1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier

I received a box of cards and wax packs from Motherscratcher the other day, and I thought the best thing to do with a gift like that is to share it with everyone else! The first pack I am opening is a 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier. The pack itself (above) is shiny and gold - a combination sure to bring collectors running, right? There are 7 cards in each pack.


The first two cards out of the gate are Roberto Alomar (Blue Jays) and Ozzie Smith (Cardinals)! Holy crap! Now, THAT'S the way to start a pack. The cards themselves feature (in my opinion) photography that is a step above the 80's Donruss cards, but not too much higher. The top of each card features a gold banner with the company logo on the left and a multi-colored 'Premier" on the right. Photos are surrounded by a colored border. Below the photo is the player's name, team, and position. The position is written in English followed by a French translation. O-Pee-Chee is a Canadian company, after all.


I don't know much about the history of the company, but I am guessing these are called "Premier" because it's the first time the company did not use photos and designs from Topps. It sounds good anyway.

Next in the pack, is Roger Clemens (Red Sox), Tim Wallach (Expos), and Dave Winfield (Angels). Seriously? This pack is turning out to be an early 90's collector's dream (edited due to younger readers that I know frequent the site). Holy crap (again!).


The last two cards are Chris Nabholz (Expos) and Gary Scott (Cubs). I decided to show the backs of the cards this time. The backs feature a large closeup of the player on the left. The upper right features the card number (BTW, Alomar is card #1) and the scripted "Premier" again. They really wanted you to know this was THE PREMIER set. The player's name in all-caps is next with the position below that in English and French. The previous year's stats are shown in a bright yellow box along with "carriere" info (that's French for career). Beneath the photo, we find biographical information, all in English.

Really, so the only part in French is the player's position!? I don't even know what to say to that.

In the lower right corner, the team logo and the bottom of the card features logos from the various MLB property entities. I admit, after shuffling through these a couple more times, the photos aren't quite as bad as I had thought originally.