Category Archives: beyond awesome

Looking at Ultimate From Different Perspectives

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First off, Im sure you are all expecting me to rant and rave about how awesome Ultimate is, but I am not going to do it in the way you expect. Ultimate has some ridiculously great elements to it, but there are parts that need to be examined from a perspective outside of my usual way. Its rare that a product like this comes out, where some of the cards can be as awesome as they are, and other can be as problematic. Although they all look good, some spell disaster for some while being great for others.

The first perspective is from me, the singles buyer, rather than someone who buys wax. Right now, there are no less than 10 cards I would purchase in a heartbeat if I didn’t have a baby on the way. These cards are easily the coolest ones of the year in some cases, and in others they go far above my expectations. I think Ultimate’s good cards are borderline what some were getting in baseball, which says a lot about the effort that was put into this product.

Much like last year, the Ultimate Patch autos are the best of the set. These cards just look cooler than anything that has been released this year. I like these ones better than a lot of the ones from the Exquisite previews, so that says something. I also like all the inscriptions that have made their way into the product, as they add a lot to a normal auto card that cant be duplicated by stickers. Im not going to go buy any of the Personal Touch ones, but I would definitely buy some of the others that relate to the player’s accomplishments.

I am also a huge fan of the duals, triples and quads, as it looks like they really got their shit right on these. The dual jersey autos are just amazing, and I could understand if someone wants to do a victory lap if they pulled some of the ones that have been posted.

Lastly, the UD Legends cards are always a treat. They definitely added some great players to the growing set, and though they may not always recoup a box price, the cards look as great as they did back in 1997. Its too bad we cant do a similar product with a new design and similar focus.

Moving on to the second perspective of me, the wax breaker, Ultimate takes on a very different feel than someone who buys singles. Most importantly, if you are busting a case of this, expect a lot of non-auto jersey cards. Too many for most people to justify busting this product. Although the jerseys are six piece, eight piece, or jumbo patches, its not going to be enough to make anyone crazy like they did in baseball. At 80+ per box, to pull one of these cards is pretty much a death sentence to the box with very few exceptions, which is why I can understand the feelings of some of the people who were buying and complaining.

Its pretty much impossible to put out a product where every pack is a winner, that’s obvious. But, to include half a case worth of junk in a product that costs as much as Ultimate does, people are going to be pissed. Limited faced some of this criticism as well because of its dud boxes, but Limited does offer more hits. Those extra hits are usually poop, but for the general public who likes both quantity and quality at the same time, its not going to be as much of a problem.

Basically, when busting Ultimate you are either going to win big, come out of it with cool cards that arent worth a lot, or get some jerseys that you can sell for 10 bucks. I think this structure of returns is what makes Ultimate such a love it/hate it product. I think its cool that some of the duds can be as cool as they are,but I also get that people want to get their money’s worth. Im saying its probably a good idea to buy singles on this one, but if you must bust, buy m
ore than one box to protect yourself from the dud.

Overall, I really like the look of this set, as I really didn’t think I would. When the preview came out, I was pretty disappointed, yet now my tune has changed thanks to the un-previewed part of the set. Despite the fact that it wont live up to baseball, I think its definitely a great product to have fun with if you have the money.

Countdown to 2009 SP Authentic Football – ONE FREAKING DAY.

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Man I am excited, because tomorrow, 2009 SP Authentic Football goes live per numerous reports. Although the quality of the final product is still very much up in the air due to recent lawsuits against Upper Deck (as well as numerous delays), my level of anticipation is still in the stratosphere.

Personally, I wasn’t too excited about the design when it came out a few months ago, but now, thanks to the lack of good products, its prospects have me raring to go bust a case and a half. The product is slated to feature 100% on card autos, which is a breath of fresh air from Panini/Topps sticker city, though again, quality is yet to be determined on what is going to be in the actual boxes. The autos could be tons of redemptions which I will not waste my time on, or they could be mostly packed out, to which I will be making my paypal account cry.

My favorite new additions to the set are definitely the jumbo patch autos, and if we have gotten any clues from Ultimate Baseball, these could turn out to be the best cards of the year. I am one of those people that loves signed memorabilia cards, and to have a shot at some in this product is ridiculously cool. We already know they are going to be a big part of Exquisite, and these look to be the precursor to everything.

Most importantly are the rookie super patch autos, which look great for the umpteenth year in a row. If you want to see consistency, run through my retrospective I did over on the UD blog. There isnt a bad year, and that is INCREDIBLY tough to accomplish. The only other product that comes close is Topps Chrome, which I raved similarly about earlier this year.

Regardless of how you feel about the actual company, its hard to argue against a product that produces the way SPA does every year. Although it hasn’t been without problems in the past, the cards that people covet run rampant through this set because of the awesome designs and concepts that have graced the cardboard since its inception.

You may be pissed that SPA has been delayed for multiple weeks, but to that I say that quality is quality. If it indeed lives up to the billing, which is at about 50/50 odds right now, this could be one of the best products in a long time. If it falls short due to recent problems with the company, I am going to be one pissed off motherfucker. You don’t fuck up SPA, it’s the one final bright spots in the year, and right now things arent looking promising. It will only take a matter of days to get a true grasp, and I am praying for a rain of awesomeness.

This Is Beyond Cool

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I love painted memorabilia. Jerseys, Canvases, whatever it may be, they all catch my eye whenever I see them on eBay. This one is a little bit different, because the Painted memorabilia is the floor Jordan played on while in Chicago.

Last year, Upper Deck purchased a good part of that United Center floor, and took six pieces to turn into art like this. Oh yeah, its signed by Jordan too.
I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I were a baller, I wish I had the money to buy this.

I Am Shocked By 2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball – Logos or No Logos

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2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball has hit with a vengence and it is glorious so far. Not every box has been great, but many of them are seemingly packed with goodness. I have seen a few boxes broken, seen the boxes on blowout, and I am continually shocked by what is coming out of them. Jumbo patches with ridiculous swatches, great looking cards with on card signatures, and a seemingly blatant disregard for the logos that Topps paid so dearly for. I love it.

The best cards that have hit eBay are the amazing HOFer jersey and autos, but they arent the only ones that look shocking. There have been just as many cards of current stars that are making collectors salivate, from a product that has actually been pretty uneventful over the last few years.
I have said on a few occasions that Ultimate Collection is the one product, hobby wide, that could greatly benefit from a revamp. It costs a bunch for what you get, the cards arent THAT cool, and there is only one hit per box. Your one hit used to be something like this, but now it is something like this.
I guess Upper Deck has found some sort of loophole in the licensing because there sure are a lot of things on these cards that shouldnt be there. That means they are either A) giving the middle finger to Topps, B) filing this under the 2009 Product calendar, or C) really stupid.
We should find out pretty soon.