Something Fleer Ultra always makes me think about is sorting cards. That might sound a bit funny, but it’s not just Ultra that does it. It’s also Stadium Club, Collector’s Choice,… maybe you see where I am going with this.
If you aren’t familiar with the way that I sort and organize my collection, I do the following: year, manufacturer, set, base/insert/parallel, number. Normally when I see it listed I see “Ultra”. I think for the most part that’s how I sort it. But then some little voice in the back of my head says, “It’s Fleer Ultra… don’t you want to put it after ‘Fleer’?… don’t put it before ‘Upper Deck’ dummy.”
I would bet that 95% of Ultra is sorted as “Ultra” in my boxes. But there are a few places where I will find it as “Fleer Ultra”. I will say that it makes more sense and provides more room on the dividers I make. I’m telling you just thinking about this make me a little crazy.
#firstworldproblems
1992 Fleer Ultra Series 1
This was a really great box to open. The cards are so clean and bright. I was really amazed that they all came out well. Some of the cards and the gloss they have on them in this era can be really sticky and then damage the cards as you open them. While they stuck together some, it wasn’t damaging to the cards which was good.
The design is fine, but what I do like about it is that the colors are basically team colors. There are some challenges where either the colors don’t make it easy to see (like Nolan Ryan above) or they aren’t exactly team colors (like the Ozzie Smith below). But I will almost always prefer that. I don’t know why and I don’t know how they do it, but they move that Ultra logo around which kind of gets to me.
There were a really good bunch of Hall of Famers in this box. One of the things that I liked about the guys I posted in this section, they were around FOREVER. Some of these were at the end of their careers and some were a little more in the middle, but they all played for so many years.
The Rooks
The rookie cards brought even more Hall of Famers… well, maybe not Mo Vaughn. But I wanted my three cards for the picture and he was the most recognizable rookie that I got from this box after Mussina and Thome.
It’s crazy looking at Thome when he first started. It’s funny because he seems smaller, while Mo was seemingly always big.
Woopsies and Questions
You know I always like to look at some odd balls and questionable pictures for cards. There’s so many pictures out there and I’m surprised when we have to see the oddest ones.
- Benito Santiago: Is he doing a trick where he is trying to do a no look catch? Probably not, but it makes for an awkward picture.
- Mackey Sasser: He sure seems like he’s gonna fall backwards to me. Maybe this is a trustfall with the ump.
- Matt Nokes: This seems like a false start on a foul ball. That bat is just in an awkward position.
- Robin Yount: I just want a better picture for a Hall of Famer.
- Cal Ripken: So “Rip”ken was living up to his name. Looks like he had a slide that tore a hole in his trousers.
- Craig Biggio: There’s isn’t anything wrong with this one, but what’s the thing on his cap?
Hey Now, You’re An All-Star
These are the All-Star cards for this set. They look almost more like they could be a base version of the set. There’s not much that makes them stand out as an insert to me. But this was the era where inserts were just starting. The feeling of these makes them a bit dull and dark compared to the way the base design comes out, which seems the opposite of what we normally see in inserts.
#Gwynning
Tony Gwynn was the focus of this set. I like that because Tony is a good guy. I just feel like we coudl have done better by him on this. Not sure why they used a terrible kitchen counter marble for the design.
Signers and Packs
As always I pulled out TTM cards and found a ton. As I’ve been going through boxes lately I am finding more and more with each year and the piles are growing. I also set aside three pack for this box to fill out having five packs set aside for this release. For what I am not sure, but I keep collecting unopened packs.
Overall, I love opening the base. There’s not much to the inserts at all, so it’s a good thing they don’t show up all that much in the box. I know that these days that’s the exciting thing, but for me the TTM finds have probably been the most exciting. That’s especially true with a set like this that I don’t have much of so I know I don’t have them signed.
For more about 1992 Fleer Ultra, check out BaseballCardPedia.com.