The 1991 Collector’s Choice release by Upper Deck was unique as it departed from the typical format of a base card set released during a particular season. Rather than focusing on players from the 1990 MLB season, Collector’s Choice highlighted some of the biggest stars throughout baseball history up until that point. The set included 180 cards and featured a mix of iconic players from the past as well as some current stars at the time.
Collector’s Choice cards are highly sought after by hobbyists due to the star power and nostalgia associated with the players featured. Upper Deck was still a relatively new entity in the sports card industry in 1991 but was already establishing a reputation for innovative designs and high production quality compared to competitors like Fleer and Donruss. They realized there was demand among collectors for retrospective-style releases that showed appreciation for the history and legends of the game.
Some of the most notable and valuable cards in the 1991 Collector’s Choice set included a Joe DiMaggio, a Babe Ruth, a Mickey Mantle, and a Ted Williams. Having autographed or game-used memorabilia cards of these players is especially desirable since the legends themselves were no longer living at the time of release. The Honus Wagner T-206 tobacco card from 1910 is famously the most valuable trading card ever sold, going for over $3 million. So vintage players with the pedigree of DiMaggio, Ruth, Mantle and Williams will remain hugely collectible for their historical and cultural significance to baseball.
In addition to staple Hall of Famers from the early 20th century, Collector’s Choice recognized more recent greats who were helping define a new era in the sport during the late 80s-early 90s. Stars like Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, and Cal Ripken Jr. each received showcase cards honoring their impact on MLB at that point. Collectors appreciated seeing contemporary stars placed alongside the legends of the past in the same premium release. It added modern relevance to a set that mostly profiled retired players no longer active in 1991.
Upper Deck’s attention to production detail and photography helped make Collector’s Choice cards so visually stunning and long-lasting as collector’s items. While earlier card issues from the 1950s-70s had more basic designs, Collector’s Choice felt like a true work of art in each subject’s depiction. Using care and expertise, Upper Deck found high-quality action photos and portraits from throughout a player’s career to craft elegant and historically authentic representations. Texture, colors and innovative borders/logos were also applied to the cardboard stock to further elevate each card above a simple snapshot.
In terms of rarity, the 1991 Collector’s Choice set included several parallel and short-printed subsets with even lower print runs that drive up demand. The Sterling subset featured silhouette variants of 25 selected stars. Meanwhile, the Diamond Kings parallel spotlighted 10 elite players oncards with diamond-encrusted gold borders. These rare subsets number in the hundreds or thousands compared to the standard issue quantities in the hundreds of thousands. Lower print runs signify increased scarcity that collectors will pay a premium to obtain.
When 1991 Collector’s Choice first arrived, the standard 180-card base set retailed for about $75-100 in plastic-wrapped factory sets. Today, an intact example in mint condition could be worth over $500-1000 given its lasting appeal and Upper Deck’s prominence in the early-1990s collectibles boom. Of course, the value of individual vintage star rookies or short-printed variants continues rising well past those set price levels. As time goes on, collectors recognize Collector’s Choice not just as an incredible historical reference work paying respects to baseball’s legends, but also as a pioneering example of premium sports card production and design. Now over 30 years later, few other releases have captured both the nostalgia and production qualities of the 1991 Collector’s Choice set under the influential Upper Deck brand.
