Who's Autograph Is This?!

This is the answer to yesterday's bad autograph.

Who's Autograph Is This?!

I'm not saying I have the greatest signature, but some of today's players have autos that are downright impossible to identify. I'll post the actual card that this disaster-of-a-signature came from tomorrow.

If I Only Had The Money...

2005-06 Upper Deck Portraits Timeless Tens

Okay, so they're on-sticker autographs and there's no Jordan autograph here, but with only 3 copies produced and the level of players on an 8 x 10, it would be difficult to pass up. One copy recently sold for $1,600. To some a small price to pay for Magic, Bird, Thomas, Dr. J, Russell, Kareem, Stockton, Rodman, Pippen, and Olajuwon, making up a virtual dream team autograph collection on one card.

This Week's Worst: Week 3

1997-98 Flair Wave of the Future

When you think of the 1997 NBA Draft you think of Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, Chauncey Billups, and Keith Van Horn... okay maybe not him. But two of these players were NBA Finals MVPs. So you would think that you'd be able to find these players in a premium product's rookie insert set. Nope. Not only is the player selection severely lacking, but to make things worse, they decided to experiment (not unheard of for Fleer) with gel. These gel-filled cards would have been a creative spin on the "wave of the future" theme if the theme had anything to do with basketball. Just think of purchasing a box to look for a Legacy insert or a rookie card and pulling one of these and attempting to resist the urge to take a sharp instrument to it. More in frustration than curiosity.

This Week's Best: Week 3

2000 Upper Deck Legends Master Collection

One of the most difficult set to find, much less complete, is also one of my favorites. Not released in packs, this set was packaged in a wooden box (pre-Exquisite) and limited to only 200 individually numbered sets. The checklist is short on quantity but long on quality, including: Jordan, Russell, Magic, Bird, Erving, Chamberlain, West, Walton, Cousy, Havilcek, Baylor, Robertson, Frazier, Gervin, Maravich (shown), Thomas, Malone, and Barry. Each box contained a complete base set and a group of insert cards (jerseys, autographs, etc.). Good luck finding any of the cards from this set, I know I wouldn't want to part with them.

Resurrect The Old/New Ball

I admit I didn't like the new ball design when it was first unveiled, but I've since warmed-up to it. Now I want to see it back in the game. How many years have they used the existing ball? Over 100 years? The updated ball is AWESOME!

Bad Autograph Answer

This is the answer to yesterday's bad mystery signature.

Bad Autograph Question

I'm not saying I have the greatest signature, but some of today's players have autos that are downright impossible to identify. I'll post the actual card that this disaster-of-a-signature came from tomorrow.

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).