Fleer Throwbacks 1989 Marvel Edition - Upper Deck

[newhobbygeek]

I saw the following on Upper Deck Entertainment Facebook. They posted couple images on Facebook. One image does mention "DISCOVER COLORFUL BASE SET PARALLELS AND ORIGINAL ART SKETCH CARDS!"
Description:

New cards, old school! Fleer Throwbacks 1989 Marvel Edition trading cards are on deck and coming soon, exclusively on e-Pack. Fan favorite Heroes and Villains step up to the plate in the 30-card digital base set, along exciting inserts in every pack! Which Super Hero or Villain are you hoping makes the roster?

[jdandns]

'89 Fleer, eh?

I'm interested to see what that famed prankster Tony Stark wrote on the bottom of the handle of Thor's hammer.

[finfangfan]

Originally Posted by jdandns

'89 Fleer, eh?]

I'm interested to see what that famed prankster Tony Stark wrote on the bottom of the handle of Thor's hammer.

I slabbed a bunch of the Deadpool 1989 Ripken Sportballs last year and was wondering why all of a sudden two sold this week… must be this set (which I assume is UD’s response to the relatively successful Star Wars throwback set Topps has been running the last year).

At any rate, 1989 is a great template for UD to run with… this was a great card!

[DynaEtch]

That Deadpool 89F is great.

So if this set is epack exclusive and all digital base, I guess that means....there is no base set? That's a shame. I guess one can scrape together a parallel set.

I saw a rumor about this set awhile ago, thought it would be a Marvel Retro type deal....had no idea it was going to be such a small set, at 30 cards.

[BobCollects]

It wouldn't be out of the question for UD to release a digital base set on e-Pack but I'm not convinced there won't be the option to combine X number of digital base for a physical card.

[jdandns]

I couldn't find the UD post that teased them, but the one image that popped up is a McFarlane Spider-Man on 1988 Fleer Baseball card design. The writeup says it pays homage to late 80's designs, so probably 1986 through 1989. There are some nice, underutilized designs in that era, and they can pair them with art from McFarlane, Silversti, Jim Lee, Sienkiewicz, Zeck, Arthur Adams, the list goes on and on. I look forward to seeing the cards, even if they are only digital.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by BobCollects

It wouldn't be out of the question for UD to release a digital base set on e-Pack but I'm not convinced there won't be the option to combine X number of digital base for a physical card.

Ah, yes that would make sense. Not being a major epack person, I forgot about that…or maybe just combine it for a parallel that looks exactly like the base. Gives an element of challenge going for this set of 30 that would otherwise be a cinch if pulling 5ish at a time from a pack.

Originally Posted by jdandns

I couldn't find the UD post that teased them, but the one image that popped up is a McFarlane Spider-Man on 1988 Fleer Baseball card design. The writeup says it pays homage to late 80's designs, so probably 1986 through 1989. There are some nice, underutilized designs in that era, and they can pair them with art from McFarlane, Silversti, Jim Lee, Sienkiewicz, Zeck, Arthur Adams, the list goes on and on. I look forward to seeing the cards, even if they are only digital.

Like a “junk wax” era marvel set- I can dig that. I do like the Topps and Donruss designs from that era but alas UD so all Fleer…still cool. It’s true Topps especially has been overused in modern baseball throwbacks, so this is a little different.

For a brief second I was wondering could that somehow be new McFarlane Spider-Man art (!), but then remembered he’s at Image, d’oh. So this must mean rehashed art from comics, but I can still see this shaping out to be an interesting base set. I’ll be following it.

[Rictor]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Ah, yes that would make sense. Not being a major epack person, I forgot about that…or maybe just combine it for a parallel that looks exactly like the base. Gives an element of challenge going for this set of 30 that would otherwise be a cinch if pulling 5ish at a time from a pack.



Like a “junk wax” era marvel set- I can dig that. I do like the Topps and Donruss designs from that era but alas UD so all Fleer…still cool. It’s true Topps especially has been overused in modern baseball throwbacks, so this is a little different.

For a brief second I was wondering could that somehow be new McFarlane Spider-Man art (!), but then remembered he’s at Image, d’oh. So this must mean rehashed art from comics, but I can still see this shaping out to be an interesting base set. I’ll be following it.

