1993 O-Pee-Chee World Champions

 Set size: 18 cards

Front Design: The white bordered cards have a color photo with a thin black frame. The O-Pee-Chee logo is at the top, while the player's name is in a gold-colored bar near the bottom. The Blue Jays 1992 World Champions logo is also at the bottom beside the player's name.

Back Design: The colorful backs have a second color photo in the upper right, with the card number, player's name and position, and the Blue Jays logo to the left. His 1992 postseason stats are in a burnt-orange box in the center of the card, and a postseason highlight in English and French is at the bottom of the card.

Parallels and Similars: The cards have the same general design as the 1993 O-Pee-Chee issue, except for the gold bar at the bottom (regular cards have silver bars).

Distribution: These cards were inserts in 1993 O-Pee-Chee packs.

Thoughts: Sets celebrating World Series champions were inserted into several issues around this time - Fleer inserted them into factory sets, for instance. These days, Topps issues commemorative World Series Champion sets in time for Christmas, but there are no insert sets documenting the postseason that I can recall. The O-Pee-Chee design of this year is attractively simple, and the multi-color backs are pleasant to look at.

1993 Upper Deck Supers: Off the grid and bigger than life!

Set size: 7

Front Design: The cards are reprints of 1991 Upper Deck, 1993 Upper Deck, and 1993 SP cards. The checklist is provided below. However, the cards are 8.5" x 11" instead of a normal card size.

Back Design: Again, the backs are reprints of other designs in a jumbo size, with one addition: cards are serial-numbered in a special logo placed somewhere on the back.

Parallels and Similars: These cards are jumbo-sized parallels of other issues.

Distribution: It is unknown how these cards were distributed. I wouldn't know where to begin looking for information, short of asking Upper Deck themselves - and even if they responded to an email I doubt they would know or bother finding an answer. Possible methods of distribution could include dealer premiums or previews, card show/convention premiums, or special local test issues released only in California. It's possible they were sold or given away at Heroes of Baseball events (again, possibly as test issues), as they have the same feel as the sheets released for that series. All this is speculation.

Thoughts: First and foremost, if you have any information on this set, please let me know! I'm a big fan of oddballs, especially odd-sized issues such as this. It's quite rare for a release by a major manufacturer to not be cataloged by Beckett. They're listed in the SCD guide (page 1545 of the 2009 edition). Perhaps someone who gets their hands on an updated SCD could check to see if there are any updates. I came across a handful cards from this release several months ago and picked up two examples - the Bonds above and the Finley below. I should have bought them all.

Why is Barry Bonds on the same base as another Giant? Somebody is OUT.

Checklist: cards are numbered below according to their original card number. Print runs were 1000 for most cards, with differences in parentheses. Issues copied other than 1993 are also noted below. If you have any additions to this list, please let me know!

• 6 Kirby Puckett/Triple Crown Contenders insert
• 10 Barry Bonds/SP
• 24 Eric Karros/1991 (2500)
• 75 Tom Glavine
• 77 Chuck Finley (2500)
• 155 Nolan Ryan (5000)
• 199 Roger Clemens/SP

Additional Images:

1993 Fax Pax World of Sport

Set size: 40

Front Design: A full bleed color action photo fills most of the card, other than a red-edged white band at the bottom containing the subject's name and home country flag.

Back Design: The backs carry the player's name and sport, vital stats, career biography, and basic recent and career statistics. The cards do not carry a copyright date, but are identified as FAX PAX, Printed in the U.K.

Parallels and Similars: None known.

Distribution: Sold as a set in a box similar to playing cards.

Thoughts: This set features some of the world's best athletes of the time, covering all manner of sports. Seven of the cards feature Olympic stars. The design is basic, but the photography is decent, and the player selection is better than Goodwin Champions. It's not a popular set because of its simplicity and its being issued in England, which means you don't see them too often, but they come cheap when you do. If you're into sports beyond the big four or non-sport issues you may be familiar with Fax Pax. They issued tennis, golf, soccer, and other sport and generally historic subject sets in the 1980s and 1990s.

1993 Kraft Singles Superstars

Set size: 30 cards (15 AL, 15 NL players), standard size.

Front Design: A full-color photo is surrounded by the player's name and team name in caps, the player's name repeated in script on the left hand side, and the Kraft Singles logo in the bottom right corner.

