1999 Upper Deck Century Legends
Description
1999 Upper Deck Century Legends is a skip-numbered 131-card set released in June, 1999. One of the more popular and influential products of the era, Century Legends was one of the first products to combine current players with retired Hall of Famers.
Cards 1-50 come from The Sporting News' countdown of the 50 greatest players of the 20th Century, while cards 51-100 are TSN's picks for the best 50 active players. The set winds up with the "21st Century Phenoms" and "Century Memories" subsets.
Cards 11, 25, 26, and 126 do not exist. Players 11, 25, and 26 on The Sporting News' list were Joe DiMaggio, Pete Rose, and Sandy Koufax, respectively. Upper Deck was unable to come to terms with Koufax, so his card (#26) was excluded. The March 8th, 1999 death of Joe DiMaggio triggered a clause in his licensing deal prohibiting anyone from using his image for one year after his death, which forced UD to pull cards #11 and #126 from Century Legends.
Due to his lifetime banishment from baseball, UD could not include a card of Pete Rose, and so cards #25 and #EM1 were pulled. Curiously, despite also being banned for life from baseball, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson was included in the set.
Each 24-pack Hobby box yields one "Epic Signatures" autograph.
Distribution
24 packs per box, 5 cards per pack (MSRP: $4.99). Hobby only.
Reviews
Insertion Ratios
| Cards | Total Cards | Numbered To | Hobby Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 131 | - | ? |
| Century Collection | 131 | 100 | ? |
| Century Legends MVPs | 100 | one-of-one | ? |
| Epic Milestones | 9 | - | 1:12 |
| Memorable Shots | 10 | - | 1:12 |
| All-Century Team | 10 | - | 1:23 |
| Jerseys of the Century | 9 | - | 1:418 |
| Epic Signatures | 30 | - | 1:24 |
| Epic Signatures Century | 32 | 100 | ? |
| Artifacts | 9 | one-of-one | ? |
| Legendary Cuts | 9 | one-of-one | ? |
Checklist
Promo
Base Set
NOTE: Thanks to the omissions of Joe DiMaggio, Pete Rose, and Sandy Koufax, this set is missing cards 11, 25, 26, and 126.
The Sporting News' Top 50 Players of All-Time
- 1 Babe Ruth
- 2 Willie Mays
- 3 Ty Cobb
- 4 Walter Johnson
- 5 Hank Aaron
- 6 Lou Gehrig
- 7 Christy Mathewson
- 8 Ted Williams
- 9 Roger Hornsby
- 10 Stan Musial
- 12 Grover Alexander
- 13 Honus Wagner
- 14 Cy Young
- 15 Jimmy Foxx
- 16 Johnny Bench
- 17 Mickey Mantle
- 18 Josh Gibson
- 19 Satchel Paige
- 20 Roberto Clemente
- 21 Warren Spahn
- 22 Frank Robinson
- 23 Lefty Grove
- 24 Eddie Collins
- 27 Tris Speaker
- 28 Mike Schmidt
- 29 Nap Lajoie
- 30 Steve Carlton
- 31 Bob Gibson
- 32 Tom Seaver
- 33 George Sisler
- 34 Barry Bonds
- 35 Joe Jackson UER NNO
- 36 Bob Feller
- 37 Hank Greenberg
- 38 Ernie Banks
- 39 Greg Maddux
- 40 Yogi Berra
- 41 Nolan Ryan
- 42 Mel Ott
- 43 Al Simmons
- 44 Jackie Robinson
- 45 Carl Hubbell
- 46 Charlie Gehringer
- 47 Buck Leonard
- 48 Reggie Jackson
- 49 Tony Gwynn
- 50 Roy Campanella
Top 50 Contemporaires
- 51 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 52 Barry Bonds
- 53 Roger Clemens
- 54 Tony Gwynn
- 55 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- 56 Greg Maddux
- 57 Frank Thomas
- 58 Mark McGwire
- 59 Mike Piazza
- 60 Wade Boggs
- 61 Alex Rodriguez
- 62 Juan Gonzalez
- 63 Mo Vaughn
- 64 Albert Belle
- 65 Sammy Sosa
- 66 Nomar Garciaparra
- 67 Derek Jeter
- 68 Kevin Brown
- 69 Jose Canseco
- 70 Randy Johnson
- 71 Tom Glavine
- 72 Barry Larkin
- 73 Curt Schilling
- 74 Moises Alou
- 75 Fred McGriff
- 76 Pedro Martinez
- 77 Andres Galarraga
- 78 Will Clark
- 79 Larry Walker
- 80 Ivan Rodriguez
- 81 Chipper Jones
- 82 Jeff Bagwell
- 83 Craig Biggio
- 84 Kerry Wood
- 85 Roberto Alomar
- 86 Vinny Castilla
- 87 Kenny Lofton
- 88 Rafael Palmeiro
- 89 Manny Ramirez
- 90 David Wells
- 91 Mark Grace
- 92 Bernie Williams
- 93 David Cone
- 94 John Olerud
- 95 John Smoltz
- 96 Tino Martinez
- 97 Raul Mondesi
- 98 Gary Sheffield
- 99 Orel Hershiser
- 100 Rickey Henderson
21st Century Phenoms
- 101 J.D. Drew
- 102 Troy Glaus
- 103 Nomar Garciaparra
- 104 Scott Rolen
- 105 Ryan Minor
- 106 Travis Lee
- 107 Roy Halladay
- 108 Carlos Beltran
- 109 Alex Rodriguez
- 110 Eric Chavez
- 111 Vladimir Guerrero
- 112 Ben Grieve
- 113 Kerry Wood
- 114 Alex Gonzalez
- 115 Darin Erstad
- 116 Derek Jeter
- 117 Jaret Wright
- 118 Jose Cruz, Jr.
