Sunday, October 18, 2015

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice

In 1994, Upper Deck introduced a new baseball card, Collector's Choice.  For five years, through 1998, Upper Deck produced the Collector's Choice card.  In the early 90s, card companies began to issue premium baseball cards.  Donruss was the first card company to introduced a premium card with Leaf in 1990.  Fleer followed up with Ultra in 1991 and then Flair in 1993. In 1992, Topps switched its Bowman card to a premium product and introduced Finest in 1993.  Upper Deck issued its first SP set in 1993.  By the mid 90s, sports card collecting was forever changed and was never again the same. 

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Mike Piazza Rookie of Year Card #310 
 
The 1994 Collector's Choice set has 670 cards and was issued in two series.  The first series has 320 cards and the second series has 350 cards. A pack of Collector's Choice had 12 cards and cost 99 cents.  Each pack had a Silver Signature card (card with a silver facsimile of the player's signature) and each box had Gold Signature card (card with a gold border and a gold facsimile of the player's signature).   Sets of Collector's Choice included five Gold Signature cards.

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature John Kruk Card #168

When Collector's Choice was first issued, it really wasn't a premium product.  I feel it was more like the current day Topps Opening Day card.   Collector's Choice was a nice card available at a more affordable price. 

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Shawn Green Card #9

Currently, blogger buckstorecards is writing 1994 Collector's Choice - Card by Card.  The blog is providing a written description about each player card in the set.
 
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Cecil Fielder Card #100

Since Collector's Choice was introduced, I have found boxes of both the first and second series for sale at card shows.  If I find a box of the cards for less than $20, I will usually purchase it.  Today, you can find first series boxes on ebay in the $20 to $25 range.  The second series box is a little harder to find and when I checked ebay today there were no second series boxes being offered.

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Edgar Martinez Card #480
 
Back in 1994, I worked on completing a Collector's Choice set.  Upon finishing the set, I began working on a Silver Signature set.  I've continued to collect the Silver Signature cards and now have the set about 95% complete.  Are there are any other baseball card collectors out there who are trying to complete the 1994 Collector's Choice set?

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Matt Williams Card #299

I've included a list of the Silver Signatures duplicates on my blog page.  I also have many duplicates of the Collector's Choice regular issued cards.  I have not included a list of these cards, but if you are working on the set please check with me and I will see if I have the cards you need.  If you want any of these cards, let me know and we can make a trade.  I have also listed the Silver Signature cards I need.  If you have any of these cards and can help me complete my set, I would like to possibly make some kind of arrangements and get those cards from you.  Please let me know. 

2 comments:

  1. I like this set! I collected it as a kid and found the factory set at a card show a year or so ago.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is one of my all-time favorite sets from my childhood!! I'll check to see if I have any silver signatures that you need.

    ReplyDelete