1999 Upper Deck

Description

1999 Upper Deck is a 525 card set released in two series of 255 and 270 cards, respectively. Series One was released in December, 1998; while Series Two in May, 1999. With this set, Upper Deck celebrated their 10th Anniversary, and many of the inserts are based around this event.

Between the two series, there is a gap of ten cards; meaning, that Series Two begins with card #266 and cards #256-#265 do not exist.

It is believed -- but never confirmed by Upper Deck -- that the subset cards may have been slightly short-printed.

Distribution

Hobby/Retail: 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99).

NOTE: Series One Hobby boxes contain 23 packs plus one 1989 Upper Deck Hi-Series pack.

Insertion Ratios

Series One

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	255	-	?	?
UD Exclusives Level 1	255	100	?	?
UD Exclusives Level 2	255	one-of-one	?	?
10th Anniversary Team	30	-	1:4	1:4
10th Anniversary Team Double	30	4000	?	?
10th Anniversary Team Triple	30	100	?	?
10th Anniversary Team Home Run	30	one-of-one	?	?
Wonder Years	30	-	1:7	1:7
Wonder Years Double	30	2000	?	?
Wonder Years Triple	30	50	?	?
Wonder Years Home Run	30	one-of-one	?	?
Immaculate Perception	27	-	1:23*	1:23*
Immaculate Perception Double	27	1000	?	?
Immaculate Perception Triple	27	25	?	?
Immaculate Perception Home Run	27	one-of-one	?	?
Crowning Glory	3	-	1:23*	1:23*
Crowning Glory Double	3	1000	?	?
Crowning Glory Triple	3	25	?	?
Crowning Glory Home Run	3	one-of-one	?	?
Game Jerseys	11	-	1:288	1:2500
Game Jerseys (Hobby only)	5	-	1:288	N/A
Kerry Wood Autographed Game Jersey	1	34	?	?
Ken Griffey, Jr. Autographed Game Jersey	1	24	?	N/A
Autographed 1989 UD Ken Griffey, Jr. Buyback	1	100	?	?
Ken Griffey, Jr. 10th Anniversary Sweepstakes Cards	6	varies	?	?
Babe Ruth A Piece of History	1	350	1:15,000	1:15,000
Babe Ruth A Piece of History Cut	1	3	?	?

Series Two

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	270	-	?	?
UD Exclusives Level 1	270	100	?	?
UD Exclusives Level 2	270	10	?	?
Textbook Excellence	30	-	1:4	1:4
Textbook Excellence Double	30	2000	?	?
Textbook Excellence Triple	30	100	?	?
Textbook Excellence Home Run	30	10	?	?
View to a Thrill	30	-	1:7	1:7
View to a Thrill Double	30	2000	?	?
View to a Thrill Triple	30	100	?	?
View to a Thrill Quadruple	30	10	?	?
Forte	30	-	1:23	1:23
Forte Double	30	2000	?	?
Forte Triple	30	100	?	?
Forte Home Run	30	10	?	?
Game Jerseys	4	-	1:288	1:2500
Game Jerseys (Hobby only)	10	-	1:288	N/A
Ken Griffey, Jr. Autographed Game Jersey	1	24	?	?
Autographed Game Jerseys (Hobby only)	2	varies	?	N/A
Babe Ruth A Piece of History 500 HR Club	1	50	?	?

Checklist

Base Set

Series One

Star Rookies

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num < 19) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num BETWEEN 19 AND 228) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Foreign Focus

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num BETWEEN 229 AND 246) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Checklists

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num BETWEEN 247 AND 255) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Series Two

NOTE: Cards #256-#265 do not exist.

Star Rookies

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num BETWEEN 260 AND 292) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num BETWEEN 293 AND 517) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Arms Race '99

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num BETWEEN 518 AND 526) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Checklists

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player from cards WHERE (year = '1999') AND (setname='Upper Deck') AND (num > 526) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Parallels

Exclusives

All 525 base cards are available in the following Exclusives parallels:

• Level 1: Bronze foil, serial-numbered to 100 copies

• Level 2: Gold foil. (Series One: one-of-one; Series Two: serial-numbered to ten)

Notes:

• There are two different serial-numbering methods used throughout the set: a traditional "stamp" method which was impressed into the card and a "print" method that utilized a dot-matrix printer.
• The "stamp" serial-numbering method was utilized primarily on Series One inserts and parallels and can be seen on the Series One Exclusives (both Levels), Wonder Years, Immaculate Perception, and 10th Anniversary Team sets.
• The "print" serial-numbering method was utilized primarily on Series Two inserts and parallels and can be seen on the Series Two Exclusives (both Levels), Textbook Excellence, Forte, and View to a Thrill sets.
• Some Level 2 Exclusives from Series One have surfaced without the "1/1" foil stamp on the back. Collectors surmise they were mailed out by Upper Deck as replacements for damaged cards, which was common practice at the time.

