The Real/Fake Line For Ultimate Baseball is GONE.

The patch cards in Ultimate Baseball are one of the main reasons why the product was so successful. They are also to a point now where the line has been blurred past the point of where one can tell fake or real. Although there are people who have undoubtedly faked these cards, there are also so many real logo patches that its almost impossible to tell.

Check out these cards that have been posted and sold on eBay over the last couple of days. Some I can tell, some are way too hard to determine.

Carlton Fisk - The patch is weird on this, too weird to consider it to be fake. It still makes me uncomfortable.

Paul Konerko - I dont trust this guy at all. There is already speculation around the boards that all are fake, and this card definitely looks that way.

Brandon Webb - A great patch, but it does look real because the window looks good and has non-patch material in the window.

Tom Seaver - 100% fake, this guy has already been covered on this blog before and his cards arent even questionable. UD was meticulous in matching player pics with uni swatches, which disqualifies this card all the way.

Roy Ozwalt - Another questionable patch, but too tough to make a sure determination.

Brandon Phillips - A cool patch with too much detail to seem fake, but again, this is a cheap pickup to fake if needed. Im not sure.

Carlos Beltran - another patch from this seller that is almost 100% fake. Just look at the separation between the swatch and the patch. Like he slipped it in over the crappy swatch.

Basically, Ultimate was the one set that needed a database, and its too bad it wasnt done ahead of time. Its just too easy to fake these cards, and it brings back memories of the faker favorite set of the century - 2005 Donruss Prime Patches. The difference between Prime Patches and this, is that its easy to tell fakes from that set because of card labeling, but Ultimate is ALL patches so its almost impossible.

I would employ a few rules that should start becoming applicable soon:

1. Dont buy Ultimate Patch cards where the logo patch takes up the whole window. Its not worth the risk.

2. Look for window damage. Its tough to get a patch out of the card without nicking the edges of the swatch window.

3. Avoid NEW patches. The jerseys that UD used seem to be at least a few years old, and the new sleeve patches from last season are easy to come by on ebay.

4. Avoid World Series, Commemorative, and All Star Patches. Its too easy for scammers to sell you on your salivation over such a unique patch. Its almost unheard of for any of them to be real.

5. Avoid sellers who have a ton of logo patches for sale. This is pretty much the case for everyone regardless of the patch card, as scammers will sell a never ending stream of crap to make maximum dollars.

Let me know if you have any questions about authenticity and ill do my best to scope it out.

A Look At Some of the More Interesting Personal Touch Inscription Cards

The 'personal touch' cards out of Ultimate are not the first incarnations of a card like this, but they are the most valuable for sure. With each being limited to 3 copies, many collectors are picking them up at huge prices. Personally, I dont like the idea of these cards, but I cant deny the canvases these cards provide for interesting/funny facts. Regardless of my feelings about purchasing them, I do like reading them, as I think it gives us something we dont normally get about the players' personal lives.

Here are some of the most unique of the bunch that are selling/have been sold on eBay:

Adrian Peterson's Favorite Movie - This movie is so odd, that I had to look it up on Wikipedia. Turns out its a movie about a singing group similar to the Temptations. In my opinion, it doesnt really fit a guy like Peterson, but I guess different strokes for different folks.

Javon Ringer's Favorite Hero - Ringer is the second player that gets my thumbs up for writing an actual hero. The first was Aaron Curry who had the same answer.

Michael Turner's Favorite Movie - Gotta hand it to him, he has the best answer so far of anyone. I totally think this is pretty perfect, actually, for him.

Eli Manning's Favorite Actor/Musician - A guy who went to Ole Miss that loves Kenny Chesney? Nah, couldnt be.

Drew Brees' Favorite Hero - I found it kind of odd that his favorite hero is a baseball player. In other news, Drew Brees is now hated by Yankee fans.

The WINNER of the Best Inscription Contest

Mark Sanchez's Favorite Actor/Musician - I laughed out loud when I saw this. Only Mark Sanchez would write this after playing in New Jersey for the last year. From what I heard at the Rookie Premiere, Sanchez was that kind of guy who liked joking around. I guess I shouldnt be surprised that this card wins at life.

If you guys see any other ones that are good, let me know.

How Will 2009 Ultimate Measure Up?

Ultimate Baseball was probably one of the most successful sets of the year, for many reasons. The combination of look, content and price were all way above average, and it led to one of the biggest product frenzies in the last five years. Tomorrow (per Upper Deck's twitter), we get the football version, and I am wondering how it will turn out.

