90's Box Breaks

Card companies in 1997 were trying new ways to get collectors to purchase their products, and Fleer was no exception. With Ultra, Fleer created just 2 parallels to the base set, with a small twist: The photos were different. Nothing too spectacular though, but it shows that 12 years ago, card companies were willing to do a little extra to get the attention of collectors.

Gold Medallion is nothing new by now with Ultra, considering that parallel has been out since 1994. By now, however, they were inserted at a rate of 1:1, so they aren’t exactly hard to find by any means.

Platinum Medallion was new in 1997, and was inserted at a rate of 1:100. There is no denying when you get one in a pack; the foil on the card sparkles and definitely stands out from the rest of the base set.

1997 Ultra base

This 553-card set is a gold-holofoil-stamped parallel version of the regular Ultra set and was inserted one per pack of both series one and series two cards. Unlike previous Gold Medallion sets, the 1997 edition features different photos than the corresponding regular cards.

1997 Ultra Gold Medallion

This 553-card set is a parallel to the regular Ultra and was inserted one per 100 packs of both series 1 and series 2 cards. Sparkling platinum lettering on front differentiates these cards from their far more common regular issue brethren. No set price is provided due to scarcity. As with the 1997 Gold Medallion set, the Platinum Medallion set features different photos than the corresponding regular cards.

1997 Ultra Platinum Medallion

As you can tell with the Gold and Platinum Medallion cards, those photos were the same image but they did indeed differ from the base version. Also, according to some checklists, the Platinum Medallion had an unofficial print run of just 200 copies per card. They aren’t serial numbered, though.