In the earlier 1990s, every card company wanted to appear as modern as possible. Foil, sparkles, glossy finish, cool and unique packaging. There was always something new.
In the late 1990s, several card companies decided to come full-circle and make retro baseball card sets. Later on, it got annoying, but that was after Topps was the only licensed card manufacturer. The bloat of retro was all on Topps.
What was retro about Upper Deck Retro?
The card stock was kind of retro. The cards were also sold in a lunch box. The cards also said "Retro" at the top next to the Upper Deck logo. In conclusion, the cards were not really all that retro.
Here is the Ray Lankford Upper Deck Retro card.
Pretty standard picture of Lankford batting. Is this another card of Ray with a picture that was taken in Shea Stadium? I am leaning towards yes. I would also like to take a minute to say something bad about a Cardinals road uniform. In 1998, the Cardinals took their uniform numbers off the front of their jerseys. They did not look good. The look was abandoned fairly quickly. I was happy.
Back of the card.
The back is fine.
You got a stat line, a name bar, a black and white Cardinals logo, and the little cartoon guy on the side of the card. The cartoon guy's name is "Student"? That's not very original. Not Upper Deck's best effort, but their later attempts at retro sets were a lot better.
I liked the late 90's UD Retro lunch pail products. Simple designs. And fantastic on-card autographs inserts.
ReplyDeleteThe autographs were awesome in this product. Those were the best part of the UD Retro.
DeleteI like how a lunchbox was supposed to be synonymous with "retro".
ReplyDeleteI have been teaching 23 years. I bring my lunch everyday. I put it in a brown paper bag. It's far more retro than a lunch box. I even fold the top down and write my name on the side in black marker.
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