The content of the product looks to be similar, but football doesn’t have the historical backing of the sport like baseball does. The inclusion of a Ted Williams jumbo patch just doesn’t have an equivalent in football. Walter Payton and Johnny Unitas are in the same zip code, but the value of their relics cant compare. Does this mean that Ultimate will be unsuccessful? I doubt it, but it’s a factor.

One of the other reasons that Ultimate Baseball was so effective relates to a need for a product of its goal. It’s the same reason Prime Cuts was so awesome - no one had released a similar product in years. There is no Exquisite Baseball or National Treasures baseball the same way that Football has it, so when a product is released with ridiculous cards like this Ryne Sandberg (pulled on a forum), baseball collectors don’t know what to do with themselves. Triple Threads has tried for ages to cater to this demographic, but the lack of design skills makes it impossible to love the cards the way people are loving the Ultimate patches. Also, boxes of Ultimate started at almost 100 dollars cheaper than the Topps product, and delivered with better looking cards and on card content.

Basically, the main plus of Ultimate Football will continue to be the inclusion of higher quality signature and memorabilia cards over something like Limited or a similarly priced product. Cards like the Peterson Ultimate Patch will drive the product, unless they were able to duplicate the awesome patch designs out of baseball. Even with the Patch cards like baseball, the popularity will be much different, thanks to products like Exquisite, which have had these cards for years. The difference would be that people wouldn’t have to pay 500+ for a box.

Although I believe Ultimate will far succeed previous products from other companies with the amount of cool cards that are included, I don’t think it can live up to baseball. Even with inscriptions, jumbo patches, and all sorts of awesome stuff, Ultimate Baseball was the perfect storm that Ultimate fooball cannot be. That doesn’t mean that it isnt worth your attention, just adjust your expectations a little.

Ultimate Cards Going Out - Need Addresses On Some

If you had an address with your payment, your cards are in the mail. If you did not, there is an email in your box asking for an address. Please be prompt so I can get the other cards out tomorrow. If you do not provide an address, I cannot send your cards. Thanks!

Here is who I need:

Joe M

Ryan W

John S

Josh B

Thank you to all who participated, email me if you have any questions.

2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball 5 Box Break

Here is the break of all five boxes, to which I say that I honestly didnt think I would have enough time to do all five in one video. We got two pretty nice patches, but the players werent that great. Considering the awesome success we have had for all of our other breaks, this is where I say that you cant win em all.

Scans will be up tomorrow, cards will go out on Thursday. I would like to give you it all right now, but I have some baby classes to attend. My apologies. Please let me know if you do not want your base cards, otherwise I will just be sending them all.

Thanks again to Chris and Pat at Blowout cards for at least giving us a great price even though the boxes werent phenomenal. Their site definitely does have the best customer service and prices on the net.

2009 Ultimate Collection 5 Box Break - TONIGHT

For those of you who are interested, the break will be tonight for the 5 Ultimate Collection boxes that were purchased from Blowout. As soon as I get home, break the boxes, upload scans, and post the videos to Youtube, the results will be available here.

Every card will be sent, unless you dont want your base cards, and team trading will be allowed until 2:00 PST today.

We have a great shot at cards like this, so be sure to come take a gander even if you arent involved.

Ultimate Collection Boxes Have Been Ordered - Refunds Are Coming

To those of you who are participating in the break, the boxes have been ordered! We will be breaking early next week, and I have Chris and Pat over at Blowout to thank. They gave us a great price, as they usually do, and because of it, you will all be receiving a 5 dollar per slot refund to start. If there is more money left over, more money will be refunded.

Thanks to all that joined, and thanks again to Blowout Cards!

SCU Breaks: 5 Boxes 2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball - FULL

Im sure you have all seen the ridiculous cards that are coming out of 2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball, and I want to give you guys a chance to get in on some of it without risking 100 bucks a box. This will be a 5 box break, standard rules, one slot equals two random teams. 15 slots at 36 bucks a pop to cover paypal fees and shipping supplies/cost. There is a limit of two slots per person, and your name will not be posted until you have sent paypal to the address.

Payments need to be sent to gellmana@gmail.com, and you will receive all cards from the teams you are randomly assigned. I will NOT be participating in this break, so there wont be any reason for me to scam you. Videos for random and break will be posted on the SCU youtube channel for your viewing pleasure. Slots are listed below, please allow me time to see your payment before sending me hate mail.

EDIT: I have been made aware of a lower price for the boxes than 96 a piece. I will refund money if that price is still available at the time of order. Dont worry, im not going to rob you.

