This Week's Best: Week 7

1995-96 Flair Hot Numbers

I'm a big fan of anything lenticular (3-D) and when these were released I was in college it was a big purchase (or gamble) to buy a pack at a whopping $5 per pack. A high price then, I wonder what they'd be selling for now? I was lucky enough to pull a Jason Kidd from the set and still think they are one of the best basketball insert sets of all-time. They have a timeless design that's still attractive and there's a decent player selection. Inserted at a rate of 1 in 36 packs, the 3-D effect would normally give anyone a headache if you look at them long enough, but the plastic process to produce the effect makes these good grading candidates (check out today's top 5), with over half of all that are submitted getting Gem Mint or higher grades. The set includes; Barkley, Hill, Jones, Jordan, Kemp, Kidd, Malone, Mourning, Mutombo, Olajuwon, O'Neal, Robinson, Rodman, Sprewell, and Webber.

If Money Didn't Mean Anything...

1997-98 SkyBox Premium Autographics Grant Hill

There aren't a lot of Grant Hill autographs anyway (only 5 or 6 by my count, and nothing since 1999), but this would be my favorite. It's listed for $80, with the "Century Mark" edition for $160, but they routinely sell online anywhere between $45 and $95. 11 copies have been sent-in for grading with only 2 receiving a Gem-Mint (9.5) grade.

This Week's Worst: Week 6

1998-99 SkyBox Premium That's Jam

The only comfort that could be provided to keep J. M. Smucker from completely rolling over in his grave, is that no one will admit to liking this set. Consisting of 15 of once-promising, young NBA stars, (most of which you couldn't remember what team they're on now, much less if they're still in the league) this theme was probably conceived by a once-promising, young Art Director (who no one could say what company they're employed with now, much less if they're still in the industry) who forgot about his marketing meeting that morning and had to come up with something. But there is one positive, the plastic stock is great for those grading hounds.

This Week's Worst: Week 5

1997-98 SkyBox Silky Smooth

There's no better way to cover up a unimaginative card design better than... a spiderweb? With a decent player selection, SkyBox decided to massacre the set (and probably their printing budget) by die-cutting a basketball net over the disappointingly-basic design. Not only do condition problems plague the set, but it was inserted in every 360 packs. So you might get one out of the 10 boxes you bought. Sure, they carry a heavy price tag, but it's more likely for the set's rarity than the cards themselves (hopefully).

This Week's Best: Week 5

1999-00 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Shoetime

Released in the early days of memorabilia, this 19 card insert was the one bright spot in a very heavy retail set. The set features some of the few memorabilia cards of some big names like Iverson, Barkley, Ewing, and Pippen. Plus there were autographed copies of the Karl Malone and Michael Jordan cards. Not only did the full-bleed design cause condition (chipping) problems, but if you were lucky enough to pull one (1 in every 431 packs) you had issues locating a case that it would even fit into. Still the unique memorabilia and all the big names are enough to consider this set one of my favorites.

This Week's Best: Week 4

1995-96 SkyBox Meltdown Exchange

As awesome as the regular Meltdown insert is, SkyBox decided to offer two of the cards with a lenticular (3-D) effect available only with two series 2 wrappers and $9.99. These are now a little tough to find since 1: When's the last time you read the back of the wrapper? and 2: $9.99 was a little much for one card you knew very little about. Sure, it would've been cool to get a Jordan or Robinson version, but it makes sense that it was only the company's spokespersons (at the time).

This Week's Worst: Week 2

1994-95 SkyBox Head of the Class Exchange Set

SkyBox had a good thing going with the Head of the Class exchange card starting with the 1991-92 Hoops release. But in a possible attempt to mirror the success of the Hoops Draft Redemption sets, they decided to go with a multi-card format instead of the single card with three players on each side. With a simplistic, blurred background, bad photography (specifically the Grant Hill), and the absence of individual serial numbers (differing from the previous issues), only Topps remains as the leader in ruining a popular series (Beam Team).

This Week's Best: Week 2

1996 Upper Deck USA Follow Your Dreams Exchange Set

How can you go wrong with a set that includes Barkley, Robinson, Miller, Pippen, Hill, Richmond, O'Neal, Hardaway, Malone, Payton, Olajuwon, and Stockton? I rarely see these sets for sale, but when they sell, they go for surprisingly low prices. Could be that mint condition copies are even more difficult to find because of the full-bleed printing that make the smallest of chips extremely visible. Released in a silver and a gold version, this set was only available in exchange for a contest card of either Reggie Miller or David Robinson that were both inserted into packs. No Barkley, Payton, or Richmond cards were included in the regular set (these were late additions to the team), and these are Gary Payton's only olympic cards (he did not have any in the SkyBox Olympic release that same year).