On the heels of its trailblazing baseball set, the 1991 Stadium Membership soccer card set supplied collectors one other premium expertise.
With Higher Deck altering the sport, Topps answered with a high-end launch of its personal…
There have been no borders.
There have been no subsets.
There have been no video games.
There was simply high-quality images, due to a partnership with Kodak.
Two market leaders working hand-in-hand delivered a next-level product for hobbyists jaded by the identical outdated requirements.
Collectors responded positively and the market shifted endlessly.
And on this information, we’ll check out the 12 most useful.
Let’s leap proper in!
1991 Stadium Membership #94 Brett Favre Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $250
When Brett Favre joined the Atlanta Falcons as a rookie, few would have guessed he’d be a future MVP and Tremendous Bowl champion.
Favre’s off-the-field points with ingesting and late nights within the bar scene instantly positioned him at odds with Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville.
Glanville doubled down on this because the season wore on, infamously proclaiming that it might require a airplane crash for Favre to see taking part in time.
All in all, Favre tried simply 4 passes for the Falcons in 1991, all of which got here in a hopeless 56-17 blowout loss to the Washington Redskins.
Favre’s first profession regular-season throw landed within the arms of Redskins linebacker Andre Collins who promptly returned it 15 yards for a landing.
Following the 1991 NFL season, Favre’s time in Atlanta got here to an abrupt finish.
The Falcons traded him to the Inexperienced Bay Packers for a first-round choice within the 1992 NFL Draft.
In later years, Favre mended fences with Glanville.
“Trying again, everyone who’s 25 screws up,” Glanville mentioned. “I do know I’ve a variety of instances. After I was doing TV although, Brett and I turned shut. He had some sort of profession and I do know wanting again at it now it’s a dangerous commerce.”
1991 Stadium Membership #361 Barry Sanders
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $70
With so many incredible photographs all through this set, it is exhausting to choose a favourite.
However the one on Barry Sanders’ card makes a wonderful case for being the perfect total.
You possibly can virtually really feel the strain creating on this explicit play because the Detroit Lions offense works to create a gap within the opposing line of defense.
All through his unimaginable ten-year Corridor of Fame profession, that is all Barry Sanders ever requested for and wanted from his teammates: simply the slightest of areas to interrupt via.
From there, he would zig and zag his manner via the protection, making would-be defenders miss at an unimaginable price.
Together with his compact and speedy working type combined with an uncanny area imaginative and prescient, Barry Sanders left a legacy as arguably the best working again in NFL historical past.
Solely the legendary Jim Brown’s 104.3 speeding yards per recreation outmatched Sanders’ 99.8, clearly demonstrating that Sanders might have develop into the all-time speeding chief had he caught round.
But, after ten years within the NFL, Sanders hung up his cleats after the 1998 season.
Sanders by no means rushed for fewer than 1,115 yards throughout these ten seasons, and he set that mark throughout an injury-plagued 1993 season in simply eleven video games.
1991 Stadium Membership #2 Emmitt Smith
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $60
The horizontal structure on this card completely captures the essence of who Emmitt Smith was as the sport’s all-time main rusher.
The elusive again was a nightmare to attempt to include within the open area due to his speedy and compact working type.
And you may virtually really feel the depth on this card because the New York Jets attempt to monitor him down.
This explicit run on this picture occurred through the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 9 go to at Giants Stadium on November 4, 1990, throughout Smith’s rookie season.
However issues did not end up so sizzling for the Cowboys that day, because the Jets stomped them 24-9 in entrance of the house crowd.
For his half, Smith carried the ball 15 instances for 55 yards, his longest being a 22-yarder that will have been the one proven on this card.
Regardless of the tough day for Smith, he’d go on to a really profitable rookie yr, successful the 1990 Offensive Rookie of the 12 months award.
And through his sophomore marketing campaign in 1991, Smith led the NFL in carries (365) and speeding yards (1,563) to emerge as one of many high backs within the league at simply 22 years outdated.
1991 Stadium Membership #71 Jerry Rice
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $60
No matter who was underneath middle for the 1991 San Francisco 49ers, Jerry Rice was there to do what he at all times did.
On the heels of two consecutive receiving titles, the five-time All-Professional receiver was tasked with a problem.
Rice’s sixth-sense partnership with Joe Montana had introduced two Lombardi Trophies to the Bay.
After Montana’s season-ending damage, the 29-year-old vast receiver was requested to discover a workable rhythm with QBs Steve Bono and Steve Younger.
For essentially the most half, Rice was profitable.
He missed out on an All-Professional designation for the primary time since his rookie season however nonetheless topped 1,200 receiving yards (1,206) and led the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns.
The ten-win 49ers missed the playoffs for the primary time in Rice’s profession.
But, the positives of the yr far outweighed the negatives.
The long run Corridor-of-Fame WR started to determine eventual franchise QB Steve Younger, and the 2 constructed a long-lasting relationship that will yield one other trophy down the road.
1991 Stadium Membership #327 Joe Montana
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $60
As unimaginable as Joe Montana was for the San Francisco 49ers, his story reminds us how shortly one’s NFL profession can change due to damage.
