A few years ago, I came across a lot of wax boxes from early 90s Fleer products on eBay. I used these boxes to kick-start some set builds, as I am retroactively trying to complete one set for each year that I have collected cards. When I was a kid, I didn't build sets, so I have had to go back as an adult after I got back into the hobby. One of the boxes I picked up was 1992 Ultra.
I have always liked the "premium" brand of Fleer Ultra. I remember this set from when I was 10 years old and it first came out. The gloss, the full-bleed photography, the gold foil, the marbly design for the nameplate--this was as beautiful as it got for me. As you can see from these cards, the action shots were unparalleled.
When I first opened the box, I was really worried about bricking because these cards feel like more gloss than cardboard. I don't know how other unopened, 28-year-old boxes are, but I didn't have any cards stuck together.
There is just one strange thing about 1992 Fleer products: some of the biggest stars of the game are excluded from the set. So while I am building a couple of sets from 1992, players like Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Bruce Smith, and Dan Marino are not part of my sets for that year. I don't have any details as to why, but I assume that it was a contract dispute between the players and the card company. Some top names may be missing, but at least I still got both Gary Andersons!
Since I opened this box a couple of years ago, I have been slowly working on the set. A recent TCDB trade brought my set build up to 448 out of the 450 base cards, good for 99.5% completion. The last two cards I'm missing are #54 David Fulcher and #331 Barry Foster.
Prognosis: I aim to have this set crossed off my wantlist before this year is over. Two cards shouldn't be too hard to find, either in trade or through Sportlots.
I might have a duplicate card of Barry Foater from this set since I team collect the Steelers. Shoot me an email at steeltim120276 AT gmail.com and we can talk it over.
ReplyDeleteI have the Fulcher and Foster. I'll send them to you tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteAs it turns out, I bought a box of '92 Ultra football a couple years ago. The '92-93 Ultra sets were one of my favorites and I wanted to complete one for every sport. The only one I didn't complete is football, since I needed about a hundred cards and didn't feel like going through the trouble. The lack of so many big-name players bothered me, too.
Interesting that they left out so many big names. Maybe they were planning to have a 2nd series with Montana, Marino, and Aikman... but they didn't think it was worth it. This set does feature a great design and some excellent photography. I don't think I purchased much of this stuff back in 1992 though. Most of my money went to the baseball version.
ReplyDeleteI'd be too afraid of stuck cards to ever buy a box of this, no matter how cheap it was! Glad to hear that it wasn't a problem for you though. There may not be a lot of big names in there (which I had never heard about before), but I have recently found out that I need about a dozen cards from this set for player collections, and even though this set was mass produced, singles from it aren't the easiest thing to find out in the wild.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry--I've got Reggie Roby ready to go out to you.
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