1997 Upper Deck MLS

Total Cards: 50

Rating: 7.7 (7 votes)
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1997 Upper Deck MLS

Trivia

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• Alexi Lalas is an error card in this set. The back of his card labels him as a member of the Colorado Rapids. The correct card was released in a 2-card promotional set along with Carlos Valderamma in 1996.
• The original release of this product is from 1997 produced by Upper Deck & Bandi. It was slated to be a 2 series release featuring a total of 10 players from each team, but bad sales forced UD to cancel the release of Series 2. It was going to feature international players Missael Espinoza, Chris Woods, Hugo Sanchez and Martin Vasquez.
• Two players in this set are not in their team uniform. Columbus Crew Brian McBride, card 9, is pictured in a pregame warm-up shirt, missing his game shin guards. Dallas Burn Jason Kreis, card 14, is pictured in his 1996 MLS All-Star West uniform.
• This set features all the inaugural 1996 season team names and logos -- except the Kansas City Wiz. Following the 1996 season, the Wiz changed names, becoming the "Wizards", after legal action from electronics retailer The Wiz. This set shows the 1997 Wizards name and logo, while the players pictured are wearing the original Wiz logo shirts.
• Major League Soccer intended to produce its own inaugural set of 100 cards, 10 players from each of the ten teams, back in 1996. They handed out a two card promo (1996 MLS All Star Game Promos) during the July 14th 1996 All Star game, which stated on the back of the cards, "Major League Soccer has quickly established itself as the world class professional outdoor soccer league. With the introduction of Major League Soccer Trading Cards the last frontier for serious collector's is here. Sure to grow in value, MLS trading cards are on the cutting-edge of the sports collectable market … be a part of it."
  
  The 100 card set was never produced, with MLS signing an Upper Deck deal to produce this set of cards featuring the 1996 inaugural season.