Through the Nineteen Eighties, Montana relied on his pinpoint accuracy and spectacular area imaginative and prescient to tear opposing secondaries aside in San Francisco’s West Coast offense.
Groups did no matter they might to cease him.
But few did, and the 49ers would win 4 rings that span.
And it was solely becoming that Montana and the 49ers would finish the last decade in 1989 with their second-consecutive championship by blowing out the Denver Broncos 55-10 in Tremendous Bowl XXIV.
When the 1990 NFL season kicked off, many questioned if San Francisco may develop into the primary staff to three-peat.
Montana and crew rolled proper via everybody and into the 1990 NFC Championship Sport in opposition to the New York Giants.
That is when catastrophe struck.
An enormous hit within the fourth quarter introduced Montana to the bottom, injuring a number of physique elements and finally forcing him out of the sport.
The Giants would go on to win the sport 15-13 and Montana’s profession would by no means be the identical.
After injuring his elbow through the 1991 NFL preseason, he’d require surgical procedure and miss almost the following two seasons.
1991 Stadium Membership #462 Bo Jackson
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $60
There might by no means be one other athlete like Bo Jackson.
To today, he stays the one individual ever to play in each an MLB All-Star Sport (1989) and an NFL Professional Bowl (1990).
As a two-sport phenom, Bo Jackson was seemingly in newspaper headlines year-round through the late Nineteen Eighties and early Nineties.
However then, throughout an AFC divisional playoff recreation in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals on January 13, 1991, his sports activities profession took a pointy flip when he injured his hip after a 34-yard run.
The deal with that introduced Jackson down that afternoon did not appear all that devastating.
But, the angle at which Jackson hit the bottom triggered him to undergo a dislocated left hip.
He’d miss the remainder of the competition and ultimately be identified with avascular necrosis of the left hip joint.
Jackson had no selection however to retire from the NFL.
As for his baseball profession, the Kansas Metropolis Royals quickly launched him earlier than the Chicago White Sox signed him to a three-year deal forward of the 1991 MLB season.
He’d solely play elements of these three years (lacking the 1992 season fully) with the White Sox earlier than taking part in one remaining season with the California Angels in 1994.
1991 Stadium Membership #3 Deion Sanders
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $45
Throughout his first season with the Atlanta Braves, Deion Sanders belted a three-run house run in opposition to the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 31, 1991, to assist Atlanta get the win.
Although the Braves would go on to win the NL West by one recreation and ultimately made it to the World Collection, that was the final time Deion suited up for the Braves that season.
His contract with the Atlanta Falcons required him to report back to coaching camp on August 1, forcing him to overlook the MLB postseason.
And in his third season for the Falcons, Sanders broke out in a giant manner.
Rising as a shutdown nook, Sanders picked off six passes and returned one for a landing.
He additionally posted 49 mixed tackles, a sack, two pressured fumbles, and one fumble restoration.
However he wasn’t simply an asset on protection.
On particular groups for the playoff-bound Falcons, Sanders returned 21 punts for 170 yards and 26 kickoffs for 576 yards, together with a highlight-reel 100-yard landing at San Francisco.
Nonetheless, he wished he might’ve continued taking part in for the Braves past the top of July.
So, in 1992, Sanders labored a deal to permit him to play each sports activities concurrently, and his legend as a two-sport stud continued.
1991 Stadium Membership #264 Dan Marino
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $45
Had the Miami Dolphins’ protection not been so horrible in 1991, the staff probably would’ve completed much better than 8-8.
And so they would not have missed the playoffs for the fourth time in 5 seasons.
Nevertheless, the Miami protection struggled all season in opposition to the run, ending second-to-last in whole speeding protection.
And all that yardage led to many scoring alternatives, inflicting Miami to complete twenty fourth within the NFL in factors allowed by giving up 21.8 factors per recreation.
That meant Dan Marino and the Dolphins’ offense needed to mild issues up on the offensive facet of the ball to have a lot of an opportunity at successful.
Marino was joyful to reply the decision, shredding opposing defenses along with his trademark prolific passing type and all-out aerial assaults.
Although he did not lead the NFL in any main statistical classes, he proved to be the most effective quarterbacks within the league but once more, finishing 57.9% of his passes for 3,970 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Marino did what he might to make up for the porous Miami protection, serving to the Dolphins’ offense to complete third within the NFL in passing, sixth in factors scored, and seventh in whole offense.
Sadly, the postseason simply wasn’t within the playing cards for Miami that yr.
1991 Stadium Membership #281 Lawerence Taylor
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $45
After a decade on the high of the NFL, Lawrence Taylor started his sluggish downward pattern towards retirement in 1991.
The New York Giants outdoors linebacker kicked off his Corridor-of-Fame profession with three NFL Defensive Participant of the 12 months awards in his first six years, together with two straight in his first two.
He made eight First-Workforce All-Professional groups and two Second Groups in his first ten seasons and averaged 12.4 sacks.
Throughout that decade of dominance, the Giants’ D completed within the high 9 in scoring protection eight instances and received two Tremendous Bowls.
