First look: UD 2011-12 Fleer Retro Basketball
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Contributing Editor
Basketball fans should get ready for a blast from the past from Upper Deck.
The company is bringing back Fleer Retro Basketball for a new season, featuring many stars in college uniforms on card designs from more than a decade ago.
The base set will consist of 50 regular cards and 33 rookie sensations, including many of the rookies fans have patiently waited to watch during the lockout such as Jimmer Fredette.
The Rookie Sensations might look familiar. That is the 1990-91 design. These cards will fall one in every three packs.
Collectors should get a thrill in opening this product because there are six autographs in every box. Remember Autographics? That’s what a number of the auto designs will be on.
The breakdown of the box is a little different. There are two mini boxes in each main box with the autographs split into three in each mini box. There are 10 packs in inner box and five cards in a pack.
There is also four inserts per box from 11 different subsets, including Precious Metal Gems.
Precious Metal Gems come in three parallels: red (numbered to 150), blue (numbered to 50) and green (numbered to 10).
With basketball on a comeback, Upper Deck is ready to get these cards into collectors’ hands.
Susan Lulgjuraj is a contributing editor for Beckett Media. You can email Susan here. Follow her on Twitter here.
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I’m honestly not much of a fan of this. Just like I wasn’t much of a fan when they decided to use the 1986-87 design in quite a few parallel sets over the years (two straight years for a rookie parallel at least). Also, depending on what the SRP, they’re taking a product that normally comes with a lot of cards and large set and making it smaller. I know there aren’t many college players people collect, but Fleer hasn’t been a small set size for many years. But, I don’t buy college stuff, so I won’t be getting any. I just wanted to comment on the overuse of reusing designs.
Got to say I kinda am looking forward to this one from Ud. Seems a lilte Topps Finest Packaging but still that Brid and Lebron look sweet. Upper Deck still finds a way to be compettitive.
Lets see what Panini gives us next….
thanks Susan
As long as they don’t make STICKER autographics, I’d think it will do well.
If anything I’m more upset that UPPERDECK has lost the right to produce anymore NBA products,meaning less M.J cards.The only solution is for PANINI to somehow be permitted to manufacture M.JORDAN CARDS in the immediate future.
The NBA made its choice for licensees, so that’s what we get.
Chris, Im pretty sure everyone had a chance at a license. It was that they didnt want to pay the fee. The NBA didnt choose anyone. That would be a pretty dumb business move for them to limit it to just one company. If it were up to the NBA, they would have their trademark on everything. You should know better…..
Dante: The NBA won’t just give them to anyone — and licensors must be able to deliver on certain aspects of deals to secure them (i.e. generate X amount of money for the NBA). They also wouldn’t give a new license to a company that owed it money from past deals.
If they paid they would……. Like I said, they wouldn’t pay. They had the opportunity, they just passed. Thanks for trying but Im right.
Dante: Will pay can pay are different things. One company lost a license in last few years because it owed its league a couple million.