Random Cardboard Of The Day:1996-1997 Ex2000 Vin Baker

Houston's Cardboard:1996-1997 Fleer Metal Metallized

 

The joy of Fleer Metal. That etched foil goodness and wacky designs makes it appealing to everyone's eye including those who may not have grown up in the era when these were created.

This is one of my first Allan Houston Fleer Metal adds and hopefully won't be the last. It has been way too long to remember who I traded with to land this but thanks to them now.

Let's Talk About Sets Volume 40:1996-1997 Spx Hockey Inserts Update

Can't believe all of the dirty sets talk I have had on here now as we have approached post #40 in this series. I hope you guys have enjoyed the ride with my set updates as well. By looking at the numbers, I would say no, but hopefully you actually have been.

Don't worry though, there is an end date to this series and the daily double posting. Just trying to help us all get through one of the hardest times our country has faced in some time and what better distraction than reading/discussing cardboard.

So let's get to doing that instead.

First up Holoview Heroes,

 

There are 10 cards in this insert set and I found a four card lot and made a really cheap offer. To my surprise, it was accepted. Did I mention this lot had the hardest card in Gretzky in it?! Now I only have 6 more to go. Here is what I am missing,

2,3,4,5,6,8

Hopefully can narrow those down soon.

Up next, an extra insert in Great Futures in which now I picked that up as well cheap.

It features Wayne and four prospects

And speaking of Wayne, well, here is the special Wayne Gretzky Tribute insert

This one looks so much better with the double hologram goodness in comparison to the other sports where it was just one featured.

All that stands in my way now is the few Holoview Inserts, the gold parallel set and the Gretzky autograph. I do have the Gretzky promo card on the way as well.

Still a mountain to climb with this set and any help is appreciated!

Blast From The Past:1996-1997 Pinnacle Mint Hockey 1 Booster Pack Break

In 1999, a flick with Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone called Blast From The Past came out. It was about a scientist named Calvin Webber who was played by Christopher Walken, that took his pregnant wife in a deep underground fallout shelter in 1962 when he thought a nuclear war was imminent. During that time, their son Adam played by Fraser (who seemed to had been in every late 90's movie) was born and was exposed to only the culture of 1962 in the shelter such as the music and TV shows of the time. Life was accustomed to not being at the surface. 

Fast forward 35 years later, their supplies and food was running low so someone would have to come above ground and take a risk to get new products. That was supposed to be Calvin, up until he was ill from stress from his one visit to the surface. So his son Adam would have to venture out in a world he had never met.....

This segment takes a look at products that may have been hidden in a underground fallout shelter for over 20 years and now just coming back out to be rediscovered....by me. Guess you can call me Adam even though my name is Matt. These are products I opened when I was first collecting and is a Part Of My Past, but may not have a memory or a Origins story to attach to them. Most products I post on here will, but some won't and those will be covered in this new segment.These products will be between the years of 1995-1999 only.

Let's just hope my experience with these breaks is better than Adams first visit to the surface.

So let's take a Blast From The Past with a one pack break of 1996-1997 Pinnacle Mint Hockey!

In the 1990's, one of my favorite sports to collect was hockey believe it or not. Hockey cards is what got me into this great hobby. However, it's much different today. Football is my main sport by far with hockey being the least. Baseball is second with basketball a further third (mostly due to licensing)

But, when playing on eBay one day, I was looking for some packs of Pinnacle Mint to rip and I came across a seller who was selling five packs for $5 or so. I couldn't turn that down so I jumped on it and here we are today. I left four of the packs sealed for fun and ripped just this one.

 

Here is the pack itself. They used to go for $2.49 which I think is pretty cheap for cards and coins. Each one came with 2 cards, one base and one with a coin slot, and one coin.

Here is an overall at look at what you can find, Silver Team Cards 30 Cards 1:23 Packs - Gold Team Card 30 Cards 1:72 Packs - Nickel/Silver Coins 30 Coins 1:30 Packs - Gold Plated Coins 30 Coins 1:72 Packs - Fine Silver Coin 30 Coins 1:5,077 - 24KT Gold Coin 30 Coins 1:51,641 Packs

Here is the insert included in the pack.

