Tuesday, February 23, 2010

2009 Ultimate Football Is Live, Looks Good And Bad (UPDATED)

2009 Ultimate Collection is up on eBay, or at least a few cards are. Im not sure what to think yet, as we havent seen what a normal case holds or what the general feel of the set is. As I said yesterday, it has some very big shoes to fill, and that is where things could get ugly. People have been wondering if this will be a more rookie focused product or veteran focused product, to which I remind you that the NFLPA license requires companies to have a good part of the set be rookies. This will not have the same feel as Ultimate Baseball, but it should be pretty cool.


Now that we have a little more ammo to go off of, I think its pretty easy to see what the motto for ultimate is going to be. If you get an auto card, things are looking good, if you get a jersey card, you are pretty much out 100 bucks. Too bad, as the jersey cards look to be at least 4 per case, if not more.

Here is what we have so far (UPDATED):

Sanchez 2 Sided Patch/JerseyAaron Curry 2 Sided Patch/Jersey
Shonn Greene Rookie Auto - I really like these, even though the lines are odd.
A Good Auction With Pics Of Lots of Cards - Check out that inscription!
Stafford Ult RC Auto SP /99 - Good players to 99? Wow.
Lance Briggs Inscription - these look great
Tomlinson Auto - this is just too good for recent news

Many more will be posted today, and these may be taken down if UD continues with their terrible policy about posting cards early. Either way, ill add to this as the day goes on.

EDIT - Legends are back (from Blowout):


NOTE: Something got messed up with the original post, so I had to repost it. If you had comments, please repost them too. Thanks!

20 comments:

  1. why is Aaron Curry dual jersey awesome?
    I have the same card from 09 Certified Freshman Fabrics. At $85-100 a box, I expect a lot more than two swatches of jersey with my autos.

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  2. I am relieved/pumped about this set! Just got my 6 boxes this morning, will be breaking at least 1 for myself and will share results here.

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  3. Just sold my first box, I'd say he got a pretty decent hit:

    http://bit.ly/cCN2e5

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  4. FuriousD82 the Aaron Curry dual jersey is awesome because it is done by Upper Deck. Your Certified Freshman Fabrics is done by Panini, which is why it isn't awesome.

    An average looking product - not great, but not bad either. The shout out, inscriptions and Ultimate rookies look terrible, while the patch jerseys and the dual auto jerseys look good.

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  5. This stuff is a loser. Big time.

    Compare the hits from a 15-box case of Ultimate to a 12-box case of SPA and what would you rather have?

    SPA gives you 9-10 RAPs, at least one jumbo patch auto, guaranteed multi-auto, 20 or so non-patch rookie autos and more.

    Ultimate gives you 5-6 jersey cards (which like baseball will be worthless), 5-6 base rookie autos and then a few assorted other hits.

    Plus down the line more people want the "true" SPA RAP vs. the Ultimate base auto.

    Save your money kids.

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  6. @Furious,

    I hear your beef on the jersey pieces. I agree that you should be getting some kind of patch for the price.

    But the design/class of those 2 sets can't be compared. The mirror foiled business of certified with its sticker auto really isn't on the same field with the clean, on-card look of Ultimate. A lot of the cost is built in to the fact they were able to get on card autos.

    I feel ya on the swatches though.

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  7. Okay - definitely not as good as baseball. As I posted before, I almost pushed the button and got two boxes, but I realized how much I could add to my collection with the same amount of money and held off. I'm glad I did after seeing the Inscriptions and Rookie autos (ew? Someone likes the ellipse tool at UD. Not attractive at all, but I can't be too discriminatory against on-card autos, as it's kinda my thing). Otherwise it looks ok, but seems to be pretty hit or miss with those jersey landmines.

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  8. Alex... Frosh Fabrics = stickers on foilboard, Ultimate = on-card, nice design... Jesus Christ, try to keep up!

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  9. Nice design? Very average design - though those inscription, shout out and rookie sigs look bad. If it was a Panini product some people would be going on about how some of the cards have wierd lines going everywhere, yet don't say the same with Upper Deck products.

    As for stickers Pan Wisniewski, they don't worry me - on card is better, but stickers are fine too. Foilboard doesn't worry me either, and in some cases look quite good, though it can look bad too.

    Now as for telling Jesus Christ to keep up, do you often talk to fictional characters?

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  10. I have watched several box breaks on Youtube and Ultimate Football isn't worth the money.
    UD hit it out of the park with Ult Baseball, but the football edition is loaded with mid level GU cards. It's pretty rare to find an auto.

