Saturday, July 31, 2021

So...This Has Gone On A While

I think I am going to take a small break. From what? Well, posting about the 20 in 20...don't worry, still going to post daily here. I just have a bunch of sealed materials I haven't gotten to and I figure, after 7 months (wow!) of going through the lot, similar to what I did with the Santa Lot, I will start dropping in little breaks of other stuff to open and share. The majority will still be pulling and posting about the lot, but I like opening new stuffs to and letting it star in the posts here or there, so just a heads up there will be a little more variety.

I had wanted to keep going through the lot because I am putting a fair bit of it aside to get to a certain online baseballcardstore.ca dime box. I figure that is as good a place as any to ensure people who really need the cards can access them quickly and affordably, and Steve has been great to deal with, so happy to support him.

ANYWAY - let's take a look at some more cards from the lot...some more heavy looking Metal basketball cards. 




Just a single card missing in this run - #200 Damon Stoudamire. Well, makes sense as this was a collection in the Toronto area and would have gone by a Raptors fan. Given it was his rookie card as well, guess that's why there isn't a single copy left.

Must not have been a Grizzlies fan though - plenty of those here!

Friday, July 30, 2021

Well, That's Expected

Continuing through the Metal set, I can say, no surprises really in the cards that are missing in action today. 


First card missing today is #161 - Magic Johnson. Yeah, no surprise there as the man is a legend and Hall of Famer.


Next up is $167 - Kevin Garnett. Not on the same level as a Magic Johnson, but the man was a power and this being his rookie card, can see why it is missing in action.

Also missing is card $179, the rookie card for Jerry Stackhouse which can be seen in a similar light.

So for the series, we are at 64 card in and just missing three which isn't too shabby. Probably going to be a few more to be left out, but we will be able to see in the next day or so.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

So There's At Least One...

 I am sure there will probably be a few more, but today, we hit the first card that is missing in action for the 1995-96 Metal basketball set...


Next up should be card 143, but...nope. That would be one Antonio McDyess. I am going to assume that one may be MIA due to a player collection from whoever went through these cards first.



Well, that's my assumption anyway as I would have thought maybe Hakeem or Drexler may be missing if we were talking straight star power..but then again, basketball isn't my sport so maybe I'm missing something.

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

1995-96 Fleer Metal Basketball

 Moving on to the next set we see a bunch of in the 20 in 20 lot, is 1995-96 Fleer Metal basketball. Well, it isn't the whole set, as it was released in 2 series, as were many, with this set being only 100 base cards (numbered 121-220). So, the question I really have going through this will be more of a who is missing than a who is here, but let's take a look (keeping in mind 121 was seen yesterday).


As you can see, multiple of many of the cards, and as is fairly usual, the cards are in order by team, so we start with the Atlanta Hawks. Actually, interesting that the team allocation of cards is quite varied as we see 6 Hawks and then...



Only one Chicago Bull card with Rodman.

At this point - no one missing and we have cards 121 through 136, many in duplicate or..triplicate even.

I don't mind the look of the Metal cards in hand - very much like hockey's Black Diamond sets which look much better in hand than in scans. The Metal cards allow for more colour variation still with the backgrounds, and look a little more rust colour in hand - which goes a bit with the colour of a basketball, so kind of get it.

The names are really hard to read though.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Trade It In

 I promise - this is the last post for 1992-93 Upper Deck basketball...well, for a while at least, and we get to talk trade in!


So that first card, is card 1a -  the trade in card you could send in to get the shorter printed "trade" version card 1b - the Shaq rookie card. Apparently, due to a pre-existing agreement Shaq had with Classic Games, he couldn't appear in the set until the Hi numbered version, so this was inserted into packs instead and then redeemed for the Shaq rookie.


Hey - nice to see an....actual?...Jordan card here, noting his back to back MVP awards. MJ in his heyday!





So all in on the 310 card low series base set - looks to be about 60-70% complete with all the cards we have shared and gone through. A solid started for a set, though missing some of the big names of course.

We end with a little more basketball, but a glimpse at what's next...


