Upper Deck Re-Introduces Flair "Letterman" Inserts

Upper Deck has made good on its pledge to enhance, but not overhaul the most popular Fleer sets. Flair Showcase Baseball, released last month, features the highly anticipated “Letterman” insert series. Each “Letterman” card features a complete letter taken from the nameplate running across the back of a game-used jersey. The limited inserts issued by Fleer in previous years, have been some of the hobby’s most sought-after memorabilia cards, typically commanding over $100 per card. Oversized patches, like the letters from the nameplates, generally create the most popular jersey insert cards.

This is the first “Letterman” series issued by Upper Deck since the company purchased the Fleer name late last year. This year’s “Letterman” checklist features 40 major league stars, including Red Sox sluggers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez as well as Carlos Beltran, Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, David Wright, and All-Star MVP Michael Young among others.

The cards are serial-numbered to match the number of letters in each player’s name for a total of 253 “Letterman” cards randomly seeded into hobby packs of 2006 Flair Showcase. The odds of finding a “Letterman” card have not been released, but Upper Deck has confirmed that the odds are greater than one card per 16-box (18 packs per box) case.

Upper Deck was careful to maintain the same look of previous “Letterman” inserts while incorporating an Upper Deck photo layout. This was a difficult insert set to produce because different teams use different fonts for their letters. Fortunately for Upper Deck, the height of the letters used on nameplates are standard on all major league uniforms. Upper Deck has been saving the nameplates from jerseys that have been shredded in the past to produce game-used jersey cards.

The set also includes Flair inserts made popular in the mid ‘90s such as “Hot Gloves” and “Wave of the Future”. Each five-card hobby pack of Flair Showcase Baseball carries a suggested retail price of $4.99, a reasonable price for one of the more popular releases of the year.

*************************************************************************

Upper Deck is also challenging collectors to take the “Epic Quest”. The first four collectors to build the 300-card Epic Baseball set will be rewarded for their persistence and dedication to the hobby with an entire collection of all 300 original printing plates used to produce the set.

Building this high-end series, released last month, is a costly venture, as each card is numbered to 450 and packs carry a suggested retail price of $50. The entire set will be printed on vibrant foil board.

The series includes many prominent inserts. “Epic Awesome Eight Materials” displays four individual jersey swatches per side. Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Duke Snider, Eddie Matthews, and Thurman Munson are among the featured players