Upper Deck confirmed Friday afternoon that Tommy Baxter of Little Rock, Arkansas has been declared the winner of the Yankee Stadium Legacy Set Contest. Baxter, 36, is the first person to successfully assemble the entire Yankee Stadium Legacy Set, which consists of more then 6,600 different baseball cards. Baxter says his 11 year old daughter Madeleine was instrumental in helping him complete the gargantuan task of assembling the set.
Baxter told Upper Deck, “I’ve put together plenty of Upper Deck sets in the past, so I figured this was just one more to complete. I really didn’t take it seriously at first, but once I got through that first series of inserts, I knew I had to finish it.”
That first series of insert cards appeared in Upper Deck’s 2008 Series One Baseball set, which released on February 5th, which is when Baxter embarked on his quest to complete the Yankee Stadium Legacy Set. The cards fell at an average rate of one in every four packs. Within two weeks he had collected 200 of the Yankee Stadium Legacy cards, leaving "only" 6,461 cards left to acquire! Nine more Upper Deck baseball trading card products were released over the course of 2008 that have each contained various Yankee Stadium Legacy cards from the overall set.
In addition to being a time consuming endeavor, Baxter's self appointed quest was also very expensive.
“I would estimate I spent a little more than $15,000 putting this set together,” said Baxter, who mentioned he finished the set the night before Halloween. “I remember it was a Thursday, since those were the days we’d collate the cards. Madeleine would go through and sort the cards every week. That night we knew we had this thing licked.”
The set would have been completed sooner had it not been for the elusive #4,272, which featured Ron Guidry. "I couldn’t find that card anywhere. Nobody had it,” said Baxter. Despite his best efforts, card #4,272 was nowhere to be found. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.
As October drew to a close, Baxter received the Guidry card he had been searching for from collectors in New Jersey and Florida. Baxter recalled, “I couldn’t find that card for seven months and then I got four of them within a week."
Once he had the complete set in his possession, he shipped it off to Upper Deck's headquarters to have it verified.
Chris Carlin, Upper Deck’s hobby marketing manager, was one of three Upper Deck Employees who sorted through (and later confirmed) Baxter's winning submission, “All the cards are in. Tommy’s accomplishment is incredible. He’s the first person to complete the set, so we’re ecstatic and very happy for Tommy and Madeleine.”
The rewards for the father / daughter duo are numerous. Baxter and his daughter will receive an all expense paid trip to New York City in the spring at which time they will take in a Yankees game at the new stadium. Once at the game, they will be given the opportunity to meet Yankees Team Captain Derek Jeter. In addition, since 2008 marked the final MLB season in the old stadium, Baxter will receive 81 additional YSL cards chronicling the Yankees’ last campaign which brings the grand total of games played (and cards produced) to 6,742. Now that his set has been checked, he will get all of his cards back to do with as he pleases.
Upper Deck still has four grand prize openings left for collectors who are able to assemble the entire Yankee Stadium Legacy Collection. Additional information on the contest can be found by visiting Upper Deck's website.
