Economy, Sheconomy: Upper Deck Premier Unveiled

Some sports card shop owners say that with gas prices still high, stocks struggling and some people struggling to make ends meet, high end products are collecting dust. 2008 Upper Deck Premier is hoping to buck the trend.

The ultra high-end football card product has been released with a checklist heavy on rookies, autographs and memorabilia cards.

Each rookie card features four memorabilia swatches, an autograph and is crash-numbered to 275 or less. The 2008 NFL rookie class already includes three potential impact running backs: Matt Forte, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. First year quarterbacks include Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Chad Henne while DeSean Jackson or Eddie Royal head up the receiver corps. Upper Deck executives say if collectors can pick the next superstar, they'll have made a shrewd investment, despite the hefty price tag.

“It has been a long time since so many rookie players have come out this early and shown that not only can they play in the NFL, they can excel,” said Brandon Miller, Upper Deck’s associate brand manager for Football. “Many rookie collectors get a lot more out of watching the football season when they have a vested interest. With values of rookie cards climbing with every one of their game-changing performances, 2008 Upper Deck Premier Football takes the fantasy out of football and makes it a sound investment.”

There are seven cards per $300 pack, with at least two memorabilia cards, three autograph cards (one of those being a Rookie Signature Quad Memorabilia card), a “Premier Stitchings” woven patch card and a limited-edition regular card or parallel. Football fanatics will find autograph and game-used cards of current stars as well as Hall-of-Famers.

Upper Deck had some athletes add inscriptions to their signatures for the “Premier Inscriptions” set, so you could find the monikers like “Broadway Joe” (Joe Namath), “The Cat” (Felix Jones) and “Ocho Cinco” (Chad Johnson) in the set. Additionally there are multi-signed cards including one subset that includes eight autographs of NFL stars all on one card.

One of the most popular events at the Super Bowl each year is the halftime celebration. The “Premier Stitchings Cuts” insert set pays homage to those special moments with what Upper Deck calls "very rare autograph cut cards" of music stars. Also included in the set are autograph cut cards of deceased celebrities. 2008 Upper Deck Premier Football on eBay

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:

o 7 Low-Numbered Hits in every box

o Premier Rookie Signature Quad Memorabilia Card numbered to 275 or less in every pack, on average

• One Premier Stitchings card per pack, on average, featuring unique player-specific woven patches numbered to 30 or less

o Two Autograph cards numbered to 65 or less per pack, on average

o One Dual- or Triple-Patch card numbered to 75 or less per pack, on average

o Look for unique cut signatures featuring a combination of signatures and a woven patch from top musical talents who have performed the Super Bowl Halftime Show

PRODUCT BREAKDOWN:

Card 1 – Regular Card

o Regular Card (# to 99)

o Parallel Card (# to 35 or less)

Card 2 – Rookie Card

o Premier Rookies Signatures Memorabilia (# to 275)

o Premier Rookies Signatures Memorabilia Parallel (# to 60 or less)

Card 3 – Woven Patch (Collect all 3 Designs for each player)

o Premier Stitchings (# to 30)

o Premier Stitchings Gold Parallel (# to 15 or less)

o Premier Stitchings Silver Spectrum Parallel (# to 1)

Cards 4 & 5 – Autograph

o Premier Stitchings Signatures (# to 20)

o Premier Stitchings Cut Signature (Varied #)

o Premier Penmanship (# to 65)

o Premier Penmanship Gold Parallel (# to 25 or less)

o Premier Penmanship Silver Spectrum Parallel (# to 1)

o Signature Premier (# to 65)

o Signature Premier Silver Parallel (# to 5 or less)

o Signature Premier Silver Spectrum Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Inscriptions (# to 25)

o Premier Inscriptions Silver Parallel (# to 5 or less)

o Premier Inscriptions Silver Spectrum Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Milestones (# to 25)

o Premier Milestones Silver Parallel (# to 5 or less)

o Premier Milestones Silver Spectrum Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Legends (# to 25)

o Premier Legends Silver Parallel (# to 5 or less)

o Premier Legends Silver Spectrum Parallel (# to 1)

o Emerging Stars Dual Signatures (# to 50)

o Emerging Stars Dual Signatures Parallel (# to 1)

o Significant Stars Dual Signatures (# to 25)

o Significant Stars Dual Signatures Parallel (# to 1)

o Vital Signs (# to 35)

o Vital Signs Parallel (# to 1)

o Signature Highlights (# to 25)

o Signature Highlights Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Pairings Signatures (# to 50)

o Premier Signature Trio (# to 25)

o Premier Signature Foursome (# to 15)

o Premier Significant Six (# to 6)

o Premier Octographs (# to 8)

o Premier Remnants 3 Autograph Parallel (# to 25 or less)

o Premier Remnants 4 Autograph Parallel (# to 15 or less)

Card 6 – Memorabilia

o Premier Remnants 3 (# to 75)

o Premier Remnants 3 Parallel (# to 25 or less)

o Premier Remnants 3 Parallel (# to 1 or less)

o Premier Remnants 4 (# to 50)

o Premier Remnants 4 Parallel (# to 15 or less)

o Premier Remnants 4 Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Teams 3 (# to 75)

o Premier Teams 3 Parallel (# to 25 or less)

o Premier Teams 3 Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Trio (# to 75)

o Premier Trio Parallel (# to 25 or less)

o Premier Trio Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Foursome (# to 50)

o Premier Foursome Parallel (# to 15 or less)

o Premier Foursome Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier 5 (# to 30)

o Premier 5 Parallel (# to 10 or less)

o Premier 5 Parallel (# to 1)

Card 7 – Patch

o Premier Rare Materials 2 (# to 75)

o Premier Rare Materials 2 Parallel (# to 25 or less)

o Premier Rare Materials 2 Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Rare Materials 3 (# to 50)

o Premier Rare Materials 3 Parallel (# to 15 or less)

o Premier Rare Materials 3 Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Trio Patch (# to 75)

o Premier Trio Patch Parallel (# to 25 or less)

o Premier Trio Patch Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Foursome Patch (# to 50)

o Premier Foursome Patch Parallel (# to 15 or less)

o Premier Foursome Patch Parallel (# to 1)

o Premier Equipment (# to 25)

o Premier Equipment Parallel (# to 10 or less)

o Premier Equipment Parallel (# to 1)