Shawn Kemp In The House: '94 UDA BlowUp Auto

Basketball fans can’t talk 90’s NBA basketball without mentioning the “Reign Man”. Shawn Kemp was a devastating 6 foot 10 inch athlete who could catch an ally-oop from fellow running mate Gary “The Glove” Payton better than anyone in the Association. In addition to his athleticism, Kemp also had the skill-set to work down low in the post. He averaged 14.6 points/game and 10.9 rebounds/game with a .488 field goal percentage during his NBA career. Those numbers are a bit skewed because of a few seasons when his averages dipped for a number of reasons including weight issues. It was reported that Kemp showed up to Cavaliers’ training camp weighing a hefty 275 lbs. during the ’99 lockout shortened NBA season. 275 lbs. might be generous.

I like to remember the Shawn Kemp that many referred to as “Man Child”. This was the player that no team had an defensive answer for during the mid 90’s. The player in this sweet 8 x 10 Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA) Team MVP Blowup Auto'd card. For all of Kemp’s natural abilities though, it would have been fun to watch how much better he would have been if he had only put more time into the game and himself. As it is, I'm still a fan and enjoy watching old clips of Kemp Reignin’ down on Seattle.

 As far as the newest edition to my collection goes, this UDA piece is easily the biggest card I own. It's pretty impressive in the lucite screw down case. I'm a huge fan of anything UDA and this auto's card with matching COA's is really great. Especially since I paid well under $25.00 for it. It will goes nice with the Kemp RC's that I have.

The ’91 Fleer RC features a great action shot of Kemp doing what he did best, dunking. This is my favorite Kemp RC out of the three. Just checkout that awesome blue and red trim around the photo of Kemp. Coupled with the yellow surrounding Kemp's name, this card is so bad it's actually cool. The card has a book value of only $1.50 due to the over abundance of the card. In fact, that is the case for all three of these cards. Trading card manufactures mass produced their sets and thus killed the value of their own products during the late 80’s and early 90’s.

The ’91 NBAHOOPS RC has a fairly simple design. I can’t say it’s the best looking card ever made, but it’s a nice buy at around $1 on the secondary markets. Again, the card only has a book value of $1.50 like the ’91 Fleer RC.

The final Kemp RC is a ’91 SkyBox card. The ’91 SkyBox set is one of my all-time favorite sets. I actually like both the ’91 and ’92 SkyBox sets. They have some really funky early 90’s graphics and designs. The Kemp RC from the ’91 set has some of those funky graphics and is a good looking card. Nothing like some randomly colored lines going through the background of a card. Kinda like the always cool laser background used in 90’s school photos (you know the ones I'm talking about). This Kemp RC has a book value of $2.50, but typically sells for right around $.50 to $2.00.

 

Sets I'm Currently Attempting To Assemble

Here are the sets I'm currently working to put together ('97 UD SPx Duo View Hockey is not shown as I do not have any cards in that set, but I am interested in building it!!!). If anyone has any cards in these sets and is interested in trading, let me know. I have a number of cards in each of these sets. I would like to complete a couple of these by the end of the summer. If you are interested in trading, send me an email to Hoopography@yahoo.com or leave a message on the Hoopography Facebook page. Thanks!

         '98 Metal Universe Titanium                                      '97 Upper Deck SPx Cornerstones

            '98 Ex Century Dunk N' Go N                                '98 Topps Finest Mystery Test Refractor

                          '08 Upper Deck SP Rookie Edition Auto's                                         '97 Fleer Ultra Court Masters

                                   '97 Upper Deck SPx Holoview Heroes                                   '99 SPx Rookie Auto's

                                '96 Jam Session Showstoppers                                       '97 EX 2000 A Cut Above

                                                  '97 & '98 Big Man On Court                   '98 SPx Hardcourt Holoview (Football and Basketball)

                                                              '97 SPx Promotion                                                   '98 SPx ProMotion 

                                                             '98 SPx ProMotion                                                '97 SPx Cornerstones

NY Yankees Pitcher Phil Hughes In The Hoopography House: 2007 Upper Deck Masterpeices RC Auto

2007 Upper Deck Masterpeices
Phil Hughes RC Auto

In my never-ending quest to add some New York Yankees auto's to my collection, I picked up this UD Masterpeices auto of Pinstripe's pitcher Phil Hughes off the Bay a few weeks ago. Hughes has had an up and down career thus far. Injuries last year derailed his development from a back of the rotation starting pitcher to a solid middle of the rotation starting pitcher. I am hopeful and encouraged that the once first-round pick can be a good pitcher in the bigs, if he can only stay healthy this year.

