The 1989 baseball card season was one of change and upheaval in the baseball card industry. For the first time since the late 1950s, Topps did not have the exclusive license to produce major league baseball cards. A new player had entered the scene – Upper Deck.
Upper Deck was founded in 1988 by entrepreneurs Richard McWilliam and David Beckett. McWilliam and Beckett saw an opportunity to disrupt the baseball card industry that had been dominated by Topps for decades. They secured licensing deals with MLB and the MLB Players Association to produce official baseball cards starting in 1989.
This was a seismic shift. For over 30 years, Topps reigned supreme as the sole producer of licensed major league baseball cards. The exclusivity of Topps’ license was coming to an end. Upper Deck swooped in and convinced MLB they could produce higher quality cards that collectors were willing to pay a premium for.
The 1989 Upper Deck baseball card set was the company’s first foray into the baseball card world. It contained 792 cards and had a suggested retail price of $2.50 per pack with 12 cards inside. This was significantly higher than the average Topps pack which retailed for around $1. Collectors saw the value in Upper Deck’s superior production techniques and card design.
Upper Deck took card quality and production to an entirely new level. Their cards featured thinner stock that showed off photos more crisply. The coating was slick and the centering and cutting was near-perfect compared to Topps’ sometimes off-center cards. Perhaps most impressively, Upper Deck found a way to eliminate the “glare” that was prevalent in Topps cards due to the wax paper they were sealed inside of.
In addition to higher production values, Upper Deck cards also featured innovative new designs. Most notably, they included “Upper Deck Authentics” – on-card autographs from the players themselves. This was a true rarity in the late 1980s card industry and collectors went crazy trying to pull one. Other design elements like holograms, embossed logos, and intricate color schemes made Upper Deck cards truly works of art.
While Topps had the bigger name recognition and distribution channels as the incumbent, Upper Deck’s cards were an instant hit. The quality blew Topps out of the water and created new excitement among collectors. Within a few short years, Upper Deck had surpassed Topps as the best-selling brand in the industry thanks to their innovative approaches.
The 1989 Upper Deck set also featured some of the biggest rookie cards in the modern era. Ken Griffey Jr’s rookie card is considered one of the most iconic and valuable of all time. Also debuting that year were cards for Barry Larkin, Gregg Olson, Bobby Thigpen, and Jeff Bagwell. Collectors rushed to pull these potential future stars in their shiny new Upper Deck packaging.
Of course, the quality and newness of Upper Deck came at a cost. With a $2.50 price tag per pack when Topps was under $1, Upper Deck was a more premium product. This didn’t deter collectors, though – people were willing to pay more to get the best quality cards on the market. It set a new standard that Topps and future competitors had to match.
While Topps still outsold Upper Deck that first year thanks to their larger distribution, it was clear a changing of the guard was underway. Upper Deck had proven there was a market for a higher-end baseball card if it could deliver the goods. They succeeded in all areas – design, quality, and capturing the biggest rookie stars. It marked the official start of competition in the baseball card industry after decades of Topps’ exclusivity.
The 1989 Upper Deck set was truly revolutionary. It showed there was room for more than one major baseball card company. Collectors rewarded Upper Deck for the improvements with their willingness to pay the premium. The innovations in card design and quality they pioneered are still seen in today’s top trading card products. Most importantly, it paved the way for future competitors to also take market share from Topps. The first year of Upper Deck was the big bang that created our modern competitive baseball card industry.