Before I go, a quick update on unopened Magic packs. So, for work recently, I got part of my annual bonus and may have put a part of it towards a purchase of a few packs of older Magic sets which will bring my missing boosters down to about 8-9, with really only 2 that I would potentially still buy since the rest are $500 or more per pack. On the same measure, I picked up a booster of the recent set which at Walmart...


I personally would have rather seen the Harry Potter one succeed and come to be, but I get the interest in the D&D crossover too. The name for the set - a bit too long though.

Still, great artwork as always.

Monday, July 26, 2021

Backs to Upper Deck

 Not that we have left the 1992-93 Upper Deck set, but worth taking a look at the backs as we have seen most of the fronts so far.


I love checklists, and the team checklists are even better for the fronts, but the backs are simple enough.


With the "normal" base cards, there is good use of the picture space with a second great photo in most cases, and the stats mushed in with a few years at least, and done with the nice NBA logo backdrop.


I also appreciate the team logo as it does make it much easier going through a bunch of cards from the set looking for team specific cards, and having a spot like this corner to be able to thumb through quickly. Little things like this that make the collecting and organizing much easier with some sets than others.




I haven't double checked, but I suspect ever card is vertically done for the front, and the pics on the back keep the same vertical format - works great when put in a binder.

Last up, a trio of inserts...

All solid picks for their teams, no surprises there...though Scott probably wouldn't last as Team MVO for long given some Shaq guy started up around this time.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Scorry A Horry

 Sure, he isn't a Hall of Famer per se, but he did win a number of Championships and was a role player many years, so a supporting chameleon of sorts - but Robert Horry had a great career overall.


I mean, winning championships with three different teams is a great achievement - period. Being in the NBA for almost 20 years is a great achievement - period.

Though he spent more time in LA, I remember him more from starting in the league with Houston, but mostly because that was his team on the early 90s basketball video games I played.

He may not have been the flashiest players, but he played a great part to his team wherever he was.






One more day or so of the set, and I think one thing I learned going through the set like this, I may be better off sorting a "chunk" to get copies together and them go through the set in a few days, but at least then just seeing the cards one on the way through....ah well, live and learn.

Saturday, July 24, 2021

Keeping It Base-ic

 There is an end in sight...maybe another couple days of 1992-93 Upper Deck. It's a nice set though, and I will take a rough guess when done as to how much of the set is MIA, though I'd guess about 20% as a rough go.


As for the rookies today, Harold Miner lasted 4 seasons in the NBA - 3 with Miami and 1 with Cleveland before being done on the grand stage.

Don lasted a bit better, playing in parts of 9 seasons with the first being with the Bullets, then a different team each of the next 6 years. Impressive to keep being able to scratching into the league like that every year.





So...that checklist card counts as a Jordan card, right? I mean, Jordan is in the background, actually different shots on each side, but both are MJ. Seems even the checklists wanna be like Mike.


Let's tack on a recently received PWE trade from first time trade partner doogie_13 at TCDB.


So - not sure why Scott was on my "need" list since I have the complete set and already have a copy in my sell pile. Oops!

Marshall is a set add as I want to keep the 90 Holo variant separate from the set completion.

The O Pee Chee Jays are nice adds, but still a number I need for the team set of Jays.


We also get a few hockey additions with a couple UER cards as I work to finish what I consider a master set of 1990-91 O Pee Chee, and a few sweet new Leafs adds.

A big thank you for a first trade - especially since he is actually not too far from me, though we did still mail the cards. Maybe some time we could do an in person trade.

Friday, July 23, 2021

More and more

 Another day, another 50 from the 1992-93 Upper Deck basketball series. Many of the cards, already have made at least one appearance...but let's take a look anyway...



Looks like Cliff is taking a peak from behind his headband...maybe the score wasn't so nice to be checking out that he was hiding.




I'd have to check but I think those are like the 5th and 6th Kerr's so far.


Let's end again with the Team MVP inserts...

Isiah Thomas - now there is another Raptors name from the past. I think Isiah did alright behind the scenes for the Raptors and helping them through the early formative years, but I think the expectations were to the moon, and he didn't reach that - but that was more on being an expansion franchise in the 90s.

Isiah always came across with a smile and being a "good guy", and I can't say his run with the Raptors was poor, but never reached the heights the fans wanted. He did draft a few important men for those formative years like Stoudamire, Camby, and McGrady.