Upper Deck Sheets – Post War Cards

Welcome to part four of my series about Upper Deck commemorative sheets. As with the baseball, hockey, and basketball ones, Upper Deck used the football sheets to celebrate specific events and sets as promotions for the brand. However, like the basketball ones, there isn’t a lot of documentation about the football ones out there either, so I’ll be categorizing them the same way, by the year printed on gold seal (or gold football) or for later years, the date printed between the words “Limited Edition” and the serial number.

1991 Upper Deck Football Sheet

The first Upper Deck football limited edition collector series sheet I ran across in my research was this one saluting the New York Giants defeating the Buffalo Bills 20-19 in Super Bowl XXV.

The pictured cards are all New York Giants from the 1991 Upper Deck football set. However, the date on the sheet is October 27, 1991. That was a week nine game played between the Redskins and Giants that the Redskins won 17-13. So I presume this sheet was given away at that game, given the title of the sheet, “Redskins vs. Giants,” and the date. Upper Deck was honoring the Giants’ performance from the Super Bowl the year before; Super Bowl XXV was played on January 27, 1991.

1992 Upper Deck Football Sheets

Most of the Upper Deck football sheets I discovered were from 1992, and we can sort them into two categories: those released in partnership with Sports Collector’s Digest and the NFL playoff sheets.

TCDB explains that “Upper Deck produced eight different football sheets for insertion into the September 18, 1992 issue of Sports Collector’s Digest. 8,000 of each sheet were produced, and one was inserted into each SCD issue. Each measure 11’’ by 8 1/2’’.” Unlike most of Upper Deck’s other limited edition sheets, the backs of these aren’t blank; text was repeated across the back. Here are all eight variations.

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 1

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 2

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 3

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 4

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 5

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 6

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 7

1992 Upper Deck Football SCD Sheet – Version 8

Upper Deck gave away the AFC and NFC championship sheets at the Super Bowl Card Show III and the NFL Experience in Minneapolis. While the Super Bowl XXVI sheet was given away at various locations in the Minneapolis area during the week of the Super Bowl, it’s just weird to imply the Bills at Super Bowl XXVI champs since the Redskins ended up defeating them 37-24 on January 26, 1992.

1992 Upper Deck Football Super Bowl XXVI Sheet – Redskins

1992 Upper Deck Football Super Bowl XXVI Sheet – Bills

You can see that the NFC playoff sheet salutes the Redskins for defeating the Lions 41-10 on January 12, 1992, and the AFC sheet sales the Bills for shutting down the Broncos in a 10-7 game to earn a trip to the Super Bowl.

1992 Upper Deck Football NFC Champion Sheet – Lions vs. Redskins

1992 Upper Deck Football AFC Champion Sheet – Broncos vs. Bills

All four playoff sheets have 1992 dates on the gold football seal and feature 1991 Upper Deck football cards. Here’s the Comic Bowl sheet.

1994 and 1995 Upper Deck Football Sheets

The 2006 Standard Catalog of Football Cards says four sheets were issued at the Super Bowl Card Show VI in 1995, and it included the Rookie Class 1994 sheet, the Jan. 26-29, 1995 sheet, a sheet saluting the St. Louis Rams, and another saluting Dan Marino. However, the sheets I found don’t seem to align perfectly with that checklist, and the “Limited Edition” dates are slightly different.

This first sheet appears to be associated with Upper Deck’s Collector’s Choice brand and features Marshall Faulk. I’ll note that a 1994/95 Collector’s Choice Crash Super Bowl XXIX set was available at the NFL Experience card show in Miami, so it’s possible this sheet was available there.

1994 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice Football Rookie Class of 1994 Sheet

This next sheet, the Rookie Class of 1994, also has a 1994 date and advertises the Upper Deck football set due to launch in August 1994. That seems like a weird item to be shared at the Super Bowl Card Show in 1995.

1994 Upper Deck Football Rookie Class of 1994 Sheet

I also ran across a pair of Joe Montana sheets with 1994 dates on them; one celebrating his three Super Bowl championships, and the other a few of his biggest comebacks.