I mean, new McFarlane art is possible, but it would be commissioned by Marvel and not Upper Deck. Upper Deck couldn't afford it. McFarlane just did a bunch of Batman/Spawn covers for DC, so there's new McFarlane Batman art.

I'm kind of surprised he hasn't done a Spawn/Spider-Man crossover. He must just really not want to work with Marvel, which seems silly since there is no one at the company still that he used to work with and it's not even owned by the same people. It's basically just Disney now.

[1992UDFootball]

Another questionable, minimal effort, set from Upper Deck to hammer your wallet before Upper Deck finally releases any sets people actually want.. Like Masterpieces or Premier.

[BobCollects]

Coming to e-Pack tomorrow at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. Just three cards per pack with digital base. No mention of being able to combine the digital base for a physical card. Presumably the numbered cards are physical. Maybe the inserts are, too.

https://www.upperdeckepack.com/News/20840

Fleer Throwbacks ’89 Marvel Edition is Coming To e-Pack® Exclusively on February 21 at 9AM (PT)

Fleer Throwbacks ’89 Marvel Edition trading cards purchased exclusively on Upper Deck e-Pack® will feature:

• 3 cards per pack, 15 packs per box, 12 boxes per case
  
• An exclusive 30-card digital Base Set featuring popular Marvel superheroes and villains on the iconic 1989 Fleer Baseball set design
  
• A range of colorful Base Set parallels like Green (#’d to 89), Blue (#’d to 25), and Purple (#’d to 5)
  
• A variety of inserts like Super Heroes of Marvel, Exciting Stars, Super Stars, and For the Record
  
• Original art Sketch Cards from a range of talented artists
  
• At least one #’d parallel per box, on average
  
• The opportunity to complete sets to earn exciting Upper Deck e-Pack® exclusive achievement cards

[finfangfan]

I’d be surprised if it doesn’t have a base combine.

[DynaEtch]

I think the set has potential.

Epack only, and you know how some of this epack stuff goes...look at marvel unbound, although that's a weekly set and original art. But the rush to get the combinables, achievements etc.

30 card base set is super small but that could for once be a feasible set to put together, and interesting with the combinables.

Throw in the retro set designs that many remember growing up...I think it'll do fine. Im picturing 1989 Fleers with color variants for parallels (instead of the usual grey with the bars, it'll be other colors like green, blue with bars).

Also if I heard the podcast right, no tech cards in the set like fancy foiling, being true to the nature of the late 80s era. A break from the over-tech'ed Metal universe sets. Will be interesting to see if a set can retain interest without that. You'd think it would translate to a lower price point for packs.

[Fenian95]

Here's the blog entry. 10 copies of digital base gets you Glossy Gold. 100 copies gets you Glossy Black, both physical.

https://www.upperdeckblog.com/2024/0...8oYhD0JB-K6FDM

[DynaEtch]

Including "For the Record" as an insert is kinda funny. Those 89 Fleer For the Records were as baseball as it gets in design, with numbers in the background like a scoreboard. Wonder what that will look like in Marvel.

[BobCollects]

Originally Posted by Fenian95

Here's the blog entry. 10 copies of digital base gets you Glossy Gold. 100 copies gets you Glossy Black, both physical.

https://www.upperdeckblog.com/2024/0...8oYhD0JB-K6FDM

It’s classic UD to put the details of an e-Pack exclusive product in a blog post but not in the e-Pack news item about the set.

Physical parallels in packs are Red (unnumbered), Orange (#/489), Yellow (#/289), Green (#/89), Blue (#/25), and Purple (#/5). Plus the two combinable parallels: Glossy Gold and Glossy Black.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DynaEtch]

Thanks for the blog post, didn’t see that. So I’m assuming the cheapest way to have a physical base set will end up being the red parallel.

I do think it’s a bit silly that a true physical base set (of the regular 89 Fleer grey backgrounds) cannot be had. You have to have it in some color or glossy gold. So much for regular sets. The set in all glossy black might be an interesting chase. Wonder if anyone will do the 30 card set, actually is doable at 30.

Still trying to figure out if this is a cheapo set a la Marvel Annual (kinda looks like so in the previews, nothing that fancy), or something more expensive. Guess we’ll see soon.