That had the checklist on the back. Some big names to find and that's what I was hoping for!

Jocelyn was a goalie who played for 14 seasons in the NHL for 6 teams including the Canadians pictured here. Notice that the team symbol is bronze. There were three colors to find overall.

Back of the card

The holey card of Daniel Alfredsson who played 18 seasons in the NHL, that's a lot for the hits they take, with 17 of those for the Senators.

Back of holey card

And my coin was a base one of Brendan Shanahan.Was named one of the top 100 NHL players all time, won three Stanley Cups, scored a ton of goals, and is a Hall Of Famer. Can't go wrong with this find.

This was a really fun break. I need to find some baseball and football now to at least rip a pack of. I broke a box of football a few years ago. I think this product was a genius idea with crossing over two hobbies and it gave us more options to choose from. Not something we get today.

Hope you enjoyed this Blast From The Past!

Players Of My Past #2: Marcus Camby

I first want to admit that I messed up today's post by shorting it by a card. I am not sure where the fifth card is, but, it's gone. So let's take the four favorite 90's cards I have of today's player instead of the five and enjoy those. I will make sure this doesn't happen again.

There was one TALL DUDE coming out in the NBA draft in 1996 and his name was Marcus Camby. He was drafted second overall in the first round by the Toronto Raptors who were already cool for having a dinosaur dribbling a basketball on their jerseys.

I believe the combination of finding his rookie cards often in packs that year, playing for the Raptors who I liked only because of their uniforms and him standing so tall at 6ft 11inches,I began to be a fan. I remember feeling that tall in graded school even though I was nowhere near his height and still am not. But, I still towered above other classmates and that was a form of connection I felt with him.

On recess I used my long Marcus Camby like arms, well I thought they were, to block shots and be the man in the middle who would drive to the basket even though I was a much better three point shooter. However, sometimes when you use your imagination , you never know who you can become and what you are capable of. I probably should have used mine  a bit more as I was good at blocking shots but my layups needed some work.

I may nit have been him, but I was a collector of his back then. I definitely don't have the cards I used to of him as I downsized my NBA collection after I stopped watching it (something I honestly regret), but at least I have some still.

Here are my favorite ones I still have from the 90's,

Fleer Metal always looked cool, but toss in this graffiti look, it's super-dee-duper!

Jammin! Marcus above the rest!

I don't know what it was about these Hoops base cards, but darn it, I liked em!

 

And once again he is beating defenders to the rim!

Another great thing about Camby, was the fact he played for the Knicks when I loved the NBA, not much longer after playing for the Raptors. In the lockout shortened 1998-1999 season, he was traded to the Knicks for Charles Oakley, a deal I will never get, but oh well. I was sad to see Oaks go but was happy to see Marcus arrive. 

Marcus didn't get much playing time for the Knicks, but did contribute off the bench. The Knicks snuck into the playoffs and with Latrell Sprewell and Camby heating up, the Knicks took down top seeded Miami Heat (which was thrilling by the way), swept the Atlanta Hawks and then faced the mighty Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. That is also when Camby got more playing time because Knicks legend Patrick Ewing went down with a season ending injury. Camby helped lead the Knicks take down the Pacers in six games and advanced them to the NBA Finals. First time an 8th seed had gotten that far. It was just too bad they had to face a much better opponent.

The Knicks went onto play the Spurs in which they got their butts handed to them in five games. It was also the final season I watched of the NBA despite some of the key players I loved remaining on the Knicks.

Overall, Marcus played 17 seasons in the NBA for 6 different teams. I was amazed to see how many times he was moved around but that's just apart of today's game. One that I don't like for a variety of reasons this being one of them. He averaged 9 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks a game in his career.

I would love to own a Camby autograph someday for my 90's Knicks collection. He was a name I left off in my last post with Allan Houston.

More Players Of My Past to come and from different sports.

Sets Of My Childhood THE SERIES! Part 18:1996-1997 Stadium Club Welcome Addition

Sets Of My Childhood THE SERIES is a spinoff from just a want list. I decided not only would I make a want list of each of the sets I am chasing in a tab, but I thought a little breakdown and feature may help get me more set help. I am sure many of the sets I am seeking are nickel and dime type of cards so I am hoping my trader friends can be on the lookout for any I don't have.

