box is really hit-or-miss with the quality of autographs. However, the set focused only on real rookies, and many of the players have gone on to have successful careers, including 2011 MVP Ryan Braun. That said, the 1952 Topps design is used over and over again, and it can become somewhat tiring. If your favorite 2007ish rookie is in the autograph checklist, then this might be the card to have, simply for the look.

2007 TriStar Prospects Plus

Set size: 100 cards

Front Design: A player photo takes up the top two-thirds of the card, with a colored band beneath holding the team logo and name in foil. The player's name is printed in foil across the top of the card.

Back Design: The backs have a tan document color, with a frame surrounding the text. The player's name and position is in a black band, followed by biographical data. Beneath a second informative black band is a brief career biography.

Parallels and Similars: Four parallel sets were included with this issue, all serial-numbered to 50 or less and autographed.

Distribution: Cards were distributed in pack form; each pack has seven cards, of which one is an autograph.

Thoughts: The release, overall, could be a very good deal. Getting ten autographs guaranteed in a box for about $60 could prove valuable if you pull one of the stars: Heyward, Moustakas, Bumgarner, Rasmus, Rizzo, and probably other names I don't recognize yet appear in the 100-card checklist. The base cards are uninspired and have a lot of empty space for no reason. This set isn't about the base cards, anyway.

2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Flags (Flags of All Nations)

Set size: 50 cards, standard "mini" tobacco size

Front Design: The art for each country has a flag on a fancy pole waving over a background of a world map. An additional map of the nation and its surrounds is shown in a circle beneath the flag, similar to a magnifying glass enlarging the detail on the world map behind it. Topps Allen & Ginter's Flags, Brooklyn, New York is printed beneath the art.

Back Design: The monochromatic backs have an advertisement for the set at the top, followed by a checklist of the entire set.

Parallels and Similars: There are several tobacco-era non-sport mini sets similar to this design , of which several focused on national flags. This set should not be confused with any of those, due to the copyright information at the bottom and several other features which identify it as a modern release.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter.

Thoughts: I enjoy the non-sport mini sets Topps puts in Allen & Ginter, even if I don't always collect the whole set. From an interest standpoint, I'd love having a set of national flags in mini card form. There's only one problem - while the set is called "Flags of All Nations" there are about 154 nations missing from the checklist. I understand there are countries in turmoil and which may not have a flag, but Iraq and Iran are missing. Neither Korea is on the list.Where is Sweden? Topps should have gone full-speed with this set and issued flags for all the countries that have one. When will Transnistria get its due?

2007 Just Rookies Autographs

Set size: 64 cards

Front Design: The set parallels the 2007 Just Rookies issue, with the added addition of a holographic autographed sticker on the front. The design has a full-bleed photo with a white rectangle around the player, and additional white tracing around the player's body. His name, position, and organization is at the top.

Back Design: The photo from the front is repeated, and text includes biographical information and minor league statistics. An authenticity hologram and the Just Minors logo fill the bottom third of the card.

Parallels and Similars: I already mentioned this set is a parallel of the 2007 Just Rookies base set, but there are 23 total parallels of the base issue, including autographed and non-autographed versions and printing plates for both.

Distribution: Cards were inserted into packs of Just Rookies. Each pack contained one autograph (though it could be a serial-numbered autograph parallel).

Thoughts: The lack of a border is a plus, but the white outline around the player's body detracts from the image. We all know how annoying sticker autographs are. At least it covers an appropriate part of Lotzkar's body?

2007 SP Authentic Authentic Speed

Set size: 50 cards

Front Design: A color photo of the player is shown over a double ellipse design. The inner ellipse contains the background for the photo, while the outer ellipse has a closeup of the photo printed in a team color. The outer ellipse has a circle which holds the team logo; beneath that is the player's speed statistic (stolen bases). The set name and player name is in the lower left.

Back Design: The ellipse design repeats on the back with a short career highlights paragraph and a repeat of the player's speed statistic.

Parallels and Similars: The set has the same design as Authentic Power, issued in the same series (see yesterday's post). There are no actual parallels, relics, or autographs.

Distribution: Cards were inserted in 1:2 packs of 2007 SP Authentic. As such, each pack contained either an Authentic Speed or Authentic Power insert.

Thoughts: I might enjoy the Power version of the insert a little bit more because of the checklist - there are no players in this set that I collect.

Additional Images: card back:

2007 SP Authentic Authentic Power

 Set size: 50 cards

Front Design: The color player photo is placed over a double-ellipse design, with the inner ellipse containing the background and the outer ellipse containing a closeup of the photo printed in a team color. The team's logo is in a circle on the right and his power statistic is beneath it. The player's name and set name are in a box in the lower left.

Back Design: The backs repeat the ellipse design, which holds the set name, player name and team, power statistic, and a short highlight paragraph.

Parallels and Similars: There are no parallels, but a similar set called Authentic Speed was released in the same set.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into 1:2 packs of 2007 SP Authentic.

Thoughts: The set is fairly attractive, and was created without parallels, relics, or autographs in mind. It's not quite my collecting style, but the cards would be nice for my player collections (Pujols, Griffey Jr, Thomas, and Chipper are all in the set).

Additional Images: card back: