When Exquisite was first announced, what was the reaction?

[Jef]

I am finding out that there are a lot of people like me who collected basketball when I was much younger before taking about a decade-long hiatus.

I probably began tailing off my collecting and card shop visits in about 1998, and only restarted around 2009-10. It has been pretty awesome being able to now easily acquire certain cards (Garnett/Kobe/Hill Finest RCs, etc) that I once thought would always be impossible to come by.

Last night I was thinking, however, about not only the cards I missed but also the general feel of the basketball card landscape. Obviously the basketball market was shaken to its core by 93-94 Finest ("why are the refractors worth so much when they are only 1:12?"), 96 SPx (the super-premium 1 card per $5 pack, and still one of the best base sets ever), and 96-97 Chrome (obvious reasons across the board).

But what was the reaction when sets like Ultimate and Exquisite were announced? I did a few (admittedly lazy-ish) google searches and have trouble even finding the initial timelines or pricepoints of these super super super-premium packs and boxes, and I am interested to hear stories of the collecting world's reaction when these announcements were made and the previews shown. What was the first "how in the world can they justify that price?" product? Obviously the hype behind Exquisite must have been ridiculous based on the upcoming rookie class alone, but what were the other opinions?

Obviously there will always be collectors for whom price is a non-issue, but where did everyone else stand on these sets?

Just interested in hearing some of the history. Pretend Blowout forums back then were as they are now - what would some of the threads have looked like?

thanks,
Jeff

[hermanotarjeta]

I remember when exquisite first came out, and I had no hesitation in buying my first case, and wanting another, and then wanting another, after I realized that the breaks were FANTASTIC compared to what you were able to pull out of any other upper deck product at the time. I mean, I was essentially paying the same price for one case of sp authentic as I was for exquisite, and an exquisite case was less than a case of spx, so I just bought up as much exquisite as I could find locally.

I ended up buying just over 11 cases total, cracking and selling as I went along, and it was FUN, FUN, FUN.

I remember paying $1350 a case initially, then towards the last 3 cases, having to pay $1500, and I stopped when the last case I bought cost me $1650. Fortunately, I finally pulled my first Lebron auto that last case, a noble nameplates/25.

Dang, I miss that stuff.

I also wish I had redeemed my Jordans. I ended up selling them all cause I was in the process of moving and didn't have an address to ship them to. Dang redemptions- had pulled two auto patch/100 and two limited logos/75, each of which were case hits at the time.

The only 99 rookies I pulled were Haslem, Bosh, and Carmelo.

My first "case hit" in my first case was a scripted swatches Mcgrady.

Oh, and the other "filler" hits, like Patrick Ewing limited logos, Reggie Miller emblems/15 twice, Rodmans, Bird, Garnetts, even a david west RAP gold that would have been huge a few years back.

Oh, and all the wades- noble nameplates, two limited logos, ugh.

The funny thing is, back then, it wasn't even close to being the best card I pulled, but today, would probably fetch close to the most - a Shaquille o'neal 1/1 base parallel, lol.

I never thought the prices were ridiculous. You could buy a case of sp authentic for the same price and pull one /500 rookie and a bunch of common autos, or pay the same price and get 15 premium cards without the bulk.

I would have rather bought one box of exquisite over 4 boxes of spx, 8 boxes or base Upper Deck, or anything else, for that matter, and I would do it again over and over.

Oh, and the very last case I saw for sale at a show later that fall had an asking price of $1850, and regrettably, I passed on it, though I was just about to pull the trigger, had the cash in hand, but opted to buy something else that I no longer collect.

Ugh.

It's funny, initially, most of the dealers were nervous holding on to this stuff, they admitted they couldn't move it fast enough cause they didn't want to get "stuck" with such an expensive product.

[byronscott4ever]

There was a great buzz over the price of Exquisite, that's for sure. But I also remember that Lebron/Carmelo buzz was so strong that every product was anticipated. I recall reading people who bought cases closer to $1000 than $1500 and I think they did well getting on board right away.

[Orangejello727]

Prices on singles dropped before they took off as well. After a year later from release, outside of the big hits, you could pick up singles for less than the price of boxes busting. Exquisite wasnt 100% crazy throughout its history. I know many people (inlucing on this forum) that bought singles on the cheap end and now sit on a gold mine!!

[crazymj]

Wasn't collecting then but I think I was too young to even think About getting a box or case

[Jef]

good stuff all around - thank you all for posting.

i remember getting back into the hobby and some of the recent product details made me doubletake to the point of whiplash.

i gues things crept up to the $500/5 card box between 1998 and 2003, but i remember viewing E-X2000 (96-97 still amongst most underrated ever) and SPx as the ultimate examples of high end.

[phdbeckett]

I was at the Cleveland National that summer when it hit. I bought up all the GOLD RPAs and Gold Rookies I could find. It was Fun. I had 2 Wades /25, 2 Perkins Gold /43, Pavlovic Gold /11 and I was paying next to nothing for them. I left there with close to 20 Golds and about 20-30 more RPAs. I remember one booth I bout 10 RPAs /225 for $80, then a few Golds. Total about $170-180. Korver Gold Auto was the most expensive one at $35

[SportsItUpCards]

Same reaction people had with 2000-01 US Ultimate Collection... anytime you smack a big price tag on something, people think it must be great haha...

Once either UD, Topps, or Panini comes out with a $1,000.00 per pack product, people will jump on that, and so on... But it's not wise to collect what you think is hot just because of the crazy price, collect the designs you like, and you will never get tired of this hobby.

Then again, I was never one to buy things like sneakers when they first came out... if I really liked something, i'd buy them years later when the price came down! No sheep here...

