A young collector in the ’90’s remembers the fun of Upper Deck’s Collector’s Choice basketball cards. Very inexpensive, geared toward youth…we could buy and collect plenty of cards with just enough inserts and parallel sets for excitement. But in 1998-99, Collector’s Choice was rebranded to UD Choice. How would you make sure collector’s know about the change? Well, a preview set revolving around Michael Jordan doesn’t hurt!
Before these UD Choice cards appeared, Upper Deck released a 55-card set of preview cards. These cards are numbered like the normal Series I UD Choice, so it’s important to know there’s only 55, or you’ll be looking a while for numbers that don’t exist! Take the Mookie Blaylock card for example. It’s #3, but it’s the second card that appears in the Preview set. The card after this Blaylock is actually the #7 Ron Mercer.
You could purchase these in a variety of ways but most interesting were the Michael Jordan tin cans. There were six of these cans containing a pack of six preview cards plus one Michael Jordan NBA Finals Shots insert (like the name suggests, these featured a memorable shot in the Finals). Regular packs costs 79 cents, but for only $1.97, why not get the Jordan tin? There were six different tins and they explained the preview set in fine print. All tins feature the date June 14, 1998 on the lid, one of his most memorable NBA Finals shots. His last, game-winning, shot as a Chicago Bull for their sixth championship over the Utah Jazz, 87-86. A great way to market these UD Choice Preview cards!
The only difference between the preview cards and the regular ones in the word “PREVIEW” in gold foil on the front of the card. These cards have conventional backs, small photo, full stats and other info. Upper Deck was being cheap and they printed their hologram on the card. But there’s a fun feature above the stats, some trivia questions. Two have answers printed on the card and one is a “Web Trivia” question? This isn’t just for these preview cards either. It’s printed on the regular UD Choice cards too.
Individual Cards:
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