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  11. Alex, this is a blog... he makes comments that not everyone will agree with since they are opinion. I happen to think that a good design doesn't have foilboard or stickers... I like lots of the UD products (and Gellman obviously does too) because of that fact. If you don't agree, that is fine. But you should know by now, since you have been making asinine comments for a while now, what he prefers.

    I was not attacking your opinion. I was simply stating that you should expect what he is going to say... in a sarcastic tone.

    And who or what is "Pan"?

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  12. Yep Thomas, I do know what Gellman prefers. And when I disagree I will say so. That is part of the reason I like reading this blog - I know I won't always agree with Gellman, and I'm not afraid to say it. And Generally Gellman is not afraid to publish it or respond if he really disagrees with what I say.

    Thus, when he, or anyone else, criticises one product for some aspect, yet then praises another product that has that same aspect (like the lines going everywhere) I will say so. Gellman likes to see himself (with some justification) as monitoring what card companies do - it is only fair that someone monitors what he does. I mean, who watches the watchers?

    And c'mon, when you call my comments "asinine" you are attacking them. But hey, that is your right. I should expect to be criticised as much as anyone else. It would be rather ironic if someone can dish it out, whether it be me or Gellman, but can't take it.

    As for Pan, it's sad to see someone lacking knowledge of their heritage.

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  13. Alex,

    I remember, as surely many a young lad here in the States do, my Dad sitting me down on his knee and telling me the epic tale of Pan Wisniewski.

    How he led a small party of religious Puritan separatists across the ocean in the Mayflower so they....no, wait, that's not it.

    Oh, yeah. Pan Wisniewski, the great General who crossed the Delaware on December 25, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. That action was the first move in a surprise attack against the Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey in the Battle of Trenton. He would later become our first President, setting the standard by which....oh, wait. No, that's not it either.

    Ahhh, I got it. High school senior Pan Wisniewski moves with his mother from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Their apartment's handyman is an eccentric but kindly and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi.

    Pan meets a potential girlfriend, Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader; but earns the enmity of her ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence, a karate student. Johnny is the best student at the Cobra Kai dojo, where he is taught an unethical, vicious form of martial arts. Pan is the victim of repeated beatings from Johnny and his friends.

    When Miyagi witnesses one of the beatings, he intervenes and defeats all five Cobra Kai with ease. Awed, Pan asks Miyagi to be his teacher. He begins Pan's training by having him perform laborious chores such as waxing cars, sanding a wooden floor, and painting Miyagi's house. When he expresses his frustration, Miyagi reveals that Pan has been learning defensive blocks through muscle memory learned by performing the chores.

    At the tournament, Pan surprises everyone by reaching the finals. Johnny advances to the finals, scoring three unanswered points against a highly skilled opponent. Despite how many times Pan is knocked down, he gets up again each time. Ultimately Pan, barely able to stand, assumes the "Crane Kick" stance, and delivers a blow to Johnny's chin, winning the tournament. Johnny, having gained newfound respect for his adversary, takes Pan's trophy from the Master of Ceremonies and presents it to Pan himself.

    Oh the glorious memories this brings back. I can't wait till my son's 6th birthday (the traditional birthday to share the Legend of Pan Wisniewski) so I can sit him on my knee and pass down the tale to him.

    I am with you Alex. Those crazy Jesus freaks who think that the heritage of the U.S.A. is grounded in Judeo–Christian values are just out to lunch. Everyone with any serious edumacation(sp) behind them knows the role that Pan Wisniewski is the Alpha and Omega of American Heritage.

    It's just embarrassing that it takes a scholar from Australia to point that out. Consider this my formal invitation from me to you, for you to come spend Pan Wisniewski Day on April 1st. We will cook out, smoke cloves and have the traditional third-nipple piercing. It should be extra fun this time considering it falls on the year of the Douche Bag.

    Seriously man, do you even know what you write sometimes? It takes one post, ONE, for you to say that you collect products for Favre and Favre only. You don't need to repeat that on every flipping post. We all know you like or don't like a product based on its Favreness. So here's an idea, just comment on the Favre cards that are produced. And here is a even better idea, do it on your own blog. You have one, use it.

    You are right about one thing though, we do need people to "watch the watchers". But I also think we need someone to watch the people watching the watchers. And I have been watching you. Here is my conclusion:

    You are not as smart as you pretend to be. You are a commenting-narcissist of the worst kind. The need you feel to constantly force-feed your resume is only surpassed by your propensity for passive aggressive insults cloaked in devils-advocacy.