Like many collectors, I have always enjoyed these Upper Deck Masterpeices and Chronology cards. They look great and you've got to love the on-card auto's. This is a nice addition to my PC and will make the Yankees games that much more fun for me. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Crack of the Bat".

Toni Kukoc In The Hoopography House: 2010 Upper Deck SP Sign Of The TimesAuto

2010 Toni Kukoc Upper Deck SP Sign of the Times Auto

Toni Kukoc had some great nicknames during his playing days overseas and in the NBA. From "The Pink Panther" to "The Croatian Sensation, he was a magician with the basketball and maestro on the court. An interracial cog in those Chicago Bulls teams of the mid 90's, Kukoc was one of my favorites to watch. I had been meaning to pickup an auto'd card of his for some time now. If I would have known Panini was going to make a Silhouette card of him in their Preferred release, I would have waited for that. As it is, I'm pretty happy with this Upper Deck Sign of the Times auto. I didn't break the bank on it and the red really pops. Not a bad addition to the ever growing collection.

Enjoy the rest of the Sweet 16 tonight and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

It's All In The Details

1998 Upper Deck SPx ProMotion Warrick Dunn (Front)

1998 Upper Deck SPx ProMotion Warrick Dunn (Back)

It's true what they say, "…it's all in the details". Check out this 1998 Upper Deck SPx ProMotion card of Warrick Dunn. The foiling, hologram and die cut details are nice, but look at the football helmet shaped Upper Deck hologram in the bottom right corner. If you look closely, you can even see an earhole. There was some definite thought put into the detail of this card.

The detail of these SPx ProMotion cards is why I am currently trying to put together four SPx insert sets from the late 90's that feature similar diecut and hologram designs. Here's a little more background on these Upper Deck SPx inserts I'm collecting.

As many of you know, I currently have what seems like a thousand collections going. I can't help it. There're just so many great cards, magazines, kicks and posters out there to collect. One of the first actions that got me back into the hobby several years back was the rediscovering of late 90's SPx inserts. Mainly, the '98 SPx Duo View hockey cards, '97 and '98 SPx Pro Motion basketball cards, the '97 SPx Cornerstones baseball cards and the '97 and '98 SPx Pro Motion football cards. With the exception of the '98 Pro Motion cards, these sets are all very similar featuring cool die cut designs and crystal clear holograms. Because of those design attributes, I've always liked them.

So far, I have a few cards in five out of the six SPx sets listed above. The first set I started building was the '97 SPx Pro Motion basketball set. In my humble opinion, it's highlighted by one of the best looking Michael Jordan cards in the hobby (click here). Ironically, that's the only card I need to complete that five card set. Even without the Jordan, I'm pretty excited to be 80% done with the set. Unfortunately, I'm not as far with the other five sets. I have a few cards in each set and am slowly building each set. I would like to complete two out of the six sets this year as they are my highest collecting priority.

If anyone has any SPx insert cards from the six sets I'm collecting, let me know. I'd love to get these collections jump started with a few trades. You can look at my want lists and trade album by clicking here. There are a few jersey and auto'd football, baseball and basketball cards in there now. I'm always open to trades with fellow bloggers as well as anyone who is a member of Collectors Card World and Sports Card Forum. Thanks for reading and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

What's Your White Whale?

1997 Upper Deck SPx ProMotion Michael Jordan

I should preface this post by saying that I really have like 10 white whales, but this 1997 Upper Deck SPx ProMotion Michael Jordan is a card that I've been after for about 4 years. Ever since I saw it I new I wanted to build the entire set. Luckily for me, the set is only five cards and I have four out of the five. The bad part, the Jordan sells for over $100.

This card and design got me so excited way back when that I'm also building the sets from the other sports too (click here). I love 90's inserts from all sports, but this '97 SPx ProMotion Jordan is easily one of the best looking inserts from the era. I hope one day to complete the set and make Captain Ahab happy. So that's my white whale, what's yours?

What Card Reminds You Of Why You Are In The Hobby?

