Richard McWilliam
The visionary who revolutionized the trading card industry by introducing premium quality, holograms, and authenticity to a child's hobby.
1953–2013 (age 60)·American businessman·Birthday: October 20·Baby Boomers
Biography
Richard McWilliam, a former accountant, looked at the sleepy, scandal-plagued world of sports trading cards in the late 1980s and saw an opportunity for a revolution. In 1989, he co-founded The Upper Deck Company with a simple but radical idea: trading cards should be high-quality, tamper-proof collectibles, not just cheap inserts in bubblegum packs. Upper Deck's first baseball set stunned the industry with its superior card stock, glossy finish, and that small but revolutionary hologram on the back to guarantee authenticity. This move single-handedly forced the entire hobby to elevate its standards. McWilliam's vision transformed cards from a kid's pastime into a serious adult collectibles market, paving the way for inserted autographs and game-worn memorabilia cards that dominate the industry today. His leadership made Upper Deck a fierce competitor to the century-old Topps company and changed how fans connected with their sports heroes.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Richard was born in 1953, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1953
#1 Movie
Peter Pan
Best Picture
From Here to Eternity
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1953Born
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1958Started school
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1966Became a teenager
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Could drive
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1971Could vote
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Turned 21
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1983Turned 30
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1993Turned 40
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 50
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 60
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Key Achievements
- Co-founded The Upper Deck Company in 1989, breaking Topps' monopoly and revolutionizing trading card quality and design.
- Pioneered the use of holograms on trading cards as an anti-counterfeiting measure, becoming an industry standard.
- Secured the first-ever exclusive trading card license with Major League Baseball Players Association, challenging Topps' dominance.
- Introduced the concept of inserting autographed cards and game-used memorabilia directly into packs, creating the modern high-end collectible market.
- Expanded the company into producing licensed trading cards for the NBA, NHL, NFL, and entertainment properties.
Did You Know?
Before Upper Deck, he was a certified public accountant working for Arthur Andersen.
The company's name was inspired by the term for the best staterooms on a cruise ship.
Upper Deck's very first card, #1 in its 1989 set, featured baseball star Ken Griffey Jr., who was also a rookie that year.
He was a graduate of California State University, Fullerton.
“Our goal was to bring integrity and innovation to the card industry.”
