Placing It In Context: The 98-99 Upper Deck Game Jerseys set is a landmark 49-card insert set (although it’s numbered to 50 because #GJ38 simply doesn’t exist). As the name obviously implies, there’s a piece of jersey embedded in the card. Best to think of this set’s structure in five groups of ten to understand rarity. Card numbers 1-10, 21-30, and 41-50 were inserted 1:2,500 retail and hobby packs. Cards 11-20 and 31-40 were inserted 1:288 hobby packs.
The Card: The most desirable of the 1998-99 Upper Deck Game Jerseys are the 23 hand-numbered and autographed Michael Jordan cards. These should be thought of separately because of their exclusivity. After these, and the regular GJ#20 Jordan…the #GJ43 Vince Carter is up there as one of the most important of the set. 1998-99 is his rookie year as one can see from the “Rookie Jersey” title on the front of the card. These rookies do not say “Game Worn” on the front like the other cards in the set do. You have to turn the card over for clarification. You can see from the back of the Vince Carter card, it says that the jersey was worn during a “1998/99 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot.” A more accurate title of the set would be “Game Jerseys/Rookie Jerseys.” The card was once valued at $1800 in the 2001 Standard Catalog of Sports Cards and the value has certainly not declined. Values fluctuate depending on grade and number of colors featured on the jersey, but expect to pay for this one. Finally, beware of patch swapping. You can find a lot of heated debate online about this practice.
In Short: This is an amazing Vince Carter rookie card that just keeps increasing in value. There was a time when these were affordable, now a quick eBay search shows them consistently above a grand. But keep in mind, this isn’t really a game jersey. Collectors, even Beckett here, refer to the set as “Game Jerseys” but the rookies didn’t play yet. Upper Deck carefully labeled these as “Rookie Jersey” cards instead of “Game Jersey” and they say on the back that the jersey was worn during a photo shoot. Also, this 49-card set is numbered to 50 because Upper Deck completely forgot to make card #38. It just doesn’t exist! Here at Cataloged Clutter, we usually study overlooked, common cards. But every once in a while, we delve into something like this! Subscribe and collect with us!
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