Inserts

10th Anniversary Team

This 30-card set features an All-Star team of the "Upper Deck Era" (1989-1998). Collectors could make their choice with ballots that were randomly inserted into 1998 Upper Deck packs.

The design of the set is virtually identical to an insert in '98 Upper Deck Series One.

Each Card is also available in the following parallels.

• Double (serial-numbered to 4000 copies)
• Triple (serial-numbered to 100 copies)
• Home Run (one-of-one)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck 10th Anniversary Team'); </sql2wiki>

Wonder Years

Each Wonder Years insert is also available in the following parallels.

• Double (serial-numbered to 2000 copies)
• Triple (serial-numbered to 50 copies)
• Home Run (one-of-one)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Wonder Years'); </sql2wiki>

Immaculate Perception

Each Immaculate Perception card is also available in the following parallels.

• Double (serial-numbered to 1000 copies)
• Triple (serial-numbered to 25 copies)
• Home Run (one-of-one)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Immaculate Perception'); </sql2wiki>

Crowning Glory

Each Crowning Glory card is also available in the following parallels.

• Double (serial-numbered to 1000 copies)
• Triple (serial-numbered to 25 copies)
• Home Run (one-of-one)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Crowning Glory'); </sql2wiki>

Textbook Excellence

Each Textbook Excellence card is also available in the following parallels.

• Double (serial-numbered to 2000 copies)
• Triple (serial-numbered to 100 copies)
• Quadruple (serial-numbered to ten)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Textbook Excellence'); </sql2wiki>

View to a Thrill

Each View to a Thrill is also available in the following parallels.

• Double (serial-numbered to 2000 copies)
• Triple (serial-numbered to 100 copies)
• Quadruple (serial-numbered to ten)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck View to a Thrill'); </sql2wiki>

Forte

Each Forte card is also available in the following parallels.

• Double (serial-numbered to 2000 copies)
• Triple (serial-numbered to 100 copies)
• Quadruple (serial-numbered to ten)

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Forte'); </sql2wiki>

Ken Griffey, Jr. Oversize Reprints

Inserted into specially-marked Blasters, these ten 5" X 7" cards are reprints of Ken Griffey, Jr's previous Upper Deck base cards.

Randomly inserted into Blasters -- at the rate of 1:64 -- are autographs (see below).

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Box Blasters'); </sql2wiki>

1989 Ken Griffey, Jr. Rookie Jumbos

It's unclear exactly how these reprints of Ken Griffey, Jr.'s landmark 1989 Upper Deck rookie card were distributed. (Any assistance would be appreciated) Unlike the Blaster box set, these cards are foil stamped, with the "baseline" that runs along the right side of the card stamped in silver foil. In addition, there are three parallels.

• Blue Foil (serial-numbered to 3500 copies)
• Gold Foil (serial-numbered to 1000 copies)
• Autographed Gold Foil

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Griffey Jr. Commemorative Rookie Jumbo'); </sql2wiki>

Autographs & Game-Used

Game Jersey

NOTES

• Game Jerseys marked "H" were exclusive to Hobby packs and inserted at the rate of 1:288/packs (case hits).
• Game Jerseys marked "HR" were in BOTH Hobby and retail packs and inserted at the rate of 1:2500/packs.
• The number besides each entry indicates which series it was inserted.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Game Jersey') ORDER BY num ASC; </sql2wiki>

Autographed Game Jersey

Each Autographed Game Jersey card is hand-numbered to the figures below.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Autographed Game Jersey'); </sql2wiki>

Ken Griffey, Jr. 1989 Autographed Buyback

Upper Deck had Ken Griffey, Jr. autograph 100 copies of his landmark 1989 Upper Deck card, and inserted them into Series One packs. To differentiate this card from an ordinary 89 UD card (and to confirm the authenticity of Griffey's autograph), each card contained an additional hologram.

10th Anniversary Sweepstakes

Randomly inserted into Series One packs were exchange cards good for various Upper Deck 10th Anniversary prizes. The Grand Prize being a one-on-one personal batting lesson from Ken Griffey, Jr. All cards have long since expired.

Upper Deck accidentally inserted three batting lesson cards, as opposed to only one. All three winners were able to meet Griffey, but none received the batting lesson.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck 10th Anniversary Sweepstakes'); </sql2wiki>

Ken Griffey, Jr. Box Blasters Autographs

Randomly inserted into specially marked Box Blasters (at the rate of 1:64/Blasters) are autographed versions of the Ken Griffey, Jr. jumbo set.

The autographed version of the 1999 card is exclusive to this set.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 1999) AND (setname = 'Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Box Blasters Autographs'); </sql2wiki>

Ken Griffey, Jr. Santa Card

A card of Ken Griffey, Jr wearing a red velvet "Santa" hat was mailed out to Hobby dealers, collectors on UD's mailing list, and to Upper Deck employees. The card features a swatch of the Santa hat Griffey wore for the photo shoot.

A Piece of History

See Upper Deck A Piece of History 500 HR Club.

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