2000 Playoff Prestige: "Alma Mater Materials" Insert
2008 Upper Deck SP Authentic: "Rookie Jersey Numbers" Insert
1997 Proline: "Emerald Autographs" Insert Set
2000 Playoff Prestige: "Alma Mater Materials" Insert
Jay's Football Cards
Upper Deck: Ultimate
My Upper Deck: Ultimate Collection (Updated December 31th, 2025)
In 1993, Upper Deck added its "Super Premium" title to counter all the other "Super Premium" brands that had entered the hobby. In 2003, they upped the ante again with the Upper Deck Ultimate title. However, this title wasn't for kids. These cards are for the adult collectors. The base cards are #'d to a semi-low number of 750. The cardstock is thick and sturdy, and the photography is unique (See the 2003 Upper Deck Ultimate "Kevin Curtis" Rookie #72 left). Due to the high cost of producing a set like this, the set size is smaller than most sets, 107 cards. I guess Upper Deck wanted to make sure that the title was a hit first before it spent too much on a larger set. One hundred and seven cards is mighty low. They did however, spend a lot of money putting together 9 high quality insert sets.
Since I haven't collected the 2003 through 2007 sets yet or any of their insert sets yet, I'll stick to the base set write-up only.
2003 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Kevin Curtis” Rookie #72*
*Note: I do not own the card above. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to put this set together.
2005 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Michael Boley" Rookie #134*
*Note: I do not own the card above. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to put this set together.
Upper Deck followed up the tiny '03 release with a slightly larger release. The 2004 release contained 135 cards. I guess the '03 release was a success due to the slight uptick in the number of cards in the '04 release. Again, the cardstock was solid and really added to the durability of the cards (See the 2004 Upper Deck Ultimate "Karlos Dansby" Rookie #91 right).
The 2005 Ultimate release really jumped up in set size this year. Obviously, this new Ultra Premium adult title was surpassing all predictions and estimates. It moved from 135 in 2004 to 289 in 2005. The release in 2005 had the same style as its predecessors, a player cut out and pasted onto a team-colored background. This was kind of the Ultimate title routine (See the 2005 Upper Deck Ultimate "Michael Boley" Rookie #134 left). The '04 release keep the insert titles pretty much the same, but they added a few new ones. The insert sets went from 13 to 6.
Upper Deck went all in with the 2006 release. The '06 Ultimate release has 360 cards, a huge uptick from previous years. Again, the previous Ultimate releases were present here with the picture of a player pasted on a background of team colors. The same design style was present (See the 2006 Upper Deck Ultimate "Brian Dawkins" #91 right). Upper Deck increased their insert total up from 6 in 2005 to 10. No idea why since this title looked like it was on the way up.
2007 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Braylon Edwards" #26*
*Note: I do not own the card above. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to put this set together.
The 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate release was much of the same for the hobby. The cards looked very similar to previous releases. (See the 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate "Braylon Edwards" #26 left).The set size dropped to something like the 2004 release, but Upper Deck went crazy with the insert sets. The number of insert sets jumped from 10 in 2006 to 17 in 2007. No idea why the sudden explosion. And as I said earlier, that is just way too many. Maybe Upper Deck hired some of the old Collector's Edge people.
The 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate was the same as all the previous Ultimate releases. A player cut-out on a teams' color scheme. This release did a slight uptick to 221 cards, (See the 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate "Colt Brennan" Rookie #154 right).
The rookie memorebilia cards for this set are a gem. (See the 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate "Jamaal Charles" Rookie #212 left below). The jersey swatch is a solid size, they are numbered at a
2008 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Jamaal Charles" Rookie #212
very low 375 number and the autograph placement is good too.
As I stated in previous releases, the real treasure with this release isn't so much the base set and it's rookies as it is the insert sets. The number of insert sets included with this release are upwards of 30. That is an obnoxious amount. Upper deck took a page from Collector's Edge, in regards to insert sets. The perfect number of insert sets included in a release is somewhere between 6 and 12. The 30 number includes a bunch of parallel sets which are totally un-necessary.