1994 Upper Deck Football Joe Montana Super Bowl Sheet

1994 Upper Deck Football Montana’s Magic Sheet

The next sheet was definitely for the Super Bowl since it has Super Bowl Card Show VI printed along one side and Super Bowl XXIX on the other.

1995 Upper Deck Football Super Bowl Card Show VI Autograph Sheet

If The Standard Catalog was correct, here’s the Rams sheet they described, with a 1995 seal and copyright.

1995 Upper Deck Football Salutes the Saint Louis Rams Sheet

And here’s the 1995 sheet celebrating Dan Marino’s records.

1995 Upper Deck Football Salutes Dan Marino Sheet

And finally, a 1995 sheet celebrating Joe Montana.

1995 Upper Deck Football Salutes Joe Montana Sheet

FYI, The 49ers, behind QB Steve Young, defeated the Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX on January 29, 1995. Also, during this time, Upper Deck had a lot of inserts and unique sets devoted to both Marino and Montana.

Conclusion and Further Reading

I imagine there are more football sheets out there, so if you run across any, please leave a comment or email me. Anyway, that wraps up my four-part series about Upper Deck commemorative sheets. If you haven’t checked them out, here are the previous three articles about the Upper Deck Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball sheets; I hope you enjoyed the nostalgia!

With their 1989 baseball set, Upper Deck brought the hobby its first premium product. They backed that up with another innovation in 1990 with the first major chase card. But Upper Deck also innovated in how they marketed their products. All the major brands put ads in hobby publications and sports magazines along with providing sell sheets and pamphlets directly to dealers, but Upper Deck decided to target collectors directly in another way by distributing promotional/commemorative sheets.

This article kicks off a four-part series dedicated to these Upper Deck sheets, starting with those for baseball sets (later, I’ll cover hockey, basketball, and football sheets). There are two categories when it comes to baseball. In 1989 and 1990, Upper Deck provided Limited Edition Commemorative Sheets at card shows, announcing their entrance to the hobby, while from 1991-1994, they had commemorative sheets and Heroes of Baseball sheets that they distributed at sporting events. They’re all ~8 1/2″ x 11″ and blank-backed.

1989 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheets

In 1989, Upper Deck distributed a pair of Limited Edition Commemorative Sheets at two events to promote their first set. The first was at the 10th National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, held from June 29 – July 2. The sheets are numbered out of 25k.

1989 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet – 10th NSCC

Upper Deck gave out the other sheet at the National Candy Wholesalers Association Exposition in Washington, D.C., between July 27 and 29. This sheet is scarcer and costlier (probably because it includes the Ken Griffey Jr. card photo) than the NSCC one.

1989 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet – Candy Wholesalers

1990 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheets

Upper Deck promoted its sequel to the classic ’89 baseball set in 1990 in the same manner by distributing Limited Edition Commemorative Sheets.

One version was available at the Chicago Sun-Time Baseball Show, December 16-17, 1989, in Chicago, Illinois.

1990 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet – Sun-Times Show

There are four variations saluting Street & Smith’s 50th Anniversary from the spring of 1990.

1990 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet – Street & Smith’s

In July, another sheet was available at the 11th National Sports Collectors Convention in Arlington, TX.

1990 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet – 11th NSCC

And a final version, and the toughest to track down, was available at the 1990 All-American Sports Collectors Convention, August 31-September 3, in San Francisco, CA.

1990 Upper Deck Limited Edition Commemorative Sheet – All-American Sports Collectors Convention

1991 Upper Deck Commemorative Sheet

Around this time, The Upper Deck Company replaced Equitable Financial Companies as the sponsor of Baseball’s Old-Timer Series – which was renamed the Heroes of Baseball Series.

The following article from The Journal Times in Racine, Wisconsin, from February 1991, explains that the 1991 24-game exhibition series benefits the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT) and that Upper Deck would donate $10k to BAT for each of the Heroes of Baseball games that were set to begin on April 14.

