1994 Upper Deck

Description

1994 Upper Deck is a 550-card was issued in two series of 280 and 270 cards, respectively. The design of 1994 Upper Deck Baseball was originally intended for 1994 SP. For 1994, the Upper Deck Baseball brand name was to have been retired with the new Collector's Choice set inheriting the "flagship set" mantel. Upper Deck eventually decided to redesign SP and resurrect the Upper Deck Baseball name giving it the layout they intended for SP.

The Hobby edition of 1994 Upper Deck was regionally distributed, with three different versions (East, Central, and West) of the Diamond Collection (Series One) and 1994 SP Previews (Series Two) inserts. (1994 SP was also to have been regionally-distributed.) Where Hobby dealers and their distributors were located dictated which inserts were available. For example, collectors in the middle of the country got packs where it was possible to pull a valuable Michael Jordan or Frank Thomas Diamond Collection insert; but collectors along the East Coast were stuck with Cliff Floyd and Lenny Dykstra. The regional distribution scheme was not popular with collectors or dealers, and was discontinued after this year.

Rookie Cards include Michael Jordan (as an baseball player), Chan Ho Park, Alex Rodriguez and Billy Wagner.

Many cards have been found with a significant variation on the back. The player's name, the horizontal bar containing the biographical information and the vertical bar containing the stats header are normally printed in copper-gold color. On the variation cards, these areas are printed in silver. It is not known exactly how many of the 550 cards have silver versions, nor has any premium been established for them. Also, all of the American League Home Field Advantage subset cards (numbers 281-294) are minor uncorrected errors because the Upper Deck logos on the front are missing the year "1994".

Distribution

Hobby/retail: 36 packs per box plus one oversized Checklist (Series One only), 12 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.49). 20 boxes per case.

Retail "Mini-Jumbo": 24 packs per box, ten cards per pack (MSRP: $1.99).

Mini-Jumbos are so-called as they are packaged in a box similar to that of the 1993 Upper Deck Jumbo packs, yet have two fewer cards than the standard Hobby/retail pack. It is believed that Mini-Jumbos were only produced for Series One.

Insertion Ratios

Series One

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds	Mini Jumbo Odds
Base	280	-	11:1	11:1	8:1
Electric Diamond	280	-	one-per-pack	one-per-pack	two-per-pack
Diamond Collection	30	-	1:18	N/A	N/A
Mickey Mantle's Long Shots	21	-	N/A	1:18	?
Mickey Mantle's Long Shots Redemptions	2	-	1:720	N/A	1:720
Mantle/Griffey Autographs	3	1000	N/A	?	?

Series Two

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	270	-	?	?
Electric Diamond	270	-	one-per-pack	one-per-pack
Mickey Mantle Baseball Heroes	10	-	1:35	1:35
1994 SP Previews	15	-	1:35	N/A
Next Generation	18	-	N/A	1:20
Next Generation Redemptions	2	-	1:720	N/A
Alex Rodriguez Classic Alumni Autograph	1	-	N/A	?

Checklist

Base Set

Series One

NOTE: The Star Rookies and The Future is Now subsets are printed on foilboard.

Star Rookies

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1994') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num < 31) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Fantasy Team

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The Future is Now

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National League Home Field Advantage

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Series Two

NOTE: The Upper Deck Classic Alumni, Diamond Debuts, and Top Prospects subsets are all printed on foilboard.

American League Home Field Advantage

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Upper Deck Classic Alumni

This five-card subset featured MLB players who appeared in a high school baseball tournament Upper Deck sponsored in the early-90s. The Alex Rodriguez card is often mislabeled as a "rookie card." His "true" RC was issued in Series One.

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Diamond Debuts

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Top Prospects

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Parallels

Electric Diamond

All 550 cards are available in a one-per-pack Electric Diamond parallel.

Sliver Back Variations

Instead of a gold back, forty-five Electric Diamond cards from Series One were printed with a variation silver back. These cards are more difficult to find than the regular Electric Diamond cards. The checklist is below.

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Inserts

Ken Griffey, Jr. Jumbo Checklists

Measuring 4 7/8" by 6 13/16", these four Ken Griffey, Jr. cards serve as 1994 Upper Deck Series One's checklists. They were issued in each Series One Hobby box as a box topper. Card fronts have a full color photo with a small Griffey hologram. The first three cards provide a numerical, alphabetical and team organized checklist for the basic set. The fourth card is a checklist of inserts. Each card was printed in different quantities with CL1 the most plentiful and CL4 the more scarce. The backs are numbered with a CL prefix.

