One EX That I Can Deal With

As many of you know, I am a BIG 90's collector. Other than chasing down unique inserts and base cards, I collect certain sets that I used to have. Yes, used to have making them my Ex. Now you get the post title :)

One of those sets was Ex2000 which to this day may be some of the greatest base cards ever created. The acetate back ground, the full blown color and shininess gives it quite an edge over other base cards. I am sure you will agree.

Up first the main rookie card of the set and the first card in the set, Jake Plummer.

I love how they did the back of the card as its the mirror of the front. So cool.

Another key rookie in the set, Warrick Dunn. This was also the season that Tampa switched to the much cooler uni's and helmets and got rid of the creamscicle ones.

2 Giants PC cards as well. This is a Hilliard rookie.

I had been trying for two years to add this to my PC. The problem was the price people were asking for it. I felt it was too steep. So when I stumbled on the set finding it on sale for $10, it was a no-brainer that I needed to buy or I would lose out.

Now to try and get the baseball and basketball versions!

What are your thoughts on Ex? Do you own any of the cards? Sets?

Inspired Pickup

Every night I read other sport card blogs especially ones who grab my attention with catchy post titles. One of those nights, I read the title The Box That Broke My Heart written by The Chronicles Of Fuji Blog. If that post title doesn't grab you in, none will. In the article he discusses 1996 Spx baseball and suddenly I felt inspired to go and look some up on eBay. No joking. It literally happened just like that. There was just something about the post and pictures that sent me a vibe that I needed to search. And search I did.

Upon scrolling a few cards down, I noticed a set of the 1997 Spx baseball that was soon ending on auction. I felt led to bid and I did. So a post by someone else inspired me to bid on something out of nowhere on eBay and would you have guessed that I won the auction. Not only just won it either. I scored the entire 1997 Spx set for $12!! Call the police! That's a steal my friend!

So I can cross off 1997 Spx baseball from my 90's Spx set hunting all thanks to Fuji's post. Wasn't even ready to cross that one off yet.

Let's take a break from the story and get to what you want to see. The set! Well, here it is. Try not to drool.


My camera didn't care about catching the holograms all that well so I tried to get you a general idea of how they all look from this Eddie Murray.

Back of the card

Now onto the rest

Overall there are 50 cards of pure hologram goodness. The Griffey in the set also serves as a PC piece I didn't have before either. Those alone you can't find cheaper than $6.

Thanks for the inspiration Fuji that led me to this heck of a deal. I look forward to future reads that may do the same. Just try to stay within my budget.

For you 90's card guru's or readers that have been paying attention to my Spx search, I now have 1996, 1997, 1998 Spx football along with the 1996 Marino/Montana inserts and the Marino/Montana autos. I also have half of a 1996-1997 Spx hockey set and now this one. Still more to got but hopefully this one time dream of chasing these all down can become a reality.

2014 Flair Showcase Football Set Part 4: The Finale...FOR NOW

For the first time in awhile, I am trying to chase down a set BIG TIME. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, SET COLLECTORS STILL DO EXIST!

I have had half attempts at sets in recent years, some I completed, some I ended up giving up in the end. This time however, I will continue to build upon this set from time to time when I can afford to pick up the missing pieces or can find them. I really want to accomplish this one since I am pretty close and the fact that I really dig the design as it throws me back to what I consider the good years of collecting, the 90's.

I have paged all of my set so far, so I figured I would roughly show off three pages at a time of what I have so far. In the meantime, I may post updates of missing numbers I bring in and will continue to cross them off my checklist that resides on the right side of the blog if you haven't seen it yet.

Flair Showcase is set up similar to the one in the 90's as it's broken down into three sections Row 2, that come most per pack. Row 1 that comes a couple per pack and Row 0 with veterans and rookies falls at toughie at 1:6. The set will be a challenge with the Row 0's, but one I am willing to accept.

Yesterday I showed you Part 3 with some name and no name players. Today's is a mix of stars and non-stars both veterans and rookies. Today's is not only Row 2, but Row 1 and 0 as well. I didn't end up showing all of the 0's since what I have is limited.

Before viewing, please take note that you might think you are seeing multiple cards, but you are not. These are all in pages in a binder and where you see a faded card it's not a double but actually the card on the next page.

Without further ado...The final part....at least until I can put the set ALL together!

A couple of NY Giant beasts shown in Odell Beckham and Andre Williams. Also shown in Row 1 is Money Manziel. Like I said, my set is pretty far along, but I still have some hills to climb to complete it.

Please keep checking in on mail day posts of new additions. I have one posting tomorrow with hopefully more to come.

When and if I can complete this set, wait for an all out post on the ENTIRE SET! I really hope to be able to finish this feat!

2014 Flair Showcase Football Set Part 3

For the first time in awhile, I am trying to chase down a set BIG TIME. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, SET COLLECTORS STILL DO EXIST!

