fleer ultra

**michael_a_l** · 10-23-2011, 03:39 AM

Hi.

I want to collect NBA cards again.but I'm not a huge fan of the current products.

I was wondering I'd anyone can tell me when fleer or fleer ultra were released for the last time.

Also is it possible to collect. Master set or is there too many low serial numbered cards.

If that is the case what would be a good fleer/ fleer ultra set to collect a master set of.

Thanks for the help

**Soundwave** · 10-23-2011, 06:32 AM

My son and I have been trying to put together a master set of 02-03 Ultra for the last 2 years. He was born in 02 and I bought a couple of boxes when he was born. We've put together all of the base set (except for a giricek rookie), the non-numbered gold medallion parallels, about half of the gold medallion parallel RC's (#'d to 100) and are only a few cards away from completing the other insert sets.

The lowest numbered cards are the photo effex masterpieces (#'d to 25.) We've only managed to get one of those (Vince Carter.) The others I've seen (Kobe and Gasol) went for over $70 last year and an Iverson just went for $25. Those are the most expensive cards in the set.

Here's what we like about the set: It's pretty easy to keep track of the insert sets because there's only 3. (O!, back 2 back, and photo effex) The base cards are from actual games so that's cool. Most of the cards are pretty cheap. Even the cards with the highest book value usually go for 10-20% of book and it's rare to find a card that you can't get for less than $5-10. This was also Jordan's last year, so you get to see him in a Wizards uni.

Here's what's not so nice. Buying boxes sucks. Most of the cards are bricked together by now and the redemptions (and there are a lot of redemptions) are worthless. There's only 2 hits/box and likely you could buy those 2 hits for $5. The cheapest boxes I've found have been at least $35. Also, no autos in this set. That keeps the cost down, but makes it a little boring.

Also, at this late date, it's tough to find anyone that actually posts these cards for sale. I've never seen some of the cards I need. Why would anyone try to sell a Desmond Mason jersey card from 02-03? I'm probably the only one in the world who would pay more than $1 for it. I doubt we'll ever totally complete it.

The other big problem is counterfeiting. I have a few cards that I'm sure are fake. They should be numbered, but they aren't. With the fleer bankruptcy a lot of cards with empty jersey windows wound up on the market and somehow they now have jerseys in them. I pulled a pretty cool Marbury card with a 6 color patch, but I'm sure that everyone would assume that it's a fake since it's numbered to 500.

If you decide to go for it, have patience. Don't get tempted to pay $12 for that Morris Peterson GU card. You'll see it next month for $1.20. Sites like check out my cards, sports lots, and ebay, of course, are very helpful.
Oh, and pick a year other than 02-03. Right now I'm the only one buying these cards and I don't need any competition. ;) Overall, it's been fun and not too expensive. Good Luck!

One last note. I like the design of this low? end set better than anything I've seen from panini at 10 times the price.