Introduction
Score was a brand of hobby sports cards produced by Score Board, Inc. from 1989 through 1991. While they had licenses for multiple sports, Score is best remembered for their baseball card issues during this brief period. But what made Score baseball cards notable and how were they different from the dominant brands of the time? This article will provide an in-depth examination of Score ’91 baseball cards, exploring their design, content, significance and what collectors think of them today.
Design and Production
Score cards had an unusual and uncluttered design compared to competitors Topps and Donruss. The photos took up more space with less text cluttering the borders. Cardstock was thicker than other brands, giving them a premium feel in the hand. Rather than wax wrappers, packs of Score cards came sealed in plastic. This protected the condition but made the cards a bit harder to open without damaging compared to wax.
All base cards in the ’91 set featured blue borders and a color team logo in the upper-left corner. The bright, vibrant photos allowed more of the players’ faces and uniforms to pop compared to murkier images used by competitors sometimes. Rather than a team name in large letters above the photo like other brands, Score integrated the team name more subtly into the logo design.
Checklists, Future Stars and Studio cards introduced variations in the base design. Refractors, which other brands were just starting to experiment with, were featured more prominently in Score ’91 than any prior year to date. Overall design was clean, focused on the photos and more consistent across parallel sets than competitors. This gave Score cards a cohesive look that some collectors appreciated.
Sets and Parallels
The main Score ’91 baseball set contained 792 cards and had the standard mix of teams, stars and rookies. Several insert sets provided alternate versions that other brands didn’t.
Gallery of Stars (96 cards) highlighted superstar players against colorful artistic backgrounds in an attractive design element unique to Score.
Canvas Cards (64 cards) featured scratchboard style artwork on some of the game’s iconic players that was popular with collectors.
Action Portraits (64 cards) put the players in dramatic action poses not seen elsewhere.
Refractors, found one per pack or so, were a rainbow of parallels including black, gold, silver, orange and more precious metal styles adding chase and complexity. Limited print runs of 1/1 superfractors existed that would be worth fortunes to collectors today.
Perhaps most significantly, Score introduced Extended Series 1 & 2 (ES1 and ES2) – essentially brand new full sets that started where the original left off. This was revolutionary at the time as competitors only did one set per year. ES1 had 264 cards, ES2 another 200 – giving Score far more total cards issued than any other brand in 1991.
Significance and Legacy
For many, Score introduced new levels of parallel collecting that became standard in the hobby later on. Refractors were not just colorful variations anymore but came in ultra-rare precious metal super-hit versions.
The extend sets were also a trailblazing concept, making Score effectively have three distinct main sets in a single year. This delivered much more bang for the buck and kept the hunt going longer than just one set from a competitor.
Unfortunately, Score Board went bankrupt after 1991 and wasn’t able to capitalize on these innovative set designs and revolutionary ideas like parallel refractor variants or multi-set years. Their short run meant smaller print runs today compared to the juggernaut brands still around.
But Score left an impact through introducing notions like refractor parallels, rare precious metal versions, and the first extended additional sets that competitors quickly copied. Their clean design aesthetic also influenced card design going forward. Score didn’t last long, but 1991 set the bar high for innovation in the industry before their demise.
Desirability and Prices Today
While Score cards were plentiful in the early 90s, their rapid disappearance from the market and that small 1991 production window has made them more desirable to today’s collectors. In especially high grades, Score ’91 cards can now eclipse the same parallels and players from series behemoths Topps, Donruss and Fleer.
A PSA 10 Griffey Jr. base card from Score ’91 recently sold for over $2,000 on eBay while a PSA 10 1991 Topps Griffey went for about $750. Superfractors have sold at auction for hundreds of thousands. But most Score cards inplayed condition can still often be obtained for $5-50 even for stars depending on grade and parallel.
Those pristine Score cards demand solid prices today because they are more rare than issues from larger, longer-running series. Those nostalgic clean designs also resonate well. Serious vintage collectors enjoy seeking out Score ’91 singles, sets and variations now considered more premium than competitors from the same era for these reasons.
Conclusion
Score seemed poised to revolutionize the baseball card market in 1991 with new ideas and advanced options, only to fall short due to bankruptcy. But their impact can still be felt through concepts they introduced becoming standard in the industry. The strong, cohesive Score ’91 design stands out from the era nicely. Today this Short-lived brand is held in higher regard and collectors esteem those scarcer parallels and sets more than in the past. Score may have had brief run, but ’91 set a mark on the hobby through forward-thinking innovations still appreciated today. Overall it was an influential, if fleeting, time for hobby innovation from Score.
