by Peter Grossmann
June 3, 2005
With this product, Upper Deck offers a new brand that appears positioned to compete against Donruss Signature and Topps Retired Signature Edition. Like the Donruss product that has enjoyed success in various guises since the late 1990s and today is sold in tins rather than packs, Upper Deck Ultimate Signature comes to customers bundled in $90 tins with one autograph per tin. Beckett sellers also indicate that dual autographs are seeded approximately one per four tins.
Alan Trammell appears in the set as one of the dual autographs, paired with Kirk Gibson. The card's style reminds me a little bit of 2003 Topps World Series--really white card stock, careful use of gold foil. I like that aside from the autographs and the small portraits of Trammell and Gibson the card is not very busy. It's attractive, and since it's numbered to 250 the price should prove quite affordable.
Multiple autograph cards appear to be picking up in popularity much in the way that multiple game-used cards have--this represents a continuance of something that, in Trammell's checklist anyway, began last year with the offerings in Donruss World Series, Donruss Elite Extra Edition, and Upper Deck Timeless Teams. The continuing need of card companies to one-up each other has created yet another new trend.
New Product Review is published each time a new set features Alan Trammell Cards. Click here for a list of archived new product reviews