[worldtravel00]

Just 3 cards in the pack is pretty rough to deal with... even in 30 card set.
I wonder how much UD is planning to charge for the packs and box.

[PumpnDumpling]

Originally Posted by worldtravel00

Just 3 cards in the pack is pretty rough to deal with... even in 30 card set.
I wonder how much UD is planning to charge for the packs and box.

Should be about a dollar per jpeg

[finfangfan]

The collector appeal of this set seems to be largely tied to the base combining so hopefully UD doesn’t price the set too high for those collectors. That said, the cheapest Marvel set in the ePack shop at the moment is $6.99 so you are still likely looking at an expensive set to collect if you decide to dive into it.

And maybe the clsssic silver background will pop up as a numbered variant? I agree it seems like a missed opportunity if the classic grays are only digital.

[LittleJimmies]

Possibly looking like a fun release, but really going to come down to the price point. With only 3 cards per pack and the large bulk of cards being parallels of a short checklist, I could see opening getting really boring really quick.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by finfangfan

That said, the cheapest Marvel set in the ePack shop at the moment is $6.99 so you are still likely looking at an expensive set to collect if you decide to dive into it.

True, I forget 'cheapo' set in Marvel these days is like $7 a pack minimum. Which would have been higher end back in the 90s Marvel, even after taking inflation into account.

[LittleJimmies]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

True, I forget 'cheapo' set in Marvel these days is like $7 a pack minimum. Which would have been higher end back in the 90s Marvel, even after taking inflation into account.

If this is $7 a pack, think it flops very hard. $105 for a box that will yield a handful of low value physical cards and an incomplete digital set will sit forever.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by LittleJimmies

If this is $7 a pack, think it flops very hard. $105 for a box that will yield a handful of low value physical cards and an incomplete digital set will sit forever.

Oh..I was *hoping* it'd be as low as $7 a pack. Has anything in recent memory in marvel been less? It does have sketches and the low numbered parallels will have value. Even at like $7 people will still buy it up, going for combinables etc.

Im not crazy about the digital base either. The 3 cards Im used to from Masterpieces, but those are all physical, and has a higher end vibe as opposed to this.

It's kinda all relative though...if UD *did* charge something up there like $14.99 a pack (not saying they will, but as a hypothetical), the singles become more valuable, especially with only 1 or 2 physical cards in a pack. They could set it as something insane like $100 a pack (obviously wont!) and the singles would be a whole lot more. They are essentially setting the status of the set with the pack price (or said a little differently, the denomination of the epack slot machine- higher cost spin, higher payouts). I'll make a total guess...$7.99-10.99 a pack...that's on the optimistic side imo.

[LittleJimmies]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Oh..I was *hoping* it'd be as low as $7 a pack. Has anything in recent memory in marvel been less? It does have sketches and the low numbered parallels will have value. Even at like $7 people will still buy it up, going for combinables etc.

Im not crazy about the digital base either. The 3 cards Im used to from Masterpieces, but those are all physical, and has a higher end vibe as opposed to this.

It's kinda all relative though...if UD *did* charge something up there like $14.99 a pack (not saying they will, but as a hypothetical), the singles become more valuable, especially with only 1 or 2 physical cards in a pack. They could set it as something insane like $100 a pack (obviously wont!) and the singles would be a whole lot more. They are essentially setting the status of the set with the pack price (or said a little differently, the denomination of the epack slot machine- higher cost spin, higher payouts). I'll make a total guess...$7.99-10.99 a pack.

We'll find out very soon! If they charge too much, I think it has the opposite effect on singles value, nobody will open and nobody will care. There is some effect of setting the status with the price, but can't imagine any world where UD could convince consumers that paper stock, 89 Fleer design cards are premium.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by LittleJimmies

We'll find out very soon! If they charge too much, I think it has the opposite effect on singles value, nobody will open and nobody will care. There is some effect of setting the status with the price, but can't imagine any world where UD could convince consumers that paper stock, 89 Fleer design cards are premium.

Ah yes, but if less cards on the market from almost no one opening, supply of secondary singles is way down and it can even boost values.

You bring up a good point about value. Is it really tied to the tech on the card itself (fancy foiling etc), content on the card (new art), or is more those other factors like price of packs, how many singles on market. Who knows, but I agree from a glance at that blog post, it does not look like an expensive set.