Error Gallery: Printing Error

Printing errors can be a wide variety of different things. The most common is blobs of ink spread out over the card, but it's not the only printing error you can find.

1992 Racing Champions Bristol Motor Speedway

This one is not a duplicate, a rarity among my error collection. I believe it is the only NASCAR error I do not have a normal version of.

1991 Traks

 Note the blue ink runs at the top and bottom and most of left side.

1981 Topps #390

 The entire jersey and the name banner should be solid red, like his left sleeve and the area behind his last name. Card contributed to my collection by C2Cigars on the Trading Card Database.

1993-94 Hoops #77

 This Matt Bullard card was one of my earlier errors, coming from a repack in 1996.

1993-94 Upper Deck #28

 A subtle error. Note the line of ink that crosses the K in Oakley.

1996-97 Fleer #108

 I believe this was the first error I pulled from a pack, and began my error collection and fascination, which is still going on more than 20 years later.

1997-98 Ultra #56

 A run in the black ink. Note that it goes under the holofoil name.

2000-01 Fleer Tradition Glossy

 One of the few Errors in my collection I do not have a non-error example of. This is a large run in the maroon ink used for the border.

2000-01 Upper Deck Encore #17

 This set has quite a few ink runs, I have at least three in my collection, and still need non-error versions of all of them.

Empire Strikes Back #134

 A rarity in that I have two separate copies of this card with two distinctly unique errors. This one has a print flaw which shows up as red on the black and the blue almost totally missing.

Empire Strikes Back #139

 Obviously with the same flaw as the card above, there must have been a run where they did not print properly. While these are the only two I have, it's safe to say there are others out there.

NBA 20th Anniversary Countdown #1- My all time favorite set!

Here it is, the big one...the set I like the most. I did a little research and determined that there are 653 main sets in NBA history. To be the best you have to be pretty darn good and I think this set is.

But first, a little review. Each set name is clickable to take you to that post, by the way. My #20-#2 favorite sets...

• #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  
• #1: 1996-97 Ultra

Why I like it: Everything. I thought long and hard about what to say about this set, and I couldn't come up with something that accurately described it than "everything". The memories are there. The design. The many, many memories I have of this set coupled with the design that I think is the best ever in card history propel this set to #1.

Set size/Completion:  300 cards, of which I have 283, or 94.3%. I really want to complete the set (naturally!) but I don't want to force it by going out and buying all the missing cards. Weird, perhaps, but getting them through my normal course of card acquisition is much more thrilling- if slower. I do have a wantlist posted though if any reader wants to help out.

Everything about this design just screams perfection to me, from the full bleed photos that were better than anything else Ultra had ever used before, to the holofoil name and bar plus Ultra logo, to the team-color coded shadow behind the name...even the font of the name just looks so good to me.

Just because I like the design so much, I'm going to post more than one base card. I have tried not to make these posts too long but I hope you'll indulge me for my favorite set.

I could show lots more...and I don't even have all that many scanned yet. Unfortunately I only got to post 18 scans to the Database as other people did the rest. I will probably over-wright some of them some day but I'm in no hurry.

I have so many memories of this set from when it was new...memories of the cards themselves and random oddities like the time we were walking through the mall at a card show, and found a partial pack half buried in one of the planters, with some cards missing. Unfortunately whoever did that was a jerk and bent the cards they didn't want, right in half. At least one of those cards remains in my collection as I have not been able to replace it yet, although I did replace several of them.

Backs of the cards featured two photos- neither of which was a repeat of the front- with one of them part of the colored background. Eastern conference teams got blue, while Western Conference teams got red. Full stats were superimposed over the images.

Because this is my favorite set, I'll show all the subsets as well as the inserts.
On the Block and Ultra Effort were in Series 1...

...while Rookie Encore and Play of the Game were in Series 2. Play of the Game was slightly Short-Printed but not to the levels of '98 Greats would be a year later.

Seeing this set...it just makes me happy, happier than any other set, and that propels it to #1.

There were 13 insert sets and two parallels.

Gold Medallion was used for the full set for the first time, although as Gold Medallions go it's fairly weak. In fact, they were so non-descript that in Series 2 they actually put Gold Medallion Edition on the front of the card. I never had any trouble telling them apart, as the gold foil is clearly different than the normal silver foil, let alone the G in the card number on the back, but then again, I actually care about the cards, not just how much they can be sold for, unlike most Beckett readers.

Platinum Medallion made it's debut! I was not lucky enough to pull any, but I did acquire the Rik Smits card and a John Stockton subset as a single. These are actually fairly rare even today, and still expensive enough that I have not gotten any more. They are quite clear to make out that they are different...but they are labeled on Series 2 cardfronts as well. While the Gold Medallion is my #2 favorite parallel concept after refractors, Platinum Medallions are my favorite 2nd Level Parallel concept of all time. After this season, when serially numbered cards were very rare, the Platinum Medallions were numbered to 100 or less copies each season for the remainder of the Ultra run. There are several seasons (1997-98, 1999-00 through 2002-03) where I don't have a single one in my collection. There is a possibility they may not have been made for every year, but I've seen some online for some of the years.

There were 13 inserts, and I do not have all of them represented in my collection, or scanned.

 All-Rookie. These are embossed. A copy of this card is one of the ones I found bent in half in that pack. I eventually replaced it, forgot I replaced it, and replaced it again. Oops!

 Board Game

 Full Court Trap. For some reason I can never remember the name of this insert- I always call it "Full Court Press", which is a much more common term in basketball. It's etched. There is a Gold version as well, where the background is a yellowish color instead of various colors.

 Give & Take, a mirror foil card.

Scoring Kings. There is also a Gold version of this set but I don't have any.

 Rising Stars, which features a canvas texture

And there you have it! 20 years ago today, I received my first NBA basketball cards as a gift from my mom for Valentine's day. Later that night I found the Knicks-Hornets game on TV and it was the first game I ever watched. Thousands of games, and more than 82,000 different cards later- the NBA plays a larger role in my life than it ever has before. It's even surpassed NASCAR as my favorite sport, a position I once thought was unassailable. As a special treat, tonight is the 2015-16 NBA All-Star game, so a night of excellent basketball action is guaranteed.

Two fun facts- it took me 4 solid days to type up these posts. A lot longer than I thought, I expected to have them typed up in a matter of a couple of hours, not 4 days.
I posted 192 scans (and one photograph) over these 20 posts. Normally I copy a photo I want to post to Cardboard History to a "blog" folder, post it, then delete it, but this time I decided not to do that.

Thanks for reading along on my journey down memory lane and a look at my top 20 favorite sets- as well as my most ambitious blog posting project yet. Stay tuned for a post later this week that shows my six LEAST favorite sets!

NBA 20th Anniversary Countdown #3

For the top 3, I'm not listing the set in the title.

This set has so many great memories for me, so many that even though it doesn't fit into what I normally like, it still propels it to #3 in my all time favorite sets.

#3: 1996-97 Metal

Why I like it: The memories. For a set that is mostly foil and mostly a player superimposed over a computer generated background, it's the best of that kind ever. But it's mostly the memories.

Set size/Completion: 250 cards, and I completed it on April 8th, 2014.

The memories for this set are some of the best I have in the hobby. In 1996-97, I was in the 6th grade and I was very, very sick. I've never really recovered 100%, I've never really felt "good" since that time. It also was a very big contributor to my lifelong distrust of doctors. So many visits, so many tests, it was not a good time. And the worst is, they never figured out what the problem was. It remains unsolved to this day. All that crap I went through was for nothing. The only good thing- and I mean that literally- was that my doctor's office was right across the street from the card shop, and most doctor's visits led to card shop visits as well, except the days where he was closed or I wasn't feeling good enough to go in and get some cards.

So where do the good memories come from? Well, they come from this set. My mom purchased a box of series 1 and every day I was able to get to school and make it through the day, she gave me a pack out of the box. Let me tell you, the thought of getting the pack of this set is the only thing that got me through some of those rough days. Back then, I was a little more awed by "shiny", I had not really realized yet how much I appreciated the use of real, unedited photos. By the time I did, the happiness this set brought me was already cemented in place. That's one of my best memories in nearly 30 years in the hobby (I collected cards for 8 years before I began collecting the NBA)

There's one other memory that bears mentioning as well. After the box of Series 1 was done, I was missing one base card- #1, Mookie Blaylock. I was unable to find that card for years. Several years later, I believe 1999 but I don't know for sure, we were at a card show at the Dutchess Mall, in Fishkill, NY. I believe it may have been the last show there, but I can't recall. A dealer had a copy of this set in his display case, and right on the top of the case was that missing #1 card. I remember asking if he had any more of the set, explaining why I was looking for that one card. He didn't, but he broke the complete set and gave it to me. I never met him before, and I never saw him since. I don't know his name or if he is still around. But it made a big impression on me! Hopefully he is still active in the hobby and reads this and remembers that. It made a huge impression on me and I am still very grateful to this day.
Here is that very card.

I believe my first Kobe Bryant card came from this set, as well. One thing I always think about when a new season starts, and all the new rookies make their way into my collection, is which of them will end up having long careers and end up being on lots of cards. Will any of them make it eventually to the top 10 in my collection? I don't think I thought about that in 1996 but I do now. Today Kobe is ranked third in my collection according to the Database, with more than 600 different cards. I keep my count differently- the Database assigns team cards, league leaders, multi-subject cards etc. to each person, where I don't- I keep track of them by team, by how many people appear on a card, and league leaders gets it's own count, for example. I also don't count college, multi-sport or other knockoffs as part of my NBA collection. So I surely do not have the 610 Kobe cards the Database shows I do as part of my collection...but it's still a lot. I won't know exactly how many I have of each person until I finish scanning and I don't see that happening until 2021 or later.
Eventually I began keeping track of the first card I got of each person, but I would not begin doing that until circa 2000, and a lot of those records were lost when my floppy disk crashed that I've talked about several times.

With the back of the card you can really see how the names were embossed; it actually shows better on the card back scans that it does on the front. It makes the set almost impossible to stack but it does look good.

There were 12 inserts and 1 partial parallel. Most of the inserts fell one per box. I don't have all of them. The inserts all featured some sort of metal theme.

 Cyber-Metal

 Freshly Forged

 Maximum Metal. This is a two-layered card. The image of the player and the background, green here but various based on team- is one layer with a circular diecut opening which shows the steel-plate printed ball design in the background.

 Metal Decade- there were also cards issued in Fleer and Ultra. Fleer's set, which I didn't show because I have not scanned any yet, was called "Decade of Excellence". It was continued in 1997-98 reprising the 1987-88 set, but only in the flagship Fleer, Ultra and Metal's sets were 1996-97 only.

 Metal Edge

 Molten Metal- the player image is mirror foil and doesn't scan

 Net Rageous, a die cut cart

 Pick Up Game, a multi-set release

 Power Tools

 Precious Metal. The only parallel, issued only in Series 2. Note the lack of color to the left of the player. These were 1 per box, and this is the only one I got. Unfortunately after I scanned it, it fell and one of the corners was damaged.

Steel Slammin' The player and the set name were embossed.

Some day, I want to complete all the inserts. Completing the parallel would likely not be possible but the inserts might be.

Because the scans don't really capture the cards well, here is an actual photo.

• #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

Set Profile - 1995-96 Fleer

My series of Set Profiles moves to the NBA today, and what better set to start out with than the very first set that got me started with the NBA?

By April 1996, I had already been a card collector for 8 years. I was mostly focused on NASCAR and non-sports at that time, but none of my friends at school collected those topics. I was in the 5th grade at the time. My mom saw this and gave me a pack of cards for Valentine's Day in 1996- a pack of 1995-96 Fleer Series II. I doubt she could have known what she began. 18 years and more than 76,000 individual cards later, I'm still going strong! 1995-96 Fleer's design is not one of their best, in fact, it's actually one of their worst- but I still love the design, mainly because of the fact that it got me going in the NBA. From 1996-03 I focused almost solely on NBA cards, getting only one or two packs of NASCAR cards per set, and mostly stopping with non-sports during that time. I have come to regret that, but the NBA takes up roughly 3/4ths of my entire collection, and it all started here.

I will start by showing my very first NBA card, #220, Sam Cassell:

The 1995-96 Fleer design was unusual in that it wasn't one unified design. Each of the four divisions of the NBA got it's own design, and each of the designs was color-coded to each team.
Here is a representative design for each of the four main designs:

The basic player cards account for #1-197, and #201-259. Checklists are #198-200 and #349-350. It is a 350 card set.
In addition to the basic player cards, the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies both made their NBA debut in 1995-96, and they got special designs that ran cards #269-279.

