Move over Honus: It’s Uecker Time

Can a modern Bob Uecker card unseat the T206 Honus Wagner atop the hobby? No, it can’t, but Uecker does have an extremely short printed card that was mistakenly produced, which is making waves with collectors and conjuring up memories of other cards, such as the Wagner and the 2006 Topps Alex Gordon.

The Uecker won’t ascend to the same lofty collecting heights, but it is an interesting card, and sure to be at the top of Uecker collectors’ want lists. So, what is this Uecker card, and from whence did it come?

Pop Fly’s Good Deed

Pop Fly prints are awesome. Daniel Horine (also of Topps Project 70 fame) creates vintage comic book-inspired prints celebrating baseball’s grand history on pretty much a weekly basis.

The prints have a diehard following, and some of the early ones can command some staggering sums. His Project 70 cards likewise sell for strong prices compared to others in the line. His work is popular and very much worth a look if you’ve never checked him out.

Horine teamed up with the Milwaukee Brewers to support local Wisconsin police departments by issuing Milwaukee Brewers Print Packs. Each pack contains six mini-prints (they are cards, but I’m guessing some doofus with a law degree said that they can’t be called that) of Brewers players done in the characteristic Pop Fly style.

The packs were given to police departments to aid community engagement. They had a hit on their hands, and packs quickly disappeared. A few have hit eBay with sales right around the $100 mark for a pack. Huzzah!

Uecker Gets a Grail

That’s great, but the real gem is the Bob Uecker card. The set was supposed to have a seventh card featuring Uecker, but the Brewers pulled the Uecker card (again, likely the work of a doofus with a law degree).

Lawyers be damned though. At least one sneaked into packs unbeknownst to anyone. That’s right, Mr Baseball has his very own card in circulation that isn’t supposed to be. One surfaced in a pack, which surprised even the creator, who doesn’t even have a copy.

How many are there? There might only be one of the Uecker cards. There might be 50. Judging from the chatter in the Pop Fly groups, I’m betting it is closer to the lower end. With the cards being giveaways, it is likely that some copies, if they even exist, will be destined for toy chests or even garbage cans.

Uecker isn’t the biggest name in the game, but he is beloved. Now he’s got a truly interesting and very rare card for player collectors to chase. Best of luck to those looking for this card.

From Wagner to Alex Gordon, collectors have been enamored with cards with limited numbers due to various production issues. Now Uecker is on that list as well. As one of the game’s best ambassadors, that seems fitting.

Now, you might be thinking it is a great time to buy up all the packs and go Uecker hunting. That sounds fun, but the packs all contain the full set in the same order, and the one(s) with Uecker has Uecker visible through the front (all others have Yelich). That means no great wax ripping frenzy.

Wrap Up

The set has been a big enough hit that a second printing (with a higher print run) is in the works. The cards are great in and of themselves, and I can’t help but recommend snagging some for any Brewers collector.

I’m really interested to see if any more Uecker cards surface. If you hear of any, let me know in the comments.

Note: The image used for this article is of a Uecker Pop Fly print, not the card. The card looks somewhat similar.