UD MLS Packs Finally

In mid-May Upper Deck released the 2010 MLS set with little fanfare, which is odd considering that the World Cup begins in only a few days on June 11th, not even a month after the MLS set was released.

Now Arizona is not a “hot bed” for a soccer fan. Consider that our “local” team is Chivas USA, located roughly 6 hours away in LA. So, hunting down some packs locally has turned in to a difficult task. I even contacted UD directly to see if they had promo cards or packs that they would be willing to send out to let me review the product on the blog, needless to say that request was shot down with a resounding "No!"

After weeks of frustration I was to the point where I considered putting down $100 and buy a box without having even seeing the cards firsthand. Alas my prayers were finally answered when I stopped by the store and saw a hobby box sitting on the shelf, opened and rifled through but I figured I would grab a few packs and scratch the itch at least a bit until I break down and order a box.

I bought 2 packs, 16 cards total and 9 of them were Defense or mediocre Goalies, which was quite saddening for me. I did pull a 2010 Super Draft card of so-so rookie Corben Bone (1 Game Played, 39 Min and 1 SOG), but the best card pulled was probably the WPS Stars card of Sonia Bompastor (1 Goal and 3Assists in 8 Games Played).

I do like the action shots, there are clean lines and the cards are not overwhelmed by mad designers intent on destroying every card they touch. This is a great set and I love the landscape card of Stefan Frei, you can see the focus he has on the ball. Sadly the packs were void of Seattle Sounders FC cards, something I hope to remedy if/when I pick up a box.