The 1993 Fleer Ultra Baseball card series was the follow up set to the hugely successful debut of the brand new Fleer Ultra line in 1992. After witnessing the enthusiastic response from collectors the previous year, Fleer was eager to build on the momentum and produce another outstanding series in 1993. Series 2 was released midway through the 1993 MLB season, with 381 total cards once again featuring photograph centered designs and a variety of exciting insert sets. These Series 2 cards would become a favorite among collectors for years to come due to the memorable rookie cards, star player highlights, and innovative bonus inserts incorporated into the base set.
Like its 1992 predecessor, the 1993 Fleer Ultra Series 2 base set continued to strongly focus on state-of-the-art photography with bold colored borders around each image. For the first time ever, all 26 MLB teams were represented equally with 15 players per club. This balanced approach gave fans an opportunity to collect full team rosters instead of just chasing the biggest stars from a select few contenders. Several notable rookies made their Fleer Ultra debuts as well, including future Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman. Veteran sluggers like Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, and Mark McGwire also received some of the most visually striking designs in the set during a peak era of offense in MLB.
In addition to the standard base cards which ranged in number from #1 to #381, Fleer Ultra again packed the set with multiple insert options for collectors to track down. “Top Defensive Players” highlighted standouts with gloves from each position, while “Top Base Stealers” paid tribute to speedsters who wreaked havoc on the basepaths. Future stars like Albert Belle, Larry Walker, and Moises Alou received flashy “On the Rise” parallels early in their careers. Veterans with remarkable longevity were honored in the “Staying Power” subset. And one of the most coveted insert sets, “Diamond Kings”, imaged superstars on specially embossed card stock meant to replicate the textures of a baseball diamond.
The true highlight inserts from 1993 Fleer Ultra Series 2 were without a doubt the “Spitball” autograph cards. Only produced in extremely limited quantities, each autographed card featured an on-card signature from a different MLB pitcher. Landing a serially numbered Spitball parallel of a star hurler like Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, or John Smoltz immediately became the ultimate chase for collectors. These autographs were so rare that to this day, a pristine Spitball card in a PSA/DNA Gem Mint 10 grade would command a price in the thousands of dollars.
Besides the standard 381-card base set and various inserted parallels, Fleer Ultra again provided collectors another exciting bonus pack distributed one per hobby box. The 1993 version contained autograph tickets redeemable by mail for autographed cards of players like Cal Ripken Jr., Wade Boggs, and Ozzie Smith. While not as sought after long term as the on-card Spitball autos, these additional autograph chase cards added another fun dimension for the series. Fleer Ultra packs also contained League Leader checklists to build sets of the top stats performers at seasons end.
Perhaps most impressive though was how well Fleer captured the true magic of the 1993 MLB season through creative card designs and storytelling within the base set photographs. That campaign saw dominant individual performances from superstars like Bonds, Thomas, McGwire, and Griffey Jr. lift the entire sport to new popularity heights in the midst of a hotly contested pennant race out West. Memorably, documentation of key moments from the San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves NL West battle and Toronto Blue Jays vs. Chicago White Sox classic AL East showdown helped 1993 Fleer Ultra Series 2 resonate with collectors for years as one of the most representative and historically captivating baseball sets ever released.
In the end, Series 2 of the 1993 Fleer Ultra flagship set achieved exactly what the brand had aimed for – building upon the innovation and excitement sparked the prior year. Due to the memorable rookie cards, autographed inserts, accurate team checklists, and capturing a truly unforgettable MLB season on cardboard, these 1993 Fleer Ultra cards would become a crucial and treasured part of the entire baseball card collecting experience through the 1990s and beyond. Even 25+ years later, examples still intact in sharp conditioned frequently emerge as popular eBay listings or prizes in major trading card auctions. For both Aficionados of the hobby as well as fans who followed pro baseball in the1990s, the 1993 Fleer Ultra Series 2 cards remain a remarkably compelling piece of sports history and collectibles brought to life through stunning photography, creative designs, and game used artifacts from some of the games true immortals.
