Hacka's epic journey of the last 30 years of NBA cards

hackadeandre · Feb 28, 2016

NBA Trivia

What a card! I haven't actually checked the answers to these questions but I wouldn't be surprised if (at the time) the answer to all was Earvin 'Magic' Johnson!

Before I get onto the insert sets, here is a card that doesn't fit into the 'chase' but I will include these anyway for memory's sake. If a card is just a 'one-off' like the next one, I have not worried about getting all of these at this stage. Most are pretty easy to get and I may go back and fill in these spots.

One-off

Patrick Ewing Art

Another awesome looking art card, can't say I've ever, ever heard of Ewing being called 'Patrickman' though.

1992-93 Hoops NBA Draft Redemption

The first of the draft redemptions if my memory serves me correctly. I remember that these redemption cards in general were bloody hard to pull but the worst thing was that at the time, they were only redeemable to US addresses. So most Aussie kids that pulled these ridiculously hard cards to get were essentially getting a worthless redemption card with no way to offload it (no eBay or no US connection). Googs must have owned Magic's GQ Skybox card from the previous year as he is wearing 'pattern on stripes'. Well done Googs.

1992-93 Hoops Magic's All-Rookie Team

Poor old Laettner. Everyone hated him because he was so good in college and then everyone hated him because he didn't come even close to his lofty NBA expectations. I suppose he may have rubbed people the wrong way early on but since watching Everyone Hates Laettner I actually don't mind him!

1992-93 Hoops Supreme Court

The Glide: Great man, great player. The 'Supreme Court' theme transitions to the insert variety.

hackadeandre · Feb 28, 2016

1992-93 Hoops More Magic Moments

Some things haven't changed. Philly on the wrong end of another lopsided scoreline.

wjrwebber · Feb 28, 2016

Spree's first two college years were spent at a junior college which doesn't have 4 years available for tenure.

hackadeandre · Feb 28, 2016

wjrwebber said:
Spree's first two college years were spent at a junior college which doesn't have 4 years available for tenure.

I didn't know that at all about junior college/normal college. Love hearing and learning about stuff like that, awesome, thanks mate!

hackadeandre · Feb 29, 2016

1992-93 Skybox

Base card #342 Latrell Sprewell
Another Sprewell rookie, the rookie cards in this series had the same look as the non-rookies. His jersey number is dedicated to his daughter.

Subsets

Teams

This subset had 1 card per team, nice enough to pass for an insert set I reckon. Love the trademark Skybox orange shadow on the travel path of the ball.

All-Stars

What better card to show than Magic holding his second All-Star MVP trophy! I actually forgot that his first game back after retirement #1 was the the All-Star game.

NBA Finals

Talking about 2 identical trophies, here's MJ with his second of a different kind.

Insert Sets

1992-93 Skybox David Robinson

Baby David Robinson. 10 card set dedicated to The Admiral, looks exactly the same except about 5 and a half foot taller.

hackadeandre · Feb 29, 2016

1992-93 Skybox Draft Picks

Been holding off on Shaq, can't do it any longer. Shaqtus dominated from day 1, maybe not from the free-throw line though.

1992-93 Skybox Olympic Team

From the team that started it all as the 'Dream Team', no need to look any further than seeing who is sitting ON THE BENCH! Sir Charles led all players in PPG and total steals during the Tournament of the Americas.

1992-93 Skybox School Ties

Didn't Georgetown strike gold with 3 HOF'er centers going through their system within the space of 7 years... incredible.

1992-93 Skybox Thunder and Lightning

These inserts were awesome, foil back and front. The playmaker and the big man doing their thing. This theme carried on through Skybox inserts for many years.

Aronzo33 · Feb 29, 2016

Wow I'm not even joking when I say I was feeling pretty damn emotional looking at some of these cards. Seriously it's like I was brought back to my teenage years when these cards came out and I was super excited all over again!

Thanks for taking me back, back when just busting a pack of cards and pulling your NBA idol was like winning a million bucks! Those were good times not like now where a card costs more than your mortgage

hackadeandre · Feb 29, 2016

Aronzo33 said:
Wow I'm not even joking when I say I was feeling pretty damn emotional looking at some of these cards. Seriously it's like I was brought back to my teenage years when these cards came out and I was super excited all over again! Thanks for taking me back, back when just busting a pack of cards and pulling your NBA idol was like winning a million bucks! Those were good times not like now where a card costs more than your mortgage

I'm hearing you man. When I came back to collecting and found out about Flawless and the cost of a box, I couldn't fathom it and thought it was quite ridiculous. To be honest after getting over the concept of Flawless I had the same reaction to Eminence. Where will it end? I decided with Eminence to draw the line at Flawless because a family holiday is more important.

zeeman · Feb 29, 2016

maybe one of the most epic chases of all time. very impressive stuff and I can see this thread turning into a 200+ page mega thread. Can't wait to see the 93 to 97 which was back when I was collecting the first time around!

hackadeandre · Feb 29, 2016

zeeman said:
maybe one of the most epic chases of all time. very impressive stuff and I can see this thread turning into a 200+ page mega thread. Can't wait to see the 93 to 97 which was back when I was collecting the first time around!

