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

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".

Glenn Robinson In The Hoopography House: '97 EX-2000 A Cut Above

1997 EX-2000 A Cut Above Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson

One of the coolest cards in my collection is this Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson 1997 EX-2000 A Cut Above insert. The Cut Above set is one of the more sought after and best designed insert sets of the late 90’s. They’re also fairly rare with a pack insertion ratio of 1:288. The set also features some of the biggest stars and superstars from that era including M. Jordan, K. Garnett, A. Hardaway, A. Iverson, G. Hill, S. O’neal and more. I’ve wanted to add one of these cards to my collection for a longtime and finally was able to pick up this Glenn Robinson for just under $9. Not bad, as the card has a book value of $40. Here is a link to the last eBay sale for this card (click here). I would also like to add the A.I., “Penny” Hardaway and Grant Hill cards to my collection. Ok, who am I kidding? I would like to put the entire set together. Un-fortunately, I don’t think I can swing the same deal on those cards as I did the Robinson. Many other collectors have been searching for these awesome 90's inserts and prices have skyrocketed.

The card looks great and even better in-hand as it has a refractor effect on the front surface. The back of the card is cool too as the “saw” theme/graphic is carried on to the back. The set becoming harder and harder to put together as prices have gone up considerably. There are only ten cards in the set and it's no surprise that the Jordan will hurt your wallet the most at around $250 - $300.

The “Big Dog” is one of those players that seems to get overlooked by many fans and collectors today, but his 11 year NBA career numbers don’t lie: 20.7 points & 6.1 rebounds/game. The former #1 overall draft choice of the Bucks in the ’94 NBA Draft also made two All-Star games and was selected to the ’96 Olympic Dream Team II.

Yet Another 90's Insert Set: Upper Deck SPx Pro Motion, Cornerstones and Duo View

Here is my most recent eBay conquest and addition to my four sport Upper Deck SPx insert collection. As I'll outline below, I am currently trying to put together four SPx insert sets from the late 90's that feature similar diecut and hologram designs. This Barry Sanders is the second football card to the collection thus far and is pretty sweet if I do say so myself. Here's a little more background on these Upper Deck SPx inserts.

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 items 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 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 four out of the five 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 the 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 four sets. I have the '97 Jeter/A-Rod Cornerstones card pictured above, the '97 Karim Abdul-Jabbar Pro Motion card pictured below and the Barry Sanders card pictured at the beginning of the post.

If anyone has any SPx insert cards from the five 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".

The "Dominator" Dominates This Cool Card On The Cheap

1997 Upper Deck Dominik Hasek Holoview Collection

One of my favorite Buffalo athletes of all-time is former Buffalo Sabres net-minder Dominik Hasek. The "Dominator" was just that, dominant. The six-time Vezina Trophy winner and two-time Hart Trophy (League MVP) winner has a minuscule career 2.02 GAA and .925 career SV%. As much as I like current Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, he's got nothing on Hasek.

Here's a recent Hasek pickup I made on eBay for just under $3.00 including shipping. This 1997 Upper Deck Holoview Collection card combines two of my favorite card attributes with the vivid holoview surface and die-cut edges. I'm also digging the late 90's Buffalo Sabres uniforms. I love getting cool cards on the cheap. Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Bo Knows The #1

In this third installment of the "Bo Knows" series, I have this 2001 Fleer Authority We're #1 die cut jersey card of Bo Jackson. This card has been in my collection for almost two years now. I was really excited to add this one to my collection. I love die cut cards and I'm a fan of anything Bo Jackson. I'm not exactly sure what I paid for this one as it was a couple of years ago, but I'm sure it was reasonable.

The card reads, "No. 1 Draft Choice 1986". Although true, Jackson never actually signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the Bucs drafted him number 1 overall in that '86 NFL Draft. It seems strange that a player wouldn't sign a contract to make millions of dollars after being drafted so high, but Jackson wanted to finish out the NCAA eligibility he still had left to play baseball at Auburn University. This posed a problem to Bucs brass as they did not want their top choice to get injured playing that last collegiate baseball season. The Buccaneers thought it would be a good idea to fly Jackson out to Tampa to talk with him. This of course is against NCAA rules and Jackson lost his eligibility. With no eligibility left, Jackson was given an ultimatum by Tampa to sign with them or sign with a Major League Baseball team. Jackson decided the later and signed with the Kansas City Royals. I'm not sure how tough of a decision that really was. Play for the worst team in the NFL or join the organization that just won the World Series.

So if Jackson didn't sign with the Buccaneers, how did he get back into football? Don't worry, I'll tell you. Because he never signed, his draft rights were forfeited. He became draft eligible again in '87 in which the L.A. Raiders selected him in the 7th round with the 183rd overall pick. Not a bad pick up for old Al Davis.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because, "Bo Knows The #1". Happy collecting and… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

Bo Knows Bubble Gum: '94 Upper Deck SP Holoview Die Cut

About a month ago I wrote a post reviewing an old school Nike Bo Jackson poster and explaining how Jackson also played semi-pro basketball for a very brief time. The post was entitled, "Bo Knows Basketball?" (click here). I'm a huge Jackson fan, and collect as many of his cards and posters that I can get my hands on. I really enjoyed the "Bo Knows Basketball?" post, especially the YouTube highlight videos and old Nike TV commercials I was able to embed into the post. I had so much fun putting that post together that I thought it'd be cool to do a "Bo Knows…" post for every Bo Jackson item that I'm lucky enough to add to my collection.

This newest post in the "Bo Knows…" series features this 1994 Upper Deck SP Die Cut Holoview Bo Jackson card. I love the Holoview sets Upper Deck put out during the mid 90's. Regardless of sport, all of these cards looked great. Of course the '94 baseball set features some high value gems like the A-Rod RC, Michael Jordan baseball RC and equally outrageously expensive Ken Griffey Jr. You can get the base versions of these cards at a relatively reasonable price, but it's really the die cuts that get collectors excited.

The Bo Jackson doesn't carry the same price tag as many of the other cards in the set, but is equally beautiful. It shimmers from the foiling UD used on the surface of the cards, and I think most die cut parallels look better than their base counterparts. As cool as the front of the card looks, the back is even better with Bo demonstrating his mastery of blowing bubble gum bubbles.

Hope you enjoyed this installment of the "Bo Knows…" series. I'll continue the series as I get in more Bo Jackson memorabilia. If you enjoyed this post, make sure to checkout the first post in the series (click here) and remember… "Enjoy Every Bounce of the Ball".

(Hopefully you can read what it says on the back of this card. Truly a testimate to the type of athlete Jackson was.)