2008 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Chris Johnson" Big Numbers #URBM-4
With that being said, these inserts from the 2008 release are awesome. The 1st one I will talk about is the "Rookie Trio Signatures" insert set. The signatures aren't stickers, the autograph area is adequate and the card layout with pictures, the player's names and the card # is perfectly laid out, (See the 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate "Johnson / Smith / Forte" Rookie Trio Signatures #URTA-11 upper right).
2004 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Karlos Dansby" Rookie #91*
*Note: I do not own the card above. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to put this set together.
2006 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Brian Dawkins" #91*
*Note: I do not own the card above. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to put this set together.
2008 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Colt Brennan" Rookie #154
2008 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Johnson / Smith / Forte" Rookie Trio Signatures #URTA-11
2008 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Chris Johnson" Big Numbers #URBM-4 (BACK)
The 2nd insert set, The Rookie Big Materials insert set is a great Rookie memorabilia piece. The jersey swatch is huge and both the back and the front has a piece of jersey, (See the 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate "Chris Johnson" Big Numbers #URBM-4 upper left) and a huge jersey swatch too.
Another one is the Ultimate Signture Plays insert set. These are really solid player selections that are very low numbered. The card layout is perfect and the signature area is big enough for everyone's signature. (See the 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate "Gale Sayers" Signature Plays #USB-34 upper right)
2008 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Gale Sayers" Signature Plays #USB-34*
*Note: I do not own the card above.
One of the last insert sets I want to talk about is the Ultimate Seasons insert set. With its multiple jersey swatches, low #'d circulation and good signature area, this is another solid card. (See the 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate "Dick Butkus" Ultimate Seasons #USEA-100 right). Now, I haven't started putting this insert set together yet, but if that card # is right, (#USEA-100), then that could mean that there are 100 of these cards. That is a huge insert set.
In closing, the "Upper Deck: Ultimate" brand was just an awesome continuation of almost anything that Upper Deck has done. Yes, it was a totally different brand, probably with a different age-group in mind, (adult collectors), but with a high price tag came an upper echelon kind of card that commands high prices and a large collector base. I would say, that if you follow or collect the "Upper Deck Ultimate" title then there aren't any higher levels cards out there. This is it!!
2008 Upper Deck Ultimate: “Dick Butkus" Ultimate Seasons #USEA-100*
*Note: I do not own the card above. Unfortunately, I haven't taken the time to put this set together.
I have complete sets:
Upper Deck Ultimate:
1) 2003 Upper Deck Ultimate - Do Not Have
2) 2004 Upper Deck Ultimate - Do Not Have
3) 2005 Upper Deck Ultimate - Do Not Have
4) 2006 Upper Deck Ultimate - Do Not Have
5) 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate - Do Not Have
6) 2008 Upper Deck Ultimate - Incomplete ( 208 / 221 )
A) Ultimate Signatures Autographs Insert - Incomplete ( 1 / X )*
B) Ultimate Futures 4-Some Jersey Silver Insert - Incomplete ( 3 / 15 )
C) Ultimate Futures 4-Some Jersey Gold Insert - Incomplete ( 4 / 15 )
D) Ultimate 4-some Jerseys Gold Insert - Incomplete ( 4 / 29 )
E) Ultimate 4-some Jerseys Silver Insert - Incomplete ( 2 / 29 )
F) Ultimate Futures Signature Jerseys Insert - Incomplete ( 9 / 15 )
G) Generation 4-some Jerseys Gold Insert - Incomplete ( 1 / 39 )
H) Ultimate Highlight Signatures Insert - Incomplete ( 5 / 20 )
I) Ultimate Rookie Trio Signatures Insert - Incomplete ( 8 / 15 )
J) Ultimate Rookie Big Materials Insert - Incomplete ( 12 / 14 )
K) Ultimate Signature Plays Insert - Incomplete ( 2 / 10 )
L) Ultimate Signature Duals Insert - Incomplete ( 1 / 14 )
7) 2009 Upper Deck Ultimate - Do Not Have
*Note: I'm not quite sure how many cards are in this set.
