This is the first in a series of three posts. This post features three 1994 Collector’s Choice packs with NL players on the front.
Beckett Set Notes (from set page)
“Produced by Upper Deck, this 670 standard-size card set was distributed in two series of 320 and 350. Cards were issued in foil-wrapped 12-card packs and factory sets (of which contained five Gold Signature cards for a total of 675 cards). Basic card fronts feature color player action photos with white borders that are highlighted by vertical gray pinstripes. Subsets include Rookie Class (1-20), First Draft Picks (21-30), Top Performers (306-315), Up Close (631-640) and Future Foundation (641-650). Rookie Cards include Michael Jordan and Alex Rodriguez. A legitimate variation on the Alex Rodriguez card (#647) was verified several years after release. The standard card features the “A” from Alex on the card back text in grey/silver whereas the variation features his name in white. It’s believed that the A-Rod “White A” variation is a significantly tougher card but exact estimates of it’s scarcity are not known. In subsequent years other cards (such as Johnny Damon) were also verified to have this White Letter variation – thus it’s generally believed that the entire Future Foundations subset was produced with white (and standard grey) letter variations.”
Pack Contents
12 cards each
Cost
$0.40 each (part of a large group of packs picked up at a show)
Description
This post is for three different packs. Each has an Andy Warhol-esque picture of an NL star on the front. One is Deion Sanders (Atlanta Braves); another is Mike Piazza (LA Dodgers); and the last is a very svelte Barry Bonds (SF Giants). There may be other NL players on these packs, but these are the only three of which I’m aware.
Insert / Parallel List (taken from the pack)
Silver Signature parallel – 320 cards – 1:1 packs
Gold Signature parallel – 320 cards – 1:36 packs
Base cards
220 – Alex Rodriguez (front and back)
14 – Luis Gonzalez (front only)
49 – Lance Johnson (front only)
169 – Ryan Christenson (front only)
220 – Dan Wilson (front only)
Inserts and parallels
235 – Copper Parallel – Rusty Greer (front and back)
Complete pack contents
Deion Sanders
67 – Dave Burba
82 – Jeff Conine
86 – Tim Costo
117 – Ken Griffey Jr.
148 – Gregg Jefferies
218 – Paul O’Neill
224 – Mike Pagliarulo
251 – Tim Salmon
290 – Turk Wendell
306 – Top Performers of 1991 – Wins Leaders
307 – Silver Signature – Top Performers of 1991 – Strikeout Leader
Mike Piazza
1 – Rookie Class Rich Becker
14 – Rookie Class Marc Newfield
109 – Bernard Gilkey
113 – Jim Gott
120 – Juan Guzman (x2)
180 – Scott Lydy
236 – Pat Rapp
244 – Mel Rojas
289 – Bill Wegman
86 – Silver Signature – Tim Costo
73 – Gold Signature – Cris Carpenter
Barry Bonds
4 – Rookie Class Carlos Delgado
54 – Mike Blowers
67 – Dave Burba
102 – Darrin Fletcher
134 – Roberto Hernandez
142 – David Hulse
206 – Blas Minor
209 – Raul Mondesi
296 – Bob Wickman
302 – Dave Winfield
320 – Checklist Nolan Ryan
84 – Silver Signature – Scott Cooper
Comments
There’s not much to add to this post. The images pretty much speak for themselves. I’m normally not a fan of white borders on cards, but these seems to work OK. For a bottom level set for the budget collector, these cards are alright. They are nothing fancy, but of course nobody should expect them to be. Nothing wrong with that for this set.
These cards didn’t fare too well since their printing nearly 20 years ago. They stuck together like crazy. A recent 1993 Upper Deck pack did the exact same thing on me, but these packs were quite a bit worse. Maybe there was something about Upper Deck’s cards that made them very prone to sticking. It’s something to consider if you plan on breaking a box of this stuff and hope to find really nice cards. Regardless, you can’t exactly blame Upper Deck because their cards don’t store for two decades in packs.
One pleasant surprise was the Gold Signature card. That is a 1:36 pack pull. Pretty good.
Other 1994 Collector’s Choice 1 pack rips or box breaks
Pack Rip (Mike Piazza) by A Pack To Be Named Later
Pack Rip (Jumbo Deion Sanders) by Cardboard Collection
Box Break (retail) by Fan Stuff
Part of a box break by Nachos Grande
cheap wax fix 