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Diamond Collection

This 30-card set was inserted regionally in Series One Hobby packs. The set was meant to commemorate MLB's new three division format for each league that began in 1994. Each region is represented with a ten card set, East (E1-E10), Central (C1-C10), and West (W1-W10), with at least one player from each MLB team represented. While each card has the same horizontal format, the color scheme differs by region. The East cards have an emerald green background, Central cards have an ice blue background, and the West are pink.

Eastern Region

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Central Region

NOTE: A card of Kansas City Royals pitcher Kevin Appier (#C2) was pulled and replaced with Michael Jordan. This means that the White Sox have two cards in this set, while the Royals are not represented. Because of the Jordan card, Series One Central Hobby packs sold for a premium throughout the Summer of 1994.

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Western Region

NOTE: Because there were only eight teams in the AL and NL West, the A's (Henderson and McGwire) and Angels (Jackson and Salmon) are represented with two cards.

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Mickey Mantle's Long Shots

This 21-card holographic foil set features top longball hitters as selected by Mickey Mantle. The cards are numbered on the back with a "MM" prefix and sequenced in alphabetical order and were exclusive to Series One retail packs.

Two trade cards good for the entire 21-card set, were randomly inserted into Hobby and "Mini-Jumbo" packs as "case hits" were redeemable for either the basic silver foil set version (silver Trade card) or the Electric Diamond parallel version (blue Trade card). The Electric Diamond Long Shots were only available through this redemption card. These cards expired December 31st, 1994.

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Mickey Mantle Baseball Heroes

Randomly inserted into all Series Two packs, this ten-card set looks at various moments from The Mick's career. Metallic fronts feature a vintage photo with the card title at the bottom. The backs contain career highlights with a small scrapbook like photo. The numbering (64-72) is a continuation from previous Heroes anthology sets -- although unlike the those previous sets, the 1994 edition had a new design and were printed on foilboard.

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Phone Cards

Phone cards were all the rage in the mid-90s and Upper Deck in conjunction with Global Telecommunication Solutions produced this set of ten phone cards to honor Mickey Mantle. The set is essentially a phone card parallel of the Baseball Heroes set.

The set was issued in two five-card series released in early October and late November with each series set retailing for $59.95. Each card came with ten minutes of long distance phone time, which expired March 31st, 1996.

Only 5000 Series One sets were produced. Randomly inserted into Series Two sets was one of 500 phone cards of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. (The Red Stockings are recognized as the first Major League baseball team, and 1994 was commemorated as Professional Baseball's 125th Anniversary).

1994 SP Previews

These 15 cards were distributed regionally as inserts in Upper Deck Series Two Hobby packs. The cards are nearly identical to the basic 1994 SP issue. Card fronts differ in that the region name is at bottom right where the team name is located on the SP cards.

Eastern Region

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Central Region

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Western Region

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Next Generation

This 18-card set, exclusive to Series Two retail packs, spotlights young established stars and promising prospects using Upper Deck's "Holoview" technology.

Just like with the Mantle's Long Shots, a Next Generation Electric Diamond Trade Card and a Next Generation Trade Card, good for the entire set, were seeded randomly in Series Two Hobby packs as "case hits." Each redemption card expired October 31st, 1994.

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Autographs

Griffey/Mantle Autographs

Randomly inserted into Series One retail packs were 3,000 Ken Griffey, Jr./Mickey Mantle autographed cards. UD had each player sign 2,000 cards -- 1,000 individually and 1,000 dual-signed cards. The Griffey/Mantle dual autograph is considered by many to be one of the greatest autographed baseball cards of the 1990s. Each card has an Upper Deck Authenticated holographic sticker on the reverse side. These cards were found in standard retail boxes (not jumbo or mini-jumbos). Copies of the dual Griffey/Mantle Auto was later sold by Upper Deck direct via Upper Deck Authentics and a limited number were packed out as a buyback in 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum.

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Alex Rodriguez Classic Alumni Autograph

For Series Two retail packs, UD had Alex Rodriguez sign a limited number of his "Upper Deck Classic Alumni" base card (#298). Production of the A-Rod card was never disclosed by Upper Deck. Each card has an Upper Deck Authenticated holographic sticker on the reverse side.

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Upper Deck (flagship)
Upper Deck (flagship) Sets: 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010
Upper Deck (flagship) Update Sets: 1991 Upper Deck Final Edition - 2009 Upper Deck Update
Upper Deck (flagship) Parallel Brands: 1999 Upper Deck Encore - First Edition: 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - First Pitch: 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - Special F/X: 1998 - 2006
Upper Deck Prospect Premieres: 2001 - 2002 - 2003
Upper Deck Japan: 2001