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!