This was the first mass produced NASCAR trading card set ever produced. There were three printings of the cards. The Myrtle Beach set (First Edition) contains 100 cards including a cover card and four checklists. The set was initially introduced at the 1988 Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. The Myrtle Beach name was attached to this set due to the printer’s notation (Sheriar Press) on the four checklists. The 100 standard size cards comprising this set were issued in complete factory sets and also available in Ten-card shrink-wrapped packs that were packaged in 44-count boxes. The cover card (#1) from this set was produced with two different descriptions located in the yellow starburst on the front of the card. The cover card in the factory set reads “100 collector cards…” while the cover card in the shrink-wrapped packs shows “10 collector cards…” The scarce nature of this set is attributable to the ten variations which this set contains. Supposedly 10,000 of the Myrtle Beach sets were produced.
The Charlotte set (First Annual Edition) contains cards from the second and third printing of 1988 Maxx. The Charlotte name refers to what was believed to be the location of the second and third printings, although all three printings took place at the same location. The set is often called the “First Annual Edition” by collectors. It contains numerous variations from the Myrtle Beach set. The cover cards were printed with two different starburst descriptions (pack versus factory set) in both the Charlotte and Myrtle Beach versions. During the second printing, 10 cards including the two variations of the cover card were changed. The Myrtle Beach notation was removed from the four checklist cards. The special offer price ($19.95) was changed prior to the second printing to $21.45 on the cover cards. The Talladega Streaks #10 card was eliminated to make room for Darrell Waltrip. Checklist #19 was changed to reflect this move. On card #26 Phil Parsons, his wife’s name was included in the family section on the back of the card. It was excluded in the first Myrtle Beach printing. During the third printing of the set, six cards were changed. The #59 1988 Begins card was eliminated to make room for the #59 Brett Bodine card. Checklist #69 was changed to reflect this move. The #43 Daytona International Speedway card was changed to card #47. The #47 Single File card was eliminated. Richard Petty was included in the set on card #43. Checklist #36 was updated to reflect the changes on cards #43 and #47. On the #88 Ken Bouchard card, the family section was changed to reflect the fact that he and his fiancée, Heidi, were married during the season. There is also a card #99 of Dale Earnhardt that was originally wasn’t released due to Maxx not getting approval from Mr. Earnhardt. The card was later issued with a sticker on it via an insert redemption in the 1994 Maxx Medallion .
There are two different factory sets which each contain 100 cards. The sticker that mentions First Edition contains all of the Myrtle Beach edition cards. The factory set sticker that mentions First Annual Edition contains all of the Charlotte edition cards.