Art by Tim Carroll

In 1989, the card collecting world was totally revamped.  For 9 years, every collector had the option of opening Fleer, Donruss, or trusty ole' Topps.  Then the last year of the 80's came along, and collectors saw things they had never seen before.  Super-crisp pictures.  A geometrical design consisting of lines, circles, squares, and stars.  A HOLOGRAM on the back for security purposes.  Foil packs that were tamper proof.  Upper Deck had arrived.  This new company recognized something when they developed their checklist:  collectors like rookie cards.  Therefore, they added rookies at the front of the set that had the potential to carry the product.  Boy, did they ever hit the jackpot.  Putting a 19-year old stud as the #1 card of your inaugural product - a product with a design that would make Frank Lloyd Wright proud - was like spontaneous combustion.  For 20 years, Upper Deck has kept themselves as a hobby staple by taking initiative.  They put pieces of game used material on cards in the mid-90's.  They were the first to put cut signatures of players one could only dream of owning:  Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Ty Cobb, etc.  However, collectors have not forgotten where it started.  Card #1........of the first set.......THE rookie card..........of possibly the greatest player to play in our generation.  The set has rookie cards of Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio, and Gary Sheffield ; "oddball" cards of Gary Pettis (it is a picture of him holding his own UD card!), Nolan Ryan (3D), Nolan Ryan (throwing a football); and error cards of Dale Murphy (reverse negative) and Pat Sheridan (missing position).  While all of these cards were (and still are) huge hits with collectors - this set would just be known as "Upper Deck's first" if it were not for the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card.  That one card laid the foundation for collecting as it is today.  Quick - what is the first thing that pops in your head when you hear "'89 Upper Deck!"  If you say anything except Ken Griffey Jr., your nose is growing.  It is Upper Deck's FIRST CARD!  It is Junior's best rookie card!  It IS the 1989 Upper Deck SET!

So, for this project I decided to use NOTHING but 1989 Upper Deck cards (except for the trademark frame, of course).  I went to a stripped down factory set.  Anything worthy of missing the "cut" were pulled, and the rest were used as my pallete.  By doing this, I noticed something:  I was FORCED to use much less cards than I was accustomed!  Aside from the frame, I used only (461) 1989 Upper Deck cards.  It did take a little while - roughly 40.75 hours.  And just like that, I had a piece that showed what I was trying to say above.  The Griffey encompasses everything about the 1989 set.  None of the other cards are relevant.  Without Griffey, they are nothing.  But together.................they can be anything I want them to be.  Even a 1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Grffey Jr. rookie card:

 

 

 

Closeup:

 

 

 

 

Some detail (I tried to use a jersey from EVERY MLB team in it - and I succeeded):

 

 

 

 

The logo that is now iconic:

 

 

 

 

For the jewelry, I used Chris "Spuds" Sabo.  Hey, Junior doesn't wear glasses, so........:

 

 

 

 

This part was fun:

 

 

 

 

I used the backs of the "award winners" subset for this part:

 

 

 

 

Kinda ironic that used the "star rookies" busts to make the potent bat, huh?

 

 

 

 

The face: 

 

 

 

 

I used 276 names for the border and jersey:

 

 

 

 

One final view:

 

 

 

Man, that one was challenging!  However, I love challenges, so this was right up my alley.  Now, it is time to get back to the "Holy Grail" series and the work I have been commissioned for.  Keep checking back - and don't forget to drop me an email to let me know what you think!!  timcarrollart@yahoo.com

*****UPDATE*****

"The Kid" was featured on Upper Deck's Website!!  Not only was it featured, but it is the FIRST non-Upper Deck-produced item to be featured there!!  Click the link below to see:

Upper Deck's BRAG PHOTO of the week (July 24-31, 2009):  http://upperdeckblog.com/?p=1388