1. John S (PAID)

2. Jeremy K(PAID)

3. Arfmax (PAID)

4. Josh B(PAID)

5. Mario Z (PAID)

6. Antonio S (PAID)

7. Johnson Z (PAID)

8. Ryan W (PAID)

9. Hockey Town Cards (PAID)

10. Michael R (PAID)

11. Darkship (PAID)

12. Joe M (PAID)

13. Chris M (PAID)

14. Aaron R (PAID)

15. Aaron R (PAID)

Here is product info via Blowout.

Good luck!

I Am Shocked By 2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball - Logos or No Logos

2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball has hit with a vengence and it is glorious so far. Not every box has been great, but many of them are seemingly packed with goodness. I have seen a few boxes broken, seen the boxes on blowout, and I am continually shocked by what is coming out of them. Jumbo patches with ridiculous swatches, great looking cards with on card signatures, and a seemingly blatant disregard for the logos that Topps paid so dearly for. I love it.

The best cards that have hit eBay are the amazing HOFer jersey and autos, but they arent the only ones that look shocking. There have been just as many cards of current stars that are making collectors salivate, from a product that has actually been pretty uneventful over the last few years.

I have said on a few occasions that Ultimate Collection is the one product, hobby wide, that could greatly benefit from a revamp. It costs a bunch for what you get, the cards arent THAT cool, and there is only one hit per box. Your one hit used to be something like this, but now it is something like this.

I guess Upper Deck has found some sort of loophole in the licensing because there sure are a lot of things on these cards that shouldnt be there. That means they are either A) giving the middle finger to Topps, B) filing this under the 2009 Product calendar, or C) really stupid.

We should find out pretty soon.

A GREAT Example of Why Hard Signed Cards Are FREAKING AWESOME

Just got these preview card pics out of 2009 Ultimate Football from Upper Deck. The set is being released in early december, and I cant wait. After seeing these cards, I have much more confidence that Ultimate should be as good as last year's great product.

Of course, here are some impressions I got.

I love the personal touch cards which are based off the USA baseball ones from last year. Those cards were extremely popular, and these should be too. Also, I fucking love that Aaron Curry wrote Batman as the answer to that question instead of Jesus or some shit like that. Shows that he is definitely in the right frame of mind, right? One other thing, anyone questioning why Mike Fucking Epps is Shonn Greene's favorite actor? Haha, too funny.

Secondly, I really like the 1997 Legends cards, but the autos are a little streaky a la Panini. That kind of sucks.

Lastly, the college shout out cards are really cool, and should be pretty sought after. I have a feeling that the Pettigrew is just one of many cards like that, as Gregg told me a while back that inscriptions are the new on card auto project to make their brand stand out. I love it.

Ultimate should have some pretty awesome shit, if these are any indication. Glad to see they are stepping it up.

First Look: 2009 Ultimate Collection Football

I cant believe its this time of year already, but we are getting Ultimate previews, and I love it. The cards have their ups and downs, but there are a few that look VERY cool. Still no word on what the rookie signatures are going to look like, but these mock ups will have to tide us over.

This card is not one of my favorites. Its busy, its weirdly lined, and the design just doesnt look very good. Im pretty disappointed if this is what the base is going to look like, but base is not the focus of this product.

Here is another card that features weird lines, but the team color aspect is pretty cool. Im not really feeling the Louis Vuitton type pattern background, something that I see from upcoming sets is going to be pretty standard. This should look better for other players with better colors.

I love this card. It looks awesome. Last year's ultimate patches were some of my favorite cards, and this year looks like they are going to be as good. Again, it has that pattern, but im glad it isnt too prominent here. This card would have looked that much better without it.

This card looks pretty sweet as well. The odd lines actually look very cool, and the player setup works very well. These will all be on card, and you can imagine how cool some of these will be. I heard there are all the way up to 8, so those could be some of the most valuable ones of the year.

As good as the rookie one looks, is as bad as this one does. It looks like the Romo was pasted onto the bottom of this card, and it may have been salvaged if there was no line below Big Ben. It just looks odd, but does look like a pretty awesome dual if they had chopped off the Romo sig box.

We also saw that there would be more 1997 Legends sigs, which will be great as they were last year, but you already know what those look like. Darrell Green was the player, and im sure that the 2009 HOF class will be added along with him.

Overall, I would still say Im pretty excited for Ultimate, even though last year's looked like it was a lot better. Too bad they couldnt have gone with a preview of the RC autos as well, as those are the focus of the set. Ill reserve judgement until I see them. Lastly, it looks like the inscription cards will be back as well, and deservedly so, as last year they were some of the cooler pieces to obtain. Ive taken a few shots at the 2008 Peterson, but have never been successful. After seeing some of the stuff they put into Philadelphia in terms of inscriptions, I would expect them to be pretty nuts for Ultimate as well.

Comes out in december with the same configuration as 2008.