We’re returning to the Michael Jordan cans again! We’re adding a second card to the 1998-99 UD Choice Previews set. If you saw the video on the Mookie Blaylock from this set, you’ll know a lot of this. But in this video, I found the wrapper from the Jordan cans and we’ll check that out. Plus, we’ll get to play some trivia. 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 the regular UD Choice cards appeared, Upper Deck released a 55-card set of preview cards, and these cards retain the card numbers from the normal Series I UD Choice. So it’s important to know there’s only 55 of them or you’ll be looking for a long time for numbers that don’t exist! Take this Bryant Reeves card for example. It’s #148, but it’s actually card #52 toward the very end in this Preview set. The card before this Reeves is actually the #143 Karl Malone. You could purchase these in a variety of ways but the most interesting way in a Michael Jordan tin can. There were six of these cans and each contained a pack with six preview cards and one Michael Jordan NBA Finals Shots insert (which, as the name suggests, featured a memorable shot in the Finals). There were regular packs for sale for 79 cents, but for only $1.97, you had to go with the Jordan tin. There were six different tins and they had all of the information about the preview set in fine print. We might look closer at these later, but this is tin #5 of 6. All feature the date June 14, 1998 on the cap on top, one of his most memorable NBA Finals shots. His last, game-winning, shot as a Chicago Bull winning their sixth championship over the Utah Jazz, 87-86. So clearly 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. Lots of good info…did you know Bryant Reeves was 10th in the league in field goal percentage in ’97-98? Upper Deck was being cheap and they printed their hologram on the card. This isn’t just for these preview cards either. It’s printed on the regular UD Choice cards too. 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? Let’s play some trivia, remember this is a 1998-99 set… Who is the head coach of the Grizzlies? That was Brian Hill. When did Reeves makes his debut? That was 1995-96. We’ve looked at enough Kevin Garnett rookie cards on this channel to remember that one! And now the “Web Trivia” question that is not printed on the card. Who did Oklahoma beat in 1995 to enter into the Final Four? I had to look that one up. It was UMass. Marcus Camby was on that team.
Overall, with the Michael Jordan focus, I think Upper Deck successfully made collectors aware of the rebranding of Collectors Choice into UD Choice. Subscribe and collect with us for in depth looks at every basketball card, no matter how common!
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