In Cincinnati, collectors are waiting rather impatiently for the first cards depicting Ken Griffey Jr. in a Reds uniform.
They won't have to wait much longer.
In a move that effectively leaves rival card manufacturers in the dust, the Upper Deck Co. is rushing a Griffey-as-a-Red card into production and onto retail shelves. The card, showing Griffey wearing a Reds jersey and cap at the press conference welcoming him to Cincinnati last Friday, will be included in the 2000 Ovation set to be released March 13.
If it meets its schedule, Upper Deck will have a one-month head start on Pacific Trading Cards of Lynnwood, which plans to include a Griffey card in the 2000 Prism set scheduled for release April 12.
Pacific finished designing its new Griffey card yesterday after recalling film from the production process. It had hoped to get the card into shops before its competitors.
``It's critical in our industry to be the first out of the gate,'' said Mike Monson, Pacific's director of public relations. ``If you're the first one with Griffey in a Reds uniform, people will assign a special tag to it. They'll latch on to it.''
Apparently, that tag will be assigned to the Upper Deck card.
Like Pacific, Upper Deck took special measures to rush a Griffey into production.
``We did some scrambling around; there certainly were some moans and groans in the pre-press department,'' said Upper Deck spokesman Justin Kanoya. ``But our product development team looked at the calendar and said we could make this happen. We weren't able to set up a photo shoot, but we got the press-conference photo and said, `Hey, let's go with that.' ''
The Ovation set includes 90 cards. The last-minute Griffey will be card No. 43. The set also will include card No. 31 featuring Griffey in a Mariners uniform.
``They're not short-printed, they're not insert cards or anything, they're just part of the regular set, so they should be relatively easy to come by,'' Kanoya said of the new card. ``The other spin is that it's the last card of him in his Mariners uniform and the first card of him in his Reds uniform in the same set. It's a nice twist.''
Another quirk is the packaging. Upper Deck employs Griffey as a spokesman and features him on card boxes and wrappers. Packaging for the Ovation issue, showing Griffey in a Mariners uniform, was too far along in the production process to be recalled. So it will be an odd mix when the cards go on sale next month - Griffey as a Mariner on the box and wrapper, as either a Red or Mariner on the cards inside.
In a subsequent card release in April, Upper Deck will redo its Griffey cards to incorporate action shots from spring training. The 2000 HoloGrFX issue will be the first to feature him in his Reds uniform on the packaging.
As part of his deal with Upper Deck, Griffey signs items for Upper Deck Authenticated that are sold through the usual hobby channels and the company's Web site.
Upper Deck Authenticated has a session with Griffey scheduled for late March, when it hopes to have Reds jerseys, the team's alternate cap and Griffey's game-model bat with ``Cincinnati Reds'' printed on the barrel available for him to sign.
In the meantime, collectors in Cincinnati are snapping up Griffey staples while waiting for new things to arrive.
Steve Wolter, owner of Sports Investments, the largest memorabilia dealer in Cincinnati, ordered more single-signed balls yesterday after running out over the weekend. He sells them for about $90. Griffey's Louisville Slugger model bat, signed, is another hot seller at $325. His 1989 rookie card from Upper Deck is moving strongly at about $150.
``There's been really good response to the stuff that's generic, not team-related, the stuff that doesn't have any Seattle identification on it,'' Wolter said.
At Shoeless Joe's, another Cincinnati retail outlet, owner Tom Huber said customers are asking for Griffey things, just as they always have.
``The thing about it is, Griffey has always sold well here; it's not like the trade spurred big sales,'' Huber said. ``The thing that people are calling about is that first card of him in a Reds uniform. Everybody's very enthusiastic about that.''
Nick Rousso writes weekly on sports collectibles. He can be reached at nickrousso@aol.com