So the next Upper Deck sheet is this single version dedicated to BAT, the Foundation of Baseball, and is numbered to 1500. Notice that it’s dated to 1991 on the seal.

1991 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheets

TCDB lists 23 total sheets in the 1991 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet series, including two cover sheet versions with the schedule. One is numbered to 10k, the other to 20k, and both feature the same Reggie Jackson Heroes of Baseball card. The seal has a 1991 date, but the Upper Deck logo says 90/91.

1991 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – Cover Sheet Version 1

The rest of the items were distributed at various events throughout the year. Interestingly, and perhaps it was based on expected attendance, the sheets are numbered to different totals. Here are a few examples.

1991 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – Battle of Missouri

1991 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – 1971 Pirates vs. Orioles

1991 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – A Tribute to Joe DiMaggio & Ted Williams

1992 Upper Deck Commemorative Sheets

TCDB describes this series of five 1992 commemorative sheets as those distributed at Upper Deck-sponsored events but doesn’t include the Heroes of Baseball series, which they listed separately. The five events were the Yankees Second Annual Fan Festival (Jan/Feb 1992), Opening Day at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (April 6, 1992), two versions were available at the All-Star FanFest in July 1992, and the last version honored the Atlanta Braves 1991-1992 Back-to-Back National League Champions.

1992 Upper Deck Commemorative Sheet – Yankees Fan Fest

1992 Upper Deck Commemorative Sheet – Opening Da at Camden Yards

1992 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Commemorative Sheets

The following article from the Tampa Bay Times, from February 1992, explains that in 1992, the Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball “tour” would be visiting all 26 stadiums plus Mile High Stadium (the original home of the Rockies who would join MLB the following season). Again, Upper Deck Co. donated $10k to BAT for each game.

TCDB lists 31 items in their checklist for this series of sheets. Here are a few examples, and again, serial numbering varied.

1992 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Commemorative Sheet – Collectors Shows

1992 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Commemorative Sheet – Royals HoF

1992 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Commemorative Sheet – Minnesota Twins WS Heroes

1992 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Commemorative Sheet – The 200 Club

1993 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheets

Again, Upper Deck gave these sheets away during the Heroes of Baseball Tour. The checklist on TCDB includes 27 blank-backed sheets that again have varied serial numbering.

1993 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – Inaugural Season

1993 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – May 15, 1993

1993 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – A Tribute to Billy Martin

1994 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheets

The following article from the Journal News in White Plains, NY (March 1994) explains that Upper Deck was now donating $225k for every Heroes of Baseball game played to BAT and that in 1993, they donated $300k.

TCDB’s checklist includes just eight sheets in 1994 that the article explains Upper Deck gave away to every fan attending the various games.

1994 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – All-Time HR Kings

1994 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – Brewers Silver Anniversary Season

1994 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Sheet – Hollywood Softball Game

I’m unsure what happened to the Hereos of Baseball series; Wikipedia implies the final game was played in June 1995 at Dodgers Stadium. And while the following ad from the LA Times from Tuesday, June 6, 1995, still includes Upper Deck’s sponsorship, the advertisement shares regular Dodgers games and the Saturday game against the Phillies at 7:35 (that they lost 3-0). I’m unsure if there was a Heroes game before the first pitch or if it was just a sponsored night where stars of the past appeared. Commemorative sheets aren’t mentioned in the ad for the Saturday game, and I haven’t found any from years after 1994.

Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball Night Ad – LA Times

Conclusion

You can find most of these Upper Deck baseball commemorative sheets for just a few dollars, but they hold a lot of historical value to the hobby and baseball. So whether you’re an Upper Deck card collector or just looking to make a display piece, these sheets would be an excellent way to spice up a collection or hobby cave. Ultimately, they’re a fantastic journey through Upper Deck’s contribution to the sports card industry. Don’t forget to revisit the blog over the next few days since I’ll be covering Upper Deck’s hockey, basketball, and football commemorative sheets, too.

The Upper Deck Commemorative Sheets Series: Part 4 – Football