A little 2003-04 Nostalgia

[ajbenson18]

Came across this article and it brought back the memories...

Upper Deck Exquisite Delivers Pull of a Lifetime for California Collector (http://www.tradingcardcentral.com/articles/2004/07/14_001_001.php)

I was just recalling the 2003-04 year when I busted more wax than I have ever since. I read about the exquisite product prior to release in beckett and was just laughing at the idea of a $500 pack of cards. When it released I believe you could get them for $350-$400 pretty easily. Myself and my "trading buddies" would scoff at the price and feel we were the only "sane" ones. Soon after they were $500, then $600 and once they hit about $750 you couldn't find them anywhere. Looking back even that price was cheap! Nobody had any idea what that product would do for the industry. Everyone was baffled at the idea of spending that kind of cash on a single pack of cards. Now the 1 pack per box products are becoming more popular than ever. On top of all of that... THAT DRAFT CLASS! 2003-04 was a crazy awesome year in the hobby for me. I remember pre ordering 6 boxes of top prospects... lol. Crappy product but man was there a lot of hype that year. Only thing worth getting was a Lebron auto which I never got. A ton of base Lebrons though (still have them). I remember busting a case of sp game used that year which was a horrible decision. I lost my butt. A wizards Jordan jersey and base Lebron base rc was the best I got. In all the product I busted (which was pretty much a minimum of 1 box of every UD release) I never got a Lebron better than the SP Game Used base RC.

Anyway, no other reason to post than to just bring back the memories. The death of desire for jersey cards (Thank you Topps Jersey Edition) and movement to desire for Low Numbered Patch Autos all came with the release of this ground breaking high end product (atleast if you ask me). Crazy to see the industry today.

Found more exquisite articles from the day on Upper Deck.

Upper Deck Sports | Collector's Zone Card Set Home (http://sports.upperdeck.com/collectorszone/cardsethome.aspx?q=6&sid=11106)

[WillC]

Not a bad pull, I guess...

http://www.tradingcardcentral.com/images/articles/2004/07/14_001_003.jpg

[Kingbudd]

This is from one of the articles:

The cards were launched to highlight the basketball league's spectacular rookie class this year. Rocky Landsverk, editor of the sports collectibles magazine Tuff Stuff, said other companies probably won't follow suit with $500 packs of their own. "This is not a trend that will stick," he said. "It's not an area where we'll stay as an industry. It's a one-time event based on the fact that this is probably the most popular rookie class in the history of the hobby."

[ajbenson18]

This is from one of the articles:

The cards were launched to highlight the basketball league's spectacular rookie class this year. Rocky Landsverk, editor of the sports collectibles magazine Tuff Stuff, said other companies probably won't follow suit with $500 packs of their own. "This is not a trend that will stick," he said. "It's not an area where we'll stay as an industry. It's a one-time event based on the fact that this is probably the most popular rookie class in the history of the hobby."

I didn't read that article but nice find. That was how "mind blowing" this $500/pack product was back then. That is also why it is so crazy to think about where we are now.