A few months ago I saw a sell sheet for 2023-24 Skybox Metal Universe hockey. I've never been a fan of the Fleer/Skybox Metal Universe sets (though I do have a couple in my collection)... but...
...one of the inserts caught my eye. Can you guess which one?
Yup, it's that 1990-91 Skybox basketball design - on a hockey card! I couldn't wait for these to hit the market. For those of you who don't collect hockey cards (and therefore haven't bought UD product in over a decade) all you need to know is that they love to recycle.
You get the idea. Very few Upper Deck products are released without some kind of retro/tribute insert set. But using a basketball card design is a new twist.
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I have fond memories of buying 1990-91 Skybox basketball packs (primarily at Walgreens) and made myself an actual note to gobble up these hockey inserts once 2023-24 Skybox Metal Universe hit stores. Which they did, earlier this week - just in time for the start of the 2024-25 season!
And now that they have, I can pretty much guarantee I won't be buying a single one. For two reasons.
One) they're a case hit. $30 per card (unless maybe they hit ePack next year and I can get them for $5)
Two) they look like this:
Umm... no. They took a cool design, turned it into an Uno card, and inserted these cards into an overpriced product at extremely long odds? Hard pass.
In other news... I made a trade with my collecting friend in CA. I sent him an SI For Kids card panel:
And I requested these cards that had been sitting in his eBay store:
These will be accompanied by a pile of Packers cards he picked out for me at a recent card show. I'll show those off when they arrive.
Thanks for reading!
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Unfortunately that seems to be a trend during the past decade or so--re-using a retro design but completely missing the point of it by making changes to it. Cool pickups from the trade, though! So much purple you'd think you were Prince!
ReplyDeleteAt least the backgrounds look more vibrant than the originals ... I don't collect basketball at all, but you just gave me a post idea!
ReplyDeleteI have mixed emotions on card companies recycling designs. I wouldn't mind if it was on a smaller scale. For example... if Topps just released Archives, I'd be cool with it. But they have a bunch of Flagship inserts that reuse old designs. Plus I've even seen products like Finest reuse old designs. There's a point where I feel like it's just lazy.
ReplyDeleteHowever... it's cool that collectors who are fans of certain set designs get the opportunity to collect more cards with that design.
P.S. Had no idea Skenes had a SI for Kids card. I was wondering when I'd finally have the opportunity to add a card of his to my collection. Maybe I've had one in my collection the whole time.
If you have the Jalen Hurts issue from Sept. 2023, you’ve got a Skenes card 😊
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