Today's set I don't have a lot of info on like past sets, but it is still one I am seeking so let's take a look!

I bought a ton of 1996-1997 Stadium Club back in the day chasing down some Kobe's. However, over the years what I had disappeared from moving and my father staking his claim in the collection when I moved out of home after high school.

One of the sets I was seeking at the time was Welcome Addition. I had roughly half of it done but now have one single card from the 25 card set.

The checklist is of players who moved to a new team and made the biggest impact for them. One of my all-time favorite Knicks is included in the set in Allan Houston. Another reason I need to chase it down.

My current haves are,

10

I have a very, very, very long ways to go here as you can see.

How many of you remember or collected these? I am sure Billy must!

Sets Of My Childood THE SERIES! Part 11:1996-1997 Upper Deck NBA Rookie Exclusives

Sets Of My Childhood THE SERIES is a spinoff from just a wantlist. I decided not only would I make a want list of each of the sets I am chasing in a tab, but I thought a little breakdown and feature may help get me more set help. I am sure many of the sets I am seeking are nickel and dime type of cards so I am hoping my trader friends can be on the lookout for any I don't have.

Today's set I never really considered putting together before but was quite fond of the cards that gave you "the feels".  I don't have much started towards the set but with your help I may!

  

Found at 1:4 packs of Series 2 1996-1997 Upper Deck basketball, these Rookie Exclusives have a textured background behind the feature player and takes basketball cards to another level in my opinion. 

There are 20 cards in this set to collect, I have two. With one of the more expensive of the group needed in Kobe Bryant. I think this would be a really nice looking set to put together and hopefully I can accomplish doing so.

My current haves are,

13 and 15

How many of you remember or collected these?

Random Card On My Desk:1996-1997 Collectors Choice Mini Cards Ratliff/Bradley/Longley

Iconic Childhood Designs Part 3:1996-1997 Stadium Club Basketball

One of my favorite stops as a child was the local pharmacy store. I know that this sounds weird, but I also haven't mentioned yet that they carried sports cards.

Those were the days. Remember when pretty much every where sold sports cards. If only that was today as my only options now are online or Walmart.

Anyways, even though a lot of places sold sports cards locally, only the pharmacy had the 1996-1997 Stadium Club basketball I desperately craved.

The design was pretty simple, but eye appealing. The players named were embossed with a rainbow shine. A team color ran down the side with the name and as always with Stadium Club, photography took over. The subsets had lots of foil and looked great as well. It was more about the base design for me.

 

Here is a short gallery of an eye-appealing look at these and some comments by me for each as well.

B.J. is ready to defend!

 

Calbert with the two-handed slam! (insert Marv Alberts voice)

 

Stacey over two defenders!

 

Geiger standing tall over all the rest.

 

I couldn't let this gallery end without tossing in one of my favorite Knicks of course!

 

I also busted these because I was in the middle of my Kobe Bryant hunt looking for anything with his name on it. I did manage to pull a couple of rookie inserts of him that stayed in my collection for years before my dad claimed them when I moved out. The inserts overall in the product were really solid with lots of shiny and tough pulls.

When I was going through my sorting project, I found the ones above along with a few others I held onto over the years that took me back to those trips to the pharmacy and pulling a pack out of the display case and running out to the car to look for my favorite players and Bryant. 

 

This is what this segment is all about, those iconic childhood designs that bring back those memories.

So does 1996-1997 Stadium Club have any meaning to you? Did you ever buy cards from the pharmacy? What are your thoughts on the design overall and if you bought some, what was your best pull? Let me know in comments!

Random Card Find:1996-1997 Flair Showcase Row 2 Dennis Rodman

Random Card On My Desk:1996-1997 Sp Allen Iverson

Random Card On My Desk:1996-1997 NBA Hoops Chris Gatling

Random Card On My Desk:1996-1997 Fleer Ultra Greg Anthony

Random Card On My Desk:1996-1997 Skybox Z-Force Jamal Mashburn

Random Card On My Desk:1996-1997 Upper Deck Rookie Exclusives Stephon Marbury

Random Card On My Desk:1996-1997 Sp Avery Johnson

99 Cents For What?!?!

If you haven't noticed recently, a lot of my collecting is shifting towards stuff from the 90's. It's not just because as VH1 would put it, "I love The 90's", but it's because there are deals to be had on cards you may have once wanted but couldn't afford.

