1996 Collector's Choice
Description
1996 Collector's Choice is a 790-card, two series, set. The first 365 cards were released in November, 1995. Randomly inserted into all Series One packs were three different "Post-Season Highlights" exchange cards. Each card could then be sent to Upper Deck, and the collector would then receive one of three, ten-card, Post-Season Highlight subsets (cards 366-395). Series Two was released in June, 1996 and contained another 365 cards (396-760). The final 30-cards (#761-790) make up an Update subset and were available via a wrapper redemption offer. All 790 cards were available in the Collector's Choice Factory set.
Distribution
Series One Wax: 36 packs per box, 12 cards per pack (MSRP: $0.99)
Series Two Wax: 40 packs per box, 14 cards per pack (MESP: $1.29)
Wal-Mart Exclusive "A Cut Above" packs: five cards plus one Ken Griffey, Jr. "A Cut Above" insert per pack (MSRP: $0.97)
Factory Sets
Reviews
Insertion Ratios
| Cards | Total Cards | Numbered To | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 790 | - | ? |
| Silver Signature | 730 | - | 1:1 |
| Gold Signature | 730 | - | 1:36 |
| Nomo Scrapbook (S2) | 5 | - | 1:12 |
| You Make the Play (S1) | 90 | - | 1:1 |
| You Make the Play Gold Signature (S1) | 90 | - | 1:36 |
| Griffey A Cut Above | 10 | - | 1:1 |
| You Crash the Game Silver (S2) | 90 | - | 1:5 |
| You Crash the Game Gold (S2) | 90 | - | 1:50 |
Checklist
Base Set
Series One
Post-Season Highlights
Randomly inserted into Series One packs at the rate of 1:11 were three different Post-Season Highlights exchange cards. Collector who found one of the exchange cards could then mail it back to Upper Deck and receive a pack of 10 Post-Season Highlight cards. All 30 Post_Season Highlight cards are sequentially-numbered as an extension of the Series One base set, but with a "T" suffix.
All 30 cards were included in the 1996 Collector's Choice factory set.
Series Two
Update
The final 30 cards in the 1996 Collector's Choice set were made available to collectors through a wrapper redemption offer. All 30 cards are also available in the 1996 Collector's Choice factory set.
Parallels
With the exception of the 30 Post-Season Highlight (cards 366-395) and 30 Update cards (#761-790), all 730 base cards are available in the following parallels.
- Silver Signature
- Gold Signature
Inserts
You Make the Play
On card from this 90-card set was inserted into each Series One pack. Forty-five players are featured on two different cards. The cards measure just about the standard-size but have rounded corners and were meant to be played as part of a game.
In addition to being inserted into packs, dealers also were offered extra You Make the Play cards depending on how many cases ordered. A dealer who ordered one case received two 12-card packs of these cards for a total of 24 cards. Meanwhile, a dealer who ordered two cases received six 12-card packs for a total of 72 packs.
Customers could also receive 12 of these cards by sending 10 wrappers and $2 to an a mail-in order. This offer expired on May 15, 1996.
This set is also available in a Gold Signature parallel.
1 Kevin Appier
1A Kevin Appier
2 Carlos Baerga
2A Carlos Baerga
3 Jeff Bagwell
3A Jeff Bagwell
4 Jay Bell
4A Jay Bell
5 Albert Belle
5A Albert Belle
6 Craig Biggio
6A Craig Biggio
7 Wade Boggs
7A Wade Boggs
8 Barry Bonds
8A Barry Bonds
9 Bobby Bonilla
9A Bobby Bonilla
10 Jose Canseco
10A Jose Canseco
11 Joe Carter
11A Joe Carter
12 Darren Daulton
12A Darren Daulton
13 Cecil Fielder
13A Cecil Fielder
14 Ron Gant
14A Ron Gant
15 Juan Gonzalez
15A Juan Gonzalez
16 Ken Griffey, Jr.
16A Ken Griffey, Jr.
17 Tony Gwynn
17A Tony Gwynn
18 Randy Johnson
18A Randy Johnson
19 Chipper Jones
19A Chipper Jones
20 Barry Larkin
20A Barry Larkin
21 Kenny Lofton
21A Kenny Lofton
22 Greg Maddux
22A Greg Maddux
23 Don Mattingly
23A Don Mattingly
24 Fred McGriff
24A Fred McGriff
25 Mark McGwire
25A Mark McGwire
26 Paul Molitor
26A Paul Molitor
27 Raul Mondesi
27A Raul Mondesi
28 Eddie Murray
28A Eddie Murray
29 Hideo Nomo
29A Hideo Nomo
30 Jon Nunnally
30A Jon Nunnally
31 Mike Piazza
31A Mike Piazza
32 Kirby Puckett
32A Kirby Puckett
33 Cal Ripken
33A Cal Ripken
34 Alex Rodriguez
34A Alex Rodriguez
35 Tim Salmon
35A Tim Salmon
36 Gary Sheffield
36A Gary Sheffield
37 Lee Smith
37A Lee Smith
38 Ozzie Smith
38A Ozzie Smith
39 Sammy Sosa
39A Sammy Sosa
40 Frank Thomas
40A Frank Thomas
41 Greg Vaughn
41A Greg Vaughn
42 Mo Vaughn
42A Mo Vaughn
43 Larry Walker
43A Larry Walker
44 Rondell White
44A Rondell White
45 Matt Williams
45A Matt Williams
You Crash the Game
This 90-card set features 30 of the game top sluggers on three different game cards. If the featured player hit a home run during the series specified on the card, it was then eligible to be redeemed for a super premium Cell Card of the same player. The postmark expiration date for exchanging winning cards was November 18th, 1996.