Gary Sheffield/Dwight Gooden '92 Upper Deck Score Board Dual Auto

We all have cards that remind us of our youth or fund memories. There are also cards that are just plan cool too. I love auto'd cards and this Sheffield/Gooden Dual Auto is no exception. It's not the rarest of auto'd cards out there at 1,992, but it definitely is cool. So no fund memory here… just coolness. I bought the card a couple months ago and it came with the COA from Score Board. I paid around $10.00 for this one, and I am happy with that. However, the prices do vary (click here and here).

Now to the coolness. I'm sure Mr. T himself would be envious of the bling around these guys' necks, and that's part of the fun of this card. I also like how Sheffield is sporting a basketball shirt for a trading card shoot. Again, it's all in the fun of this card. Between the card itself, the auto's and reasonable price, this card reminds me of why I'm in the hobby.

Are there any cards that remind you of why your a collector?

The Return of Retro: 2012 Panini Hoops And Upper Deck Fleer Retro

It's no secret I'm a fan of 90's inserts and design, so I'm always excited when I hear a company is going to release retro cards. In the case of Panini and Upper Deck, both are releasing 2012 cards featuring actual designs from previously released products. I know some collectors aren't fans of the recycled design idea, but I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Panini is releasing buyback auto'd cards from the '89-'90 Hoops set in their 2012 Hoops release and Upper Deck is producing some inserts from those awesome late 90's Fleer insert sets for their 2012 Upper Deck Fleer Retro release. It's hard to argue with those great 90's insert designs, but I love buyback auto's too. I think the buybacks will be nice and certain players like David Robinson will be highly sought after, but the use of several designs in the Fleer Retro product is a nice plus. I'm definitely going to have to go after both.

Which one do you do you like best and think will get the hobby into a frenzy?

 2012 Upper Deck Fleer Retro

  2012 Upper Deck Fleer Retro

 2012 Panini Hoops

2010 Upper Deck The Cup Tyler Ennis Printing Plate (Black) 1/1

The push for the NHL Playoffs is here and that means I get to showoff this really cool Tyler Ennis printing plate from Upper Deck's 2010 The Cup release. I've been trying to add a printing plate to my collection for some time now as I think they are pretty cool. To own a piece of memorabilia that was made in the manufacturing of a trading card is definitely up my alley.

There are different versions of these plates, but I like the black as the images stand out a bit more. Hopefully Tyler Ennis will stand out a bit more for my Buffalo Sabres. He had a strong year last year, but has struggled this year with injuries. Since he's come back from those injuries, he has played better and has really been a spark for the Sabres. That's a good thing since the Sabres need to make up a lot of ground to even get into the playoff conversations.

This 1/1 printing plate of Tyler Ennis is really one of my nicer hockey cards. I've made an effort over the last few months to add a couple hockey cards to my PC, so there are a few more to come in future posts. Enjoy your day and… "Every Hat in the Hat Trick".

Have You Seen Me???

'98 Upper Deck SPx ProMotion Football & Basketball

As many of you know, I'm putting together the late 90's Upper Deck SPx ProMotion, Cornerstones and Duo View sets for all four of the major sports. The design of these sets are very similar featuring die cuts and holograms. I have been doing well with the sets from '97, but have not had much luck with the basketball and football cards from '98. So I'm putting an all points bulletin out for these cards. If anyone out there has ANY of the cards from the 1998 basketball or football Upper Deck SPx ProMotion sets and would like to work a trade out, let me know. You can view my trade/want list here. Thanks and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

What Size Case Fits The 2010 Upper Deck Exquisite Rare Materials Cards?

2010 Upper Deck Exquisite Rare Materials

I recently bought this 2010 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Rare Materials card of former Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly. It's a cool card with the four pieces of game used materials. I also really like how Upper Deck utilized the gold foiling, but I have one sort of major issue. I like to keep many of my cards in snap magnet cases. I keep a good number around of different sizes so I have a case for when I get a new card in the mail. However, I have not been able to find a case that this ultra thick card will fit into. Not even a 180pt will do. So I thought I would check before I go out and buy any more cases. Does anyone know what size cases will fit these Rare Materials cards perfectly? Thanks for the help and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Trade Bait: Bobby Richardson, LeBron James, UD The Cup, And More...

Due to a number of recent player personnel moves in the NBA and NHL, as well as a few recent eBay purchases, I've got a few new cards to trade. You can checkout all the cards I have up for trade and what I'm looking for on my Trade/Want List page. Below are some of the cards I have up for trade. Please feel free to leave a comment, send me a message on Facebook or at Hoopography@yahoo.com. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy the Thrill of the Trade".