Friday, September 3, 2010

Another 90's Insert Set: '99 E-X Century Dunk N' Go Nuts

In my never ending quest to collect any and all 90's basketball inserts, I recently started putting the 1999 E-X Century Dunk N' Go Nuts set together. The Dunk N' Go Nuts set is comprised of acetate cards that was released by SkyBox. Acetate is the process of encasing or printing an image on a translucent plastic. This is one of the coolest looking and one of my favorite trading card technologies. I'm also putting the '98 Metal Universe Titanium and the '97 Ultra Court Masters sets together. Both of which are also utilize acetate technology.

SkyBox was one of the more creative companies of the 90's. They released set after set that utilized the absolute most cutting edge technologies of the day. Who can forget their totally rad early 90's sets and graphics? If you've forgotten, checkout the TV commercial for the '92 SkyBox Series II release. Awesome!

The '99 E-X release is mostly remembered for the Essential Credentials inserts and a very solid Vince Carter RC, and rightfully so. The Credentials card design is one of the most beautiful trading card designs ever produced in my opinion, but these Dunk N' Go Nuts cards aren't too bad themselves. Plus, they're a fraction of the cost of the Credentials cards. It's tough to tell from the scans, but these cards are translucent and the text reflects light. Those design elements make for one cool looking card.

Although more reasonably priced than Essential Credentials cards, the Dunk N' Go Nuts cards typically sell for over their book values. This is rare in a hobby that book value is usually cut in have on e-markets like eBay. Take the Michael Jordan for example: (click here). I know it's Michael Jordan and all, but that's nearly $100 over book value. Not all of the cards in the set go for that much over book value, but many of them consistently out perform their values by 15% - 35%.

The cards are not terrible rare with a pack insertion rate of 1:36. You can typically find a number of these on eBay any given week. Even the Jordan pops up two to three times a month. I should know, the Dunk N' Go Nuts cards are part of my daily search routine. A completed set recently sold for $250 (click here). That's a bit more than I'm willing to shell out all at once. Plus, what's the fun in that? It's almost like cheating if you buy the entire set all at once.

I currently have six cards from the twenty card set. I don't have any of the big guns from the set like Jordan or Kobe (by "big guns" I mean expensive), but I did manage to acquire a few notable names like Grant Hill and Tim Duncan.

Most would think the Hill, McGrady or Duncan would be the ones I was most excited to add to my collection, but they're not. I coined the term "Felipe Lopez Effect" several months ago when describing getting a card of a player that may not be the most collectible in the hobby, but you as the collector really cherish. I call it that because I like collecting Felipe Lopez inserts and auto's. Lopez was the 1994 Parade, USA Today, Gatorade and others High School Player of the Year. He was one of the most highly touted amateur players since the likes of Lew Alcindor and Kenny Anderson. Yes, at one time Anderson was considered a dynamic talent. Lopez had an up and down career at St. John's University in NYC and I probably watched every game of his collegiate career, but I still collect inserts of Lopez today. Checkout the bottom of the Dunk N' Go Nuts Lopez card. He's rockin' some low top Adidas kicks.

The set will most likely take me a while to put together since I have a number of other sets and players that I'm collecting. Plus, I usually look for the deals. Hopefully I'll be able to add to my Dunk N' Go Nuts set regularly. I do however have a number of cards coming in for a few of the other sets I'm also putting together, so stay tuned for those. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

18 comments:

  1. Man, you always find the coolest stuff. I love them.

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  2. That whole set screams '90s. I never collected any of those. Was it licesed with Dunkin Donuts franchise in some way? Or did they just get permission to use the likeness?

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  3. 98/99 EX Century: I've been a fan of this product since day one... it's by far my favorite 98/99 product... and I was buying this stuff up in bulk back in the day... chasing Carter, Jamison, and the rest of the great rookie class.

    The Jordan & Kobe Dunk 'N Go Nuts are way up on my want lists... hopefully I'll add them to my PCs eventually.

    Best of luck in building this sweet set!

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  4. Thanks for the comments guys.

    - TJ, thanks. I collect a lot of different stuff and I try to post some unique items when possible.

    - Guy, your def right about the '90's aspect. This set is all about the 90's. I have heard that Skybox got sued by Dunkin' Donuts, but I actually think that is incorrect as Dunkin' Donuts had giveaways of modified versions of the Dunk N' Go Nuts cards that it gave out at some of their locations. The cards were shrunk down and then a Dunkin' Donuts logo was put across the top. Check eBay ID #: 120614973876. I think these were just promo's of Jordan released in the Greater Chicago area.

    - Mark, I love this set. E-X Century is one of the best products of the 90's. I love the Credentials cards for all sports. The "Penny" Hardaway Essential Credentials is one of my White Whales. Actually, any Credentials card is a White Whale to me. The base set is awesome. I would love to bust a box of this stuff. The Jordan and Kobe are a bit pricey for me. The Kobe isn't too bad, but the Jordan regularly hits $125. I think the Carter is the best looking card in the set.

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  5. Hi, is there really a gold version of this set?

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