Error Gallery : Caught in Packaging

Most people consider this damage. I do not. While it's not an error in card production- it's an error made by the card company, as they package the cards. It's something you can pull from packs, and I have...many times over. I've also traded for them when I have been able to.

It's the second most common error in the hobby. It's also one of the hardest to get to show up in a scan, and I have a bunch more I'm not bothering to show, because you can't see anything in the scan at all.

1994-95 Hoops #436

1995-96 Skybox #32

2012-13 Panini Marquee #3

This LeBron is actually my newest example of this error, I pulled it from a box.

2007 Press Pass VIP #46

This one was so badly mangled that the card isn't even square anymore.

1993-94 Hoops 5th Anniversary #317

 Interestingly, this one got it right under the bottom foil stripe to the bottom of the card.

1993-94 Skybox #214

1994-95 Upper Deck #222

 Caught so tightly that the top right of the card is actually ripped at the crimp.

1995-96 Upper Deck #164

 When it comes on foil it's actually easier to see.

1996-97 Skybox #200

This one is hard to see in the scan, but you can see it a little bit on his leg. I mostly included this scan so I could thank Chris of The Collector for sending it to me.

This was another that was a little painful to pull. It remains my only card from this insert out of my all-time favorite set to this day, now 22 years after I pulled it.

I have a lot more that I have not even scanned yet...but I could say that about every error. When I do, it will give me more to post.

One more to finish this project...which I have scheduled for noon tomorrow. When this post goes live I will be at the world's largest model car show, the NNL East, in Wayne, NJ.

NBA 20th Anniversary Countdown #2

The final two sets. They must be great to make it to my top 2! This one, I think, was the first box of NBA cards I ever opened!

#2: 1994-95 Hoops

Why I like it: The design is great. I can still remember opening the box I got that day in 1996. The backs give you the player's jersey number. But like most of the top 5, it's the memories.

Set size/Completion: 450 cards, I completed it on March 2nd, 2002.

Back when I first discovered the sport, the 1995-96 season was roughly halfway done. I jumped in with both feet (proverbially) and started collecting as many cards as I possibly could. But I really didn't know who anybody was at that point. It took time to learn, and the best way to do that is to look at cards...as many cards as possible. This set, I believe, was the first box I ever opened. It could be this one, 1990-91 Hoops or 1994 Action Packed Hall of Fame, but I really think it was this one. I can still remember opening it, I can still remember where I was sitting even. (Some things are so important that they just burn themselves into memory) This set, with it's high levels of text and stats on the back, and a larger checklist than any 1995-96 set, did a great deal for me to learn about the NBA. Sure, not all the players were with the same teams, or even still in the NBA. But it didn't matter. The fact that the back of the card included the player's jersey number was a great thing to me. When the guys are running at top speed, and viewed from a distance, you usually can't see their faces or can't read the names on the jersey...but you can see the numbers. I can remember literally watching games and looking at the backs of these cards trying to match the player on the card to the player on TV. Granted, I only did it a few times- back then my memory worked a lot better than it does now so I knew pretty much all the rosters of each team within a matter of a few weeks. But I doubt I would have been able to do that if I did not have this set to help me.

Look at all that information stuffed on there! You can tell that back then they really cared about the game...not something you really feel like the card companies do anymore.

There were 9 inserts, including the multi-level Magic's All-Rookie, which has regular, chrome and Jumbo versions.  I don't have any of the Draft Redemption cards, and I have not scanned any of the Rainbow foil Big Numbers parallel.

 Magic's All-Rookie regular

 Magic's All-Rookie Chrome

 Magic's All-rookie jumbo. The blogger format doesn't show it well but this is 4 times the size of a standard card.

 Hoops Power

Supreme Court, which is making it's final appearance until 2004-05. It began in 1991-92 as a subset.

 Big Numbers

Hoops Power Predator


In addition, the 2004-05 Hoops set paid tribute to the 1994-95 set in design.

• #20: 2002-03 Topps 10
• #19: 2004-05 Topps Total
• #18: 2002-03 Topps Pristene
• #17: 1992-93 Ultra
• #16: 1975-76 Topps
• #15 1996-97 SP
• #14 1992-93 Upper Deck
• #13 2012-13 Hoops
• #12 1997-98 Ultra
• #11 1992-93 Fleer
• #10 1994-95 Fleer
• #9 1996-97 Upper Deck
• #8 1997-98 Stadium Club
• #7 1995-96 Fleer
• #6 1996-97 Stadium Club
• #5 1996-97 Fleer
• #4 1990-91 Hoops
• #3 1996-97 Metal
• #2 1994-95 Hoops

Hot Off the Scanner Tray Week 11

 Back to HOST posting, after not scanning anything that didn't go to it's own post at all last week!

Starting out is a cool insert from 1999-00 EX, EX-Ceptional. I found out recently these came in three different colors, I've only seen red. I wish my scan of the Elton Brand card in the set came out as good as this Odom card did!

Here are the two Taco Bell cards I wasn't able to get scanned in time to make my November trade recap. Note the rounded corners, which are a dead giveaway they are Taco Bell issues. The copyright info on the back also mentions Taco Bell. 

I think I've gotten more Anderson Varejao cards in 2015 than I have in any other year of his career, which is over a decade long, now!

Take a look at this 1993-94 Fleer base card. Do you notice anything strange about it?

 How about the 5 foot 3 Muggsy Bogues guarding the 7 foot James Edwards? Bogues, the shortest player in the NBA's history, would normally not have been guarding Edwards, yet here we have photographic proof that at one point, he did! Muggsy was always one of my favorite players, by the way. Speaking of extremes on height in the NBA...

This card from 1994-95 Hoops shows two of the three tallest players in NBA history, missing only Manute Bol, who was ending his career with the Golden State Warriors during 1994-95. Interesting, he played (briefly) with both the Sixers and Bullets during 1993-94, when this photo was likely taken. (Also with Miami during that season). Note that they are so tall...Muresan was 7 foot 7, Shawn Bradley 7 foot 6 (which is why they wore 77 and 76, respectively)...that both their feet and the top of their hair doesn't even fit on the card!

I really miss team cards. The last that were issued that I am aware of was 2010-11, and the last time before that was 2005-06. There is so much that can be done with a team card, but they go ignored. (Team stats, a recap of their season, history of the team, team records, all-time leaders, and that's not even counting the simplistic team checklist.) This card, from 1993-94 Upper Deck, carries the team's schedule for the 1993-94 season on the back.

Is there a card that better represents the 1990s and 2000s in the NBA? One of the few cards to feature these two players combined. It's not too easy to tell from the scan but the borders are holofoil.

Remember when UD3 was a big deal, and considered revolutionary? Seems hard to believe today but when this came out, it was the highest end card set ever made for the NBA at that time. I was never a huge fan of UD3, although I like the 1996-97 set more. Both sets are only 60 cards, which is way, way too small. Embarassingly, I have not completed either of them yet, although I am one card short on the 1996-97 set. Here is the clear card for Damon Stoudamire from both years.

In case it's not easy to tell, the 1996-97 card is die cut. My example here still has the protective coating.

While not related to cards (yet), here are a couple of pictures of our Christmas tree.

I say for now, because my family knows me, and I know my family...there will be some cards under the tree soon!