Before we dig into that 2007 Fleer Ultra box, I'll show a couple of cards I got from those 12 packs of 2013 Score football, generously offered by Dave & Adam's (the free baseball cards they were offering didn't inspire me, and I got a pack of basketball from the dreaded Panini the last time. I figured I'd give football a chance, as I'm not quite ready for hockey yet and haven't seen a game in 15 years, besides the Olympics. Are Gretzky and Lemieux still playing ?). The cards were fun to discover, even though I only got a couple of Giants, which is the team I technically collect (technically, because I have something like 200 total football cards, including maybe 50 Giants ones). I also have a whole bunch of Houston Oilers cards, specifically Warren Moon, and I'll have to tell the story about why one of these days. A french guy doesn't just collect Oilers cards out of nowhere. He must have a reason. In the 90s, in France, it was all about the Cowboys, 49ers or Raiders. The Oilers were'nt the sexiest choice around, and because of The Comeback, since nobody here heard about it (I did see the game though. Heartbreaking). They have a 90s feeling to them, and I'd probably collect them if I was into football cards. Basic cardboard, questionnable subsets, what more can you ask for ?
2007 Fleer Ultra, 24 packs, 5 cards per pack.
I get the whole 'we're a high-end brand, which means you only get a few cards per pack because each one will blow your mind and we love the idea of having you pay 1$ per card, but Ultra is no high end by any means. So why only 5 cards per pack ? The year before, Upper Deck's put 8 cards in their first Ultra offering after taking over. Why the cutback ? Don't they like knowing that somewhere a french guy will be flipping through a pack of cards, looking at each one of them one at a time, taking his time, not hurrying to see if he got any inserts ? ANd it's much, MUCH more fun with 10 or 12 or, let's be crazy, 15 card packs. THe 5 card pack is like having a naked lady showing up at your doorstep. Give me lingerie, something to get my mind going, some kind of promise. With a five card pack, it's over before it's even started, and the cigarette is already smoked.
But if that's all their is, I'll go with the naked lady on my doorstep. And the 5 card pack. I'm weak.
The front design is what you'd expect of Fleer Ultra. Not a big fan of the crown on the logo. That's a nice Junior shot of a Junior blast.
The backs of the cards were a disappointment though. One thing I used to love about Ultra, besides their glossiness, were their backs. They simply looked cool. Now they just look blah.
One thing Ultra is NOT known for are action shots. So you have pitchers in pitching stances (yawn)
And batters in batting stances (yawn some more). Probably had the same person choose the photos and he was obsessed with uniformity. Beltran IS facing left though, so that's a welcomed change.
Ultra has always had great inserts. They often went a little over the top with them, but at least they were fun to collect. Upper Deck decided to somewhat bring this back. Feel the game and Faces of the game simply do not work. Ugly cards all the way. Swing Kings and Hitting machine are pretty nice. The 2 Lucky 13 cards are from the main set, but are SPs.
Always nice to have some more Ripken.
I consider myself smart and all, but it took me awhile to realize that those were gold medallions. There's nothing mentionnig it on the front or back of the cards, and you need to look closely to see the gold foil.But at least there's Jeter in there. If I put it on ebay, I'll probably make a whoopping $3.
Strangely enough, there were no hits in that box, despite a lineup of autos and game used. Ah well. That's what you get when you don't invest in stockings.
I opened a bunch of this stuff when it came out. The hitting machine Freddy Sanchez is really cool.
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