This is What Led to Y2K

Yes, the image above is really a strangely shaped CD with an Upper Deck logo and a baseball player on it. In a meeting of technology and sports collectibles, some CDs were produced as inserts to a set Upper Deck liked to call PowerDeck. You can read more about this set at where these cards originated from, which was a really fun all-Upper Deck group break hosted by Community Gum. I ended up with four "digital cards", which along with their own custom sleeves fit snugly in a top loader. I am thankful for that. There's no way this is going in one of my binders.

The classic 2004 Timeless Teams set was part of the break, which is great because I love the design. This Lou Brock card is part of a Memorable Moments subset that includes the original photo in all of its non-colorized glory.

Oh Lefty, the Cardinals barely knew ye. Well, I didn't know ye at all, until long after ye became a Phillie.

Wait... what's this, Topps? No, Topps cards did not sneak into the break. I just wanted to casually mention that Jon at Community Break was kind enough to throw me a bone and toss some Heritage cards my way as I had sent him some cards out of the blue awhile back. People are nice like that.

Upper Deck Victory was, I think, another attempt at making a game out of a trading card set. Or maybe it was a trading card set out of a game? In any case, there's practically every color of the rainbow involved here and it was nice to get a Jim Edmonds color that I didn't already have.

Upper Deck Retro has been making the rounds. I had this product in another group break recently if I recall. I did a lot better this time around, pulling this incredibly busy J.D. Drew serial numbered (0240/1000) insert and several others that I didn't previously have.

And what might Upper Deck be "throwing back" to here? Hmmm... 1959 Topps? Sneaky. (Also, isn't that link the best?)

Ozzie had only been out of baseball for a few years at this point.

Next up, we had some 2006 Upper Deck First Pitch. This was a value-priced precursor to the three year run of Upper Deck First Edition, only the design didn't mirror the base set. And that's really too bad, because I actually really liked the 2006 Upper Deck set. This is the type of thing you get in repacks sometimes, but I still ended up with some cards I didn't own. This is a Scott Rolen insert of some sort.

The idea of an Upper Deck "40 Man" set sounds great to me on paper. But not, like, the paper the cards are manufactured on. I love the idea of getting cards of players from my team who don't usually have cards, but Topps executed this much better with the highly lamented Topps Total. Curse you, Topps. These 40 Man cards all look the same, mostly awkward posed shots of players you know and don't know.

Finally, here's one of the nicest cards I've ever received in a group break. It also fills a spot in my as yet uncharted quest to get a certified autograph of every player on the Cardinals World Series winning 2006 and 2011 teams. This Elements set is fun and I wouldn't mind someday getting a hold of a box.