That's where these three cards come into play.

After getting an eBay gift card for my birthday, I started scouring for deals. I won't overpay for a card and will sometimes even lose a card if I feel it's above what I want to pay for it. That even includes $3. Yes, I am stingy but I feel there are deals to be had and I like to stretch my dollar as far as I can.

And stretching that dollar I did with these pickups. For a TOTAL $2.97, free shipping too, I was able to acquire three tough pulls from the 90's, yes .99 cents each.

Being a huge fan of refractors and PCing them, landing not one but two 1:80 pulls for under $1, was a heck of a find.

I always liked this guy despite him playing for the wrong NY team. He was very underrated for what he provided to the Jets.

Then I also landed this. A 1997-1998 Select Certified GOLD MIRROR PARALLEL that were really tough at 1:299 odds. Now I just need to get the other two mirrors to complete a rainbow. These Golds are so tough, hough not numbered, are limited to just 24 copies.

You can't argue that I didn't get a great deal, I know I did. The cards are also impressive looking and more so in person. These also cross off some insert wants from the 90's as well.

As I type this, I already have my watch list filled hoping for another steal like these. It may never happen again, but with some patience, you just never know.

Breakin Wax:1996-1997 Skybox Premium Basketball Pack Break

In this edition of Breakin Wax, I am busting a pack of one of my favorite late 90's products, Skybox Premium.

Just like some other posts I have done in this series, I must apologize that the pack wrapper didn't get included in this post. But, I promise I will do a breakdown none-the-less.

In every pack of Skybox Premium basketball, there are 10 cards and a $3 per pack price tag. In there will be a mix of veterans, rookies and subsets. Of course the occasional fun insert and if you are really lucky, a ruby parallel.

The base cards had color faded backgrounds with full color player standing out in the forefront. Looked pretty cool, especially in person.

Subset, Point Men. I can remember how many times my Knicks got taken down by this guy.

You can get into Double Trouble with these subsets.

Rookie cards! Full of color. I figured these would be the two players I would get in my pack, I pulled them a lot in the 90's.

and to my surprise, a 1:12 insert find called New Editions. Pretty cool design if you ask me.

Overall, two rookies and an insert make this worth opening. I am very tempted to go back and try another.

GOUDEY GOUDEY! A Pay-It-Foward Mail Day!

When getting the mail one day, I received a stack of packages. All but one I knew was coming. I looked at the name of the shipper and quickly recognized it as my friend over at 90's Niche Football Card Blog and I couldn't figure out what in the world he would be mailing me. 

Like most people who get a package in the mail, I couldn't wait to open it and did so in the car. So here is what I found along with a note that Nate B off from Twitter had paid forward his prize to me. SWEET! Now I knew what was in there!    

In this box contained a 1996-1997 Fleer Goudey Football card set. The set consisted of 150 cards and were all minis. The design was very rustic and had a rough feel to the base cards. If you would like further detail about the set, here is an article from 90's Niche Football Card Blog all about them.

Now onto the gallery. I couldn't show you all 150 cards, it was very tempting but would have taken hours to accomplish, but here are some of my favorites.  

First off, one of my favorite running backs to watch in the 90's and the picture is in old Bronco uniform. It was too bad the injuries kept piling up or this guy could have given Barry Sanders a run for his records.

Here is the back of the Davis card. Very throwback.

The once known Tennessee team known as the Oilers.

WOW THIS IS BRIGHT!

I am running, now give me that dang ball!

I forgot how horrible looking the old Buccaneer uniforms used to look.

Still one of my favorite Giants. I grew up watching him and he was a great running back who lacked respect.

And a throwback set isn't a throwback set without some retro players involved. These are the only two in the set and are the final two cards in the set.

A big thanks goes out to Nate again for paying forward this set to me. It makes a great addition to my 90's collection and will soon be moved into a binder for better displaying!