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.

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 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).