MLB Honor Roll Features Hideki Matsui Rookie Game-Used Jersey Cards

CARLSBAD, CA (August 26, 2003) - 2003 MLB Honor Roll: 130 regular player cards, issued August 18th. Inserts include: "Dean's List" Game-Used Jersey Cards, "Leather of Distinction" Game-Used Glove Cards, "Grade A" Batting Glove Cards, "Silver Honors" Parallel Cards and "Gold Honors" Parallel Cards.

Baseball card collectors, go straight to the head of the class. Upper Deck's 2003 MLB Honor Roll trading card set is now available and ready to deliver a grand slam to baseball enthusiasts everywhere. Its assorted lineup of top-notch inserts includes, for the first time ever, Hideki Matsui Rookie Game-Used Jersey Cards (only 1,000 cards are available)!

"The Hideki Matsui game-used rookie jersey cards bring this set to a whole new level," says Upper Deck Baseball Brand Manager Mike Barry. "Collectors from overseas as well as nationwide know the kind of impact Matsui has made on the New York Yankees this year, so that will only drive the collectibility of this special set."

This superb collection boasts other incredible insert sets as well including ''Dean's List'' Game-Used Jersey Cards (1:24 packs); ''Leather of Distinction'' Game-Worn Fielder's Glove Cards (1:960 packs); "Grade A" Game-Worn Batting Glove Cards (1:960 packs); ''Silver Honors'' Parallel Cards (numbered to 150 each); and ''Gold Honors'' Parallel Cards (numbered to 25 each).

There are 130 regular player cards in the set including 30 short-printed (1:6 packs) cards. In addition, there are 30 "Freshman Class" subset cards that focus on some of the game's top up-and-coming rookie talents. These Freshman Class subset cards are all sequentially numbered to 2,500. Upper Deck's 2003 MLB Honor Roll hits store shelves this month with a suggested retail price of $2.99 per pack. The complete list of specialty inserts and subsets follow below:
PRODUCT BREAKDOWN Game-Used Jersey Insert Cards

"Dean's List" - Game-Used Jersey Cards of top-name players like Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, Albert Pujols, Hideo Nomo and Mark Prior (1:24 packs);

"Hideki Matsui" - Game-Used Rookie Jersey Cards (only 1,000 cards available). Game-Used Glove Insert Cards

"Leather of Distinction" - Game-Worn Fielder's Glove Cards of superstars such as Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Frank Thomas and Ichiro (1:960 packs);

"Grade A Batting Gloves" - Game-Worn Batting Glove Cards of players including Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Delgado, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Furcal and Manny Ramirez (1:960 packs). Parallel Insert Cards

"Silver Honors" (160 cards, numbered to 150 each);

"Gold Honors" (160 cards, numbered to 25 each). Rookie Subset Cards

"Freshman Class" - superb subset cards of top rookies including Rocco Baldelli, Jose Contreras, Oscar Villarreal, Josh Hall and Luis Ayala (30 cards, sequentially numbered to 2,500 each). 130 Regular Player Cards

"Short Prints" (30 cards, 1:6 packs).