Description

These two cards of California Angels stars Wally Joyner and DeWayne Buice were the very first cards ever issued by The Upper Deck Company. They were given away to Hobby dealers as samples during the summer of 1988, primarily at that year's National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, in anticipation of Upper Deck obtaining licenses from Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association. The design of the '88 promos is almost identical to what Upper Deck would use in their landmark 1989 Upper Deck set, with a few minor changes.

There are three variations of each card based on where the hologram on the reverse side is located. The most common variety, Type A, has a small rounded-oval shaped hologram on the bottom. On Type B, the hologram is of a similar shape, but extends to the bottom edge of the card. Only two of the hologram's four corners are rounded. Type C, by far the scarcest, has a hologram with four square corners at the top card. It is believed that only 25,000 copies of each player's card were printed.

Joyner and Buice were supposedly interested in investing in Upper Deck; however MLBPA by-laws prohibited players from investing in companies that have PA licenses. Buice, whose chance encounter with Upper Deck's founders while searching for a Chinese restaurant in November 1987, would continue to use his contacts to assist in UD's acquisition of an MLBPA license. After his playing career ended in midway through the 1989, Buice would later be rewarded with a 12% stake in UD, which he later sold back to the company for $17 million. [1]

Checklist

A1 DeWayne Buice
A700 Wally Joyner
B1 DeWayne Buice
B700 Wally Joyner
C1 DeWayne Buice
C700 Wally Joyner