- 119 Chipper Jones
- 120 Gabe Kapler
Century Memories
- 121 Satchel Paige
- 122 Willie Mays
- 123 Roberto Clemente
- 124 Lou Gehrig
- 125 Mark McGwire
- 127 Bob Gibson
- 128 Johnny VanderMeer
- 129 Walter Johnson
- 130 Ty Cobb
- 131 Don Larsen
- 132 Jackie Robinson
- 133 Tom Seaver
- 134 Johnny Bench
- 135 Frank Robinson
Foil Logo Variations
"
At least three of the base cards #4 (Walter Johnson), #35 (Shoeless Joe Jackson) and #58 (Mark McGwire) have foil-stamped logos on their backs. It is unclear how, or why, these cards came into being. It is known that the McGwire is available in both foil-stamped and non-foil-stamped versions; with the foil-stamped logo being the most common. It is unclear if non-foil versions of the Johnson and Jackson exist.
Parallels
Century Collection
Each of the 131 base cards are available in this die-cut, holographic-foil parallel. All cards are serial-numbered to 100 copies with a dot-matrix printer.
MVPs
This is a 100-card partial-parallel of the 1999 Upper Deck MVP set. Each card is a one-of-one.
- C1 Mo Vaughn
- C2 Troy Glaus
- C3 Darin Erstad
- C4 Randy Johnson
- C5 Travis Lee
- C6 Chipper Jones
- C7 Greg Maddux
- C8 Tom Glavine
- C9 John Smoltz
- C10 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- C11 Charles Johnson
- C12 Albert Belle
- C13 Nomar Garciaparra
- C14 Pedro Martinez
- C15 Kerry Wood
- C16 Sammy Sosa
- C17 Mark Grace
- C18 Frank Thomas
- C19 Paul Konerko
- C20 Ray Durham
- C21 Denny Neagle
- C22 Sean Casey
- C23 Barry Larkin
- C24 Roberto Alomar
- C25 Kenny Lofton
- C26 Travis Fryman
- C27 Jim Thome
- C28 Manny Ramirez
- C29 Vinny Castilla
- C30 Todd Helton
- C31 Dante Bichette
- C32 Larry Walker
- C33 Gabe Kapler
- C34 Dean Palmer
- C35 Tony Clark
- C36 Juan Encarnacion
- C37 Alex Gonzalez
- C38 Preston Wilson
- C39 Derrek Lee
- C40 Ken Caminiti
- C41 Jeff Bagwell
- C42 Moises Alou
- C43 Craig Biggio
- C44 Carlos Beltran
- C45 Jeremy Giambi
- C46 Johnny Damon
- C47 Kevin Brown
- C48 Chan Ho Park
- C49 Raul Mondesi
- C50 Gary Sheffield
- C51 Sean Berry
- C52 Jeromy Burnitz
- C53 Brad Radke
- C54 Eric Milton
- C55 Todd Walker
- C56 Vladimir Guerrero
- C57 Rondell White
- C58 Mike Piazza
- C59 Rickey Henderson
- C60 Rey Ordonez
- C61 Derek Jeter
- C62 Bernie Williams
- C63 Paul O'Neill
- C64 Scott Brosius
- C65 Tino Martinez
- C66 Roger Clemens
- C67 Orlando Hernandez
- C68 Ben Grieve
- C69 Eric Chavez
- C70 Jason Giambi
- C71 Curt Schilling
- C72 Scott Rolen
- C73 Pat Burrell
- C74 Jason Kendall
- C75 Aramis Ramirez
- C76 Mark McGwire
- C77 J.D. Drew
- C78 Edgar Renteria
- C79 Tony Gwynn
- C80 Sterling Hitchcock
- C81 Ruben Rivera
- C82 Trevor Hoffman
- C83 Barry Bonds
- C84 Ellis Burks
- C85 Robb Nen
- C86 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- C87 Alex Rodriguez
- C88 Carlos Guillen
- C89 Edgar Martinez
- C90 Jose Canseco
- C91 Rolando Arrojo
- C92 Wade Boggs
- C93 Fred McGriff
- C94 Juan Gonzalez
- C95 Ivan Rodriguez
- C96 Rafael Palmeiro
- C97 David Wells
- C98 Roy Halladay
- C99 Carlos Delgado
- C100 Jose Cruz, Jr.
