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The Official 1991 Upper Deck Hologram Variations Thread

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Jan 14, 2009
595
5
Last night, unable to fall asleep at a normal time, I decided to pour over all 80 pages of 1991 Upper Deck baseball on COMC in search of hologram variations (mainly looking at stars, rcs and semistars), some players had over 300 copies for sale (Edgar Martinez??) on the site, so flipping over each page became quite a task.

Some very unscientific data I've compiled from this experiment:

Found just 16 hologram variations out of 80 pages of stuff (950 total items), ignoring most "commons" but checking out players like Sabo, Greenwell and Gant.

2 of the 16 were different Chipper RCs, which I purchased immediately!

2 of the 16 were two different Deion Sanders cards, which I purchased not-so-immediately.

1 of the 16 was Randy Johnson: purchased.

1 of the 16 was the Bagwell/Rookie Threats card: purchased.

1 of the 16 was Curt Schilling: purchased.

This info comes as little surprise to me, really, as I've have bought several 3200 and 5000 count boxes that haven't yielded any of the hologram variations! Similar with wax boxes, I've only found 1 low series and 1 high series box that contained a sequence of hologram variations. Factory sets have been a good source, usually you'll find an 100ct brick in sequence (400-499 for example) with an odd hologram type.

Here is the initial blog entry from a couple years ago detailing the differences:

http://junkwaxgems.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/1991-upper-deck-baseball-hologram-variations-and-more/

Here is the follow-up blog, noting a 5th hologram type:

http://junkwaxgems.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... types-now/

Since there are so many player collectors on this board who have guys in this set, I thought it would interesting to compile a running list of confirmed subjects and which hologram types affect them.

If you have any of these variations, I encourage you to post what you own, a scan is useful but not necessary. And please post any solid info you have such as where they were pulled (high or low wax, factory, etc). I will continue to update the list below as new info is posted.

Here is a running list of hologram types confirmed:

11 Bernie Williams '90
55 Chipper Jones '90
55 Chipper Jones 'NHL
65 Mike Mussina '90
83 Cecil Fielder/Fielder's Feat '90
97 Phillies TC 'NHL
125 Carlos Baerga 'NHL
134 Mark Grace '90
135 Chris Sabo '90
154 Barry Bonds '90
154 Barry Bonds 'NHL
165 Mike Greenwell 'NHL
174 Mark McGwire '90
174 mark McGwire '92
174 Mark McGwire 'NHL
178 Robby Thompson 'NHL
246 Frank Thomas '90
324 Paul Molitor 'NHL
336 Jack Morris 'NHL
344 Robin Yount '90
345 Nolan Ryan '90
345 Nolan Ryan 'COMIC
347 Cal Ripken Jr. 'NHL
359 Oil Can Boyd '90
359 Oil Can Boyd 'NHL
372 Robert Kelly 'NHL
375 Kevin Maas 'NHL
376 Randy Johnson 'NHL
435 Bret Saberhagen '92
454 Andre Dawson '90
455 Ruben Sierra '92
473 Rick Sutcliffe '92
480 Tom Glavine '92
482 Rex Hudler '92
528 Curt Schilling '90
549 Dwight Evans '90
553 Tino martinez '90
585 John Cerutti 'NHL
610 Jamie Moyer '90
617 1917 Revistied '90
634 Kirk Gibson '90
635 Rob Dibble '90
636 Rickey Henderson/Lou Brock '90
643 Carlton Fisk '90
646 Juan Gonzalez '90
647 Ken Hill '90
655 Roger Clemens '90
656 McGwire/Bashing '90
677 Ventura/Fisk/Ground Breaking '90
702 Bagwell/Rookie Threats '90
721 Willie McGee '90
721 Willie McGee '92
725 Ryne Sandberg/Andre Dawon '90
733 Dave Parker '92
736 Jack Morris '90
736 Jack Morris '92
737 Kirk Gibson '92
742 George Bell '92
743 Deion Sanders '92
744 Bo Jackson '92
755 Jeff Bagwell '90
758 Gary Carter '92
763 Roberto Alomar '92
764 Albert Belle '90
764 Albert Belle '92
765 Joe Carter '92
773 Tim Raines '92
778 Dave Righetti '92
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
ThoseBackPages said:
whew! So Brett doesnt have any variants in this set?

