Random Card On My Desk:1992-1993 Stadium Club Shaquille O'Neal (RC)

Nightmarish Rodney Hampton Mail Day

Without any argument, Stadium Club of the 90's was not only a popular product, but it put out some amazing base cards, parallels and inserts.

One of those cool inserts came from 1995 Stadium Club called Nightmares. The checklist was full of players that would give you Nightmares. Other than this Hampton, I only own one other of these.

The backs each had a specific creature that would give you a Nightmare. Hampton's was a Vampire.

 

These inserts fell at 1:18 packs and still hold a decent value today. Hampton was one of the lower-end ones so I lucked out in terms of paying under $1 for it. However top players still can be a decent price especially in decent condition as the backs were known for bad corners. Luckily this Hampton was mint.

What's one of you favorite inserts from Stadium Club?

CAPTION THIS CARD!

This card is crying out for a Caption.

 Leave a caption below for this card. Please keep it free of language and clean please for our younger audience!

One Of These Things Don't Look Like The Other

Earlier in the celebration on here known as 90's week, I busted a box of 1996 Stadium Club football. I landed a few decent cards and was happy with my results. However, upon sorting the base cards I found something that I hadn't seen before.......

Up close these two Anthony Millers look the same.

But if you flip them around, you find out that they are not.

Match Proof parallel is what I had found. Not something I had ever seen or heard of and most of the time never would have noticed if I hadn't sorted the cards by number. So I did a little research on them.

Match Proof in Series one fall at a tough rate of 1:240 packs. Each card in the 90 card set has a Match Proof parallel and they are numbered to 120 sets of each. The only thing that separates them from base is the gold foil on the back as you see above. The ones in Series 2 are much easier to find at 1:150 packs, however those are only numbered to 100 sets of each.

I think this was a great find for my 90's PC and I was fist pumping the air when I saw that I had pulled something cool. It's both something unique and rare. This is the kind of fun that busting older products can bring.

**********************************************************************************
TOPIC:
You knew a topic was coming with this one. Have you ever found a great card that you may have missed the first time around in a card pack or random stack you bought? Maybe it was even already in your collection? I want to hear all of the details! Your reaction, what it was you found and how you discovered it.

Breakin Wax:1996 Stadium Club Football Box

If you collect cards, more than likely you were a fan of Stadium Club.

I like the fact that Topps has made an effort and brought back this product, but it's nowhere near what it once was in the 90's. Not many products are.

How did this break go? Well, only one way to find out.....READ ON!

In every box of 1996 Stadium Club football, there are 24 packs per box and 10 cards per pack. There were multiple fun inserts to be had including Joe Namath reprints.

The base cards are the typical run for Stadium Club, clear full color action shots. No borders and just plain showcasing the game.

Back of base.

Rookie card photos appear to had been taken at the rookie premier.  I loaded up on some of the greats in this box.

For the shiny fan in us, there were also a couple of subsets highlighting golden moments or milestones reached by players. You will find two of there per pack.

Contact Prints fall at a rate of 1:12. Kinda cool design

In these boxes you can find Joe Namath Finest reprints. Mine came with only one which is right for a box and rate of 1:24.

Pro Bowl inserts are a nice pull at 1:36. Look great too!

And my favorite insert from Stadium Club, Dot Matrix parallel falls 1:12. These look so cool! I tried my best to capture them in the light.

Overall, I felt pretty good about this break. Fun inserts, key rookies and for the price I paid, there was lots of value.

Now for the breakdown. I took the inserts, star players from the base and rookies and got a rough Beckett Book Value for it:

Here is what I paid: $8  for the box
Here is what I roughly got in Beckett Book Value from it: $60

Seems I made out pretty well. I could have done a bit better unless I missed something. But, can't argue with the results especially with nice base cards and shiny inserts.

THIS vs THAT Battle 1

As you all know, I am a huge 90's card collector and loved everything to do with that era of collecting. It's not like I still don't enjoy collecting today, but there was just something about that era that will never be surpassed.

So I thought it would be fun to do a BATTLE OF THE....... CAAAAAAAAARDS (picture a deep voice and drawn out ending). If any of you watch SportsCenter, you would know they have a segment called the Best Of The Best where they pin two of the best plays against one another. One play may have been from previous days in a row against a new one. The goal is to narrow down the best. Well, I want to do a Best Of The Best card version but mine is called This vs That.

Here is how this is going to work.

1. I will put a post up such as this one and you will have one week to vote on one card or the other by telling me in comments which one you like more. 
2. There will be one card from the 90's, one card from the 2000's. 
3. There will be a variety of sports versing one another. This contest isn't to pin sport vs sport. 
4. Voting is based upon the OVERALL card and looking at things such as design, creativity, photography and eye appeal. Don't judge a card because it's an autograph or jersey card vs a base card. This "contest" is to see which card is OVERALL better and not just because it's signed or has someone's memorabilia. Same goes for the inserts vs the base. I will try my best to make them the fairest I see possible.
5. After a week of voting, the card with the most votes moves on to face another card. 
6. A card that loses cannot be brought back nor can its design.Example is if I use the 1993-1994 Stadium Club hockey card design, I cannot use the 1994 Stadium Club football card design later on as they are most likely the same thing. The designs on the cards must be different.
7. I will keep a tally on which cards have won and how many times they have won at the top of the next weeks post.

I am not sure when I will end the overall "contest", maybe by the end of the year, let's see how many voters show up first. But, the goal is to see which card ends up being the best and which era gets more wins.

Now let's move onto the very first This vs That!


THIS
1993-1994 Stadium Club First Day Issue

VS


THAT
2014 Panini Contenders

Put your vote in below in comments on which card you like best, OVERALL.

Voting ends on March 21st, 2015.

That 90's Card: 1997-1998 Topps Stadium Club Samaki Walker

That 90's Card: 1993-1994 Topps Stadium Club John Williams

One of the nicer photographed set of the 90's was Topps Stadium Club. Topps did an amazing job capturing moments during games for MLB, NFL and this one for the NBA. The product also used a very clean design with its borderless photography.

I chose this card today, I am sure it's one of many Stadium Club ones I will post, because it's from my Knicks PC. The photograph used on it is pretty cool as well because it made me think back to the Knicks/Bulls rival days when Jordan would come to the Garden and always found a way to win. Funny thing is I couldn't stand MJ in the 90's because of that, but now I am a fan.

That 90's Card: 1997 Topps Stadium Club Kevin Hardy

CAPTION THIS!

 

"Looks like I am SHAQing it up tonight!"

Product: 1997-1998 Topps Stadium Club

Card #: 47

Let's hear your CAPTION THIS for this card! (keep it clean, no language too!)

Random Card Of The Day: Carlos Garcia Topps Stadium Club 1994

This is probably one of the best photographs I have seen on a Topps card. Part of why we love and miss Stadium Club.