The end of a major project, my Trading Card Database contributions

Last night, at 11:50 PM, I finished a project I began all the way back in October 2012.

I finished getting my NBA collection onto the Trading Card Database.

I've written about the Database many times over the years, but the concept is to document literally every card ever made, in every subject. If it exists, it should be on the Database. More than 2 million cards have scans on there. And not to toot my own horn too much, but I am the #5 contributor all-time. All of the set completion percentages I've ever posted have come from the Database. Screenshots of my wantlists as well.

This was a huge project- the NBA takes up the vast majority of my collection. Roughly 3/4ths. I've contributed over 100,000 things for basketball, although not all were scans...it's still a lot.

I've been working like crazy on getting them done since I got back from Lake George in September. It's been something I've been working on pretty much all day, every day, so much so I have not even opened the last 5 trade packages that have come in, going back to October. It's taken THAT MUCH of my time.

The Database tells you which cards in your collection are missing scans, and I realized that I could use that to figure out which scans I had made but lost when my remote hard drive died in June 2016. Since I had entered my collection back in 2012, this worked out well...but it was a race against time. Because if somebody else uploaded a scan, that information would be lost to me. That's why I was rushing, so I could get that info before it disappeared forever.

Working on it so hard is why I have not really written a lot of blog posts lately. The vast majority of the posts I've done since August were written in August or before.

The Cards Missing Scans link shows 100 cards per page. When I started using it to track what I needed to scan, there were 88 pages. Now, there are three, made up of cards that the scans were lost on, some cards that I lost to flood, and some I accidentally put into the stacks of cards that were already done on there. There are also some cards that I don't think I have ever owned, and must have clicked on by accident. It happens. It has happened several times over already.

Instead of trying to remember, or having to have a separate window open to keep scrolling through the pages, I eventually made this "cheat sheet"...

If you look real close, you will see that I made a couple mistakes- at least two sets appear twice. I started this sheet in August, maybe July, I wrote from 99-00 Bowman's Best to the end just this week. This cheat sheet really sped up my efforts- about doubled my speed. It kept me from scanning cards that were already done, for the most part. I didn't bother to write most inserts so some of them I ended up doing anyway. It took me less than an hour to write out from the top of the first page to 05-06 Rookie Debut. In retrospect, I should have alternated the colors, because I think that led me to putting some cards into the "already done" stacks. That's why I underlined the set names in red, it made it easier to find them.

 I have scanned, edited, labeled and uploaded more than 2000 cards in both November and December, 2860 in November, 2363 already in December, to be exact. I keep track on Excel, something I started doing after my remote hard drive, where I had been storing the scans, died last year and I had to try and recover them, not a fun process. I "only" processed 1067 cards in October. Since I started keeping track, with the scans/uploads of June 2016, I've only hit the 2000 mark in a month three times. That number will probably actually increase in the future, since now as soon as I finish scanning something, it's done...I don't have to upload it to the Database, which does take time.

I am still going to scan the cards that are already done on there. I have maintained my own website since 2004, where they will reside, and if I ever want to post any of them on here, then I need to scan them. Plus, I really, truly enjoy the scanning process.

I'm actually kind of disappointed that the project is over. I've built my whole life around it for more than 5 years now!

I still have some peripheral stuff to scan, plus I need to do the college cards, which I am working on right now- at least the box I can find. There's another mixed into the "set aside since already done on the Database" boxes somewhere, but I don't know where. I'll find it eventually, as I will find the cards I put into the wrong boxes. In fact, since I finished the project yesterday, I've already found 4 of the cards I put into the wrong stack/box. There were 152 cards missing scans, and that includes the ones listed as being in my collection that I don't think I actually ever had.

But the vast majority of my collection is now on there.

In case you are wondering, this was the last card needed to post. It was also the last one needed to complete the gallery on there.

2002-03 Topps Chrome #51. I had actually put this card into the wrong stack, the already done stack, but realized it needed to be done when I was uploading the other cards from the set, this one was still sitting on my table right in front of me, I hadn't put it away yet.

I was hoping that I would be able to hit 250,000 points. If you remember, I listed that as a minor goal for 2017, but I fell short- 248.339 is my "final" points total. I simply ran out of cards. I will get there eventually because I am not going to stop collecting any time in the foreseeable future.

NBA 20th Anniversary Countdown #5: 1996-97 Fleer

This set was something that could open happen once, with no chance to have happen again!

#6: 1996-97 Fleer

Why I like it: The design is great, but the memories are even better. This was the first set of my first full season, something that could never be changed or duplicated!

Set size/Completion: 300, I have 257, 85.7%. That's actually pretty low for a top 5 favorite set.

The memories of this set...it was an experience that I could only possibly have once. When I discovered the sport in February 1996, the 1995-96 season was already well under way- roughly half over already. Most of the sets of the year were either already out, or I was so new to the hobby that I was not cognizant of the fact that they were new. (The first set I remember being released was the last set of 1995-96, but it's not in the countdown- although it does have some great memories for me). But when this same came out, in late 1996...it was the first set of a brand new season. My first full season! It was the only time I could ever experience the thrill of a new season beginning for the first time. And what a season it was! 1996-97 was by far the best season of NBA basketball cards. You've already seen the 1996-97 cards pop up in this countdown of my top 20 favorite sets more than once...and this Fleer flagship is not the last one in the countdown. There is not a single set from the season I dislike, with the exception of Hoops Series 2- although to be honest I mostly just dislike that one because it's so much inferior to series 1. (had the 2nd series looked like the 1st, 1996-97 Hoops would have been 5th, not this set- instead it's not in the top 20 at all!) 1996-97 was also the NBA's 50th Anniversary, and the celebrations surrounding that were incredible. To this day my favorite event in NBA history was the 1996-97 All-Star game when all 49 surviving members of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players list were there together. It's an event that can not ever be repeated as now several more have passed away, unfortunately. At some point I will do a series profiling the 50 Greatest Players but like so many of the ideas I have it needs to wait until I do more scanning.

Each card had a team-coded splash of color, somewhat simulating a basketball design, behind the player's name and team. The player's first name and the team name are in gold foil, as is the Fleer 1996-97 logo, and, where applicable, the Rookie logo.

Backs carried over the basketball theme in team colors, and had stats. On players who had not yet had a long career, that led to a lot of unused space, but for some players who had been in the league a long time already, the space was filled.

There were no parallels to the set, the last Fleer flagship- weather it was called Fleer, Fleer Tradition or, in 2001-02, Fleer Platinum- to not have any parallels. There were 12 inserts with Lucky 13 being the rarest.

 Franchise Future is my favorite insert from the set. The player, player's name and Franchise Future name is embossed, while the background is a combination of etched and colored mirror foil. I do not like mirror foil, but for this set it works. It looks a LOT better in person.

 Game Breakers is printed on clear plastic. The white area in the jagged "break" is clear plastic.

 Stackhouse's Scrapbook continued from 1995-96 Fleer releases, including continuing the same number system.

 Swing Shift.

 Thrill Seekers was a rare insert, printed on lenticular technology.

Towers of Power was, I believe, retail exclusive. Being etched foil, it looks better in person.

• #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

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!