1990 Pro Set Football Cards
1990 was Pro Set's 2nd effort at producing a "premium" football card. The set was received well by collectors and boasted all of the top football players of the time, along with several hot rookies and prospects for 1990, such as Emmitt Smith.
1990 Pro Set is also known for several errors and variations that give the set some personality. Some of the variations are tough to find, others are relatively easy.
The most sought after variation from 1990 Pro Set is card #204 Fred Marion of the New England Patriots. This card is rather controversial. The card features San Francisco 49ers player John Taylor in the background, and due to a misfortunate positioning of his belt, it makes the photograph seem vulgar because the belt appears to be uhhhh.. a big something else. I've included a picture of the card to the right, but it's not a very good scan. If you see the card close-up, it appears more obvious.
Also in 1990, Pro Set included a Santa Claus card that could be randomly found in packs. Pro Set made a Santa Claus card in 1989 too, but it wasn't available in packs and only given out in a promo set offered to dealers. The 1990 Pro Set Santa Claus card was a big hit with collectors, but ultimately the over-production of the set saw that most collectors who wanted the Santa Claus card, were able to own one. The card lists Santa Claus as being "Head Coach". On the back of each Santa card is a parody of the "The Night Before Christmas" poem that has sportscard subject matter. Click on the pictures for a bigger view. The artwork on the front of the card is interesting if you look closely. There is a picture on the wall of "Elf Of The Month" which is actually former Pro Set president Lud Denny. The Christmas tree is decorated with various Pro Set sportscards as well.
Speaking of Lud Denny, card #338 can be found as either Eric Dickerson or Lud Denny. I'm not sure how the #338 Lud Denny card was distributed, I think it was a promotional card and not available in packs.
Pro Set made sure to include some other cool cards in the set also, such as golfing legend Payne Stewart, one of Paul Tagliabue at the Berlin Wall, a comic book character called Super Pro, which was a superhero in a football uniform, a tribute to the late Joe Robbie, and a still very sought after Lombardi Trophy Hologram card that was a rare pull from Pro Set wax boxes.
Other errors and variations in the 1990 Pro Set football set include:
#1a Barry Sanders (No ROY trophy on back)
#1b Barry Sanders (Shows picture of Barry holding the ROY trophy)
#2a Joe Montana POY 3521 ERR (back reads "Kelly-3,521 yards")
#2b Joe Montana POY 3130 COR (back corrected to "Kelly: 3,130 yards")
#15a Walter Stanley ERR (#8 on back)
#15b Walter Stanley COR (#86 on back)
#18a Chris Doleman ERR (error back, wrong stats, "Townsent")
#18b Chris Doleman COR (back corrected to 104.5 sacks for Taylor; "Townsent" corrected to "Townsend")
#19a Andre Ware RC w/o stripe(no stripe)
#19b Andre Ware RC w/stripe (draft stripe on front)
#20a Mo Elewonibi (no stripe)
#20b Mo Elewonibi (draft stripe on front)
#21a Percy Snow (no stripe)
#21b Percy Snow (draft stripe on front)
#22a Anthony Thompson RC (no stripe)
#22b Anthony Thompson RC (draft stripe on front)
#25a Franco Harris ERR wrong birthdate
#25b Franco Harris COR corrected birthdate 3/7/50
#27a Jack Lambert ERR wrong birthdate
#27b Jack Lambert COR corrected birthdate 7/8/52
#59a Mike Ditka SMALL FONT for "Hall Of Fame" on front.
#59b Mike Ditka LARGE FONT for "Hall Of Fame" on front.