I have had half attempts at sets in recent years, some I completed, some I ended up giving up in the end. This time however, I will continue to build upon this set from time to time when I can afford to pick up the missing pieces or can find them. I really want to accomplish this one since I am pretty close and the fact that I really dig the design as it throws me back to what I consider the good years of collecting, the 90's.

I have paged all of my set so far, so I figured I would roughly show off three pages at a time of what I have so far. In the meantime, I may post updates of missing numbers I bring in and will continue to cross them off my checklist that resides on the right side of the blog if you haven't seen it yet.

Flair Showcase is set up similar to the one in the 90's as it's broken down into three sections Row 2, that come most per pack. Row 1 that comes a couple per pack and Row 0 with veterans and rookies falls at toughie at 1:6. The set will be a challenge with the Row 0's, but one I am willing to accept.

Yesterday I showed you Part 2 with some name and no name players. Today's about the same.

Without further ado...Part 3:

Keep checking in on these posts and more updates! When and if I can complete it, wait for an all out post on the ENTIRE SET all at once!

2014 Flair Showcase Football Set Part 2

For the first time in awhile, I am trying to chase down a set BIG TIME. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, SET COLLECTORS STILL DO EXIST!

I have had half attempts at sets in recent years, some I completed, some I ended up giving up in the end. This time however, I will continue to build upon this set from time to time when I can afford to pick up the missing pieces or can find them. I really want to accomplish this one since I am pretty close and the fact that I really dig the design as it throws me back to what I consider the good years of collecting, the 90's.

I have paged all of my set so far, so I figured I would roughly show off three pages at a time of what I have so far. In the meantime, I may post updates of missing numbers I bring in and will continue to cross them off my checklist that resides on the right side of the blog if you haven't seen it yet.

Flair Showcase is set up similar to the one in the 90's as it's broken down into three sections Row 2, that come most per pack. Row 1 that comes a couple per pack and Row 0 with veterans and rookies falls at toughie at 1:6. The set will be a challenge with the Row 0's, but one I am willing to accept.

Yesterday I showed you Part 1 with the top quarterbacks in the class. Today's isn't so big time in players but still very eye catching.

Without further ado...Part 2:

Some good players in the second round as well including THE BEAST Odell Beckham Jr. who I am hoping has a BIG GAME tonight! Go Gmen! This card alone serves as two purposes as a part of this set and apart of my Giants PC.

Keep checking in on these posts and more updates! When and if I can complete it, wait for an all out post on the ENTIRE SET all at once!

2014 Flair Showcase Football Set Part 1

For the first time in awhile, I am trying to chase down a set BIG TIME. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, SET COLLECTORS STILL DO EXIST!

I have had half attempts at sets in recent years, some I completed, some I ended up giving up in the end. This time however, I will continue to build upon this set from time to time when I can afford to pick up the missing pieces or can find them. I really want to accomplish this one since I am pretty close and the fact that I really dig the design as it throws me back to what I consider the good years of collecting, the 90's.

I have paged all of my set so far, so I figured I would roughly show off three pages at a time of what I have so far. In the meantime, I may post updates of missing numbers I bring in and will continue to cross them off my checklist that resides on the right side of the blog if you haven't seen it yet.

Flair Showcase is set up similar to the one in the 90's as it's broken down into three sections Row 2, that come most per pack. Row 1 that comes a couple per pack and Row 0 with veterans and rookies falls at toughie at 1:6. The set will be a challenge with the Row 0's, but one I am willing to accept.

Without further ado...Part 1:

Some great players in the first three pages including Manziel, Bortles and Bridgewater.

Keep checking in on these posts and more updates! When and if I can complete it, wait for an all out post on the ENTIRE SET all at once!

What's In The Mail Box?

Recently I wrote a article for The Pack Gambler about my Flair Preview football set in their series, The Story behind that PC find, and if you haven't read that yet you can locate that story HERE.

There was something about writing that for them that made me want a second set. So I scoured eBay til I found one I could bid on. There is just something about this set. The memories. The feeling like a kid again and purchasing something just for the fun of it and not for the value. And the design was always something I really enjoyed with the micro etching.

I felt great when the auction ended at $.99 for the entire 30 card set. And now here is that set all in order starting from left to right. There is one player per team and it's a mix of rookies from the 1995 season among Hall Of Famers as well. I hope you enjoy viewing this set as much as I have.

And on you go!

Thought I would also include what the back looks like:

Now that you have seen why I am so high on this set, let me hear your thoughts on it and if you have ever done a double purchase just for the fun of it.

Nice Set!!!

A card shop that I had gone to had a couple of extra sets of these kicking around. They were freebies in apart of a Topps redemption promo. Due to the fact they got double orders on it, they had extras to hand away. I ended up with 2 of the sets. They are absolutely beautiful with the Chrome refractor look! It's a nine card set mixed of retirees and vets.