Back Design: The "back" image is surrounded by a blue border containing the set name; Kraft Singles logo; player name, position and team; and card number. Pulling the tab causes the player to "pop up", revealing statistics underneath.

Parallels and Similars: The 1992 Post Canadian issue is similar in pop-up design and layout, as are future releases of the Kraft Singles cards.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into specially marked packages of Kraft Singles. A mail offer was available for complete sets with proofs-of-purchase and a small fee; an album was also available via mail-in offer.

Thoughts: Someday I'll remember this set and pick one up off eBay or elsewhere at a bargain (or at least another card), and pop it up so I can see exactly what's in there. Griffey, Ripken, Gwynn, and Ryan all appear in the set and would be fun additions to the player collections, and there are several minor stars of their day to round out the set, so it's fairly inexpensive to complete.

Additional Images: Card back.

1993 DiamondMarks Bookmarks

Set size: 120 cards, 2-1/2" by 5"

Front Design: A thick black border surrounds a Barry Colla photograph, with the player name at the top in white and the team name and logo in a design at the bottom. The front designs are vertical.

Back Design: Horizontally oriented and designed to look like an open book, more thick black borders surround the two pages, one of which has another photograph of the subject, while the other side lists the player's name and position and includes a brief blurb on the player.

Parallels and Similars: An eight-card prototype set is identical to this regular issue except for the words "1993 PROTOTYPE" appearing on the back-left edge.

Distribution: Although they were marketed as book marks, these cards came in foil packs, with 48 packs per box.

Thoughts: Barry Colla issued several products around this time, similar to baseball cards but licensed in other ways - postcards are the most common issues. The photography and image quality on Colla products is above-average, and this is no different. If a wax box was available at low cost, I would probably try to put together the set.

Additional Links: BaseballCardPedia has a checklist. Things Done To Cards has a review.

Additional Images:

Card back from CheckOutMyCards.com

1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes

Set size: 165 base cards, 10 reprint inserts, 4 previews

Front Design: These 2-1/4" x 5-1/4" cards are derived from the T-202 Hassan Triple Folders set from 1912. The first 130 cards in the base set feature a photo in the center panel, a portrait on one side panel, and the BAT logo on the other side panel. The combination subset (cards 131-165), reprints, and previews feature artwork or a photograph of multiple legend players in the center panel, while the side panels feature portraits of two players.

Back Design: The backs of the standard cards feature player biographies and career highlights, as well as a description of the BAT program. The multi-player subset, reprint, and preview cards feature biographies on the side panels, and the center panels explain the association between the two players. The bottom 1/3 of the card backs are taken up by multiple Upper Deck logos and a hologram, the BAT logo, and MLB/Cooperstown Collection logos. The reprint cards are unnumbered, while the preview cards have an "HOB" prefix before the card numbers.

Parallels and Similars: All three 1993 issues of this set by Upper Deck look identical, except for card numbering (or the lack thereof). The set pays homage to the original T-202 Triple Folders set, and as such is very similar in design. Topps issued an insert set of the same design but, in folded form, is approximately the same size as a standard card.

Distribution: The 1993 All-Time Heroes set got its start at that year's All-Star FanFest, with the four-card preview set released in a special box. The regular set was issued in 12-card foil packs and was limited to 5140 cases. The ten-card insert set appeared one in every five packs, and is distinguishable from the base set only by the lack of card number. All issues came "unfolded" in their packs or boxes, unlike the 2003 Topps design.

Thoughts: Most people shy away from sets like this due to its nonstandard size, and in 1993, sets featuring retired legends weren't as popular as today. As such, the cards can be difficult to come by, but they are generally inexpensive. I ripped a box of this set in 1993, and just completed my master set earlier this year. The unnumbered inserts are the most difficult to find. Many of the combination cards and preview cards feature attractive artwork, as do the reprints. Overall it's an interesting and fun set, and one of the first throwback sets released by a major manufacturer. I have seen at least one card show dealer selling a few "cut" cards from this set, where the side panels were detached from the center panel and sold separately. I don't believe any of those cards have actually sold, and I'm not sure the dealer is aware of the difference.

Additional Images: Here are scans of one of the reprint inserts. As you can tell, the backs are the same as the regular set.