Barry Larkin Collection 979: 1994 Upper Deck - #C3 - Diamond Collection

Barry Larkin

Year:  1994

Brand:  Upper Deck

Insert set:  Diamond Collection

Card number:  C3

The 1994 Upper Deck Diamond Collection insert set is a bit more interesting that perhaps what meets the eye at first.  Back in '94, MLB was switching to a new divisional set-up (East, Central, and West as opposed to the old East and West divisions only).  As such, Upper Deck created the Diamond Collection set for Series 1 to celebrate the new changes.  There are there subsets to collect which are each based on the new divisions:  East, Central, and West.  Each subset has ten cards with each team in that division getting at least one player represented*. 

*Other than the Royals who had their intended representative (Kevin Appier) pulled from the checklist and replaced by a second Chicago White Sox player (Michael Jordan).  See, even in the early 90s baseball card companies were using hype to try and sell their products!  Also, since both the AL West and NL West only had 4 teams, the Athletics and Angels each got two players in the West portion of the Diamond Collection set.

One other note about the set, each of the three divisions had a different background color.  The Central obviously had a blue background while the East had a green background and the West had a red background.  

With all of that out of the way, let's look at the Barry Larkin card specifically.  For me, the front image is great - and while it does cover up a good chunk of the set name in the background, I think everything is readable enough.  The back of the card features a second nice photo of Larkin fielding while also including a great write-up...perhaps one of Upper Deck's best card backs of the 90s?  Certainly for an insert set anyhow!  

All told, I like this card a lot.  I don't think I ever had a 1994 Diamond Collection card as a kid so I got to learn a lot about this set as part of the process for writing today's post.  Definitely a card I'm happy to have in the collection!