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.

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.

If I Only Had The Money...

1996 NBA 50th Anniversary Autograph Lithograph

Sure the design isn't all that great, but for the NBA collector, this is the "holy grail" of any collection. Signed by 49 of the 50 players (minus Maravich who passed away in 1988) this lithograph was limited to 250 copies with the first 50 going to the players. A majority of the remaining 200 were distributed to league officials with the few remaining copies offered to the anyone willing to cough-up $25,000. But there was a cheaper option with an unsigned version numbered to 500 copies which sell for $50-$75 each.

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.

Then and Now: Ultra Award Winners

At this time, some of the big trends were Chris Webber, Anfernee Hardaway, and inserts that were inserted into found in either hobby or retail packs. At the time of release, these sets were often overlooked. But as time went on, "completests" went searching for their player's insert card that they couldn't find, and paying more for it when they finally found it. This drove-up prices and sellers started searching for those unique inserts only found in certain packs (because it obviously wasn't for the card's design).  Near the peak of it's popularity, the O'Neal version of the 1993-94 Ultra Award Winners set was selling between $35 and $60. Now you could probably find it in a $1 box (but still priced at $5-$12) at a show.

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).

This Week's Best: Week 1

1993-94 Ultra Jam City
An example of the popular foil treatment of the mid-90's insert sets that I would like to see make a comeback. But this set was available only in retail jumbo packs at a rate of 1 in every 35 packs. The retail packs were tough to find to begin with and you only got one of these per box (a disappointment if you pull a Minor or Coleman). Nine cards in the set with Shaquille O'Neal (pictured), Derrick Coleman, David Robinson, Harold Miner, Shawn Kemp, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Dominique Wilkins. Great design for a foil treatment, but huge condition problems with chipping along the edges. I don't remember how many packs I bought trying to just complete this small set and ended up buying a set at a show. I guess there's only one BGS 9 Mint O'Neal out there with no 9.5.