Friday, July 6, 2012

Set Showcase #22: 1992 Ultra All-Stars

Let's take a trip back in time. The year is 1992 and I'm a college student working part time at my local card shop. I recently qualified for my first credit card, which is a pretty dangerous thing because every time I go to work, it's like I'm a kid in a candy store.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that the Baseball Card Gods are trying to tempt and torture me... because I've suddenly become addicted to this hot, new & improved version of Fleer Ultra.

I started off just wanting to build the base sets... but I now find myself chasing the insert sets too. Hi. My name is Fuji... and I'm a card-o-holic.

Okay... fast forward twenty years to the present day. I ended up completing the master set of 1992 Fleer Ultra Baseball... with the exception of the nine different Tony Gwynn autographs.

Now keep in mind, this was many, many, many years before COMC, Sportlots, and Beckett Marketplace. Heck, I'm pretty sure eBay wasn't even around. So I couldn't just buy singles with the click of the button. Nope... I had to do it the old fashion way: trade with other collectors & bust a ton of boxes.

The set remains in the same binder I purchased back in the day... sitting on my bookshelf for these two reason:

1. It's one of my prized possessions, because it's a project I worked very hard to complete.
2. It's a reminder of why I don't purchase cards for the purpose of investment... anymore.

With that in mind, I thought it'd be nice to share my 1992 Fleer Ultra All-Star set in honor of the upcoming 2012 MLB All-Star Game.

Set: 20 Cards

#1 McGwire, #2 Alomar, #3 Ripken, #4 Boggs, & #5 Tettleton

#6 Griffey Jr., #7 Kelly, #8 Puckett, #9 Thomas, & #10 McDowell

#11 Clark, #12 Sandberg, #13 Larkin, #14 Sheffield, & #15 Pagnozzi

#16 Bonds, #17 Sanders, #18 Strawberry, #19 Cone, & #20 Glavine

Compared to today's cardboard designs, many of you might consider the design to be "boring". But back in 1992, companies saved the "glossy" card stock for highend products like Fleer Ultra and Topps Stadium Club. I was definitely attracted to the high quality photography and the nice marble borders.


Hall of Famers: 30% (6 Players)

Alomar, Ripken, Boggs, Puckett, Sandberg, & Larkin are already enshrined. Griffey, Thomas, and Glavine are locks... it's just a waiting game for them. And then there are the one's we'll just have to wait and see: McGwire, Sheffield, and Bonds. Depending on how the voters view players who used PED's... this group size may double in size in the next 5 to 10 years.


Beckett Value: $25


Barry Bonds and Cal Ripken Jr. lead the way in this set. Both of their cards book for $5 each. Mark McGwire is right behind them at $4. Back in the June 1993 issue of Beckett, the set booked for $55 and the two highest valued cards were The Big Hurt ($12) and The Kid ($8). Damn, that's a lot of down arrows. I wonder what this set booked for in April or May of '93.


eBay Value: $5.99 to $8.60


I only found two completed listings for this set on eBay. As usual, Beckett is way off. But can you really blame them? Imagine all of the other collectors who maxed out their credit cards building this set looking up their 20 year old insert set to find a high book value of $8.60. That's not a pretty thing to imagine.

On the bright side... it's the perfect time to pick up inserts sets like these that you wanted back in the early 90's.

Okay it's time for another mini contest. This time it involves you making the following All-Star game predictions:

A. Which team will win the game?
B. Who will hit the first home run of the game?
C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined?
D. Who takes home the MVP award?

1 Point - Make one correct prediction.
3 Points - Make two correct predictions.
6 Points - Make three correct predictions.
10 Points - Make four correct predictions.
-1 Point - Make zero correct predictions. I figure, I'd make things a little more interesting.
-2 Points - Once again, there's a penalty for lack of participation.

Don't worry... I'll accept contests entries until Tuesday at 3pm (PST)... which gives everyone plenty of time to get their picks in. Best of luck!

Happy Friday everyone and sayonara!

36 comments:

The Dimwit said...

A. Which team will win the game? - American League
B. Who will hit the first home run of the game? - Josh Hamilton
C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined? - 12
D. Who takes home the MVP award? - Josh Hamilton

Sorry for the lack of participation... hard to post from the Dominican Republic... hehehe... hope I didn't lose too many points!

Captain Canuck said...

you made me have to go and look up who was even in this game.... your question should have been, Does anyone even watch this abomination anymore?

Anyways... on with the fun.

National League
Dan Uggla
21
Chippah!

SpastikMooss said...

A. American League
B. Josh Hamilton
C. 17
D. Josh Hamilton

Greg Zakwin said...

A. American League
B. Buster Posey
C. 15 runs total
D. Trout

TheIronLung said...

A. Which team will win the game? AL
B. Who will hit the first home run of the game? No one
C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined? 7
D. Who takes home the MVP award? Matt Holliday

Nick said...

I'm a big fan of those Ultra All-Stars inserts. I could've sworn I had a few in my collection, but I must've traded them at some point.

As for your contest...

A. National League
B. Joey Votto
C. 9
D. Joey Votto

Thanks!

unclemoe said...

That was a great set.

moe.

Dawgbones said...