[MoezTavern]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

My first "case hit" in my first case was a scripted swatches Mcgrady.

Oh, and the other "filler" hits, like Patrick Ewing limited logos, Reggie Miller emblems/15 twice, Rodmans, Bird, Garnetts, even a david west RAP gold that would have been huge a few years back.

Oh, and all the wades- noble nameplates, two limited logos, ugh.

Do you still have the Reggie Millers? Interested in selling?

[Jef]

what was the price point of 00-01 Ultimate?

[yaoming]

Originally Posted by Jef

i gues things crept up to the $500/5 card box between 1998 and 2003, but i remember viewing E-X2000 (96-97 still amongst most underrated ever) and SPx as the ultimate examples of high end.

hey..I remember that too
just like you... I was out of this hobby from 98-2007

[SportsItUpCards]

Originally Posted by Jef

what was the price point of 00-01 Ultimate?

IF my memory serves me correct, the price was about $250 or so... but hey, the prices of homes in my area back then were in the 150k range, while in 2003 or 04, they jumped to at least double, so you can pretty much say the buck bought the same amount, so the prices were pretty much equal.

[bettydaw1970]

what year/product had the first rpa's?
02-03 ult?

[xavieronly1]

Originally Posted by SportsItUpCards

IF my memory serves me correct, the price was about $250 or so... but hey, the prices of homes in my area back then were in the 150k range, while in 2003 or 04, they jumped to at least double, so you can pretty much say the buck bought the same amount, so the prices were pretty much equal.

How come I don't see card goes down with housing market in recent years? lol

[SportsItUpCards]

Originally Posted by xavieronly1

How come I don't see card goes down with housing market in recent years? lol

I'm sure you've heard of shilling? Yeah sure, let's not let this thread turn to a shill talk, cause that's bad, real bad............ but i'm sure you've heard of it, especially for 90's inserts and exquisite? Any cards can stay up, or go up in price with some shill help. Not a hard task to do.

[hatcher]

I bought a case of this back when. I paid $500 a box. Pulled some nice cards McGrady Patch Auto, Ewing Patch Auto. No good rookies though. Nobody wanted these when they came out because $500 was a crazy price for a box of cards. Wish I hadn't of opened all of them.

[xavieronly1]

Originally Posted by SportsItUpCards

I'm sure you've heard of shilling? Yeah sure, let's not let this thread turn to a shill talk, cause that's bad, real bad............ but i'm sure you've heard of it, especially for 90's inserts and exquisite? Any cards can stay up, or go up in price with some shill help. Not a hard task to do.

I'm not talking about shilling (not sure why you bring that up). I just didn't see card drop 40% in 2008-2009 like US housing market did. I just don't think there is strong correlation between card price and housing price.

[SportsItUpCards]

Check these out...

haha

2000 01 UD Ultimate Collection Michael Jordan Jersey Patch Auto 16 23 | eBay

$10,000.00........ LOL!

Pop 1 PSA 10 Michael Jordan 2000 Ultimate Gold Auto 25 Amazing MJ PSA 10 Auto | eBay

LMAO!!!!! You get the whole lot!

2000 01 Ultimate Jersey Bronze Complete Set Minus Kobe Jordan Garnett Auto | eBay

That Jordan jersey card was a big deal back then, not you get an entire lot for $37!

[SportsItUpCards]

Originally Posted by xavieronly1

I'm not talking about shilling (not sure why you bring that up). I just didn't see card drop 40% in 2008-2009 like US housing market did. I just don't think there is strong correlation between card price and housing price.

That's fine and dandy, you can make whatever arguement you wish and try to make sense of it, but it still is what it is..... sure people don't like to hear it, but sometimes a reality check doesn't hurt

No big deal really, collect what you love, as I always say. But let's not forget the history of our hobby, and let's not get things confused with reality. History WILL repeat itself as it always does. They WILL come out with a $1,000 product before you know it, then a $1,500 product, and so on... but if we collect cards based on price tag of product, we wouldn't be in this hobby long because we would get tired of it, as many people already have. Just my two cents...

[mcgahee21nfl]

400 a box 1200 a case

cost 1500 a case within a week of release

lebrons 2k , melo 1k, wade 600-700 for the first year

after 1 yr prices shot thru the roof. bron 5k wade 2k melo 1600

gold jersey #'d autos after 1 yr /yr&.5: wade /3 silly #s reported like 200k. ridnours /8 1500

base ridnours /225 200 travis outlaw 150 barbosa 150 basically any1 that was semi collected was topping 100ea - prices have fallen drastically yet the case price has stayed the same =/

[tristan20]

Prices kept going up and up, there was nothing like it at the time.

[jeebus_86]

I wasn't collecting at the time, but my older brother was, and he had mentioned to me that Upper Deck was selling a single pack of cards for $500 each, and I thought that was crazy at the time. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think a single pack of sports cards would be worth $500. A few years later when I decided to get back into the hobby, I found out those single packs he mentioned were Exquisite, and after seeing some of the singles of these cards, I began to understand some of the hype surrounding the product, they were just very beautifully designed cards.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by MoezTavern

Do you still have the Reggie Millers? Interested in selling?

Yah, I wish.

I wish I still had everything, lol.

[Orangejello727]

People tend to forget that 2003 was the perfect storm to release such high end products. Every single brand product was selling out because of the Lebron hype. Made sense to release such a high end set during that year. If they had done it in the year prior, I honestly dont know how it would have panned out. All products were driven by the strong draft.

[Wings]

I was completely against Exquisite when i heard it was $1500 a case. I thought it would be a flop! But they let their product do the talking and i was soon one of their biggest fans. Its almost all i even like collecting anymore along with things like Ultimate and Chrome!