Memory Lane – 1992 Fleer Ultra Baseball

When I go to the card shop or a show, I always keep my eye open for 80’s-90’s boxes that can be purchased at cheap prices.  Most of the boxes in that era fit that description.  And sometimes, there is a chase card that is in the set.  The early 90’s Upper Deck boxes had autographs of various superstars such as Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Joe Montana and others.  The early 90’s Donruss boxes had the Elite Series, one of my favorites.  Fleer Ultra inserted Tony Gwynn autos into series 1 in 1992.  Unfortunately, the most recent box I found was a series 2 box.  It was cheap and I like Fleer Ultra so I figured what the heck.As mentioned in my previous post, When Subsets Were Cool, I really like the All-Star Subset in this Fleer Ultra.  They are really clean and classy looking for an early 90’s card.  It is also full of Hall of Famers (or future Hall of Famers).  So basically, a $10 ticket for a ride down memory lane and the chance to revisit some of my favorite players from the early 90’s was an easy decision.  Series 2 is not as loaded as Series 1 but both series’ are 300 cards per, so a couple of boxes can put the set together without much problem.  As a matter of fact, I am only a handful of cards short of the set with this one box ripped.  I don’t know the normal number of inserts per box but I also pulled six All-Star cards and three All-Rookie Team cards in the box.  And let me say, the All-Rookie team is pretty lame based on the three I pulled.The cards are as nice as I remember them.  They contain very vibrant action photos, except for the card of Dickie Thon that looks like a minor league card.  Ultra cut out most of the border that was on the majority of cards in the early 90’s and used a nice marble look where they did use a bottom border for the name and team.  The back of the card had a nice color action shot as well as a standard headshot of the player.  The knock on the back of the card is that they only included one year in the stats section.  They saved the rest of the space for the Max Headroom look behind the action shots.  As with other premium cards from the era like Stadium Club, some of the cards were stuck together in the pack but came apart with very little effort or damage in the process.The biggest stars available in Series 2 include Dave Winfield, Sammy Sosa, Eric Davis, Orel Hershiser, Larry Walker, Bobby Bonilla, Wade Boggs and of course, my old friend Hubie Brooks.  As for the All-Rookie cards I got, they were Archi Cianfrocco, Chad Curtis and Donovan Osborne.  See, I wasn’t joking.  The All-Star pulls were much better.  I pulled Mark McGwire, Roberto Alomar, Cal Ripken Jr., Wade Boggs, Kirby Puckett and Frank Thomas.  All-Stars indeed!  Also, all American Leaguers, which may or may not be random.  I don’t really know.  And finally, I pulled the gem of the series (if it were still 1992), Pat Listach, 1992 AL Rookie of the Year.  Alas, it isn’t 1992 anymore.  All in all, a decent trip back in time.  I saw some old classics like Dickie Thon and Hector Villanueva.  I pulled several solid All-Stars in a beautiful subset.  I almost put together the entire Series 2 set with one box.  And I did it all for $10.  On a “father of 2” budget, I’d call that money well spent and a nice Friday night at home.  I also picked up a 1991 Fleer Ultra football box for $5 and it will be ripped next.  My senses needed a little break from the scent and texture of the ’91 Topps cards and gum.  I did get another box of those in the mail today so I’m anxious to compare the collation with the previous box I got. I guess the proper thing to do is to create a Dub Rating Scale for when I open these old boxes so maybe it will help you decide whether that $10 is worth it or not.  Of course, none of this is scientific but I think that a standard 1-5, with 5 being the best makes the most sense.  If it’s a 3 or better, I think it can count as a recommendation.  Of course, temper your expectations with a 3 and get your cash out quickly for a 5.  For ’92 Fleer Ultra, I will give it a 4.  If not for the All-Star subset and good aesthetics, it could easily be a 3 because the checklist is a bit weak.  Of course, if this was Series 1, it could also be a 5 so take that for what it’s worth.  Bottom line – I would probably spend another $10 for a box to try and complete the series but I don’t think I’d spend $20.

Dub Score – 4