I find myself over and over again being drawn to card designs that look like older cards, the Heritage products, the Retros, the current players on throwback designs, so it’s no surprise that I am a fan of the 1997-98 Fleer Goudey Greats insert set. These are inserted in 1:4 series 2 packs, they are… Read More Nate Tiny Archibald says… 1997-98 Fleer Goudey Greats
I enjoy a good insert set focused on basketball big men, especially those from the 90s. Tower of Power, Power in the Key, Rejectors, they are all great. 1995-96 Metal Steel Tower is no exception. It has all the best centers from the mid-90s. If you can name them, they’re here. Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson, Mourning,… Read More Men of Steel: 1995-96 Metal Steel Tower
In the ‘ultra-modern’ collecting period we’re in now, as it’s being called, most products, even the lower end products, have a seemingly endless number of parallels, along with numerous insert sets that usually have several parallel versions of those inserts. It can be overwhelming to keep up with, at times, for the team and player,… Read More Keeping It Simple
The 1996-97 rookie class was completely loaded with talent, and rates among the best of all-time. Iverson, Marbury, Allen, Kobe, Nash, O’Neal, Abdur-Rahim, Stojakovic, Camby, Walker, the list goes on and on. You’ve got players who made big impacts on contending and championship teams, Derek Fisher, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Kerry Kittles, Shandon Anderson, Erick Dampier, Malik… Read More Best Rookie Class Ever? 1996-97 Ultra All-Rookie
Parallels of all different colors and types have come and gone over the years, and they are more prevalent today than ever before. A popular parallel in many Panini products is Cracked Ice, and they are stunning parallels, for sure. When we look back at similar parallels from other companies, the Topps Atomic Refractors definitely… Read More Cracked Ice Before There Was Cracked Ice: 1999-00 Flair Showcase Elevators
A couple things I miss since the pandemic began, going to the movies, and going to professional sporting events. I enjoy seeing the coming attractions as I walk up to the theater, the movie posters and cardboard cutouts inside, and the previews before the movies. On the sports side, and in particular, going to NBA… Read More It’s Showtime: 2009-10 Upper Deck Now Appearing
Taking a look back at the Big Shots insert set from 1997-98 Ultra basketball.… Read More Who Wants the Ball? 1997-98 Ultra Big Shots
1996-97 was a huge year for basketball cards. Huge draft class, first year of Topps Chrome, some other iconic sets like EX-2000, Metal, and I think Skybox Premium goes into that category. It was the only Kobe rookie I actually pulled from a pack in my childhood. It was the first year of Autographics as… Read More Under the Magnifying Glass – 1996-97 Skybox Premium Close-Ups
The Fleer Force brand only had two iterations, in 1999-00 and 2001-02. In 1999-00 it was a silver version of the Fleer Tradition set. It was like the Fleer version of Topps Chrome, in that the photo and design were the same as the Fleer Tradition card, except with silver foil added. That’s how I… Read More The Force is Strong with This One – 1999-00 Fleer Force Special Forces
First off, 1996-97 Ultra is an iconic set in the 90s in my mind, for several reasons. The draft class is phenomenal, the set is condition sensitive, has tough to find parallels, and the inserts are great (see All-Rookie, Court Masters, Scoring Kings, the list goes on). I opened a few packs of this set… Read More The Court is Their Checker Board – 1996-97 Ultra Board Game
Hoops Hobby 