Dead Never Means Dead - UD Premier Reinvents Itself

Last year, of all the sticker auto sets produced, two stuck out as being better than their counterparts. One was National Treasures, and the other was 2008 Upper Deck Premier. Although Premier was quite a bit cheaper, it still had some pretty ridiculous cards with great designs. I went out and bought more than my fair share of singles, and the Peterson Auto I have is still one of my favorites.

The problem with Premier was that it didnt sell as well for the shop owners, so many of them avoided purchasing the product. Upon its release, I spoke with two local shop owners here in Chatsworth, about their thoughts on the set. They both said that it was a great product with way too high a price point, and could have been much better with a packed out feel to it. After all was said and done, like many of the other shop owners, they ended up taking a bath in their case they bought to sell at the store.

Upper Deck definitely felt that type of sentiment quite early in the product's shelf life, and Gregg told me late last year that the product would probably not be making a return for year number three. He was partially correct, as 2009 Premier cards are being found in 2009 Flagship UD at around 1 per case. The cards look very cool, almost like they are made from the skins of footballs, and I am very excited that they have made a (partial) comeback.

I think business wise, this is a great decision. Add a chase element to the low end set, use a concept that is known to be widely liked by collectors, and continue building on a base product that has a lot of potential to live up to Chrome. Premier cards will sell cases all by themselves, which has been noted by a few collectors over on blowout who bought cases just for these cards.

I would have really liked to have seen the full effect of this set, as the cards do look as good as they did last year. I can imagine that my scans pulled from eBay do not do the cards the justice they deserve, but you can pretty much feel the vibe of them regardless. We will see how much Premier has permeated the base set, though right now, we can see its at least two different subsets.

EDIT: There are now confirmed non-rookies in the premier part of the flagship UD product. Pic is below.

Here is what we have so far: