30 Day Challenge 12: A favorite card of the 1980s

Now we get into the really tough stuff. The 80s and especially 1990s are in my opinion, the best decades this hobby has ever seen. (except non-sports, which peaked before WWII). I was born in the 80s, I began collecting in the 1980s. Not as great as the 90s, but there are some very memorable sets from this time period. You have my gateway to vintage NBA cards (1981-82 Topps), the entire Star brand, the rebirth of Fleer, and the birth of Hoops- one of the only sets that's ever gotten it truly right. NASCAR starts getting cards on a regular basis in 1988, comic book based cards became a real thing instead of a rarity, plus throw in the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi sets of 1980 and 1983, respectively. The first mainstream Olympic card set dates to the 1980s as well. There are so many good choices and picking a favorite was not easy, in fact I would go so far as to say that the 1980s were tougher for me to pick than the 1990s will be- the real question there is do I pick a card from my favorite NBA set or NASCAR set? I'll be doing that as soon as I save my draft for this post, so I'll know pretty soon. My readers will have to wait 24 hours (give or take) to find out.

I seriously thought about going with a Star Wars card here...even though I am pretty down on Star Wars right now. I hate what Disney's done to it, and 2016 was the first year in my life where I did not watch any Star Wars movies. 2017 will likely join it. Still, I love the battle of Hoth and if I had a card that showed it, you'd probably be seeing it here. But I don't. I don't remember if they didn't show it on a card, or if I just either don't have it or didn't scan it. Either way, my favorite part of the Star Wars franchise does not appear on a card from the 80s in my collection, so you get NBA instead. Shocker, right?

This is one of the key cards in my collection, John Stockton's rookie card. His true rookie card, from his rookie season, not the 1988-89 card Beckett says it is. The Star company had the NBA exclusive license from 1983-84 through 1985-86, and all three sets used the exact same design, just changing the colors for each team and the year listed. (Which I've always been annoyed by, because the NBA should NEVER have just one year listed. It's just outright wrong.) But it does not detract from the greatness of Star cards.

In the 1990s I was a huge fan of the Stockton-Malone era Jazz. Their two runs to the finals, both losses to the Bulls, were so impactful that I still sort of root against the Bulls franchise to this day- despite the fact that nobody on those teams that took down the Jazz has been with the Bulls since the 1999-00 season. 

The only problem with Star is that they are hard to come by, and can be very expensive when you do. The 1984-85 set has some of the biggest names in NBA history making their card debut- besides John Stockton, you have Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and somebody you may have heard of by the name of Jordan. Not to mention the established superstars like Magic, Bird, Drexler, Wilkins, etc. 1984-85's rookie class is one of if not the greatest rookie classes in history, and they all got their rookie cards in 1984-85 Star. I'll never be able to get most of them, but for my birthday or Christmas one year my mom got me the Jazz team set, which includes Stockton's RC as you see above. I'm still kind of shocked all these years later. It's a card I wanted but never imagined I'd ever get. I am a cheapskate, after all.

Any day a new Star card can be added to the collection is a day to celebrate. I prefer to get them in team bags but if I come across a single I'll usually pick it up anyway. Star cards, by nature, are rare enough that I know if I don't get it then, I may never get it at all. It'd be far better to have a duplicate to trade if I pick up a single and then later get the team bag, but it's never happened.

Sorry for the crappy scan. The scanner I was using at that time didn't handle the Star card fronts very well. At some point I'll rescan it, but I don't know when that will be.

A Sticky Situation

Recently, Angus of Dawg Day Cards put up a great review of the new Panini Stickers set for his chosen sport, football. It prompted me to finally write this post, something I've been hemming and hawing on for a while.

The Panini Stickers set...they have been producing them for the NBA since at least 1990, but I have mostly ignored them. Now, I'm having second thoughts about them.

My big question: Do I want to incorporate them as part of my NBA collection? As of right now, I count them as a separate collection. I don't have a paper listing of what I have/don't have, which is something I do for pretty much every card set. They aren't counted as part of my collection. That's a big thing for me, as I am majorly OCD. I don't consider something as part of my collection unless it's got a paper listing and counted.

For many years I didn't count the USA Basketball sets, the Michael Jordan tribute sets, or the Starting Lineup cards as part of my NBA collection. I counted them as separate collections. In fact, I only integrated and officially counted the SLU and Jordan sets in 2014 or possibly even early 2015.

Now I'm seriously debating adding the Panini stickers to my collection as well.

One of the reasons I have not made them part of my official collection is that they are made of really flimsy material and have no real back to them. Basically the backs are all the same but with a different number, every year.

Say I do decide to make them part of my official collection. That opens up another can of worms. Of the 13 years of stickers produced, I only have 2 of the years in my collection. In fact there may be more than 13 years of them made, I'm not totally sure. They were so off my radar, I've never actually researched them. I know for a fact that I only have 1995-96 and 2015-16 in my collection.
All my efforts of having every set represented in my collection would be out the window, at least for a while. That's a fairly small tradeoff, though, and the stickers are not that expensive, so I could probably hunt down multiple stickers for each year for under $20. That's doable. Actually finding them may prove more of a challenge than paying for them, in this case.

I know, also, that the only "card" produced for Elton Brand in the 2014-15 season is the Panini Sticker. They couldn't be bothered to include him in any actual card sets in 2014-15 OR 2015-16. I don't have any stickers from 2014-15, but that is one I would like to get weather I make them part of my NBA collection or not.

The Panini Stickers do have some things about them that I really like. Each year has Team stickers. I'm a BIG fan of team cards, and there have not been any team cards issued since 2010-11.
Here's one from 1995-96 and one from 2015-16.

The team stickers back in the day were much nicer, with a super sparkly affect that looks much better in hand. Now they are just mirror foil, blah.

Here's a base card sticker design from 1995-96 and 2015-16.

The designs are unique and the photos are pretty good. Arguably better than Panini does on actual cards.

One other bonus is that the sets are large- they refuse to make an actual card set larger than 300 cards, but the sticker sets usually go past 400. The 2014-15 set is 470 stickers long. I don't know yet how large the 2015-16 set is, but in the limited packs I purchased I got one numbered 471 so I know it's larger.

The stickers almost act like what a flagship Panini set should be, only they have nothing on the backs.
This is the back of the Mavericks team logo. They are all the same except for the number.

The gray square and line at the bottom is from when my remote hard drive crashed. I was able to recover a lot (NOT everything) but some of them didn't recover properly. I just noticed this when I posted the image, so now I have to fix it. Normally I'd just fix it and not talk about it but I wanted to show some of the stuff I've been fighting with for the past nearly 2 months now.

So, what do you think? Should I add these to my collection officially, with a paper listing and counting them as part of the actual collection, or should I continue to count them as a separate collection?

I know which way I'm leaning but I want to hear some opinions before I say what I'm thinking (it will be in the comments).

One thing I do know for sure...I won't ignore them in the future, and when the new set comes out, I will be getting some every year...maybe even a whole box. They are cheap enough I can afford a box, a rarity these days.

Thanks for reading and hopefully giving me your thoughts.

NBA 20th Anniversary Countdown #6: 1996-97 Stadium Club

A set that at one point I didn't like, but as time went on I realized I really do like it- a lot!

#6: 1996-97 Stadium Club

Why I like it: The design and the memories. That's going to play a role in the entire top 5, as well

Set size/Completion: 180,  I have 178. The Database shows 100% because I have the two checklists as well, so it shows 180 of 180, when it's really 178 of 182.

As I mentioned the last time a Stadium Club card came up, they really were known for the photography. In 1996-97, the photography was really not really to the levels it would become just the next year, but it was still pretty darn good.

Each card featured a colored strip on the right that "dissolved" into the photo, and there were multiple colors. The player's name appeared in blue holofoil on an embossed holofoil strip in that color bar. When you have this set together, they are pretty much unstackable, because the name bar makes them flop over. I have not had my collection sorted by set since 2004, though, so it has not been an issue for me, and I don't think I will get my sets back together until at least 2021- probably later.

I never really realized how much I liked this set until recently. If I had made this countdown at my 15th anniversary it would have not cracked the top 10, and yet now it very nearly made the top 5!

The one big thing I dislike about this set is the way the rookies were handled. There are no rookie cards in the base set. Both series had an insert simply called "Rookies"...and both series were numbered R1-R20, with Rookies I having an R21-R25. The Series I rookies feature photos from the rookie photo shoot, while series 2 rookies have action photos.

Backs feature an action photo and a closeup shot. They also have the stat rankings like I talked about in the 1997-98 post. but I forgot that at the time I wrote that one up.

There are 18 inserts and 4 parallels, three of which I do not have in my collection. The one parallel I do have- Matrix- were only issued in series 1. It's unfortunate, as they are incredible. Some of the best parallels ever issued. They don't scan well though.

 Class Acts was available in Finest, Refractor and Atomic Refractor versions. This is a refractor, and it is double sided- this is one card.

Fusion, which was two cards per team that supposedly you could put together to make one. I don't have both versions of any team so I don't know if it works or not. The cards feature a gold holofoil that scans yellow-green.

 Golden Moments

 High Risers. The background is hologram, and the player in embossed.

 Matrix. You can kind of see how these glow in this scan

Pick Up Game. These were included in at least 4 different sets in 1996-97. Finding checklists for them is quite difficult. 

 Rookie Showcase, using holograms again. (The world needs more holograms)

 Rookie I

 Rookie II

 Shining Moments

 Special Forces

Welcome Addition. This is a forerunner to the Transactions cards that would appear as a subset in Stadium Club sets from 1997-98 through 2000-01.

Top Crop, a dual-sided insert that is printed on holographic stock. Really striking in hand, not as nice in scan.

• #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

The Force is strong with this RAOK

On Friday, just as we were literally packing the car the head to New Jersey for the NNL East I received a RAOK (or Random Act of Kindness) from Jedi Jeff of 2 x 3 Heroes that was a very pleasant surprise...because even though I knew it was coming, I had totally forgotten about it! (I have about a 1-day memory span for things I don't write down...if that long!) I looked through the cards very quickly and then headed out the door. Now that I am back home, I finally had a chance to scan the cards and post up this post.

Jeff sent me some Topps 1977 Star Wars issues, but I have not actually had a chance to cross check them...surely some upgrades in there, which I will check shortly. (For me, that means sometime in the next month or so)

First up was a big stack of the 2013 Star Wars Illustrated A New Hope set. I didn't scan them now, but I did scan the inserts. (The base cards were already posted to the Database so they went into my "scan after I finish everything else" box)
This is my favorite of the several inserts he sent.

Movie Poster Reimagined #MP-4.

This one surprised me. One of the women who played the Tonnika sisters is notorious for not allowing her face to be used in licensing. Maybe because it's a drawing? I don't know...but it surprised me.

 The package was not exclusively Star Wars...there was also some NBA and NASCAR in there too.

In fact, the NBA portion of the package included two sets missing from my collection. I've mentioned before how one of my main goals is getting at least one card from every set- and two missing sets were knocked off in this package! (See the Sets Missing from my collection page at the top of each and every post)
First out was 2012-13 Panini Contenders.

Next was 2014-15 Donruss. This was a set I really wanted but have not been able to lay my hands on. It was the first 2014-15 set to include in-game action from the 2014-15 season.

This Tayshaun Prince card was my first.

He also sent along a sampling of inserts from Donruss...

and even a serially numbered parallel! This card is actually holofoil, not that it really shows that in the scan. Even better, he also sent the base copy of the same card!

The highlight of the NASCAR cards he sent was this insert parallel from 2009 Stealth. It's a set I've done extensively but he still managed to sent me a card I needed for the retail version of the set.

He also sent me these three pocket schedules from the 2014-15 season. I had not added any of these to my collection since 1997-98, and now I've gotten 4 this season! (My brother got me a Nets one somewhere). These three are card-sized when folded and will be stored with my card collection.

But the star of the package...by far, are these 8 cards from 1978, issued in "Big G" Cereals! I had never heard of these before...did not know they existed at all! They are oversized, and printed on very flimsy card stock. I am presenting all 8 of them below, because they are just that awesome.

Yes, the card is out of focus.

I don't remember the smoke being pink...

Here's the back of one of the cards.

Nearly invulnerable? Really? They go down with one shot!

By the way, what is Crazy Cow? I'm familiar with the others, but not that one. To Wikipedia! What do you know, the article even mentions the cards and shows pictures of the box with them on it. A definite win for the Internet.

Thanks for the great package Jeff!

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!