#63a Rickey Dixon RC ERR (no bio notes under photo)
#63b Rickey Dixon RC COR (with bio notes)
#68a Sam Wyche CO ERR (no bio notes under photo)
#68b Sam Wyche CO COR (with bio notes)
#75a Ozzie Newsome ERR
#75b Ozzie Newsome COR (corrected hometown: Muscle Shoals,AL)
#75c Cody Risien SP (Short Print)
#110a Johnny Holland ERR (no name,number on back)
#110b Johnny Holland COR (corrected)
#111a Perry Kemp ERR (Ken Stills photo on back)
#111b Perry Kemp COR (corrected)
#114a Sterling Sharpe ERR (says he was born in Glenville)
#114b Sterling Sharpe COR (corrected birthplace: Chicago, IL)
#134a Andre Rison NO TRADE STRIPE
#134b Andre Rison WITH TRADE STRIPE
#134c Andre Rison WITH TRADE STRIPE and Mail-In Offer on back
#152a Mervyn Fernandez ERR (Draft status incorrect)
#152b Mervyn Fernandez COR (status corrected to "Drafted 10th round '83")
#161a Art Shell (Birthdate: 11/25/46 on back)
#161b Art Shell (Birthdate: 11/26/46 on back, large HOF print in banner on front)
#161C Art Shell (Birthdate: 11/26/46 on back, small HOF print in banner on front)
#204a Fred Marion (49ers player with belt)
#204b Fred Marion (49ers players belt airbrushed out)
#210a Morten Andersen (name in white on back)
#210b Morten Andersen (corrected)
#216a Eric Martin ERR (name in white on back)
#216b Eric Martin COR (corrected)
#221a Jim Mora CO ERR (name in white on back)
#221b Jim Mora CO COR (corrected)
#289a Charles Haley ERR (incorrect fumble recovery stats)
#289b Charles Haley COR (stats corrected to 5 total fumble recoveries)
#319a Ray Perkins CO ERR no name or position on back)
#319b Ray Perkins CO COR (corrected)
#338a Eric Dickerson Pro Bowl (Short Print)
#338b Lud Denny Promo 338B
#343a Chris Hinton PB 343A (no stripe)
#343b Chris Hinton PB 343B (with traded stripe)
#386a Randall Cunningham Small Print On Front
#386b Randall Cunningham Large Print On Front
#449a Dan Hampton ERR (DE back)
#449b Dan Hampton COR (DT back)
#496a Kevin Glover RC (C-G back)
#496b Kevin Glover RC (G back)
#607a Wes Hopkins (Stat Categories Fumbles and Interceptions in Black)
#607B Wes Hopkins (Stat Categories Fumbles and Interceptions in RED)
#626a Rod Woodson (Red fumble interceptions header)
#626b Rod Woodson (Black fumble interceptions header)
#627a Rod Bernstine (position listed as TE)
#627b Rod Bernstine (position corrected to RB)
#630a Anthony Miller (position listed as WR back)
#630b Anthony Miller (position listed as WR-KR back)
#630c Anthony Miller (position listed as WR-KR on back and front) unverified?
#632a Leslie O'Neal (position listed as LB-DE on front)
#632b Leslie O'Neal (position listed as LB on front)
#632c Leslie O'Neal COR
#633a David Richards (position listed as G-T on back)
#633b David Richards (position listed as G on back)
#657a Curt Jarvis (no "Official NFL card" on front)
#657b Curt Jarvis ("Official NFL card" added to front)
#669a Jeff George Illinois SHORT PRINT
#669b Jeff George
#698a Terry Wooden (back number 90)
#698b Terry Wooden (back number 51)
#701a Fred Washington 701
#701b Fred Washington 701 (memorial card from Final Update)
#718a Pat Terrell (back number 41)
#718b Pat Terrell (back number 37)
#723a Oliver Barnett (position listed as DT on front)
#723b Oliver Barnett (position listed as NT on front)
#743A Johnny Bailey RC/(Back says 46)
#743B Johnny Bailey RC/(Back says 22)
#744a Eric Moore (no prospect stripe)
#744b Eric Moore (prospect stripe added)
#772a Dexter Manley (mentions substance abuse problems on the back of the card)
#772b Dexter Manley (does not mention substance abuse on back)
#785a Commissioner at Berlin Wall 785A (back says "peered through the Berlin Wall")
#785b Commissioner at Berlin Wall 785B (back says "posed at the Berlin Wall")