This set is also available in a Gold parallel.
CG1A Chipper Jones
CG1B Chipper Jones
CG1C Chipper Jones
CG2A Fred McGriff
CG2B Fred McGriff
CG2C Fred McGriff
CG3A Rafael Palmeiro
CG3B Rafael Palmeiro
CG3C Rafael Palmeiro
CG4A Cal Ripken
CG4B Cal Ripken
CG4C Cal Ripken
CG5A Jose Canseco
CG5B Jose Canseco
CG5C Jose Canseco
CG6A Mo Vaughn
CG6B Mo Vaughn
CG6C Mo Vaughn
CG7A Jim Edmonds
CG7B Jim Edmonds
CG7C Jim Edmonds
CG8A Tim Salmon
CG8B Tim Salmon
CG8C Tim Salmon
CG9A Sammy Sosa
CG9B Sammy Sosa
CG9C Sammy Sosa
CG10A Frank Thomas
CG10B Frank Thomas
CG10C Frank Thomas
CG11A Albert Belle
CG11B Albert Belle
CG11C Albert Belle
CG12A Manny Ramirez
CG12B Manny Ramirez
CG12C Manny Ramirez
CG13A Jim Thome
CG13B Jim Thome
CG13C Jim Thome
CG14A Dante Bichette
CG14B Dante Bichette
CG14C Dante Bichette
CG15A Vinny Castilla
CG15B Vinny Castilla
CG15C Vinny Castilla
CG16A Larry Walker
CG16B Larry Walker
CG16C Larry Walker
CG17A Cecil Fielder
CG17B Cecil Fielder
CG17C Cecil Fielder
CG18A Gary Sheffield
CG18B Gary Sheffield
CG18C Gary Sheffield
CG19A Jeff Bagwell
CG19B Jeff Bagwell
CG19C Jeff Bagwell
CG20A Eric Karros
CG20B Eric Karros
CG20C Eric Karros
CG21A Mike Piazza
CG21B Mike Piazza
CG21C Mike Piazza
CG22A Ken Caminiti
CG22B Ken Caminiti
CG22C Ken Caminiti
CG23A Barry Bonds
CG23B Barry Bonds
CG23C Barry Bonds
CG24A Matt Williams
CG24B Matt Williams
CG24C Matt Williams
CG25A Jay Buhner
CG25B Jay Buhner
CG25C Jay Buhner
CG26A Ken Griffey, Jr.
CG26B Ken Griffey, Jr.
CG26C Ken Griffey, Jr.
CG27A Ron Gant
CG27B Ron Gant
CG27C Ron Gant
CG28A Juan Gonzalez
CG28B Juan Gonzalez
CG28C Juan Gonzalez
CG29A Mickey Tettleton
CG29B Mickey Tettleton
CG29C Mickey Tettleton
CG30A Joe Carter
CG30B Joe Carter
CG30C Joe Carter
You Crash the Game Redemption
This 27-card, skip-numbered, set features transparent color player images of the home run hitters from the Collectors Choice Crash the Game regular set in a wood-like frame highlighted with silver foil. The cards were available via mail on a card-by-card basis in exchange for winning Silver or Gold Crash cards. The set parallels the You Crash the Game set; however, three players (Tim Salmon, Larry Walker, and Joe Carter) did not have any winning YCtG cards. Therefore, this set is complete without cards #CG8, CG16 and CG30.
Cal Ripken Jr. Insert
See 1996 Upper Deck
Griffey A Cut Above
This 10-card, die-cut, set was exclusive to specially marked packs sold at Wal-Mart stored. Each six-card pack contained five base cards and one A Cut Above insert. Packs retailed for $0.97.
CA1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA3 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA4 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA5 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA6 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA7 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA8 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA9 Ken Griffey, Jr.
CA10 Ken Griffey, Jr.
Nomo Scrapbook
This five-card set was randomly inserted into Series Two packs.
1 Hideo Nomo
2 Hideo Nomo
3 Hideo Nomo
4 Hideo Nomo
5 Hideo Nomo