April 19 card show report part 1 of 2: 2013 UD Football hobby box break

Because I hadn't gone to a card show since last November, I hit up the "local" one in Taylor on Saturday afternoon.  I ended up staying longer than usual, mainly because for the first hour I couldn't find ANYTHING I wanted.  Later I made a few productive purchases, and I'll show those off soon, but my last pickup was a box of 2013 Upper Deck Football.

I realize the 2014 version just came out, so I'm a year behind the times, but the price for this one was right for me:  $55 for 20 packs of six, with three guaranteed autos.  I could have spent a bit more on jumbos of 2013 Score (more hits per box, but I already have the set) or 2013 Topps (which is Topps), and I realize I could have landed this cheaper at D&A's, but with shipping factored in, I did fine.  Here's what I pulled:

Base set:

The set is split into a few groups.  #s 1-50 are veterans, all in their college unis(!).  With 3-4 of these per pack, I landed all 50, plus 11 doubles (more on those later).

Here's examples of a front and back from the veterans.  I went with AC, my lone Wolverine in the box, for the front, and Bo, since his college stats are fun to look at.  These look fantastic, especially some of the older photos, and I feel UD knocked it out of the park yet again in what's easily become my favorite college-themed set.

#51-150 are Star Rookies that are inserted normally at about two per pack.  I pulled exactly 40 in my 20 packs, so those odds held true.

Swope's awesome photo earns him the nod for the Star Rookie card front example, and I picked Stanford's Thomas for the back since he wasn't from a team I hate.  Honestly, wouldn't you prefer these over the Rookie Premier photos from Topps?

Lastly, #s 151-300 are short-printed Star Rookies, with #s 215-275 found only in hobby packs and 276-300 in retail.  I don't know the exact odds on these, but I pulled two, so maybe 1:10?

My SPs came from the "States that start with 'K'" hotbox, apparently.  As with the non-SPed cards, there's a mix of great and obscure.  I'm not a fan of SPs and don't count them toward the regular set, so there.

Inserts:

First up were the College Football Heroes cards, inserted at 1:5, and UD delivered on those odds with these:

I pulled two each of Joe Namath and Barry Sanders.  These are in the vein of other cards in UD's Heroes series, and therefore good, plus the player choice was nice.

Next up are the '95 SP inserts, which, not surprisingly, are cards done in the style of 1995 SP.  In the past UD has sometimes used multiple older designs, but here they go with one, and what's cool is that both veterans and rookies are included, both with their own design, and both of which look fantastic.  Along with those is a pair of Ultimate Collection rookies, and in terms of player hype, I did pretty well:

I don't know how many cards of Delaware players I've pulled where I've seen the uni, got excited, and then suffered a huge letdown because they ripped off Michigan's design.  As for the Ultimates, Manti "The overrated catfish" Te'o was a pretty good pull.  Those are numbered to 575 for some reason.

Hits:

I said I was guaranteed three autos (including the awesome Letterman versions) and that's exactly what I got, with ZERO redemptions.  The base autos may be on stickers, but I really like how they look since they're just auto'ed versions of the base cards, which look great on their own.

Cal WR Allen was the better pull of the two, and not just on the strength of his name--he's from the Rare Star Rookies, Group C, making him a 1:191 pull.  UNC's Williams was from the SP group, Group C, and was 1:83, meaning he was also a tougher-than-average pull.  Not the players I was hoping for, but not bad!

And then the Rookie Letterman:

This is Patriots WR Aaron Dobson of the Marshall Thundering Herd, #04/25.  There are at or near the top of my favorite manufactured relics, and it's easy to see why.  By the way, every other pack had a dummy card in it (great for shipping) except this one, so I saved it for last when I noticed it wasn't a blank.  I was also hoping for a College Mascot manupatch, but I still did just fine.

Overall:

This was a fantastic value at $55, plus you can find it cheaper if you try.  Things have gotten even better for the 2014 version as you now get four guaranteed hits, though obviously the price is higher, at least for now (and I don't love the Letterman design quite as much).  The base set looks great and features UD's signature photography, and the inserts kept it interesting.  I give this one a thumbs up.

My wantlist:

After combining the contents of this box from the results of a few rack pack breaks (which are the opposite of hobby and are all Star Rookies), I need the following:

54 55 57 60 64 66 69 76 77 85 91 92 95 104 105 109 116 117 121 126 135 138 139 141 144 146 150

What's for trade:

Everything you see above from the inserts on down, though I'll be honest, I'm hoping to sell the hits.  But if you're interested in anything, make me an offer!  Also, I have the following dupes for trade:

5 11 12 20 22 25 32 33 38 44 46 52 56 59 61 71 74 78 79 80 81 84 87 93 98 99 103 106 108 110 113 115 131 133 137 145

If you're building this set, let's trade!