#280-319 are Rookie cards. I have never particularly cared for the Rookie design for this set. The four rookies that played for the Expansion teams (Damon Stoudemire, Jimmy King, Bryant Reeves and Lawrence Moten) all got cards in both the Expansion subset and the Rookie subset.

Cards #320-348 are the Firm Foundation subset, which represent one player from each team. Several rookies are included in this subset.

The complete 350 card gallery can be found on the Trading Card Database here: 1995-96 Fleer GalleryMost of the scans come from my collection, as I completed the set on January 9th, 2003.
There are no parallels for the set.

Inserts - Click each insert's name to see the checklist and either partial or full galleries on the Database
There are 14 insert sets for 1995-96 Fleer, including insert parallels.
Class Encounters is a 40 card set that includes players who were rookies in 1994-95 (#1-20) and 1995-96 (#21-40). I have 20 of the cards in my collection.

Double Doubles is a 12 card set that features players who can be counted on to put up a double/double in most games. I have 10 of the cards.

End 2 End is a horizontally based 20 card insert, which features players who excel at both offence and defense. I have 13 of the cards in my collection.

Flair Hardwood Leaders is a 27 card insert set, that was seeded one in each Series I pack. It features the thicker card stock and foil printing normally used in the Flair set. Despite being issued in the main Fleer set, the cards carry the Flair logo, not the Fleer logo. Each team that was in the League in 1994-95 has one player represented. I have 25 of the cards.

Franchise Futures is the rarest of the 1995-96 Fleer inserts. It is only 9 cards, and I have only one of them. It features players who teams could build their future around. It also features foil etching.

NBA All-Stars is a 13 card set honoring the players chosen to be All-Stars during the 1994-95 season. The first 12 cards are dual-sided, with the front representing an Eastern Conference player and the back Western Conference. The 13th and final card in the set is for Mitch Richmond, who was voted MVP of the 1995 All-Star game. I have 10 of the cards.

Rookie Phenoms is a 10 card insert set highlighting 10 of the top rookies from the 1995-96 season. Each card is printed with etched technology. I have three of them.

Rookie Phenom Hot Pack is a parallel of the Rookie Phenom set. At the time, Fleer seeded several insert sets where if you got a Hot Pack, you got the entire insert set. But instead of just getting the regular insert set in complete form, they issued them with a red foil Hot Pack logo. I was lucky enough to get one of the Rookie Phenom Hot Packs in my box, so I have the complete 10 card set.

Rookie Sensations was a 15 card set highlighting the top rookies of the 1994-95 season. I have 14 of the 15 cards, or 93.3%.

Stackhouse's Scrapbook was a mutli-release set issued across all Fleer brands in 1995-96 and the start of 1996-97. Note than only #S-1 and S-2 were issued in the Fleer set in 1995-96, the listing on the Database is incorrect in listing one of the Ultra and Metal issues in the checklist. The numbering system carried over across brands and years. I have both the issues from 1995-96 Fleer.

Total D was another horizontal set, this one highlighting players who excel at defense. I have 8 of the 12 cards.

Total O highlights players who excel at offense. It was retail exclusive, and I only have 2 of the 10 cards, as my collection was built through the Hobby release.

Total O Hot Pack is the only 1995-96 Fleer insert I do not have represented in my collection. It was retail exclusive and the Hot Packs were quite hard to pull in both retail and hobby. Since I do not have any in my collection, I cannot show a scan, but two of them have been posted to the Database.

Towers of Power is another insert using etched technology, and is one of the rarer inserts from this set. It highlights the Center position, and is a 10 card set. I have two of them.

There is also a European release for 1995-96 Fleer. 1995-96 Fleer European There is a major difference in the set, as instead of being a 350 card set, it's 499 cards. The first 197 are the same, but then, instead of going into checklists and series II, most of the inserts in the American set are numbered as part of the base set in the European release. The European release also includes Team cards, which is a team logo over a floor pattern. These have no American counterpart. Unlike most of the European sets issued in the 1990s, this set is almost entirely in English, whereas most were bilingual. The team cards feature a glossary of basketball terms in multiple languages. I do have some of these cards, but they have not been catalogued by me- yet.

As always, thanks for reading!