A. Which team will win the game?
Well duh, the team that scores the most points, naturally! (N.L.)

B. Who will hit the first home run of the game?
The guy that hits the ball the hardest first. (Prince Fielder)

C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined?
Zero, the teams don't combines their runs, they score them individually, if they were combined, nobody would win! (9, 6-3)

D. Who takes home the MVP award?
The most outstanding player in this year's MLB All-Star Game. (Chipper Jones)

Section 36 said...

A. American League
B. David Ortiz
C. 18
D. David Ortiz

Sal said...

Aw man, I know next-to-nothing about baseball. I'm being "penalized" for my lack of knowledge...it's like high school all over again :)

Fuji said...

100% Agree

Fuji said...

Lol... just go to MLB.com and start throwing out guess. You at least have a 50/50 shot at guessing who's gonna win the game ;-)

BA Benny said...

NL Wins
Joey Votto hits first HR
12 runs total
David Wright MVP

The Lost Collector said...

A. AL
B. Cano
C. Eight
D. Cano

Commishbob said...

Alright here we go:

AL wins
Granderson hits first homer
11 runs total
MVP is Adam Jones

Nachos Grande said...

A. Which team will win the game? National League
B. Who will hit the first home run of the game? Carlos Gonzalez
C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined? 7
D. Who takes home the MVP award? Carlos Gonzalez

Dion's IP Autos only said...

A: American League is the winner.
B: Mark Trumbo
C: total of 9 runs scored.
D: R.A. Dickey

Anonymous said...

The American League will overcome their handicap of having 8 Rangers and win despite this.

Robinson Cano will hit the first (and 3rd) homeruns of the game.

Cano's homers will lead the AL to a 8-6 win. His 2nd homer will give the AL the lead back after a Rangers pitcher gave it away.

Robinson Cano will be the game's MVP.

Play at the Plate said...

Where are all the entries???

1. American League
2. Robinson Cano
3. 9 total runs
4. Cano wins the MVP

Dawgbones said...

Did you get my commentary Fuji?

dayf said...

National League wins
No home runs are hit
Seven runs combined
Oh why not... Chipper Jones MVP

Fuji said...

Yep... I'll publish it when all entries have been accounted for. Don't want anybody out there copying other people's predictions ;-)

jacobmrley said...

A. Which team will win the game? NL
B. Who will hit the first home run of the game? None
C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined? 5
D. Who takes home the MVP award? David Wright

Zippy Zappy said...

Just goes to show that the only value baseball cards have are sentimental value & trade value.

Hmmm tough one since guessing isn't one of my strenghs plus some of the fan picks are terrible (again) this year (cough, Napoli, cough). I'll give it a shot though.

A). American League (bias)
B). Robinson Cano (bias again)
C). 3 (it's now become an era were complete games are the norm and no-hitters & perfectos are somewhat expected every year)
D). Chipper Jones (hey it's his last year ain't it? ;))

Spankee said...

A. Which team will win the game? NL
B. Who will hit the first home run of the game? Carlos Beltran
C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined? 3
D. Who takes home the MVP award? Carlos Beltran

hockey kazi said...

Which team will win the game? AL

Who will hit the first home run of the game? Joey Votto

How many runs will be scored by both teams combined? 9

Who takes home the MVP award Joey Votto

Ryan G said...

That's a beautiful set. The marble design on '92 Ultra is one of my favorites, even if it is dated. Ultra was total crap in 1991 but they really stepped up the game in the sophomore issue.

A. In Soviet Russia, game wins you. But I say Americans win.
B. Oh my GOD. Jose Altuve is ON THE ROSTER. I saw that guy play AA ball last spring! But he won't hit the first homer. I'm going with Josh Hamilton.
C. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.
D. I'm guessing the award will be lost, left at some afterparty in the coatroom, and put on eBay within a week. Honestly: Dan Uggla. Why not?

Stealing Home said...

ok here comes my predictions:
a. national league
b.trumbo
c. 9
d. yu darvish

Jafronius said...

Hey Fuji:

A. American League
B. Prince Fielder
C. 10
D. Eh, go with Prince again

Thanks!

Jafronius.

Baseball Nut said...

American League will win.
American League will hit the first Home Run.
8 runs total.
Josh Hamilton MVP.

Mini Groover said...

Nationals?
Pujols?
12?
Pujols?

I have no clue... :P. it's because I'm a basketball player :P

Milwaukee Southpaw said...

I'll say the National League wins, Joey Votto hits the first HR, combined score is 8 (5-3, NL wins), and Votto also takes home the MVP

Wilson said...

I figured I'd wait till the last minute in case my MVP pick dropped out

A. NL
B. Josh Hamilton
C. 17
D. Carlos Beltran

Kbrewster/90 said...

1. NL
2. Votto
3. 9
4. Votto

The Diamond King said...

A. Which team will win the game? The AL
B. Who will hit the first home run of the game? Curtis Grandrson
C. How many runs will be scored by both teams combined? 7
D. Who takes home the MVP award? Ian Kinsler

Fuji said...

MLB All-Star prediction entries are officially closed. Best of luck to all of those who have entered. I should have the results posted later tonight.

Thanks again to all of those who entered.