Lot # 3516: 1989 Upper Deck #661 Orel Hershiser Black Border Proof Card - Extremely Rare!

Offered is a fascinating production anomaly from one of modern-card collecting's most revered sets - an extremely rare black-border prototype proof card of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser from the inaugural 1989 Upper Deck set. This card commemorates Hershiser being named the 1988 N.L. Cy Young winner. Even at first glance, it is clear that the card differs dramatically from the standard issued version in that the front and back borders are black instead of white. The card is also missing the reverse hologram. The black border design is so rare that we have only offered one other example in the past 22 years. In fact, in a message board post from 2014 on the collector's site Net54Baseball.com, Bob Lemke, former editor of the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, said "When I was cataloging we never saw or even heard of black-border 1989 UD. I'd guess they are a really rare prototype." While this card is extremely notable regardless of condition, it does grade Excellent to Mint overall, with light corner wear. This is an exceedingly rare card from one of the most popular sets of the past 37 years, and it may be the only time such an example will be offered for a very long time--if ever again! Amazingly, we have two additional examples offered in this current auction (Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics and Chris Sabo of the Cincinnati Reds). This is an extremely unusual and fascinating Upper Deck proof-card rarity that would be very much at home in even the most advanced proof-card or prototype collections, or as a companion piece to a 1989 Upper Deck master set.