Inserts
All-Century Team
NOTE: Card #AC10 features all nine All-Century Team players.
- AC1 Babe Ruth
- AC2 Ty Cobb
- AC3 Willie Mays
- AC4 Lou Gehrig
- AC5 Jackie Robinson
- AC6 Mike Schmidt
- AC7 Ernie Banks
- AC8 Johnny Bench
- AC9 Cy Young
- AC10 Lineup Sheet
Epic Milestones
'NOTE: Card EM1 does not exist.
- EM2 Jackie Robinson
- EM3 Nolan Ryan
- EM4 Mark McGwire
- EM5 Roger Clemens
- EM6 Sammy Sosa
- EM7 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- EM8 Rickey Henderson
- EM9 Hank Aaron
- EM10 Barry Bonds
Memorable Shots
- HR1 Babe Ruth
- HR2 Bobby Thomson
- HR3 Kirk Gibson
- HR4 Carlton Fisk
- HR5 Bill Mazeroski
- HR6 Bucky Dent
- HR7 Mark McGwire
- HR8 Mickey Mantle
- HR9 Joe Carter
- HR10 Mark McGwire
Autographs & Game-Used
Jerseys of the Century
NOTE: This set was supposed to have ten players featured, with the tenth being Upper Deck spokesman, Ken Griffey, Jr. However, a Jerseys of the Century card for Griffey was never produced, despite it being listed on dealer sell sheets and distributed promotional materials. Thus, this was actually a nine-card set and the Griffey does not exist.
- DW Dave Winfield
- EM Eddie Murray
- GB George Brett
- GM Greg Maddux
- MS Mike Schmidt
- NR Nolan Ryan
- OZ Ozzie Smith
- RC Roger Clemens
- TG Tony Gwynn
Epic Signatures
Each card is available in a "Century" parallel, hand-numbered to 100 copies.
Four players signed only a fraction of their allotted signatures. As a result, some of those players had autographs that were BOTH live in packs AND redemptions. Collectors who pulled a redemption had until December 31st, 1999 to exchange it for an autograph.
- AR Alex Rodriguez
- BB Barry Bonds
- BD Bucky Dent
- BF Bob Feller
- BG Bob Gibson
- BM Bill Mazeroski
- BT Bobby Thomson
- CF Carlton Fisk SOME EXCH
- DL Don Larsen
- EB Ernie Banks
- EMA Eddie Mathews
- FR Frank Robinson
- FT Frank Thomas
- GM Greg Maddux
- HK Harmon Killebrew
- JB Johnny Bench SOME EXCH
- JG Juan Gonzalez
- JR Ken Griffey, Jr.
- MS Mike Schmidt
- NR Nolan Ryan
- RJ Reggie Jackson
- SC Steve Carlton
- SM Stan Musial
- SR Ken Griffey, Sr.
- TG Tony Gwynn
- TS Tom Seaver
- VG Vladimir Guerrero
- WMC Willie McCovey SOME EXCH
- WS Warren Spahn
- YB Yogi Berra SOME EXCH
Legendary Cuts
NOTE: Each is a one-of-one
- BR Babe Ruth
- CY Cy Young
- LG Lefty Grove
- MO Mel Ott
- RC Roy Campanella
- SP Satchel Paige
- TY Ty Cobb
- WJ Walter Johnson
Artifacts
Each Artifact is a redemption card good for the item(s) listed. Each card is a one-of-one.
- 1900 Ty Cobb Framed CUT
- 1910 Babe Ruth Framed CUT
- 1920 Roger Hornsby Framed CUT
- 1930 Satchel Paige Framed CUT
- 1950 Willie Mays / Mickey Mantle / Hank Aaron AU Balls
- 1960 Ernie Banks / Bob Gibson / Johnny Bench AU Balls
- 1970 Mike Schmidt / Steve Carlton / Tom Seaver AU Balls
- 1980 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Nolan Ryan AU Balls
- 1990 Ken Griffey, Jr. AU Jersey
Jimmy Foxx A Piece of History 500 HR Club
See Upper Deck A Piece of History 500 HR Club.
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