2009 & 2010 UD SPx Shadow Box: Innovative or Unimaginative Gimmick?

In an age of sticker auto's and small relic/jersey patches, the need for trading card innovation is welcomed with open arms. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the creative and sometimes outrageous designs of 90's inserts. I also appreciate and collect today's products, but I really get excited about what the 90's card industry had to offer. That's what made last year's football and hockey 2009 Upper Deck SPx Shadow Box cards so interesting.

That's right. I did write, "shadow bow". These cards feature a really cool 3d player image in the middle of the hallowed out trading card. This is not a totally new idea. Actually, it's similar to the '92 Fleer 3d acrylic basketball cards that were only available to collectors through a wrapper exchange. These cards are slightly different in that they are truly multi-layered with a separate image on the surface and inside the card. In addition, these cards are so nicely designed that they would even look cool without the shadow box effect, however, that effect really puts these cards over the top.

I first heard about these Shadow Box cards through fellow bloggers at Waxheaven and The Chronicles of Fuji. As you can imagine, these are pretty thick cards. Also, they're rare at an insertion rate of one per case. There also are autographed version that come with a separate COA card to guarantee authenticity. It's rumored that these auto'd bad boys have a very limited print run near five or less, so good luck with that. I'm happy with the Thurman Thomas I picked up recently for under $7.00 including shipping. That's a steal for this Bills fan.


There certainly has been a fair share of innovative and creatively designed products released over the past few years, but Upper Deck really came through with these Shadow Box cards. The 2010 SPx hockey and football products have been released and this year's Shadow Box cards are hitting eBay right now. With the recent troubles the Upper Deck company is rumored to be going through, it's nice to see they are still managing to putout some quality products that spark at least this collector's interest.

So you know my thoughts. I'm placing a vote for, "Yes, they are innovative and look great". I'm pretty excited to add this Thurman Thomas card to my collection, and I'll definitely be checking out the 2010 Shadow Box cards as they become available on eBay. That's enough from me. What do you think about Upper Deck's Shadow Box cards?