As LT went, so did the G-Males.
That is what made 1991 really feel so bizarre.
LT tore a ligament in his left thumb and performed via different nagging accidents all yr.
He lacked the identical explosiveness off the sting, and opposing offense linemen had been typically in a position to neutralize him with out assist.
Taylor completed the yr with 7.0 sacks, the bottom output of his profession.
He posted two fumble recoveries but graded out from common to under common in most key defensive metrics.
With their Corridor-of-Fame chief off a step, the Giants completed twelfth in scoring protection and out of the playoffs at 8-8.
1991 Stadium Membership #294 John Elway
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $45
After Tremendous Bowl losses in 1986, 1987 and 1989, John Elway had a popularity as a man who could not fairly get the job completed in postseason play.
Everybody is aware of that skilled soccer is as a lot a staff recreation as any, however proper or flawed, Elway shouldered the burden of being a playoff bust.
After a depressing 1990 marketing campaign that noticed Denver fall to final place within the AFC West at 5-11, Elway and crew climbed again on high in 1991 with a 12-4 document for a fifth division title in 9 years.
As nice of a turnaround story because it was, the one factor that mattered in Elway’s eyes was bringing a Tremendous Bowl trophy house to Mile Excessive Stadium because the playoffs started.
Trailing 24-23 late within the AFC Divisional Spherical in opposition to the Houston Oilers, the Broncos devoted started to lose hope.
But, remaining calm underneath strain, Elway marched his staff from their very own 2-yard line to Houston’s 11-yard line to arrange a game-winning area aim.
And although he’d get one other alternative for a come-from-behind win in opposition to the Buffalo Payments within the AFC Championship Sport, Denver finally fell quick, dropping 10-7.
Whereas the Payments celebrated at Wealthy Stadium, feelings again house at Mile Excessive could not have been any decrease
1991 Stadium Membership #60 Ricky Watters Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $40
After Roger Craig left for the Los Angeles Raiders earlier than the 1991 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers had been on the hunt for a brand new characteristic working again.
They discovered their man within the 1991 NFL Draft, deciding on Nebraska product Ricky Watters halfway via the second spherical.
It had all of the makings of a draft-day steal.
“Ricky’s a miniature Bo Jackson,” 49ers deal with (and former teammate of Jackson) Steve Wallace mentioned “He has extra strikes than Bo and higher lateral motion. He is in a position to decrease his shoulders and run via folks like Bo did.”
It was excessive reward for an unproven rookie.
Watters had the arrogance and athleticism to show Wallace proper, but his physique wasn’t prepared to cooperate in yr one.
The 22-year-old halfback broke his proper foot in a July observe and was initially supposed to take a seat out for six to eight weeks.
The rehab course of proved a lot slower and extra difficult than anticipated, and the 49ers finally made the decision to take a seat Watters out for your complete ’91 marketing campaign.
1991 Stadium Membership #228 Troy Aikman
Estimated PSA 10 Worth: $40
The Dallas Cowboys’ Nineties dynasty might have began a yr earlier if Troy Aikman’s proper knee had held up in 1991.
The third-year QB accomplished 65.3% of his passes in ’91 for two,754 yards with 11 touchdowns in opposition to 10 interceptions in 12 video games.
Aikman’s TD/INT ratio wasn’t nice, however his completion price was the second-best of his 12-year Corridor-of-Fame profession.
On November twenty fourth, Aikman tore a collateral ligament in his proper knee, ending his common season earlier than the staff’s remaining playoff push.
Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson mentioned, “We do not need him again till he will be productive and never endanger himself.”
Dallas had a fantastic Plan B: let backup Steve Beuerlein play recreation supervisor and pound the run with Emmitt Smith.
The Cowboys rallied across the fallen Aikman to shut the common season, successful their final 5 to streak into the playoffs at 11-5.
That is the place a wholesome Aikman might have completed wonders.
As an alternative, Beuerlein was bailed out by Smith and the protection in a 17-13 Wild Card Spherical win over Chicago earlier than submerging the offense in a 38-6 Divisional Spherical loss to Detroit.
Aikman changed Beuerlein late within the first half, however it was too late.
1991 Topps Stadium Membership Soccer Playing cards In Assessment
No doubt, the Brett Favre rookie will at all times stay the important thing card on this set.
Given his struggles out of the gate, nobody would have guessed it on the time.
However that is the great thing about this passion.
Corridor of Famers do not at all times begin off with a bang, and also you by no means know who may develop into a legend sometime down the road.
Along with Favre, there have been so many big-name stars to chase on this guidelines.
And I keep in mind how superb it was to see these gamers on the premium cardstock and images for the primary time.
Different details about this set contains:
Guidelines: 500 playing cards
Distribution: One Collection
Subsets:
Insert Units
- 1991 Stadium Membership Membership Type
- The Sporting Information Provide
I nonetheless have enjoyable wanting via this set and experiencing the nostalgia that comes with it.
With the standard of right this moment’s playing cards, it is easy to miss how nice lots of them look.
However, again in 1991, high quality like this was almost unprecedented.
This set undoubtedly has its place in passion historical past.
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