    You act is tired. Put it to bed.

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  14. You're the best AROUND! No one's gonna ever keep you down!

    Be sure to sweep the leg on your way out.

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  15. Um, Voluntarheel, Pan is essentially the equivalent of Sir in Polish. It is a sign of respect, not an insult.

    But anyway, I'm glad you felt the need to reply. Truly, as I said I deserve to be criticised as much as anyone, and I enjoy getting people worked up and arguing with them. I suspect that it was me saying JC was a fictional character that got on your nerve, and I was expecting to cop some flack for that.

    However, I will say a few things.

    My resume? Gees, last time I bought that out here was about a year ago. However it's irrelvent now, other than my work often involves debating/arguing with people. Yes, it is possible that I may not be as smart as I think I am - but I suspect that applies to almost everyone, including you. You obviously thought your Pan Wisniewski rant was pretty smart, even though you didn't work out the connection to Poland.

    As for passive agressive insults, I thought they were obviously straight out aggressive. I'll have to keep that in mind. I really do have fun working people up at times and getting in arguments, and if being more aggressive will do this, then that would be great.

    As for my comments on products - Yep, I can focus on Favre - but hey if it pisses people off all the better. But seriously if you look I will often say whether I like the design etc first. I then indicate whether they it is any use to me because of it's Favre content. In fact, look what I wrote for this product, Ultimate. Did I mention Favre? I still managed to work people up though.

    As I said, feel free to criticise me. My act may be tired but as I'm not as smart as I think I don't have any other act I can put on. However the act it is still good enough to work you up, so I think I'll keep it.

    It really amuses me, because while it may seem like I am uptight and taking this too seriously, I do it for fun, just like collecting cards. And part of the fun sometimes comes from seeing people taking what I say seriously and getting all worked up over it - so much so that they get into an argument online with me. The time Gellman swore at me in a reply comment made me laugh out loud. Unfortunately he wouldn't take any more bait and publish my next comment. Oh well.

    Anyway, if it was my JC as a fictional character that offended you, I apologise, that was a little below the belt, even though as an athiest I think it is true. Otherwise I look forward to no doubt pissing you off some more. Have fun watching me. Assuming my comments continue to be published.

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  16. What's funny is you don't realize that everyone is laughing at you. There wasn't malice in my post, it was just for fun.

    After reading your comment, I actually emailed Gellman laughing about how you are getting desperate for reactions. I wasn't going to post anything so as not to take the bait and watch you squirm, but after a long drive home, I thought I would get creative.

    All of our thoughts of you are confirmed by the fact that you now bring up the your Jesus Christ quote again. Trying to take credit for upsetting me is just rich. I wasn't upset at all. It's such an obvious ploy that who can really be upset?

    If you knew anything about the Christian faith, then you would know that we don't expect someone like yourself to love, respect or even understand Jesus and who he was/lived for. So why get upset about it? It's your reality.

    Plus, does anyone really expect you to have room for a third religion in your life? I mean between Favre and leeching the taint of Gellmans blog, you barely have time to write fan mail to Perez Hilton anymore.

    To sum it up though, I repeat; We are laughing AT you.

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  17. For the record, as a jew, I dont support any pro-jesus commentary unless its fucking hilarious. Lucky for Heel, here, it was.

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  18. Thanks Voluntarheel, if I provided you with a laugh, I'm glad. Am I worried you are laughing at me, if that is what you are doing? Not in the least. Now that I know you are a fundie it amuses me even more. I hope this post provides you with more entertainment.

    However, it is quit clear I did piss you off on the JC thing - despite your protest to the contrary. Your:

    "If you knew anything about the Christian faith, then you would know that we don't expect someone like yourself to love, respect or even understand Jesus and who he was/lived for."

    Has all the hallmarks of a fundie. The fact that you needed to spout this fundie creed shows it did get to you. The fact that you only felt the need to attack me AFTER I made the JC comment illustrates it further. I know a lot about the Christian faith, having been a devout one for a long time. I however woke up to reality.

    Oh, and I still did get a reaction - from you. Funny that, even with your "I thought I would get creative."

    As for Favre being a god of mine - if I weren't an athiest, maybe. At least he is real. Your god isn't.

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  19. Alex,

    No, seriously. We really are laughing at you.

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  20. As I said, that's fine. I'm enjoying myself, and you're enjoying yourself. So we both win.

    And remember, god is just dog spelled backwards.

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