The 1990s Baseball Cards Face-Off - 1996 Circa vs. 1994 SP

Check this post to see my methodology.

After the last round, we were here:

This post will wrap up Blue level of the 1st Quartile of the Babe Ruth Division. Next week we'll work out the Red to Black levels pretty quickly then move on to the 2nd Quartile. After that, there are 3 more divisions to go. I hope you stick with me.

Today it's 1996 Circa vs. 1994 SP

1996 Circa

1996 Circa is one of many forgettable sets from Fleer/Skybox in the mid to late 1990s. The cards are thin and the design looks like an out-take from 1995 Fleer. A bit of silver foil on the front helps a bit. Front and back have out-of-context photos (which I generally don't like, especially on both sides of a set). This set was priced at $1.99 for an 8-card pack.

1994 SP

When Upper Deck premiered in 1989, it was considered a premium card, the first of it's kind. By 1994, Upper Deck was just another card. UD introduced SP in 1993 as a new level of premium card to compete with the Stadium Clubs, Pinnacles and Ultras of the world. 1993 SP was a great card. 1994 SP is just a mess. Why the decision to print the cards on foil board? That decision results in an ugly card. The backs are OK, but who buys cards for the backs?

The result: I don't care much for 1996 Circa, but in a battle of cards I don't really like, the ugly 1994 SP has to go down.

The next post we'll run the table on this quartile and determine the semi-finalist for the Babe Ruth Division.