It's a running list, not a complete list. It's very likely that every player (at least in low series) can be found in at least three and as many as five different hologram types on back. I'd say I'm about 90% sure that Brett has a few of these hologram variations.
 

ThoseBackPages

New member
Aug 7, 2008
32,986
8
New York
jacksoncoupage said:
ThoseBackPages said:
whew! So Brett doesnt have any variants in this set?

It's a running list, not a complete list. It's very likely that every player (at least in low series) can be found in at least three and as many as five different hologram types on back. I'd say I'm about 90% sure that Brett has a few of these hologram variations.


DAMN YOU MISTER!!!!

lol j/k

i appreciate your hard work and will have to track down those Brett's.
its too bad that PSA wont note it on the flip
 

DeliciousBacon

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2011
3,444
94
Warwick, RI
This is terrifying. I read about these on your blog, but I never considered bothering with these variations. On the other hand, I do have a 1991 UD Hi # box on my bookcase, cracked but not sorted...guess I could start looking through and fry my last few remaining brain cells? :lol:
 

bouwob

Active member
Administrator
Aug 7, 2008
4,612
0
here are the ryan #345 variations that I have. I assume that none of these are the comic ball ones, so if you pick up another I would love to have it. I would also love to get hockey and 92 UD holograms if your run across them.

Out of the cards I have, here is the scarcity report out of the 218 of these cards that I own.

the 90 hologram is the toughest (I have 2)
baseball hologram is the 2nd (I have about 20)
I didnt pay close enough attention to the 91's to order them.

I have not turned the word upperdeck word upside down every other one do to lazyness. but you get the idea.

[attachment=0:24arynd3]udhOLOS.gif[/attachment:24arynd3]
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
bouwob said:
here are the ryan #345 variations that I have. I assume that none of these are the comic ball ones, so if you pick up another I would love to have it. I would also love to get hockey and 92 UD holograms if your run across them.

Out of the cards I have, here is the scarcity report out of the 218 of these cards that I own.

the 90 hologram is the toughest (I have 2)
baseball hologram is the 2nd (I have about 20)
I didnt pay close enough attention to the 91's to order them.

I have not turned the word upperdeck word upside down every other one do to lazyness. but you get the idea.

[attachment=0:2ucbodji]udhOLOS.gif[/attachment:2ucbodji]

EDIT: I don't think either are the 90-91 NHL type. We need Onionring in here with his McGwire example scans.
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
DeliciousBacon said:
This is terrifying. I read about these on your blog, but I never considered bothering with these variations. On the other hand, I do have a 1991 UD Hi # box on my bookcase, cracked but not sorted...guess I could start looking through and fry my last few remaining brain cells? :lol:

In person, they really stand out and aren't too difficult to find among the regular '91 types.

bouwob said:
here are the ryan #345 variations that I have. I assume that none of these are the comic ball ones, so if you pick up another I would love to have it. I would also love to get hockey and 92 UD holograms if your run across them.

Out of the cards I have, here is the scarcity report out of the 218 of these cards that I own.

the 90 hologram is the toughest (I have 2)
baseball hologram is the 2nd (I have about 20)
I didnt pay close enough attention to the 91's to order them.

I have not turned the word upperdeck word upside down every other one do to lazyness. but you get the idea.

[attachment=0:4xstzaar]udhOLOS.gif[/attachment:4xstzaar]

From the looks of it, you may have the comic ball type - it has "90" and a pattern of what appears to be trophies in the background. I would wager that this is what you have.

The one you refer to as the baseball hologram is the 1990 UD baseball hologram type (compare to any 1990 UD MLB card).

There isn't a need to differentiate between the 91 types, slight variations in positioning don't change them all being from the same holographic sheeting.
 

bouwob

Active member
Administrator
Aug 7, 2008
4,612
0
jacksoncoupage said:
DeliciousBacon said:
This is terrifying. I read about these on your blog, but I never considered bothering with these variations. On the other hand, I do have a 1991 UD Hi # box on my bookcase, cracked but not sorted...guess I could start looking through and fry my last few remaining brain cells? :lol:

In person, they really stand out and aren't too difficult to find among the regular '91 types.

bouwob said:
here are the ryan #345 variations that I have. I assume that none of these are the comic ball ones, so if you pick up another I would love to have it. I would also love to get hockey and 92 UD holograms if your run across them.

