Ah, the very late 1990s, when the world suddenly got interconnected and we started to wonder how long it would be before humans ended up living in the matrix, enslaved by the technology we had created.
Card companies approached this culture change in different ways with different 'techie' ranges. And one of the companies that bought into the cybervision of the future was Upper Deck with their Ionix sets. They even went so far as to shrink their brand name to UD to make it more futurey.
This card has a metallic chrome style coating on it which makes it hard to scan and has caused a slight warping effect over time. I like the coding font used for Gwynn up the side of the card. The little sequence of photos that look like a film strip look quite effective too.
On the back, Tony is looking skyward anticipating a catch. The coolness of the photo makes up for the truncated stats box.
There's a relevant factoid as well, about Tony's place on the all-time hits chart. He would break 3,000 hits this season.
Card Number 755: Upper Deck UD Ionix, 2000; #37
When this set launched I had high hopes for it. As was stated the high hopes lasted 2 years before the product was dropped. These were, and still are, great sets. It makes me wonder if the warping issue is what delivered the death blow to this set. I seem to remember that warp always being there.
ReplyDeleteWhen this product came out... I was still focusing on basketball. I opened at least a couple boxes of 98/99 UD Ionix basketball, but doubt I opened either of these products.
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