Monday, January 19, 2015

Breakin Wax: 2014-2015 Fleer Ultra Hockey Hobby Box (Big Hit)

Finally! That was the first words out of my mouth when Upper Deck announced they were releasing a Fleer Ultra product. Now the next thing I thought about was if it can be done right, I had no doubt of Upper Deck's abilities, it's just hard to recreate something. But, I will be the first to say, kudos to UD. They did a heck of a job. Check this out!

Each box of 2014-2015 Fleer Ultra comes with 18 packs and a box can be found for roughly $70. The fun thing about this product is that there are NO guaranteed hits. This is a huge thing in the hobby since you don't find many products like that anymore. To me, this was another positive. That means when you do hit something, it will be worth it and you will feel like it was worth it. Sort of like it did for me...ooops...it slipped out. You still will have to read on!

The base cards are a simple design with a player photo and name below. It wasn't quite the photography I expected but not bad. They still look nice but could use a little less white.

Back of base card..
That's a good start with the base cards, now onto what rest of this product has.

A rookie redemption. These fall 1:18 or one per box. When I asked Upper Deck about them I was told these would be released in April. I am very curious what it will look like.

Gold Medallion parallels that fall 1:2 packs. The word Gold Medallion is written on the card behind the player.

My Platinum Medallion falling one per box. Pulled a decent player and the card looks really nice with the rainbow foil.

Fun inserts! Just like the product from the 90's, Upper Deck did a great job recreating fun inserts for this product. The Buckets Die-Cut inserts fall 1:9.

The Gongshow Grinders fall 1:18. Overall you should find 4 fun die-cut inserts per box.

Another fun insert was the Road To The Championship. Great design and a fun "mock" ticket embedded into the card. These fall roughly one-per-box and range from Conference Quarterfinals 1:35 packs all the way to Stanley Cup Finals at 1:300 packs. The one I pulled falls 1:58 packs.

The hits in this box kept rolling. I pulled a Bonus pack that falls 1:3 boxes. These are sick!

In each of the bonus packs, you get at least two Ex cards and either a Ex parallel or a Jambalaya insert. I got the parallel numbered to 25.

The design for the Ex cards is superb! They look just like the originals but in a new updated design. UD needs just to do a separate product like this. Please do one!(By the way in case you were wondering, that is a wood table and not the card. That part is clear acetate.)


Then this bad boy was found. These are really cool. There are many versions of the National Heroes satin flag relics to be found. This Oshie one falls 1:150 packs.

And my box wasn't done yet. I then pulled a Russian version of the National Heroes satin flag and this time it was signed. If it had been the unsigned it would have been a big 1:225 pack pull, I would imagine this one is much tougher. Not to mention, it's one of hockey's biggest stars and limited to 25.
Overall, AWESOME PRODUCT! I would have been happy without the two National Heroes hits. Those just put an extra layer of icing on the cake. If you are a fan of Fleer Ultra, like fun and tough to find inserts, and collect hockey cards, I say go get a box. Upper Deck has a winner right here.

3 comments:

  1. Great box! I don't even do hockey and reading your review made me wish I did, I've always been a fan of Ultra.

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  2. Woo hoo! What a great box. Love the Inserts in Fleer Ultra and anytime you can pull an Ovie auto, well that's just a NICE bonus.

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