Out of the cards I have, here is the scarcity report out of the 218 of these cards that I own.

the 90 hologram is the toughest (I have 2)
baseball hologram is the 2nd (I have about 20)
I didnt pay close enough attention to the 91's to order them.

I have not turned the word upperdeck word upside down every other one do to lazyness. but you get the idea.

[attachment=0:aso810rz]udhOLOS.gif[/attachment:aso810rz]

From the looks of it, you may have the comic ball type - it has "90" and a pattern of what appears to be trophies in the background. I would wager that this is what you have.

The one you refer to as the baseball hologram is the 1990 UD baseball hologram type (compare to any 1990 UD MLB card).

There isn't a need to differentiate between the 91 types, slight variations in positioning don't change them all being from the same holographic sheeting.


I would disagree with this. The 91's are completely different looking holo sheets. Which means they were ordered under different orders with likely different designers. I have doubles of all of them and no other variations from the format. You are the expert, but I can almost guarantee you that all 5 of those cards were different press runs.
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
bouwob said:
jacksoncoupage said:
DeliciousBacon said:
This is terrifying. I read about these on your blog, but I never considered bothering with these variations. On the other hand, I do have a 1991 UD Hi # box on my bookcase, cracked but not sorted...guess I could start looking through and fry my last few remaining brain cells? :lol:

In person, they really stand out and aren't too difficult to find among the regular '91 types.

bouwob said:
here are the ryan #345 variations that I have. I assume that none of these are the comic ball ones, so if you pick up another I would love to have it. I would also love to get hockey and 92 UD holograms if your run across them.

Out of the cards I have, here is the scarcity report out of the 218 of these cards that I own.

the 90 hologram is the toughest (I have 2)
baseball hologram is the 2nd (I have about 20)
I didnt pay close enough attention to the 91's to order them.

I have not turned the word upperdeck word upside down every other one do to lazyness. but you get the idea.

[attachment=0:18zv5hha]udhOLOS.gif[/attachment:18zv5hha]

From the looks of it, you may have the comic ball type - it has "90" and a pattern of what appears to be trophies in the background. I would wager that this is what you have.

The one you refer to as the baseball hologram is the 1990 UD baseball hologram type (compare to any 1990 UD MLB card).

There isn't a need to differentiate between the 91 types, slight variations in positioning don't change them all being from the same holographic sheeting.


I would disagree with this. The 91's are completely different looking holo sheets. Which means they were ordered under different orders with likely different designers. I have doubles of all of them and no other variations from the format. You are the expert, but I can almost guarantee you that all 5 of those cards were different press runs.

I know what you are saying, I have almost 200 Venturas and I see the differences, but since they all feature the same pattern "91 Upper Deck" repeated, I've labeled grouped them into the "corrected" or 1991 Holo type category.
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
List updated to include confirmations on: Cecil Fielder, Juan Gonzalez, Cal Ripken, Dwight Evans, Carlton Fisk, Kirk Gibson, Rickey Henderson, Barry Bonds, Andre Dawson and Joe Carter.
 

onionring9

Active member
Administrator
Aug 7, 2008
3,490
12
After all these years, I still haven't found/seen the NHL McGwire, only found these:

174 - correct
174 - 1990 style
174 - diamond
174 - no hologram

656 - correct
656 - 1990 style

Link to all of them:
http://www.joering.com/mcgwire/index.ph ... upper+deck

I made this back on the Beckett boards way back in the day for reference once jacksonscoupage showed me them.
w_1991uddeltas.jpg
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
onionring9 said:
After all these years, I still haven't found/seen the NHL McGwire, only found these:

174 - correct
174 - 1990 style
174 - diamond
174 - no hologram

656 - correct
656 - 1990 style

Link to all of them:
http://www.joering.com/mcgwire/index.ph ... upper+deck

I made this back on the Beckett boards way back in the day for reference once jacksonscoupage showed me them.
w_1991uddeltas.jpg

I'll update your reports. Thanks for posting that image, probably the best out there!

One of the main reasons I started this thread is because I've started to suspect that all four (or five) hologram types may not exist for each player and that there may even be a sequence or pattern to which subjects/numbers received what holograms. Hopefully enough people will chime in and flesh out a better idea on this odd variety.
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
Also, I just checked and confirmed, I have the '90-91 NHL type for #174 right here. PM me your address and I'll send it your way.
 

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