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1994 Upper Deck Silver Back Variations?? Lets discuss!

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MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
Is/was anyone aware of this variation from the 1994 Upper Deck release? A Silver Back variation? I'm sure a lot were but I wasn't but just saw they added it to Albert Belle's checklist and when doing a little digging, there are some on eBay and COMC, so I must have just missed this variation all along.

Beckett and I exchanged a few emails this morning and it seems that because of this research and some submitted to their grading service, it was brought to their attention and thus added to their database and player checklists. They told me that I guess there was one dealer who flooded the market? or maybe one who just brought it to their attention, I'm not sure.

Either way, anyone have their guy? Anyone have any additional information about these?

I guess this is why I have 6,000 doubles still in storage for Albert Belle because I never knew to look for a Silver Back on the 1994 UD card. I guess I have a pretty nice project for this weekend.
 

Yanks2151

Active member
Nov 9, 2013
3,231
8
I'm 99% sure I have the Silver Back variation of Bernie Williams. This was pulled from BBCpedia:
1994 Upper Deck is a 550-card was issued in two series of 280 and 270 cards, respectively. There are number of topical subsets including Star Rookies (1-30), Fantasy Team (31-40), The Future is Now (41-55), Home Field Advantage (267-294), Upper Deck Classic Alumni (295-299), Diamond Debuts (511-522) and Top Prospects (523-550). The design of 1994 Upper Deck Baseball was originally intended for 1994 SP, but Upper Deck decided to released it under the "Upper Deck" name and issue SP under a new design.
The Hobby edition of 1994 Upper Deck was regionally distributed, with three different versions (East, Central, and West) of the Diamond Collection (Series One) and 1994 SP Previews (Series Two). Where Hobby dealers and distributors were located, dictated which inserts were available. For example, collectors in the middle of the country got packs where it was possible to pull a valuable Michael Jordan Diamond Collection insert; but collectors along the East Coast were stuck with Cliff Floyd and Lenny Dykstra. The regional distribution scheme was not popular with collectors or dealers, and was discontinued after this year.
Rookie Cards include Michael Jordan (as an baseball player), Chan Ho Park, Alex Rodriguez and Billy Wagner.
Many cards have been found with a significant variation on the back. The player's name, the horizontal bar containing the biographical information and the vertical bar containing the stats header are normally printed in copper-gold color. On the variation cards, these areas are printed in silver. It is not known exactly how many of the 550 cards have silver versions, nor has any premium been established for them. Also, all of the American League Home Field Advantage subset cards (numbers 281-294) are minor uncorrected errors because the Upper Deck logos on the front are missing the year "1994".
 

DeliciousBacon

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2011
3,444
94
Warwick, RI
The Silver Back is available on both the base and the EDs. As far as I know, the checklist is the same for both, and a list of known cards with this variation does exist. I believe the Silver base are significantly tougher than the Silver ED, based on a faint memory of an old discussion and checking ebay.
 

onionring9

Active member
Administrator
Aug 7, 2008
3,490
12
I recall it being a partial set, not everyone in the set having these variations. jacksonscoupage knows the most about them and has the longest list of confirmed players in the variation list. He did a lot of work on those.
 

DaClyde

Well-known member
Jan 17, 2010
1,614
58
Huntsville, AL
I recall this discussion prompted a quick rush which basically cleared most of the silver backed cards from COMC, after which they promptly recognized the variation and listings were updated.
 

MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
Anyone have the Albert Belle or know of someone who scooped up all the silver backs from COMCs and might have one?
 

TNP777

New member
Aug 7, 2008
3,528
1
the 209
I still have the base and ED silver backs on my wantlist. However, I may be searching for cards that don't exist. According to [MENTION=2962]jacksoncoupage[/MENTION] in this post, these are the cards that are known to have silver backs available: 58, 59, 60, 68, 71, 73, 75, 81, 83, 84, 86, 89, 92, 93, 97, 99, 100, 102, 103, 105, 113, 120, 123, 124, 137, 141, 151, 157, 160, 166, 171, 174, 184, 187, 195, 224, 225, 237, 238, 239, 246, 250, 259, 261 & 266

That was back in April of 2011, though. That list may have been updated. Hopefully he will check in and tell us if the list is still accurate.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,169
4,057
I found a few Dodgers sorting through my boxes of dupes, but I would have to dig out player files for the other players, except I know I don't have any silver Frank Thomas cards.

I wonder how they were distributed and the story behind them? Certain area of distribution only, a printing flaw that was never caught, other?
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
There are also a few instances of Gold variations too. Klesko, Rickey Henderson and Chipper Jones are examples that I have personally seen. Henderson twice, actually.

The list in the other thread is as updated as I'm aware of. And yes, the base and electric diamond silver back checklist is the same.

Lastly, if anyone has a Devon White base/silver back, I know someone who'd be very happy to purchase it, feel free to PM and I can contact him.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,169
4,057
I got a free box of cards today while shopping at the local shop and it had a couples rows of 94 UD, including a bunch of Electric Diamonds! I noticed a few silver backs right away and when i got done sorting through everything, I had 12 silver back variations (7 ED and 5 base) from about 1000 cards. I also noticed what appeared to be gold variations too, but after looking, I couldn't find any that were both gold and bronze except a Gwynn, which was not a stark difference (probably just an ink/print issue). I was hoping to find 1 card with all three variations, but failed.

Here are a couple photos, since none were on this thread before:

The Thompson shows the EDs on the left and base cards on the right, both bronze and silver versions.
 

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Last edited:

gamecockfanatic

Active member
Jun 17, 2009
945
25
Gamecock Country
There are also a few instances of Gold variations too. Klesko, Rickey Henderson and Chipper Jones are examples that I have personally seen. Henderson twice, actually.

The list in the other thread is as updated as I'm aware of. And yes, the base and electric diamond silver back checklist is the same.

Lastly, if anyone has a Devon White base/silver back, I know someone who'd be very happy to purchase it, feel free to PM and I can contact him.



here i go bumping another old thread in search of more up to date info.....

i'm aware of the silver back variations and the 45-card checklist and how scarce they seem to be (though i really have no clue what they go for) , but was wondering if anyone has more information on the gold back variations jacksoncoupage referred to above...

from my own experience sorting through thousands of cards , i think ALL series 2 cards come with ONLY the gold bar on the back while the vast majority of series 1 cards feature the dark copper/bronze bar...

i know i have a small handful of series 1 cards with the much lighter gold bar (including a don mattingly and 3 tony gwynns like the one pictured by mrmopar above) though they were misplaced after my house fire so i am not sure right now exactly how many i have or who i have...

just wondering if anyone has ever compiled a checklist of the gold back versions , how common or rare they seem to be , and what they tend to sell for....

thanks in advance for any info....
 

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