Cheers mate! Yes 93 to 97 was a special time, I want to get there faster but we can't skip anything here

wjrwebber · Feb 29, 2016

This is officially thread of the year and its on February!

hackadeandre · Feb 29, 2016

wjrwebber said:
This is officially thread of the year and its on February!

Thanks mate, it's a team effort. With people commenting and reading makes me want to push through to the end...

wjrwebber · Feb 29, 2016

hackadeandre said:
Thanks mate, it's a team effort. With people commenting and reading makes me want to push through to the end...

I'll be here pushing you, dont worry

I sold all my old base/inserts a few years back (approx 50 000 cards), so I'm keen to see what I've forgotten. I have a soft spot for the 94/95 stuff which was when I first started collecting and enjoyed 97/98 as my favourite year of sets.

BTW, to be undertaking this mammoth task, how many complete sets do you have and what, if anything do you not have at all?

boosta · Mar 1, 2016

Great thread - 1992-93 Hoops Magic's All-Rookie Team - one of the most sought after set in high school!

hackadeandre · Mar 1, 2016

wjrwebber said:
I'll be here pushing you, dont worry

I sold all my old base/inserts a few years back (approx 50 000 cards), so I'm keen to see what I've forgotten. I have a soft spot for the 94/95 stuff which was when I first started collecting and enjoyed 97/98 as my favourite year of sets.

BTW, to be undertaking this mammoth task, how many complete sets do you have and what, if anything do you not have at all?

I try and keep 1 complete base set per year and also complete various insert sets. Most cards I have though are just 1 from that particular set.

bma0215 · Mar 2, 2016

Enjoyed the scroll down and the read, OP. Most fleer vintage cards are not very familiar to me except for Jordan's; so, reading your backgrounders have been very educational. Many thanks,

hackadeandre · Mar 2, 2016

1992-93 Stadium Club

Base card #247 Shaquille O'Neal RC
The inaugural Stadium Club, fantastic full colour action photo glossy base card. The rookies and the base were exactly the same except the rookies had the gold foil '92 Draft Pick stamp. I never noticed until now that the back of the card has 'The Sporting News Skills Rating System'. Very interesting and I'm sure we all aren't surprised that Shaq ranked highest in 'Intimidation' and lowest in 'Shooting Range'. I am assuming that these grades are out of 5 but not sure how they have been determined?

Subsets

1992-93 Member's Choice

Great full court pic here in Boston Garden with the banners hanging proudly from the roof. These were very similar to the base cards but had 'Member's Choice' replacing the team name and a gold holofoil highlight.

Insert Sets

1992-93 Stadium Club Beam Team

The only insert from this release, these were inserted at 1 per box of 24 packs from memory. These would have been exciting cards to pull back in the day (1 per box was rare), with the Jordan and Shaq still pulling good prices particularly highly graded ones. They were also replicated some 15 years later in Stadium Club again and are one of the favourites of the 90's for many collectors. Once again, the Reignman is pictured doing what he does best, it must have been illegal to make Shawn Kemp cards that don't feature him rocking the rim!

hackadeandre · Mar 30, 2016

Sorry guys it's been a while between drinks here. I've been madly buying up cards for this chase and only have a bit less than 650 cards to go (which sounds like a lot but it isn't too bad given the size of the chase). Anyway, lets get straight back into it!

1992-93 Topps

Base card #389
These are the cards that feature on the back of some of the Stadium Club cards of the same year (see the previous Shaq RC). Let's be honest, they were cheap and very ugly but I have learnt to appreciate them for what they are. All cards in this release came in the 'Topps Gold' version as well.

Subsets

1992-93 Topps Rookie

The rookie cards in this series were the same as the normal base except for the gold foil '92 Draft Pick stamp. An awesome action shot here to match the stunning card.

1992-93 Topps NBA All-Star

This is the 'Topps Gold' version of the base card with the player's name in gold foil down the bottom. At least the text at the back of the card was more creative with The Admiral's third All-Star game being described as ship-shape. Love it!

1992-93 Topps 50 Point Club

Another gold version of the base. 63 vs Larry Bird's Celtics in the playoffs, I wonder if we will see Curry explode for something similar this year?

1992-93 Topps Highlight

MJ again breaking hearts with 35 in the first half. Reminds me a bit of Rodney Hood's game yesterday! Although it's a bit of a stretch comparing a finals game vs Portland back in the day to a normal season game against today's Lakers...

rhysjsolomon · Mar 31, 2016

Awesome thread!!! Bring on 92/93 Upper Deck!! My favourite of all card releases ever!!

The_Silence · Mar 31, 2016

Awesome story & maildays mate, congrats

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