While I know Fleer created hockey Metal Universe sets in the second half of the 90s, my exposure to the Metal brand came through basketball cards. Precious Metal Gems are one of the most sought after parallel sets out there. I don't own any myself, and maybe I never will with the card market surge over the last few years. Even lesser known players have PMGs selling for hundreds of dollars. While I may never own one, if I have a chance to open some packs that flash me back to my childhood collecting, I'm going to do it. Enter Skybox Metal Universe Hockey.
While the Skybox Metal Universe retail offering doesn't provide the chance at PMGs, it does allow for a reasonable way to find some awesome inserts like 'Intimidation Nation', 1997-98 Retro cards and 1997-98 Skybox Premium Prospects, and a slim chance at finding a Jambalaya or Platinum Portraits insert. The brand and inserts alone are enough to warrant the price of a blaster, in this 90s kid's opinion.
I know you are all wondering what Predators came out of his blaster. Three Predator cards in the first two packs, and once again I'm hooked, one of them being a 1997-98 Retro design. These scan terribly as I expected.
True to the original Metal Universe sets, these cards are easily dented and are definitely condition sensitive. Not the best cards for my 5-year old son to be handling if we are about condition, but this hobby is for him, too.
The photo I took of the Josi 1997-98 is not much better, but this is honestly the #1 card I was hoping for out of this box, and in pack #2 there it was. Even when it's a fairly common card, it's always satisfying to pull a card of a player you actively collect. I've still got a few Predators wants from this set, including some tough parallels, but I can cross off these three, at least.
The other 1997-98 was Auston Matthews, another solid pull. I'm probably done going after the 1997-98 since there aren't any other Predators and 50 cards seems like an ambitious insert set to chase after right out of the gate. The purple spectrum parallel of Josi will go on the want list, though.
I'm still trying to figure out how to get good photos of cards using a light box I picked up. It's a work in progress for sure.
The blue spectrum parallels scan much better than the base cards. The backgrounds really stand out in these scans. The Byram rookie seems like a pretty good pull, the 4th overall pick in 2019. I'm learning about these players as I go, but a rookie parallel is always good and the Avalanche are having a great season. I opened one of these parallels in each pack.
The Net Deposits are inserted in 1:6 retail packs. Awesome set and awesome player to pull. Really appreciate the spiraling puck design. Maybe if there's another iteration of this insert set it could include an image of the net somewhere.
There's that net I was talking about. That's a lot of deposits.
Would be a good box for a Leafs fan. A rookie insert set with a Skybox Premium design from 1997-98, and again, the 90s throwbacks are excellent. The Prospects are inserted into 1:4 blaster packs. I'm sure the Star Rubies versions of these look stellar in person.
The toughest pull in this box at 1:25, a Toews Hardware insert. It's hard to tell from the scan, but the card is translucent.
How sick is this? Throwback to the late 90s Intimidation Nation baseball and basketball sets, and I love it. This was the insert I was most excited to pull (with realistic odds) and it didn't disappoint. Quick is a name I recognize too which makes this one of the top pulls in the box.
What didn't I see in this blaster? I didn't find any purple parallels #'d out of 199. No Jambalaya or Platinum Portraits, as expected. No Alloyance or ALON inserts, either, but neither were necessarily expected to come out of a single blaster.
If this ends up being a yearly release it will be a must buy for me. Opening Fleer/Skybox brands again? Count me in. My interest in hockey cards after this box break is as high as it's ever been.
Next step after these couple of breaks, other than waiting for Upper Deck Series 1 to arrive, is not rush into purchases and really define what I want to try to pick up or trade for. Right now everything is new and shiny, and when that wears off I want to be excited about the direction of my collection, Predators and otherwise. That being said, I've added a handful of Predators cards to my COMC that I'll share in a future post, so not off to the best start in that department. So far I'm sticking to inserts and parallels of featuring throwback set designs, and looking into picking up some key rookies, although the Young Guns aren't cheap.
