1989 Upper Deck

Description

The landmark 1989 Upper Deck Baseball is a 800-card set released in two series. The first series (also known as the "Low-Numbers") consists of the first 700 cards, and was released to The Hobby in April 1989. The High-Number Series, which has both the 700 Low-Number cards, plus an additional 100 cards, was released in October, along with 100-card High-Number Factory Sets and 800-card full sets.

The set was the first "super-premium" brand in the Hobby as it was the first set that:

• Featured white paper stock
• Featured full color on both the front and the back of the card
• Carried a hologram on the reverse to protect against counterfeiting
• Was packaged in foil wrappers.

Subsets include Rookie Stars (#1-#27), 1988 Award Winners (#658-#663), 1988 Postseason Highlights (#664-#667), and Team Checklists (#668-#693) which were painted by Vernon Wells, Jr., the father of future Major League outfielder Vernon Wells III.

1989 Upper Deck is notable, of course, for card #1: The Star Rookie of Ken Griffey, Jr. Other rookies included Gary Sheffield, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, (all, like Griffey, included in the "Star Rookie" subset) and Craig Biggio. Among the Hi-Series rookies are Tom Gordon, Steve Finley, Jim Abbott and Omar Vizquel.

Collectors should also note that many dealers consider that Upper Deck's "planned" production of 1,000,000 cards of each player was increased (perhaps even doubled) later in the year due to the explosion in popularity of the product.

The more significant variations involving changed photos or changed type are listed below. According to the company, the Dale Murphy RevNeg and Pat Sheridan "no position" cards were corrected very early, after only two percent of the cards had been produced. Similarly, the Gary Sheffield "upside-down SS" was corrected after 15 percent had been printed; Gary Varsho, Mike Gallego, and Bill Schroeder were corrected after 20 percent; and Brian Holton, Fred Manrique, and Herm Winningham were corrected 30 percent of the way through.

Cards with missing or duplicate holograms appear to be relatively common and are generally considered to be flawed copies that sell for substantial discounts.

Legacy of 1989 Upper Deck and the Ken Griffey, Jr. Star Rookie

In the 1989 Upper Deck Baseball set, Ken Griffey, Jr. was selected to be card #1. The decision to make Griffey, Jr. the first card in the set was reached in late 1988.

Upper Deck employee Tom Geideman, still a teenager at the time and who later went on to found football draft-pick card producer SA-GE, was the one who suggested the use of Griffey as card #1. Traditionally, Topps had a system for reserving various numbers in their sets (such as #1 and multiples of 100) for the biggest stars in the game. Geideman decided that a top prospect should be honored with the first card in the inaugural 1989 set. After reviewing Baseball America, Geideman narrowed the list of candidates to four: Gregg Jefferies, Gary Sheffield, Sandy Alomar, Jr., and Griffey. Since Geideman was a Mariners fan, Ken Griffey, Jr. was chosen.

At press time, Griffey had not yet played a major league game, so Upper Deck used an image of Griffey in a San Bernardino Spirit uniform and used computers to make him appear as though he was in a Seattle uniform.

Make no mistake, the '89 Upper Deck Griffey is one of the most significant baseball cards ever produced. It is the " '52 Mantle" of the post-vintage era. Unfortunately, unlike the '52 Mantle, it is not all that scarce. The card was situated in the top left hand corner of the uncut sheets and was more liable to be cut poorly or have its corners dinged. Company policy was that if a customer found a damaged card in its package, the company would replace it. Many Griffey cards were returned and the result was that Upper Deck printed many uncut sheets (sheets consisting of 100 cards) of just Ken Griffey, Jr.

According to Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr. is the most graded card of all time. Between PSA and Beckett Grading Services (BGS), over 100,000 copies have been slabbed.

Distribution

Both series were issued in 15-card, 36-pack boxes with a suggested retail price of $0.99/pack -- although market forced prices to the $2, $3, and even $4 mark, shortly after release. Each High-Series pack contained two cards from the 100-card High Series (cards 701-800) and the rest from the Low Series (1-700). A 2" diameter team-logo hologram sticker was included in each pack.

Two different factory sets were also issued. One with all 800 cards, and the other with just the 100 High-Number Series cards.

1989 Upper Deck, both packs and sets, were issued exclusive to Hobby outlets.

NOTES

• Wax boxes and sets were NOT sealed in shrink-wrap right out of the factory. Some distributors/dealers have shrink-wrapped boxes. After-market shrink-wrapped sets and cases are usually sold as "unsearched" and for a premium. That does not necessarily mean an after-market wrapped box wasn't picked through before wrapping. As usual, buyer beware.
• Factory sets were sealed using a clear round sticker on the box's flap. The practice of using shrink-wrap with logos of the issuing company did not begin until the early-1990s.
• Because you have a better chance of pulling a Griffey card from a Low Series pack, Low Series wax sells for a premium over High Series wax.

Checklist

Promos

See 1988 Upper Deck Promo

Blank-Back Promos

These blank-back cards were distributed at various card shows to promote Upper Deck. Fronts do not have the position filled in, and the backs are blank or marked as samples.

Base Set

Low Series

Star Rookies

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1988 Award Winners

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1988 Postseason Highlights

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Team Checklists

Each Team Checklist features original artwork from Vernon Wells, Jr., whose son Vernon III would play fourteen seasons in the Major Leagues.

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Checklists

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High Series

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Inserts

Holographic Team Logo Stickers

Just like with Fleer's Team Logo Stickers, Donruss's Puzzle Pieces, and Score's Trivia Cards, Upper Deck could not package its baseball cards with a stick of gum, nor could they sold just by themselves -- as Topps continued to have an exclusive license to sell baseball cards with confectionery products and as a standalone product. As a work-around, each pack of 1989 Upper Deck Baseball contained a 2" diameter holographic logo sticker. All 26 MLB teams were represented. Each factory set and High-Number Series factory set included ten stickers.

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